How it Happens
Inevitably the best homeschooling moments are not the ones I plan, but the ones that just fall into place. Monday morning was a perfect example. After our Monday chores of getting bathrooms cleaned (yes, the entourage helps with this; even Goose contributes to scrubbing the tub now), I wanted some fresh air and the entourage wanted a snack. Despite the pouring rain, I solved both our problems by popping a large bowl of popcorn and heading to the front porch to snack and watch the rain. There the conversations began:

• Why does God send rain? So the plants' roots cans suck up the water. When we finally had a sunny day later in the week and weeded the garden, Zoe pulled one up and exclaimed, "Look! That's the part that sucks up water!" 
• Where does rain come from? When the clouds get too full of water, it falls out.
• What things will keep you dry in the rain? Rainboots, raincoats, umbrellas, . . .
• What color is rain? Hmm...
• What sound does it make? "Dibble dibble dopp dopp dopp" (credit to Dr. Seuss)
• What shape are raindrops? To answer this one I grabbed a sheet of construction paper and we caught a bunch of raindrops to see their splatters.
• How many raindrops are there? "Too many!" This last one reminded me of our rhyming counting book, Raindrop Plop, which I retrieved from the shelf inside and we had a front porch storytime. During this reading we noticed details like the worms crawling out of the ground (a few days earlier we had been on a walk and noticed the dead worms who didn't make it back to the dirt, and had a brief preschool-level discussion about death). Of course, reading a counting book inspired them to start counting other things (bushes, trees, cars, etc.).

By my accounting this conversation covered theology, science, life skills, math, and language arts. Eventually we ran out of popcorn and got tired of sitting on the concrete (I see a front porch bench purchase in our future), so we headed inside to find other ways to amuse ourselves. 

Of course, that wasn't the only happenstance learning opportunity of the week. The other one that really stands out occurred later in the week when the entourage had sardines for lunch (Thanks, Granddad. Monkey and Bug have been requesting "little fishes like we ate with Granddad" for weeks and I finally gave in.) Bug's question about whether fish have bones inspired me to pull out the little spines for inspection. Monkey wanted to touch them; Bug just wanted to look. I showed them how to feel each other's spines too, which they thought was pretty cool. They also discussed what parts of the fish were missing (heads, tails, etc.).

Best Buddies
Well, the buddy isn't new (LA from next door), but Goose's recognition of her as someone special certainly is. She can even say an approximation of LA's name, which is more than she does for Monkey and Bug whom she refers to collectively as "my sissies." On our mornig spent outside, Goose insistently repeated LA's name until I went with her so she could gleefully ring the bell and invite LA to play. "Come, [LA]!" The two of them spent a long time chasing each other around with baby doll strollers, while Monkey and Bug retreated inside to play a game that was easier without Goose around. Our visit to the neighborhood pool with Miss N and LA at the end of the week was met with equal enthusiasm by Goose. She was being very hesitant about the pool (just splashing her toes in) until LA appeared, and suddenly she was jumping in with gusto and wanting to "shwim! shwim!" Frequently pausing to yell for LA and play with her too. Miss N was even kind enough to hold both of them in the pool for awhile, which thrilled them and gave me a chance to play more with Monkey and Bug. I even got them to jump too.

Chapter Books
I have fond memories of my parents reading aloud from the Chronicles of Narnia when I was a kid, and I've always thought I'd love for that to be something the entourage and I did too. I actually tried picking up the Narnia books to read to them several months ago. I figured it was early but worth a shot. True to suspicions they weren't into it, and I figured someday I'd try again. Well, we didn't start with Narnia, but we are now reading a chapter book together. I recently read The Invention of Hugo Cabret and during quiet time one afternoon this week Bug found the book. As soon as quiet time was done she came bounding down the stairs demanding that I read it too her. Jos took a peek at the book and was equally enthusiastic. Over the course of the afternoon/evening we got through 200 pages, and they were disappointed when I insisted we quit for the night and go to bed. Based on the conversations I've heard while they flip through the book on their own, I think they really are following at least the basics of the plot. Even Goose has spent a good bit of time snuggled on the couch with us listening and looking at the pictures. Daddy and I discussed that we need to acquire some illustrated classics to jump into next.

Superheroes
The other books Monkey and Bug discovered this week were Daddy's Marvel and DC Comics encyclopedias. They spent a long time one day spread out on the floor with these massive, colorful books admiring the characters' features and speculating about who were bad guys and good guys and who would win various match ups. I decided to follow up on their interest by introducing them to actual storylines. I opted to go retro (simple graphics and storylines, minimal violence, clear black-and-white morals, and plenty of melodrama to get into) and discovered to everyone's delight that Netflix has the original 1940s episodes of Superman available for streaming. Watching the entourage watch Superman is highly entertaining to say the least. They wait with great anticipation ("Where's Superman? Where's Superman?"), and all three of them cheer when Lois Lane gets rescued and the bad guy goes to jail at the end of every episode. For some reason they know who Spiderman is and desperately wanted to watch a TV about him. As expected, even the original 1960s versions proved too angsty and complex for the preschool set. For the time being, we'll stick with the man who "fights for truth, justice, and the American way."

Library Day
Library day didn't actually involve much library this time. This week the library was sponsoring a magic show instead of storytime. The girls were very interested for the first 20 minutes or so  (especially the part where he pulled a live boa constrictor from a previously empty box). But the library was absolutely packed with kids, whom the magician had yelling various magic words and helping him count and cheer, and Monkey and Bug decided they had had quite enough of the crowd and the noise and informed me they were ready to go (Goose was completely unfazed). We made as hasty an exit as possible without stepping on any other children and went home for lunch. Before the show we had managed to pick out three books:
Knuffle Bunny Too
Jabber and Dot and the Mystery of the Missing Stream
How Can You Dance?
Also before the show, we turned in our records for the summer reading program and each girl got to pick a book to keep in addition to a handful of good coupons. (That evening we spent their first coupons and got a free dinner at Taco Bell. They were very excited about paying their own way.) The books they picked were:
Rosie's Walk
Charlie Needs a Cloak
Mudge Takes a Bath