The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan Coloring/Story Book ~ Free Printable

"Once upon a time there was a Pussy-cat called Ribby,

who invited a little dog called Duchess, to tea..."

~ The Tale of the Pie and the Patty Pan by Beatrix Potter

Welcome to our spring 2017 edition of Fun Friday with Beatrix Potter featuring The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan! In this particular story, Beatrix Potter included some black and white illustrations among the colored pictures in her sweet book. We have gleaned her original black and white drawings for our coloring book and embellished the blank areas with additional graphics to make it more enjoyable. If you haven't yet read this story, here is a fun way to as it is included in its entirety in our printable!

For instance, this original drawing of Duchess and Ribby is from Beatrix herself (we are now on a first name basis). I simply added the garland and patty-pan for extra coloring fun. 

On the first page, we have the original drawing of Ribby writing out her invitation. I included a pot of geraniums on the same page as I noticed some potted ones in the background. This is why I call it a bit of an "embellished" coloring book. I used some clip art from The Graphics Fairy and a few from the public domain for this project. 

The story can also be printed in booklet form (side by side) and made into a little story booklet. This can be done by clicking "print" from our download menu. Look for the area that says "print using system dialog". Most printers offer a printer setting for "booklets". Choose that option and simply print out the book. You can sew a straight line across the middle of the book with a sewing machine to bind it. You can also staple it or use a hole punch and so forth.

Note: In the picture, I folded the booklet in half and then sewed the spine. However, after the fact I realized I should have kept the pages as is and sewed across the middle of the printable prior to folding. This would achieve a true book look. I don't know what I was thinking?! So, do as I say on this one but not as I do :)

Beatrix Potter stories are perfect for spring! Pour yourself and the little ones in your life a nice pot of English tea, turn on some quaint cottage music and have some nurturing coloring time together (or even by yourself for those whimsical quiet moments).  I hope you enjoy this little printable in one way or another! If you do end up using it, please tell me what you did with it! Did you color it by yourself or share a page with a little Potter fan? Did you make up little spring gift bags of goodies and include this with a quality set of colored pencils? Do share! 

You will find our free printable coloring/storybook HERE! Happy spring!

All the fine print. This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays,  Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, Awesome Life Friday Link Up and Create, Bake, Grow & Gather. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. This post may contain affiliate links (which are merchant links that help to support this site at no additional cost to you if you purchase an item through them). 

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Playtime without Toys and Electronics/Creating a Home Library

If someone was to ask which toy was a favorite in our home, I would be at a loss for words. Besides the basic basket of blocks, Lego's, plastic dishes and baby dolls, we had never purchased any "toys", nor do we own any forms of electronic entertainment (besides a DVD player for a weekend family movie).  The most interesting and best part is that boredom was and never is an issue.

The truth is, our "toys" were our books! Books were the cause and beginning of everything! They sent our child in search of hidden treasures in the back yard, foraging for medicinal herbs in the garden or engaged them in raising children of their own on the child sized rocker. Books fed the imagination and birthed all the playtime scenarios in our home.

"A fondness for reading, properly directed, must be an education in itself."

~ Jane Austen, Excerpt from Mansfield Park

This love of books starts in the lap of the reading parent. Besides the special time cuddling on the couch together, books are the tool for presenting the world to your little ones within the safe confines of your cozy home. Here is where they will learn that plants and animals were created by God (science), that certain parts of the world are covered with ice while other areas are full of sand (geography), that children of yesteryear spent most of their time in helping the family survive (history) and most importantly (if carefully chosen), books are also character building.

"A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting."

~ Henry David Thoreau

A home library can be created for pennies. Used books are often for sale at your local library, Goodwill, Salvation Army Stores and yard sales (starting as low as a quarter!). Our family would spend an hour every available Saturday loading up on these gems. Five dollars later we had a box of education and entertainment packed inside hardcover and paperback volumes. How quickly and inexpensively our home library grew!

If there are specific titles that you want to purchase, Ebay.com is a wonderful place to find discounted books. Amazon is also wonderful for instant gratification and the free shipping incentive is worthy of attention (here are some of our favorite picture books). The best part about the home library is that you have hand selected (and read) each title and know that everything it contains is safe for those little souls!

"Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all."

~ Henry David Thoreau

You will begin to notice a pattern when you see your child perusing the bookshelves. It all begins with the turning of the pages, a study of the illustrations and attention is paid to every detail they could muster up. Within the next few minutes, you will see they are dressed peculiarly, they are on a mission and about to forge their own trails. Today, they are Sacajawea, Daniel Boone or Paul Revere...

What will they be tomorrow?

What will they be in the future?

That all depends on what your home library encourages...

"I am a part of everything that I have read."

~ Theodore Roosevelt

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

~ Philipians 4:8

"If we encounter a man of rare intellect,

we should ask him what books he reads."

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Roses of Inspiration, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Coffee and Conversation, So Much at Home, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Hearts for Home Thursdays, Home Acre Hop, Growing in Grace Thursdays, From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these.  The illustrations are all by the talented Ms. Jessie Wilcox Smith.

"The Calendar" Cursive & Printing Practice Coloring Book ~ Free Printable

"Secure that the child begins by making perfect letters and is never allowed to make faulty ones, and the rest he will do for himself; as for 'a good hand,' do not hurry him; his 'handwriting' will come by-and-by out of the character that is in him…"

~ Charlotte Mason, Victorian Era Educator

Here is another set of "Monthly Printables" from our Kate Greenaway Collection that we are sharing this week. We have prepared some cursive and printing practice coloring books for your sweet scholars. It is in the basic format of "J is for January", etc. The bonus is the pages can be colored in as well.

