Joe’s first instinct was to hide his head behind the book, but I convinced him to let me take his picture. He claims he wasn’t grinning at me, insisting that he was laughing at something in the book. Does that boy need a haircut, or what? Look at how long it is over his ears. Good grief.
I had great plans to try to take my picture of the day earlier, and in better light, but once again, my memory card and my camera ended up in two different places.
Due to the lack of camera-capability, I was also unable to take the quilt related pictures I had planned to take today.
I picked up a book last week that I had been looking at for awhile — The Intellectual Devotional (I got the American History edition, there are 2 others, one General, one Modern Culture). The daily readings start on a Monday, so, today being Monday, I read a page out loud at the supper table.
I’m not sure how excited the boys are about it, but I’m looking forward to it (I feel a very serious lack in my recollection of history. If I ever even knew some of it). Each day’s reading is just a page long, and each day of the week deals with a different field of knowledge (Politics & Leadership, War & Peace, Rights & Reform, Business, Building America, Literature and Art). Tonight we read a little bit about Captain John Smith and the colony of Jamestown. We had to get out the dictionary, and I suspect we’ll be referring to it a lot. There are a lot of words in my vocabulary that I can use (and understand) but defining them for a pair of 4th graders is often beyond my ability.
Today we had to go looking for the word mercenary, to make sure we were explaining it properly. The boys were pretty intrigued by the concept of a mercenary, and we spent more time talking about THAT than we did about anything else. I’m eager to see if they retain any bit of today’s reading when they get up tomorrow morning. I guess even if they remember what a mercenary is, it won’t be a complete loss. (In case you are wondering, John Smith was a mercenary, fighting in several European wars before he joined the expedition to Virginia that landed in 1607).
Tuesday’s topics are about War & Peace, so that ought to be nice for my blood-thirsty young-uns.
Suzanne
I’ve not seen this book, but love the idea! Your boys will just act like they’re not listening, then one day they’ll spout some knowledge back at ya that you don’t remember imparting into their little sponges of mind! Have fun.
I love your photos. You’ve really got an eye.
Suzanne, I have not heard of the books, but that sounds like a great idea. I’m going to keep them in mind next time I need to buy a gift for someone who is hard to buy for. And I might even buy one for myself to help keep the old brain functioning.
Great colors in this photo but I don’t know how he can read and listen to his iPod at the same time…I can’t concentrate on both.