A Series of Unfortunate Events

My husband recently started reading this series of books by Lemony Snicket to the boys. They are very much enjoying it. It is good bonding time with dad. But here is why I am recommending these books. I believe they are written at an upper elementary level. The books are written in a very unique way. The author chose to use a lot of intense vocabulary. Then, he takes the large words and explains exactly what they mean in the context. The books are like one big vocabulary lesson that the kids enjoy immensely. I am trying to figure out how I can make a curriculum out of this. Maybe a lapbook is in order. Although our first attempt at a lapbook didn't go so well. But I think if I only do the lapbook with one at a time it might work better. I will have to contemplate this issue some more.

On a side note, my husband was asking me about a book that he had read as a child. It was not one that I remember reading (and of course now I can't remember the name of it). He was amazed that I hadn't read it or had it read to me. That got me thinking about my childhood. I learned to read at age 4. As my older cousin was learning in school she taught me. I remember reading for endless hours, especially in 5th grade. That was the year Pizza Hut started the BookIt program. A girl in my class and I were in a very heated battle to see who could read more books. I think at some point the teacher got sick of us and stopped keeping track, either that or she just ran out of room on the chart. I also remember some out loud reading time in school occasionally. The thing I do not remember is my parents reading to me. That's not to say they didn't. It's merely saying I do not remember it. Maybe it's because I preferred reading to myself. Maybe because I learned to read at such a young age I can't remember before that.

Simple Solution to a Difficult Problem

About six months ago we were doing a health lesson about bones and calcium. We did some research and learned all about alternatives to milk. Soy, as you may know, is a very popular milk substitute right now. The soy industry is marketing the health benefits of soy very well. One of my children absolutely loved it. And due to the benefits we thought we would get we started consuming soy milk. I generally only had it for breakfast, mixed in a smoothie. I later learned that soy may affect hormones. So after my incident last month, I removed all soy from the house. This month, I did not have a repeat situation. In fact, I overall felt much better. My advice would be to be careful what you believe about health benefits of products. Especially things that say all natural. Natural doesn't automatically mean it's good for you. Plus, a lot of things simply start with a natural ingredient, and then chemically modify it. I digress. I could go on and on about that topic. I will just leave you with this. Listen to your body. Just because something is good for someone else, does not make it good for you. God made us all unique and special, inside and out.