recent forays into the quest for knowledge

The other day Lauren and I went to the library to get some of the picture books I want to read for our history studies. We picked up a bunch of marine biology and ocean books for Josh who has been devouring them. He took the book Awesome Ocean Science:Investigation the Scerets of the Underwater World by Cindy A. Littlefield to bed with him the other night. Yesterday morning he told me how much he is enjoying it and wanted to do some of the experiments in it. When Lauren and I returned from getting her haircut he asked if we could do some of the experiments from the book so he gathered the various materials needed and we had a great time trying out a few of the things from the book. We did this for an hour or so. He told me that he had read one of the picture books I had found for him at the library and loved it. The title is Dog of the Sea Waves by James Rumford. It is a fictional account of the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands and the friendship between a seal and a young boy. I remembered that I had gotten another book about the same five brothers who are in this book by the same author so I read that one to him. It is called The Island below the Stars. He thought the first book was better but enjoyed this one also. This book is also based on the discovery of the islands. He told me that I should read the first one since it was better and he had read that one to himself. I had to laugh because after I had retrieved the book from our library shelf and sat down to start reading he asked what I was doing. I told him I was taking his advice and was going to read the book. He looked at me and said, "Mom, I wanted you to read it aloud to me too." LOL

While helping me gather books at the library the other day, Lauren noticed that I had gotten a book on Rachel Carson for Josh. She asked about who she was and I explained she was a marine biologist and one of the first leading environmental advocats. She was intrigued so ended up getting a biography of her for herself. After the experiments and while I was reading to Josh the books on the Hawaiian Islands Lauren was reading the biography of Carson she had taken out. Josh asked for the book I had taken out for him on Carson titled Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson by Amy Ehrlich which he read to himself. He then asked for the book we have Girls Who Looked Under Rocks by Jeannine Atkins. He remembered me telling him there is a short story about Carson in this book. Boy was it quiet while all this silent reading was going on! LOL

Josh has been asking me each night to read a chapter from Carry On Mr Bowditch. We only have two more chapters till we finish the book and he pleaded with me last night can we PLEASE finish it this morning! It is a great book so this morning we'll be reading.

You may notice that alot of the books I have mentioned are children's picture (illustrated) books. Many people frown on letting older children read these. I think that they are such an important part of our studies that I'm the one that searches them out to read to Josh. These books are written within the structure of fewer words. They guarantee that you will learn a tremendous amount of information within this structure. They are definitely NOT just for little kids. The best ones are the ones that hold adults interest as well. It is an inviting and interesting way to learn about many different topics. We round these out with other books but I will always rely on the beauty of the picture book for reading also.