Curious George: Kidnap Victim, Prison Escapee, Smoker

School started before 8 today, and somehow we still managed to not be done until about 2:30. Our daily calendar and weather discussion took longer than normal because, of course, this is the first of the month. Fall is in the air! I'm so excited, because I absolutely LOVE fall. It is definitely my favorite season. I had the kids change all the numbers on the calendar, and used it as a bit of a math lesson by handing them the numbers in random order and having them calculate where the dates would land. 

Our History Activity today was actually more about geography. The boys had to create their own globe, using labels for the continents and oceans, and a large ball. The boys had a great time with the challenge, and I am so glad to see the emphasis on hands on activities involving geography. 

Here they are building their own globe:

And checking their work against the "real" globe.

 Don't they look studious? Don't be fooled. Immediately after this project was completed they hurled the ball across the playroom and erupted into giggles at the sight of all their labels flying off the ball and scattering all over. There's no doubt that was their favorite part of the morning. *sigh*

Okay. Moving on. Remember the huge supply of free books we got? One of the books happened to be an old copy of Curious George. I used to love Curious George when I was younger, so at nap time today I was excited to read it to the Littles. Imagine my shock to find that this is not the nicest book. The copyright was 1940-something. The story starts with a sweet little monkey being kidnapped from the jungle. He's then taken to the city and given a pipe to smoke. Then, he's left alone, free to roam about an apartment and accidentally dials the fire department---apparently a criminal act that lands him in jail. He then breaks out of jail, steals a huge bunch of balloons, causes a major traffic jam and finally ends up in the zoo, which is pictured to be much better than his home in the jungle. So, maybe I'm overreacting, (although I never do that, so I don't know why I would start now!) but really? Who thought this was an appropriate story for small children?! 

Alright. That's all. I'm hoping I'll be able to sleep all night without being awakened by crying children having bad dreams about a man in a yellow hat.  Good Night!