The ballet school performance is over, and it was lovely.  For two weeks now,  she'll get a well deserved break.  Then she'll really get to work.  9-5 every day, a full time job of ballet training.  It will be intense, but this is what she wants.  I read a review about her school performance on Crosscut.  It said, "In the course of an hour or so you experience the birth of a dancer, see the art of ballet evolve from literal baby-steps to virtual flight." 

 She is just starting to fly. Yesterday, my friend Kat, who writes at Seeking Sanity, wrote about her own tiny ballerina, also named Grace, who's taking those first baby steps- and I got all teary as I looked at her adorable pictures and remembered my Grace at that age.  Sometimes this journey, which has taken many years, feels like it has gone by in the course of an hour, and I miss my tiny ballerina.  Other times, the years it has taken to get here do seem very long- and it makes me appreciate, all the more, those who have made it, who soar in this beautiful art form.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from my dance board on Pinterest. 

credit:  Vogue

credit:Vihao

 credit:  Collette Dinnegan for the Australian National Ballet

 My dear husband has taken my son and his friends to the skate park this evening.  My daughter is at church, enjoying deep fried Oreos and hanging out with her friends.  I gave her tofu and broccoli for dinner before she left, hoping to balance out the junk food.  So now the house is quiet and I have a few minutes to pop in here and say hello. 

  One might think, that with all the important end of school year events that have been happening around here, that I might have a lot of pictures to show.  I don't.  I've just been so caught up in it all, that I haven't been getting my camera out as much as I'd like.  What you see here, is all I've got.  The flowers were from the Farmer's Market.  Derek and I made a date of it one night last week while Trent was at basketball practice.  Shopping, driving the kid around, and date night.  How's that for multi-tasking?  Trent had his last basketball games of the season on Saturday.  Then he had his end of year piano recital on Sunday.  His last swimming lesson is tomorrow, and his last day of school for the year is on Friday.  My car is going to be very happy to sit in the driveway a little more often over the next month or so, I hope.   

 This final picture was taken at the Pacific Science Center, one of Trent's favorite places.  We spent four hours there today.  I promised myself that I would just follow Trent around, letting him lead, never mentioning the time, never rushing him.  I kept that promise and we had a great time.  I also forgot my phone at home, helping me to be even more present.  I should do those things more often.

 This upcoming weekend will be all about Grace, my sweet daughter.  Her school performance for ballet is on Saturday.  There have been lots of extra rehearsals lately.  Thank God for car pools.  I don't know how I would have been able to get the kids everywhere they needed to be otherwise.  She has worked extra hard this year and I'm crazy proud of her. 

 I gave it my all this school year, teaching my kids at home.  It was a good year, but I'm very tired.  I have no voice at all right now.  This seems to happen every year around this time.  It's like my body finally tells me, "you're done".  So now it's time to rest.  I think I'll read something just for fun.  Do any of you have any good book recommendations?  

This is a three week unit plan that I put together for my third grade son.  It is an introduction to some basic business and economic ideas, using literature and games as the primary tools.

Concepts/Vocabulary: 

                 *Allocation and distribution          *Interdependence

                * Economic Role of Government   *Markets and competition

                 *Goods/Resources                        *Money/Banking

                 *Human Resources                       *wants/needs

                 *Incentives                                   *saving

                 *Innovation

 Day 1- Ump's Fwat- a funny story that is a great introduction to economics. This story is published by the Powell Economic Education Foundation.  It is about a caveman named Ump who perfected a bat and turned it into a successful business.  Concepts:  Marketing a product and making a profit.  You can download a PDF here.  There is also a worksheet with questions about the story that can be used.  I didn't get around to using it, but there is also an instructors guide that is available for this story,

Est. time: 30 min.

Day 2- Hands on Banking is a free courses designed to teach students how to take charge of their finances and set financial goals.  It consists of  online games and a fun tutorials.  Concepts:  Money/Banking

Est. time 1 hour + (This might be a good one to stretch over two days)

Day 3:  Field Trip to a business of your choice.  Because we had a friend there, we took a tourof the corporate offices of Starbucks.

