Happy Friday!
(I'm also just super excited to have the dust off of this ol' blog and I'll take any excuse to post something! Obviously I haven't used this platform since becoming a homeschool mom! The last posts were from 2017, I think. I have some updating to do!)
World Braille Day is celebrated every year on January 4 to celebrate the birthday of the man who invented Braille as we know it, Louis Braille.
We read the picture book Six Dots by Jen Bryant and it was excellent! This fictional representation of young Louis' life was a great way to connect with him emotionally, share in his struggle, and ultimately celebrate with him as he accomplished his goal of creating an easy system for blind people to read. I loved this book and had to purchase it for our home library. I can't wait to revisit it in the years to come. There is even a pronunciation guide in the front for the several French phrases the author includes
Louis is a wonderful example of determination and did not want to be pitied after an accident in his father's shop caused him to go blind by the age of five. He left his comfortable and loving home to spend years in a sterile school for the blind in Paris just to have the opportunity to read. He wasn't happy with the slim options available to him at the time so he set out to create his own. He spent many years trying to perfect his system and finally accomplished his goal at the age of just 15!
I found some free Braille printables on TpT and we used them to write our names in Braille by gluing jewels on to the blank template.
I just can't tell you how much I love celebrating these national and world days. They bring such a deeper level of interest and wonder to our regular routine and curriculum and I get so excited to learn new things right alongside the boys! This past week we also celebrated National Bird Day, National Bean Day, and National Drinking Straw Day!
January is full of fun ones! It will be an exciting month!