In a Charlotte Mason education, the young student would be encouraged to copy one sentence perfectly for the day (which would increase somewhat as they mature). Short but quality lesson time is key.

We never purchased expensive curriculum when learning to print but copied out short Bible verses, little poems and anything else of that nature. These sheets are nice for the beginner. We posted a copywork booklet using "The Months" poem here that your older students would benefit from.

Today we are sharing two separate printable coloring books. One is for learning to print while the other is for practicing cursive. Simply download and/or print from our links. These booklets would also compliment our "Teaching the Calendar" Unit Study.

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Roses of Inspiration, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays,  Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, From the Farm Blog Hop, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Five Star Frou Frou Friday, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these.  Black and White drawings are by the lovely Kate Greenaway.

"The Months" Copywork and Coloring Booklet ~ Free Printable

This copywork printable is a sweet way to teach the calendar, promote language art skills, poetry, art and penmanship in your homeschool. Featuring our favorite black and white monthly drawings by Kate Greenaway, your children may also enjoy coloring each regency inspired page featuring past-time play.

These sheets will compliment our "Teaching the Calendar" Unit Study. And, if you are new to the benefits of copywork in your homeschool, I invite you to visit here for some explanation. It is such a burden-less way to teach language arts!

Each page features a seasonal drawing and two corresponding lines of poetry from "The Months" by Sara Coleridge (1802-1852). Perhaps this booklet would be useful in your homeschool? You will find our FREE printable HERE.

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Roses of Inspiration, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays,  Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, From the Farm Blog Hop, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Five Star Frou Frou Friday, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these.

Learning to Read with Dick and Jane & Other Helpful Resources

Dick and Jane…

See them run.

See them play.

See child read.

See how easy?

One of the scariest thoughts about homeschooling our first child was, how do I teach her to read? In the beginning, I begged my husband to place our children in a school where they can teach literacy first and then I would step in once the basics were established. He didn't buy into my appeal. He was convicted from birth. I was a bit more hesitant, not trusting my patience level, not trusting my teaching ability, not trusting period.

I began an online search for all the fancy curriculum and phonics programs. However, when I looked at the instructions for these packages, I was already worn out! If I hated to read how to do it, certainly our daughter would be done with it too (If not from pure distaste, then from the frustration she felt from mother while doing the activities). So, back those went… and it became very overwhelming.

The World of Dick and Jane and Friends Treasury

This is when I decided it was time to get back to the basics… What teaching tools were used prior to all the dazzling programs? What came to my mind was the classic alphabet sets and the Dick and Jane books. 

Melissa & Doug Upper & Lower Case Alphabet

We  played with the wooden letters, sounded them out and placed them inside the proper slots. She began to recognize the letters and make the appropriate sounds herself. We casually practiced this for five minutes a day (no pressure for I had learned my lesson here).

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”
 ~ Emilie Buchwald

In the midst of all this, we read *ALL* the time in our home. That was our "curriculum". Books were a way of bonding and teaching at the same time. Because she was exposed to the excitement and fun of books, she developed an interest in wanting to read herself (which I think is the key to all of this).

“Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity

for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for learning to read.” 

 ~ Marilyn Jager Adams

Storybook Treasury of Dick and Jane and Friends

Once our daughter "learned the letters", we brought out the Dick and Jane books. I placed my finger along with the letters, sounded them out and made them into words (nothing professional, I assure you). I asked her if she wanted to try. "See" was the first word she read and it was pure bliss!!!

From that point on, the reading increased as we continued our practice for a few minutes a day (or more when she seemed interested). If she didn't pick it up quickly, I was going to be okay with it. She will in time. And she did… at the age of four!

Note of Caution: Do not be led to believe there is a "normal time" for everyone to read. Some children are 7 while some are 9 (and none are normal!!!). Reading books by Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore will help to release you from the "ideal age" thinking in your homeschool and free you from unnecessary pressure.

Sunken Treasure Adventure ~ Phonics Beginning Blends Game

The next challenge came with the blending words. For some reason, to say "rat" was easy but not "drat". She couldn't understand how to blend the consonants. This is when resource number three came to the rescue (a blending board game). It was remarkable and achieved in one sitting what I had been working on in one month!

Sight Words Bingo

The last obstacle was the "sight words". Many she knew since we read together so often but there were some issues. We sought another game since we had success with the last one. Sight Words Bingo was the easy solution.

And the rest is history. Her vocabulary grew and pronunciation of the longer words increased. We continued to read together every day but also appreciated the help of audiobooks. I had her read along with the tapes so that she knew how the harder words sounded. This was a priceless tool in our homeschool and is still used to this day (It also gives mother a chance to catch up on housework).

Between alphabet puzzles, classic books and fun games, we were able to accomplish the task which I had "dreaded with all my heart"! Perhaps this little post can ease your mind a bit. Sometimes the answer in home education is simply to simplify.

In fact, she took to reading so much that I caught her in the shower with a Bobbsey Twins chapter book (she was 5 years old)! I did a "s.w.a.t" style invasion because her showers became excessively long. I knew something "sinister" was occurring. How does one read while showering you may ask? That will be saved for another time, another day…

“The end of all learning is to know God,

and out of that knowledge to love and imitate Him.” 

~ John Milton