Girl's Book Club

 

 

I am so excited! I finally started a Girl's book club!!  Joshua has been in on for four years now and the girls have finally gotten to an age and reading ability that I was ready to start one with them.

 

 If you want to start one it is fairly easy to do. I put the word out that I was looking for 9-10 other families, with girls ages 10-12, siblings okay. Once I had enough girls I set up a meeting this summer and asked the girls and moms to come with 3 book choices. At the meeting each mom/daughter picked a month to host and which book they wanted the group to read. We meet the 2nd Wednesday of each month from 1-3. The host serves lunch to the girls, trying to relate it to the book if possible. Then we of course have a book discussion based on a paper they each complete ahead of time which goes over the characters, setting, plot, theme etc. Then any other discussion or activity they might have and then an activity relating to the book. We have a wide range of books and that was my goal, not just literary greats. The really only ground rule we have is that you are welcome to sit out a month if you don't want to read a book but I don't think that will be an issue but it is there if needed.

 

So today was our first meeting and we were hosting. Savannah, Alexa and Jocelyn are all participating.  We picked From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, it was a fun book to read. I did it as a read aloud with my girls and used it as our reading. I found comprehension questions and activities that I had them complete each day.



The girls arrived all excited and a bit nervous. We started with lunch, grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup and cheese crackers. In the story Claudia and Jamie ate at museum cafeteria and they took crackers to bed with them. For dessert we of course had to have hot fudge sundaes because it was always Claudia's treat that she saved for. I saved the sundaes till the end, no need to sugar them up before the book discussion! HA!

 

We had a good book discussion for being the first one. We also went over how things would go and talked about how they might not like every book but it will expose them to a wide range of books and they can still discuss them respectfully and share why they liked or didn't like a particular book.  For our activity the girls got to decorate the file folder that I gave them all their papers in and they each got to make their own angel, from white sculpy clay. This was a major part of the mystery in the book. At the end they were all super excited to make their own hot fudge sundaes. Overall I think it went pretty well and am looking forward to this year. Now I am done hosting and just get to enjoy the rest of the year reading the books with my girls! That is a plus to going first and getting it done. :)

 

 

 

 

Each girl needed to get a 3 ring binder with a plastic cover. On the front cover is a picture of each girl and on the back cover I made this sheet with a picture of each of the books we are reading this year.

2nd Week of November

This month Joshua and I hosted book club so I have lots of pictures from that and none of Keeper's. For Keeper's they went on a tour of a bike shop and learned about bike safety.

Our book this month was:

We also happened to meet on Veteran's Day which was really neat and just a total coincidence.  We all picked the books and the months we wanted to teach over the summer and I did not realize our meeting would fall on Veteran's Day.

Book club meets from 1-4pm.  There are nine families and a total of 14 boys that participate.
The host serves lunch, engages the boys in a discussion about the book and then usually has an activity for the boys to do.
For lunch we made potato pancakes and beans and weenies....typical depression era food.  Then I wasn't able to get MRE's so I did get a couple of freeze dried foods for the boys to try.

The boys all said they really liked this book.  Of course what boy wouldn't with war and travel and weapons.  :)  We discussed the book and their story chart and then even gave background info on Veteran's day. It was a really good discussion and the boys seemed engaged.  For the activities after wards the boys made dog tags and wrote a letter to a Veteran.

We still had some time left because 3 hrs is a LONG time.  HA!  5 memebers of Joshua's First Lego League team are in book club so they took some time to give their presentation to the other boys.

Since the girls were at Keeper's and Joshua had book club.  I invited Jadon's friend, Bodie to come hang out with him and stay the night.  Bodie's sister is in Keeper's and his brother is in book club.  So my girls went and stayed the night with his sister.  Jadon had been so excited about this sleep over!  They made PB&J sandwiches all by themselves.  They both love to be in their jammies so by 5:45 they asked to put them on.

I was just in the kitchen and they asked if they could watch a show on the tablet.  I checked on them at 6:20 and this is what I found:

Oh my!  Jadon was passed out.  I couldn't even wake him up.  He ended up sleeping through the night.  Bodie watched a movie and then Joshua played with him some.  LOL  Easiest sleepover ever!

They at least woke up early and had time to play.  We arranged the sleepover during the week only because this family is here visiting for a short time before being back up in Idaho for a long time.


Also, the next day was Science co-op and Sherrie was teaching/hosting.  The next two chapter we have been studying in anatomy were nutrition and all about the lungs. Sherrie provided a nutritious lunch with each food serving a purpose and learning point.  Then they did a couple of activities and then we all went for a hike to give our lungs a work out.

2nd Week of the month

Co-op is on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month.  So Keepers and book club is on the 2nd Wednesday of the month in the afternoon and Anatomy co-op is on the 2nd Thursday of the month in the afternoon as well. 

This month for Keeper's the girls went on a tour of our local library.  I was probably looking more forward to it than them.  If I had to get a job outside of the home I would want to work in a library and do children's story hour.  Ha!  After the tour was over they did like it.  We all got to even see how books are checked back in to the library.

I just dropped Joshua off at book club this month and I went with the girls so no pictures of him.  His book for this month was Maniac Magee.  I made him read this one all on his own. He told me it was an okay book but not his favorite. I told him that is part of book club, to read all types of books and it is okay to not like them all. However the mom who was hosting had a lot of fun activities planned and he really enjoyed them.

Pictures from our library tour:

I tried to get a couple of pictures for Science co-op.  This month we completed chapters 3 and 4 (we still have a little bit of work to do).  These chapters included studying the muscles and the digestive system.  The mom who hosts co-op for the month is responsible for coming up with the activities.  We usually put the kids into 3 or 4 groups and they rotate "stations".  Each one of us moms will teach or lead the activity at a station. This month the kids practiced using and naming certain muscle groups, they labeled and colored the digestive system and had to creatively make their own digestive system using the materials they were given.  One of the families in our group is my friend who has moved away.  It was very strange not having them there.  However, we are very excited knowing they will actually be back next month for a visit.  : )

September Boys Book Club

I love book club and this is Joshua's second year participating in it.   Last year a mom started a book club for boys ages 10-13.  There are nine families some with siblings so about 14 boys.  Over the summer we moms each picked a book and which month we wanted to teach (book club runs September-May).  The boys meet once a month rotating houses based on whose book it is.  

The boys have the month to read the book.  Then during book club they usually eat a lunch together, discuss the book and share their story map.  They also concentrate on learning a literary element and there is usually an activity for them to do.  Last year we chose a series to read, which took six of the nine months. It was The Kingdom series by Chuck Black.  The boys loved it however, this year we wanted more of a variety.

The book for September was The Lottery Rose.  We really liked it. I was just going to read the first chapter with Joshua but then got hooked so we read the book together and even Savannah joined in.  This book was an easy read but tackled some difficult topics, mainly child abuse.  It led to some great discussions!

The girls' Keepers Club usually meets the same time as book club so I just drop Joshua off most times. However, I was able to stay today.  It was a wonderful afternoon.  Our hostess served the kids canned beans and bologna sandwiches which is something the main character probably ate.  They had a great book discussion and then the boys put together some Christmas ornaments.  

There is a big mass adoption day coming up for 50 families and these families will be given baskets filled with goodies. Not the best picture but the verse is Isaiah 40:31.  My friend had an extra one we were able to keep so we can put it on our tree as a reminder. 

Our hostess was even able to set up a field trip that is coming up for the boys to meet and talk with a judge who deals with child abuse cases.  I think it will be a good experience for them.

Our book for October is Maniac Magee.