Welcome to my blog. This blog pretty much reflects me, and I am one eclectic person. I have restaurant reviews, shop reviews, posts about human trafficking, poems (written by me or just appreciated by me), reflections from sermons, events, old mission trip newsletters – and much more. There’s a whole category of posts on the wedding planning and I am now homeschooling our two kiddos, so there’s a smattering of info about that as well.
If you are lost, don’t feel bad. I’m still glad you’re here.
You can easily navigate the blog by scrolling down and checking out the topics on the right hand side. I also have links to some fab other blogs and sites which I love. I hope you’ll share the love and go see them as well. You can subscribe here (also on the right-hand side) or just push through.
I really thought my daughter would be captivated by this book – she LOVES cats and longs to have one badly! Alas, I am allergic, but it’s a good exercise in patience, of which she is sorely in need. She is already planning out how many and what color, etc, she will have when she grows up.
No, it was my son who was most interested in this story. I will say, the book itself is hard to find. I love it and I hope that FIAR can find a way to keep it in the curriculum, but sometimes they revise the volumes based on availability. This one, then, may be relegated to the older editions. That said, you can find it being read aloud on YouTube and I believe it is available in digital form. I personally love holding the books and we were able to find a reasonably-priced copy to have in our records. Honestly, we have the hard-copy of just about all of these books as they were just so sweet and bring back memories, even after a few years.
Social Studies
When you can’t get to Venice in person, the next best thing is to travel with a book! The pictures and iconic sites encouraged us to chase lots of rabbits in learning more about Italy and this beautiful city as a whole. The Disney movie, Luca, was also fun to watch along with this study. If the kids were older, I would consider watching The Italian Job as there’s an excellent chase scene through Venice. This is also an excellent time to play the tag game “Marco Polo” where the seeker is blindfolded and calls out “Marco” while the others respond with “Polo!”
Art
This book has come up a lot in this series of posts – it’s just so good! When studying Papa Piccolo, we discussed complementary colors and also how you can use color to depict changes in light in artwork.
Science
Our bodies are so interesting and the best thing is, especially with our senses, we can test and learn very easily. So, this week, we learned about peripheral vision and practiced seeing things in our periphery. I wasn’t sure how it would work for my son, as he has no (or very minimal) depth perception, but the two types of vision are not necessarily related.
This little pocket book of cats was so much fun to see all the different types of cats found out there!
Other books
Cats are a source of endless amusement – just look at the popularity of Cat Videos online. So, it’s no surprise there are plenty of picture books about cats and their antics. Here are just a few that we found and read along with our main book.
I also found this poem about how cats sleep. I’m more of a dog person myself, and I think dogs run a close second on being able to sleep anywhere and with anything going on around them.
Poem: Cats by Eleanor Farjeon
Cats sleep Anywhere, Any table, Any chair, Top of piano, Window ledge, In the middle, On the edge, Open drawer, Empty shoe, Anybody’s Lap will do, Fitted in a Cardboard box, In the cupboard With your frocks – Anywhere! They don’t care! Cats sleep Anywhere.
Disclaimer:This site uses some affiliate links. This costs you nothing, but helps supplement our homeschooling costs.
When I told my mom we were reading a book about a dancing bear, she asked if it took place in Russia. Some traditions and heritage just ring true. I wonder how many dancing bears are in Russia nowadays? Hopefully none, as I understand there was some abuse with it, but this picture book has none of that and all the sweetness of it! How encouraging the friend is and how determined the bear to learn!
Social Studies
I had no idea about much of St Petersburg except for the Onion Domes, which was pretty fun to try and duplicate on our own on paper. We talked a lot about bridges and jobs – including what jobs we might want when we grow up. I think when I grow up, I’d like to work in a library! The littles want to be an electrician and a babysitter.
I also like to teach the kids about immigrants – they are descended from immigrants after all! And we learn so much about the challenges of moving to a new place, but also how peoples’ lives can look similar and different on either side of immigration. Nathan’s Song was a good book for that.
