Homeschooling in Progress

Today we studied some Fritillary Caterpillars who were attracted to my now blooming Passion Flower Vine which is a host plant for these furry little caterpillars.  I counted 7, Andrew and Kathlena each had an opportunity to hold one. Kathlena's caterpillar was a lively one and was soon crawling all over her. Andrew's however, was content to remain still in his hand. I find this most humorous as this is so like Andrew and Kathlena's different personalities.

For some close-up photographs of the caterpillars visit Pixelation Exploration.

A Great Summer Find

I recently stumbled upon this great resource- My Audio School . Many of the materials on this site are original resource materials. In our house we love to listen to audio books, especially in the hot summer afternoons or rainy days. I like how the site is structured by time periods and yet searchable by title as well. So if you are looking for a good book, old time radio drama, or biography to listen to you might find something to interest you here. I found Shakespeare, Captains of Industry--entrepreneurs of the 1800s radio dramas about their lives, A Child's Garden of Verses, King Arthur's Knights and much more. About 25% of their database of audio materials is free, but for a nominal annual fee of $14.99 you can subscribe to all of it.
We are looking forward to a summer of listening and learning!

Green Eggs and Ham...I do like them!

Andrew and Kathlena have been reading Dr. Suess books in August and absolutely love the funny stories that rhyme. Everyone has joined in to read the books to them with their individual twists. J.Michael now has a once a day policy for Green Eggs and Ham, but is great about reading tons of books to Kathlena especially. Andrew loves to read to Kathlena too. So we are all taking turns reading to each other and building a love for reading at the same time.


Kathlena is so proud of her green eggs and ham. She ate them all up very quickly as scrambles eggs are her favorite in any color!

Reading Time

All four kids have daily reading time. This for Andrew and Kathlena means they sit quietly and "read" books to themselves either because they remember the story or they "read" the pictures. Andrew has an amazing memory. In this video he is "reading" from memory a book that he has only heard twice. Andrew and Kathlena lOVE books! Andrew loves having his older brother and sister reading to him and wants to do the same for his little sister. It is so sweet...he also likes to work with her on her numbers and letters. Mommy and Daddy also read volumes of books to all four kids so, it would be hard not to have a love for reading living in the Shiflet household. When it is not so hot outside we take our reading time to the yard so even Chase, our dog will curl up next to us and "listen" to our stories. :)