Day 4- Read Aloud:  How Santa Really Works by Alan Snow.  Concepts:  allocation and distribution

Est. time:  20 min.

Day 5-Read aloud and discuss- Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer by Carol Brendler

Concepts:  Innovation, Interdependence

Est. time- 20 min.

Day 6- play Ka-Ching!  Here's what the game's website says about it....

"Buy low, Sell high! Making money is the name of the game in this high stakes duel for dollars. Compete against your opponent to turn the biggest profit by strategically buying and selling stock cards. Buy cards at face value and then sell them in pairs for the greatest possible return, all while preventing your opponent from doing the same. Accumulate the most cash and you're in the money!"

Both Trent and I had so much fun with this game.  Concepts:  Money, multiplication, strategic thinking

Est. time- 30 min.

Day 7- Read aloud and discuss- The Flying Bed by Nancy Willard 

Concepts: Goods/Resources, wants/needs

Est. time- 30 min.

Day 8- Play Ka-Ching!

Day 9- Read Aloud and discuss- One Hen:  How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference by Katie Smith Milway (We really loved this book!)

Concepts:  Money/Banking, human resources, want/needs, innovation

Est. time- 20 min.

Day 10-  Read aloud and discuss- When the Bees Fly Home by Andrea Cheng

Concepts:  markets, human resources, producers and consumers

Est. time- 20 min.

Day 11- play Ka-Ching! 

Day 12- Read aloud and discuss- My Rows and Piles of Coins

concepts: saving

Est. time- 20 min.

Day 13- play Monopoly or Monopoly Jr.

Day 14-Read and discuss Owney the Mail Pouch Pooch

concepts- economic role of government

est. time- 20 min.

Day 15- visit a museum of history and  industry (if possible)  We went to the one in Seattle.

* Another book recommendation, that my son used for his quiet reading time, was Little Leap Forward

** If you want to search for more resources related to business and economics, check out Rutgers University Econ Kids website.  There is a wealth of information here, and is where I found a lot of the resources used in this unit plan.

Trent and I both enjoyed this unit- there was some good learning happening, and I do believe that his interest in business and economics has been sparked by this introduction.  I hope that these plans can be a help to some of you.  

 One of these days life might slow down again, and I'll be able to get back to writing here on a regular basis.  In the meantime, I'll post a few pictures that I recently took and say a quick hello.  

 Most to these pictures were taken today in downtown Seattle.  It was a beautiful day:  a basketball game for Trent in the morning, took Grace to a ballet rehearsal downtown, wandered around the city with Derek and Trent while we waited for Grace, Pike Place market and Nordstrom, BBQ with the neighbors, listening to good music around a fire, and now a little time to write and edit pictures.  Perfect. I hope that you are having a good weekend as well.

 Trent, my third grader, has been learning about business and economics for school lately.  I thought it would be great if Trent could visit a local business, so I asked a friend, who works at Starbucks headquarters, if we could have a tour of the place.  He was kind enough to say yes, so today we had the privilege of seeing behind the scenes at the place that makes the coffee we drink.  Trent is not a coffee drinker- he goes for vanilla steamers and bagels, but he is very aware of the success of Starbucks, and it's a company that practices business in a way that I admire and feel good talking about with my son.  This field trip was just too cool to miss, so Derek and Grace ended up coming along as well.  It's a huge place, with nearly 4,000 people in this building.  Here are some pictures from our tour....    

a display showing how coffee beans are dried after they're picked

the building was beautiful- very open and modern

A Starbucks within Starbucks

one of the many coffee stations in the building, learning how to use the Clover machine

coffee roaster used for company tastings 

this image is made up up thousands of thumbprints, from the partners who work here

the cupping room smelled amazing...they had just been tasting a Kona roast

Trent looks very serious here, but we actually had a lot of fun.  It was also a worthwhile learning experience.  He didn't have a lot of questions at the time, but he has been talking about what he saw and asking many questions since we left. 