Art
These Sesame Street Science books are excellent introductions to science and art. I highly recommend them! We also looked at architecture and unique buildings in Russia.
Science
States of Matter is a fun thing to explore, especially with something as simple as ice. We took ice cubes from the freezer, watched them melt, and then boiled the same water on the stove. We also captured some of the steam and watched it turn into liquid water again.
While I don’t have a samovar in our house, I frequently drink tea and we enjoyed some of my sweeter/fruity types together.
Other books
These books were awesome accompaniments to our lessons! I have two lefties in our house (me and dad are both right-handed so it’s fun!) Anya imagines a secret society where left-handed artists gather together. But when she comes to the US, she doesn’t feel she needs to hide it as much. My husband’s grandmother was a lefty and was forced to only write with her right hand. I’m glad my kids don’t have to go through anything like that.
Poem: Bear by unknown
Big bear, big bear, Hunting near the trees. Feasting on the honeycomb Made by busy bees. Bzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz
Big bear, big bear, Wading in the lake. Fish is your favourite dish: Which one will you take? Swish, swish, swish
Big bear, big bear, Resting in your den. Sleeping through the winter Before you’re out again. Zzz, zzz, zzz
Disclaimer:This site uses some affiliate links. This costs you nothing, but helps supplement our homeschooling costs.
Allen Say is one of my favorite illustrators that I’ve discovered since homeschooling. I love the detail and the sentiment he puts in his drawings. This book was a lovely case study in Home and Homesickness. I was able to share my own experience of living in Japan and how homesickness made me want home and how now I want Japan too now that I’m home.
Social Studies
This book was quite a surprise, but also contains the weighty history of war – so read only if you feel it is appropriate for your child. I didn’t know that the Japanese were able to bomb mainland US during WWII. It goes to show you that you are never too old to learn new things and it’s one part of homeschooling that I love so much! I think this book does a great job explaining atonement as asking for forgiveness – something for which I think we all need a good example.
Art
These Sesame Street Science books have been an excellent resource during our time with Five in a Row. Depending on your child’s dexterity, origami is a fun way to make shapes and designs – it also teaches self-control and following instructions. Drawing from Memory is going to be an older read, a biographical graphic novel set during WWII.
Science
Japan and California share some interesting geographic features – mountainous highlands, densely-populated ocean coasts, and temperamental location on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Finding similarities and differences through pictures is a great study for little ones.
Japan also has an amazing recycling program set up – when I lived there, each type of waste (glass, plastic, food or burnables, paper, etc) had their own colored bag, and each had a specific day to be picked up. Each day! In the city, there were also large rope nets that were laid over-top the bags to prevent blowing away or crows from getting into them.
Other books
I had to reel us in on extra books this week – we just didn’t have enough time to look through all of them and there were some great ones! I kept the books on hand for another couple weeks for the kids to look through at their curiosity. Japanese artists, WWII, birds, life in Japan – so many great options!
Disclaimer:This site uses some affiliate links. This costs you nothing, but helps supplement our homeschooling costs.
Complete Booklist:
Find the full list on or .
“Grandfather’s Journey” by Allen Say
“Thirty Minutes Over Oregon” by Marc Tyler Nobleman
“Color: A Sesame Street Science Book” by Susan B Katz
“Drawing From Memory” by Allen Say
“Easy Origami” by Mary Meinking
“Japan” by A. M. Buckley
“California: The Golden State” by Emily Schnobrich
“Save the Planet” by Lorenzo Liberto
“Curious About Birds” by Jill Sherman
“Yukie’s Island” by Yukie Kimura
“Silent Days, Silent Dreams” by Allen Say
“A Life Made by Hand: The Story of Ruth Asawa” by Andrea D’Aquino
“It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way” by Kyo Maclear
Xapa to the World 