Tapestry of Grace this week

Lately, I've been asked how exactly TOG (see side link) keeps everyone on the same topic. Maybe it will be helpful to see a glimpse into our history and literature studies of the week. Arielle and Nolan are in 2nd and 1st grade. Jared is in 6th grade. Jamin and Josiah are in 9th and 11th grade. (OK I can't get the cute little pictures to upload but they look great on my harddrive. LOL)


Read Legend of Freedom Hill by Linda Jacobs Altman, with Arielle and Nolan yesterday.. The story is set during the CA Gold Rush. It revolves around two little girls living in a mining camp. Both are outsiders one an African American girl and one a Jewish girl. I don’t want to give away too much but they end up hatching a plan to buy the freedom of one girls mother and several other slaves. The art work is great in this book. We loved the drawings of the Sabbath celebration.

Arielle is reading by HERSELF/INDEPENDENTLY Annie Oakley: Young Marksman (Childhood of Famous Americans series) by Ellen Wilson. She’s making steady progress. This is one I added in.


(no picture) Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of the Pony Express, by Conrad Stein I threw this one into our school line up this week. I’ve now been asked to research more biographies of the pony express (along with the OR Trail journals).

(no picture) Cornerstones of Freedom The Story of the CA Gold Rush


(picture won't upload) This was another big hit with all my kids (yep even the high schoolers). Voices of the Alamo by Sherry Garland follows one plot of land that comes to be known to us as “The Alamo”. She follows it through the years and from various perspectives. We are probably going to buy this book as we’ve lived in San Antonio and know the Alamo well. The little ones don’t remember the Alamo so we are in the process of planning a trip down there since we are finishing up on the Mexican War.

I was scheduled to read Little House in the Big Woods a few weeks back with Arielle and Nolan. The past two weeks have had those little “my first Prairie books” scheduled. They begged me to read the next Little House book so we are reading Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.


While we’ve read these Jared has added a few.

This seems to be well-tolerated by the boys. The Boy in the Alamo by Margaret Cousins. I may get around to reading this to Arielle and Nolan before we go visit the Alamo.


Jared was NOT interested in reading any Little House books but this week I suggested he give The Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder a try. He likes it – or tolerates it…


The two older ones have been reading:

The Mexican War: How the United States Gained Its Western Lands (Proud Heritage – the Hispanic Library_, by Carrie Nichols Cantor.




The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx


Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. This is their final week on this book. Since I knew they were reading some “heavy” stuff I let them read Voices of the Alamo and Boy in the Alamo along with The Mexican War and called it good. We are fairly well versed in this segment of history.

For those who are wondering: No – I did NOT make it through the unabridged version of Les Miserables….maybe when Jared hits rhetoric level. I did get over ½ way so I have a good start.{grin}