Before we visited, I read Onward, by Howard Schultz.  It was an inspiring book, that was relevant for anyone interested in not just the business of Starbucks, but in the process of working towards a dream and achieving success.  I have become just as, if not more, interested in this latest learning experience for Trent.  We still have three more weeks left of studying business and economics, and I'm looking forward to it.

 Now that the school year is coming to a close, I thought I'd post my daughter's reading list for her 8th grade year.  Last year's 7th grade list can be found here.  I'm only listing the books that I assigned to her.  She reads plenty more in addition to these listed, ones that are self chosen, but I didn't keep track of them.

Eternal Spring of Mr. Ito- Sheila Garrigue

Number the Stars-Lois Lowry

The Blue Sword- Robin McKinley

Harry Crewe is an orphan girl who comes to live in Damar, the desert country shared by the Homelanders and the secretive, magical Hillfolk. Her life is quiet and ordinary-until the night she is kidnapped by Corlath, the Hillfolk King, who takes her deep into the desert. She does not know the Hillfolk language; she does not know why she has been chosen. But Corlath does. Harry is to be trained in the arts of war until she is a match for any of his men. Does she have the courage to accept her true fate? -Amazon

*To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee

Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus--three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up. -Amazon reviews

Mama's Bank Account- Kathryn Forbes

And Then There Were None- Agatha Christie

The Devil's Arithmetic-Jane Yolen

Hannah thinks tonight's Passover Seder will be the same as always. Little does she know that this year she will be mysteriously transported into the past where only she knows the horrors that await.- Good Reads

Good Night Mr. Tom-Michelle Magorian

London is poised on the brink of World War II. Timid, scrawny Willie Beech--the abused child of a single mother--is evacuated to the English countryside. At first, he is terrified of everything, of the country sounds and sights, even of Mr. Tom, the gruff, kindly old man who has taken him in. But gradually Willie forgets the hate and despair of his past. He learns to love a world he never knew existed, a world of friendship and affection in which harsh words and daily beatings have no place. Then a telegram comes. Willie must return to his mother in London. When weeks pass by with no word from Willie, Mr. Tom sets out for London to look for the young boy he has come to love as a son.- Amazon

Jane Eyre-Charlotte Bronte

Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead, subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. -Good Reads

The Watson's Go to Birmingham-Christopher Paul Curtis

When Kenny Watson’s brother, Byron, gets to be too much trouble, the Watson family heads south to Birmingham to visit Grandma, the one person who can shape him up. And they happen to be in Birmingham when Grandma’s church is bombed.- Amazon

After the Dancing Days-Margaret Rostkowski

Annie learns to stand up to her mother in the days following the end of The Great War, through her friendship with a veteran and in the discovery of the truth about her uncle's heroism; this is a gracefully written story with a clear-sighted view of the ironies of war. Ages 10-14.- Publisher's Weekly

The Ramsay Scallop-Francis Temple

Fourteen year-old Elenor reluctantly awaits the return of her betrothed from the Crusade.Thomas, broken and disillusioned from years of fighting, finds the very idea of marriage and lordship overwhelming. When the village priest sends them on a religious pilgrimage together, they learn new things about themselves, each other, and the world around them. Fascinating introduction to Europe at the turn of the 14th Century.- Sonlight

*Bloomability-Sharon Creech

The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen-Lloyd Alexander

When Prince Jen volunteers to search for the legendary court of T'ien-kuo, a mysterious old man chooses six gifts for him to bear in homage: a saddle, a sword, a paint box, a bowl, a kite, and a flute.

