Cowboy Charlie

Thing Two and I have been working through Volume 4 of Five in a Row this school year.  Vol. 4 is a bit different than 1 - 3, in that the lessons are a bit more detailed and more lessons to choose from.  Because of this, you plan a book for two weeks.

This year, I have been trying something different, in that I am not planning to far in advance for each title.  I do have a general idea of when I'd like to hit the titles, but other than that, I let Thing Two pick a title on the first Monday and we roll with it. 

His selection of the next book was "Cowboy Charlie" by Jeanette Winter.  The following is from the inside of the dust cover, about the book:

Charlie was a boy with a dream. But not just any dream. Charlie's dream was to go west, to be a cowboy. Charlie's mind couldn't be changed. He held on to his dream as tight as can be. Tha's how it is with dreams - the real ones just don't go away.

Sure enough, pretty soon charlie was on a train heading to Montana - the land of open sky. And the moment that Charlie first saw the frontier, his heart opened as big as the sky above. At last, Charlie was home.

Jeanette Winter's sparkling illustrations and down-to-earth, carefully research story tell the tale of a boy who had a courage to follow his heart - a boy who became the great American painter of the Wild West, Charlie Russell.

Yesterday, he proudly said, "I am going to read the book, because I want to see all the pictures!"  I was impressed with his word attack on unfamiliar words (and not that many at that).  He did well with trying to figure those few out.  I do enjoy listening to him read!

Well, colds have been hitting our house and I wasn't sure what all I would get done.  Fortunately, most of their work is independent and they got to what they could.  Thing Two begged for FIAR today.  So we snuggled up, under blankets, and I got a turn to read the book.  Afterward we listened to a couple different versions of "Home on the Range" and "Buffalo Dusk" by Carl Sandburg.  Having a good internet connection makes quick work of research and some good laughs while listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks sing "Home on the Range"!