Homeschooling, Classics, and Ohio Indians!

Summer is just about over and kids everywhere are heading back to school. This year, we are doing something a little different__ we are homeschooling through the Independent Studies program of Emily's former Christian school. It's scary and exciting all at the same time since we have yet to establish a routine, but I think we are going to have a blast.

I have been collecting books from library sales, thrift stores, and garage sales to use in our reading lessons. I was most excited this past week when I found a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer for only fifty cents. It is my hope, that by the time Emily is an adult, many of the classics I read and loved as a child will have entertained  her as well, classics like Tom Sawyer,  Black Beauty and Heidi.

We also got a bit of a head start on our schooling by taking day trips this summer. Our first was to the Velvet Ice-cream factory in Utica, Ohio. And just this past week, we drove down to Dayton to attend the Flute and Arts Fair at the Sunwatch Indian Village and Archaeological Park. 

I can't believe what a great time Bobby, Emily, and I had. We learned quite a bit about the former Indians of that area called the Fort Ancient Indians. We learned about their diet, their way of living, their sun calendar, their lodges, and so much more. In the museum portion, we heard an audio clip about how their diet affected their height and how they had very poor dental health.

I thought this was an interesting fact since the Kindle book I downloaded for this review was called Ethan In The Kingdom of Toothbrushes. I downloaded my copy during a free promotion, but normally it is $2.99. The idea of a small boy who doesn't want to brush his teeth and dreams of a forest of toothbrushes is a unique and clever idea. And if you can overlook the errors in capitalization, verb tense, and formatting, it isn't a bad book, especially if you have a small non-brusher of your own.

As we get ready to start our new schooling journey, I eagerly anticipate many more great field trips. Next month we are going to attend a Renaissance Fair and I even found a children's book on the Renaissance to read which I will share when the time comes. Meantime, I wish all of you and your children a wonderful new school year and continued happy reading!

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, and my soon to be released sequel, Return To Fern Valley, coming September second! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.