Puzzled by the humbleness of the gifts but full of high spirits and pride, Jen sets off -- but stumbles almost immediately into a series of misfortunes.-Google

*A Girl Named Disaster-Nancy Farmer

A Girl Named Disaster is the humorous and heart wrenching story of a young girl who discovers her own courage and strength when she makes the dangerous journey from Mozambique to Zimbabwe.-Scholastic

The Giver-Lois Lowry

*= Grace's top 3 picks 

This was the last year of homeschool for my daughter.  Enjoying quality literature together has been one of the top perks of homeschooling, in my opinion.  I know I'm going to miss this when she goes to public school.  I would love to stay involved, somehow, in reading with my daughter throughout her high school years.  Bookclub?  I doubt that's realistic with the busy schedule that she'll be keeping.  I'm slightly jealous of her future English teacher, who happens to be one of our neighbors, and also one of the sweetest, most intelligent ladies I know.  Grace will be in good hands.  I just have to let go, hard as it is.  I'm thankful for the great times we had together with homeschooling, and for all the wonderful books we read.

 Hello, All I've got today are a few words and pictures to let you know that all is well.  I'm hoping to be able to find more time for my camera and for writing very soon.  I keep telling myself that this busy time, that has been keeping me away from here, is just for a season.  Right?  It's all good though.  It's the kiddo's stuff: ballet, basketball, piano and homeschooling that's keeping me busy.  And I don't want want to wish this stuff away too quickly.  I spend many hours in the car driving them around, but we also have some good conversations during those times.  It won't be too long before my daughter will be driving herself around- and though this will free up some of my time, I'm sure I'll miss it too.  Homeschooling two kids is hard work, but as I close in on the final five weeks of having my daughter at home for school (this fall she goes to high school), I'm happy that we did it this way.    

This boy, with his sweet face and his freckles...how I love him

he's playing spring basketball, and improving every day

Wednesday b-ball practice means a coffee date for Derek and I

This book is a project done by my daughter, that I wanted to share because she had fun with it, and because I thought it was a great idea.  This is a poetry book project that was assigned to Grace by her teacher at our homeschool co-op.  She had to pick out twenty poems, by different authors, and in different genres and meters.  Then she put them into a scrapbook and and illustrated them.  She included a poem from Sarah's last poetry book, Otherwise, called Not Lily.  I mention this for two reasons: I just wanted to let Sarah know how much we love her poetry, and because I wanted to let you all know that she has new poetry book out, called The Memory of Light.  She is offering this new book, as well as Otherwise, as e-books, available through her website.  Sarah's writing is beautiful.  I loved both of these books and wholeheartedly recommend them.

May I never take any of this for granted.  Life is good.  I turned 37 last Thursday and woke up to a breakfast of French toast, eggs, coffee and o.j- made by Derek.  Cards, garden supplies and flowers (the kind I can plant in the ground) were accompanied by hugs and kisses.  Derek then told me that there would be a party that night and that he would be working from home so that he could get the house ready.  I love that he threw me a surprise party, but that it wasn't too much of a surprise...he knows me well. 

For school, we had a museum day.  We went to the Asian Art museum at Volunteer Park.  The weather was gorgeous.  In the picture above, you can see Mt. Rainier, and below, you can see Bellevue with the Cascade mountains behind it. 

 I took those first two pictures from the top of this old water tower.  I ran to the top of the tower.  I didn't count how many steps it has, but it's a lot.  I was wearing flip flops.  For the next few days, my legs hurt, bad, but I'm going to say that it's because I was wearing flip flops when I ran those stairs.  It's not because I'm getting old- not at all.

Volunteer park is the first Seattle park.  The neighborhood around it is old too- and gorgeous

The ceramic pillows from ancient China were interesting to see.  I like seeing the everyday artifacts from life more than anything else.  We enjoyed the museum, but we hurried through it because it was a sunny day in Seattle, and we just wanted to get back outside.  

Trent asks me to take his picture inside this sculpture every time we come to this park. 

 After the Asian Art museum, we wandered over to the Botanical Conservatory.  I love this place, especially the orchid room.

