Every year our grammar schools have a Read-In.  Each child can bring a parent or other special adult.  The adults bring books and a blanket to sit on (like a picnic!)  The whole school stops everything and the adults read to small groups of kids all around the school… in classrooms, in the hallway,...

It’s nice to be able to help your children with their homework. My daughter is getting some difficult vocabulary words this year.  She’s having trouble remembering them, so I decided to make quick illustrations to go with each word.  I think she remembers visually, so hopefully this will help. The important thing is to do quick...

The Kindle is an Electronic device for reading books.  In my previous post I talked about the Kindle and explained why I love reading on it. The Kindle works well for reading in foreign languages.  I love reading in French, but the drawback is the time it takes to look up unknown words.  If you read...

I just got a Kindle and I love it!   The Kindle is a hand-held electronic device used for reading books electronically.  That means you can bring many books around with you.  The newest edition holds about 15,000 books.  You can also put magazine articles on it to read.  Here’s what I love about it: 1. It’s...

Librivox just released another bunch of recordings of fairy tales in various languages, including Hungarian, Russian, German, English, Italian and Portuguese (with links to the text of each tale). This is the 3rd collection they’ve posted. Fairy Tale Collection #1 also includes recordings in Latvian, Danish, Romanian, Yiddish and French. You can also...

 The main entrance to a shrine in Japan. “The kanji on the stone on the left side says ‘Hirohata Hachiman Jinja’.” -Shintaro Yesterday, we posted some photos of Japan from Shintaro Tominaga, including the one above.  It shows the entrance to a shrine. The kanji text on the stone near the entrance says, “Hirohata Hachiman Jinja’”. ...

Nyango sent me this song from Cameroon, Africa that’s about the shape of Italy. Here’s what she wrote: “…wondering if I had given you this song we learn as children in Cameroon during Geography. It goes; The shape of Italy is admittedly Often described as the shape of a boot The shape of Italy is admittedly Often...

I’m going into my daughter’s class this week to talk about some Japanese Festivals.  It may be helpful to other people who are also covering this topic for me to outline what I’m covering with links to more material. 1) Hina Matsuri – Doll Festival – March 3rd – people pray for their daughters’ future...

Here’s some Halloween artwork my daughter and her friends did this week. I thought you might enjoy seeing it to help get you in the mood for Halloween! “Bones” by Lila “Skeleton” by Lila… “Witch” by Sarina “Graveyard” by Melisa “Graveyard II” by Melisa “R.I.P.” by Marisa Have a Spooky Fun Halloween! Mama Lisa

I clearly remember being seven years old and listening to Elton John’s rendition of the Beatle’s Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds in my suburban backyard… Looking up at the sky and imagining a girl there, possibly me, floating with diamonds, a rainbow in the background (I guess due to the colorful imagery in the...

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the US. It celebrates the life of such an important American who had the courage to speak up for equal rights for all. Here are some activities to do with children to help them learn more about him… You can listen to his I Have a...