No name

Twenty-two stories of the natural but strange and fascinating behavior of various birds. The text covers ostriches, hummingbirds, kiwis, loons, peacocks, emperor penguins, woodpeckers and much more. The text is somewhat lengthy (approx. 12-20 lines per page), but in fairly large print and at a fairly easy reading level. My children find this book completely fascinating. Part of the "Step-Up" series which includes "Meet George Washington" et al.

Miguel Pro (1891-1927) was a young priest in Mexico during the persecution of the Church in the 1920s. He used interesting disguises to slip past authorities in order to celebrate Mass in secret and otherwise minister to his people. He fearlessly continued such dangerous missions despite health problems and eventually was arrested and martyred for his faith.The reader will learn a lot about the politics, culture and religion of his time. Also included in the book are a number of black and white photos of Blessed Miguel Pro - including several of him in disguise and those taken at his execution and his funeral. The government allowed photographers to be present at the execution in order to make an example of the martyr, but later tried to prevent their release. The appendix includes prayers and poems written by Blessed Miguel Pro, a novena and chaplet composed in his honor, and ideas for a celebration for his Feast Day, November 23.

www.blokus.com

Blokus is more than just the most awarded game in recent history; it has almost become a phenomenon. A visit to the company website will quickly convince you how popular this game has become; international tournaments, online demonstrations, interactive Internet-based games, and even a free lost-part replacement service are just some of the features. After playing the game for several months, we are convinced that these awards are well-deserved!

Blokus is a strategy game in which a player attempts to place 21 differently- shaped pieces in one of four colors. The pieces are similar to those in a set of Pentominoes, ranging in size from 1 block to 5 blocks in varying regular shapes. The pieces can be rotated or flipped to help in placing them on the board. Pieces lock into the base grid, helping to preserve the developing game board as new pieces are laid. The winner is the player who has the fewest number of blocks left to place. A new player can learn to play literally in a minute or less. He can continue to play without mastering the game for weeks. Despite our experience with strategy games, and our desire to find "the" answer, we haven't yet found a consistent strategy that always wins. Numerous variations to the rules are available both in the box and on the Internet. It is possible to play solo, but we found it more enjoyable to play against another player.

In our homeschool, we place a high priority on critical thinking and logical analysis skills. I prefer to vary our curriculum from a book-oriented basis to a hands-on approach from term to term. Last term, I decided to focus on strategy games, and Blokus was our first-choice favorite! Even my 3-year-old became addicted to the game, despite the development of his own set of rules. Blokus is very appealing to a visual and/or spatially-oriented student, but is also exceptionally helpful in developing these skills in those of us not blessed with them naturally. In an educational setting, Blokus can also serve as a concrete example of rotations and transformations as well as an enjoyable addition to a geometry curriculum while remaining just plain fun.

The Bob Books and subsequent titles (five sets of small reading booklets in all) are sets of very small, stapled booklets with black and white line drawings and colorful covers, which contain very simple stories. They are approximately $15 per set (although I've seen them at Sam's Club and Half-Price books for less). Each set comes in a colorful box with two little cardboard finger puppets and a cardboard puppet theatre. Although the booklets can hold up pretty well through several children (if you keep them from the little ones, since each book is generally read only once), the puppet theatre and finger puppets, and even the box, will probably not survive long in a busy homeschool family. Although I hesitated for quite awhile to purchase these books because I prefer stories with more beautiful pictures and more meaningful text, I have, in the end, found these books to be quite useful tools in teaching and encouraging reading and motivating children through some of the more tedious stages of getting comfortable with reading. They also fill a need. If you look at early readers at the public library, you will be hard pressed to find anything (except perhaps a bit of Dr. Seuss, who I don't care for all that much) that starts out at such a simple level.