Trent loved the cactus room. 

 And because it was my birthday, Grace even agreed to having her picture taken.  I spent the rest of the day gardening while the kids and Derek cleaned the house.  That evening we had friends over to enjoy homemade pizza and cake- a perfect day. 

This year was my first full year of teaching my son at home. I previously taught my daughter at home, from kindergarten to fifth grade, and during those years, we developed a way of doing our read-alouds that worked well for us. She would usually draw, or just sit and listen while I read to her. She could sit and listen for long periods of time, no problem. My son attended public school for kindergarten through second grade, and during this time, I'm ashamed to admit, I didn't read aloud as often to him.

Trent had often been read to from picture books in his preschool years, but once he started school, we seemed to have little time for read alouds. He had homework every night, and after sitting in a classroom all day, he only wanted to run and play outside with the little free time he had left at the end of the day. When he came home for school, in third grade, I was excited to once again have the opportunity to read aloud with him. It didn't start out as smoothly as I'd hoped though. Standing on his head, burrowing in the blankets, there was never a still moment. I tried to ignore it, but it was distracting, and I wasn't sure if he was even listening. I tried giving him art supplies to draw with, but he wasn't interested. We kept at it though, experimenting with different ways to help him sit for longer periods of time. Now, we both enjoy the time each day when I read to him, and he usually ends up asking for "one more chapter".

I give him copywork sheets to work on while I read to him. These are 4-5 lines of writing from whatever book we're reading aloud together. These sheets give him a chance to work on his handwriting and spelling, as well as writing conventions, such as capitalization and punctuation. They also help him sit still and give him a focus. Now that we've finally developed our little groove for read alouds, I have no intention of stopping for the summer. I plan on reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to him next. Below, I'm listing our favorite read alouds for Third Grade. I think Farmer Boy is Trent's top favorite. My top favorite would probably be The Year of Miss Agnes. I'm going to start compiling a list of books to read for fourth grade, so if you have any recommendations, please, tell me!

Farmer Boy- Laura Ingalls Wilder

Detectives in Togas- Henry Wenterfeld

The Family Under the Bridge- Natalie Savage Carlson

The Wheel on the School- Mendert DeJong

The Great Wheel- Robert Lawson

The Year of Miss Agnes- Kirkpatrick Hill

Follow My Leader- James B. Garfield

Charlotte's Web- E.B. White

Little Pear- Eleanor Francis Lattimore

Mountain Born- Elizabeth Yates

Homer Price-Robert McCloskey

Ginger Pye- Eleanor Estes

Stowaway-Karen Hesse

 Apple Crumble muffins on a Sunday morning, are most certainly a good thing.  The recipe can be found here,at my friend Sarah's blog.  I recommend that you treat yourself to something delicious and make up a batch of these.  Sarah is in New Zealand, so the baking time/temp that's given is for Celsius.  I made a guess and baked the muffins at 350 F for about 25 minutes and that worked. 

 Slowing down and doing one thing at a time, every once in awhile, is also a good thing.  I've been trying to do this more often, reminding myself that it's not wasted time when I relax and enjoy the moment that I'm in.  Instead of running today, I went for a walk with the dog.  Instead of reading the news over my morning coffee, I sat in a chair and looked out the window, allowing myself to daydream. 

 Having fun with the kids is a good thing.  This is something, I'm happy to say, we do well in this family.  As the kids get older, it gets to be even more fun.  We have shared interests that create a deeper bond.  With my daughter and I, our shared interest is ballet.  I took the picture above the last time I was at the ballet with Grace.  The costumes are from Balanchine's Diamonds, coming soon, as part of PNB's upcoming Director's Choice performances.  I can't wait to see it

The picture below, of Derek and Trent, was taken at the park this week.  I enjoy watching basketball more now than I ever have before, especially when Trent is playing.  But basketball is definitely their thing. 

 What good things have you been seeing in your life lately?