Wednesday, March 28

There And Back Again

One of my favorite things to do with my family is to snuggle up and read. We enjoy reading reading quite a bit with our history studies, but it can't compare to the pleasure of having Daddy reading in the evenings. Yesterday, Honor dug up our old favorite: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Inside the cover, I had written "read by Daddy on October 8, 9, and 10th of 2004. Wow, that was a long time ago. The boys were the same ages that the girls are now. Honor decided she couldn't wait for Daddy to read it to her. She sat down and read it that night, loving it and laughing out loud.

 
Last year, we read The Hobbit. I had tried reading it to myself when I was twelve, but it didn't appeal to me then. But reading it out loud made it a whole new experience. They aren't easy to work the tongue around, but they are worth the effort. This year, Chris is reading The Fellowship of the Ring. We went ahead and bought the The Lord of the Rings Trilogy so that we never have to wait a whole two days for shipping. Of course, now that I hunt for it, the price is down to $10, less than half what we paid for it.

Though we are halfway through Fellowship of the Ring, I recently ran across this FREE Lord of the Rings Unit Study that I think I might try to incorporate into our daytime lessons somehow.


I also found this amazing site, which has guides for each book for sale and some great FREE content if you keep scrolling down the page.


This site lets you generate your own new hobbit name. My new name is Marygold Sandybanks. Not bad. I would LOVE to hear what name it gives you! Please share in the comments.

And if you have an especially obsessive student, this site helps you learn to speak and write Elvish!


I don't want to suck all of the fun out of this magical family time, so I need to be careful not to overwhelm them with busy-work nor take something exciting and turn it dry as dust with review. Do you have any recommendations for incorporating some fun learning explorations into a Lord of the Rings study?
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12 comments:

T.J. said...

I don;t have any LOTR tips, but it is so cool that you are doing it! We have started to Ralph S Mouse series here because someone- BEAR!! is obsessed with motorcycles.

R.C. said...

Ah, how sweet. Love the photos.

My hobbit name is Goldie Bracegirdle. I hesitate to share that.

Jenn said...

T.J. I remember the kids loving Ralph S. Mouse, but I never read it. Perhaps I should pick it up to share with my youngest before she has a chance to discover it on her own.

Rose, I LOVE the name. Bracegirdle. What could that even mean? I hesitate to think about that. :D

Folky Dots said...

Pansy Loamsdown of Deepshallow

Jenn said...

Ha! Sweet Pansy, you come from an ambiguous town.

Anonymous said...

You're gonna love this... My hobbit name is Azaelia Danderfluff of Willowbottom, LOL. figures...

I love LOTR, we have the risk game, monopoly, and chess (ok, Christian does). I don't have any creative ideas...if I think of something I will let you know, maybe Christian does.

P.S. I read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing to my kids too :)

Andrea said...

I'm Rosie-Posie Bramble of Willowbottom. Nice to meet'cha! LOL

I'm not a LOTR fan, so I don't have any creative ideas regarding it.

I'm getting ready to start reading the Henry Huggins/Beezus/Ramona stuff to Jackson. I LOVED those when I was younger. :)

Kate said...

Esmerelda Gamwich of the Bree Gamwiches is my name. LOL

I have been reading LOTR to the children for months. I love that special time together!

The only things I do (that have utterly nothing to do with studying the book) is provide tea and sometimes cookies and cake to go with it. :D

I am one that just wants to enjoy this wonderful book and not study it. I am weird that way. :D

Kate

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

Good to meet ya Miss Marygold Sandybanks I'm Belladonna Sandybanks of Frogmorton.

At least it was consistent with our last names. :o)

Daddy's and their little girls...priceless pictures sweetie.

Have yourself a blissfully blessed day. :o)

(I've got my book critique post up)

Jenn said...

Christy - Danderfluff. I love it. And I KNEW you had good taste!

Andrea - That's two Willowbottoms. Fun! As for not liking the books, well, I still love ya. The girls and I read Ramona last year, but we never did watch the movie. We're having a girls night tonight though, so maybe I should pick that up.

Kate - Your name makes me want a sandwich. lol. Isn't it an amazing reading time? I don't think it's weird at all to not over-study it. Any extras I add in, I want very much for them to NOT KNOW they're studying it. That would take all the fun out of it.

Mom - It's a good name to share. :D

Jessica said...

my hobbit name is Ruby Loamsdown of Deephallow and my elven name is Nessa Carnesîr. :)

Jenn said...

Aw, see, I would totally name my daughters Ruby & Nessa. Those are sweet names!

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