For school this week we are reading The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell. I have been enjoying reading it aloud to them as I remember the story, having read it myself as a child. Siri, is of course, enraptured by the story. She begs for just one more chapter. Josiah has been slightly less interested, or so it appeared. Today, after our reading, I got out the play dough and asked them to make the Island. I gave some input, reminding them of the descriptions of the different areas. They got really into it. Josiah was recalling all the parts of the story so far and making the wild dogs and the canoes. Then they started to act out the different parts of the story with the characters they had made. It was so fun for me to watch them engage the story...... It is the moments like this that make me LOVE homeschooling!!! I found a great study guide on-line that goes with the story. Here is the link for anyone interested in doing it. http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/islandbluedolph.html
