A Year with Frog and Toad

*all photos of the play via the Youth Theatre at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre Facebook page

Less than a month after we saw The House at Pooh Corner at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, we had the opportunity to see A Year with Frog and Toad. 

I have to confess that this was the play I was looking forward to the most, and it didn't disappoint.

The Frog and Toad books are some of my favorite stories from childhood and I had been looking forward to reading them with Jack. Knowing there would be a play to go along with it, made this even better!

I didn't realize that this play was actually a musical, and it was by far my favorite production we saw this year. The kids did such a great job performing, and they really followed the stories in the books.

This was the first book series that I had Jack read aloud to me and he really remembered all of the little stories.

Jack's favorite characters were, of course, Frog and Toad, but he also loved how the character of the Snail was handled. It was a minor character, but she had her own song that continued through the entire performance as she kept showing up to let us know she was still making the effort to deliver the mail to Toad! She was my favorite character too!

We had such a great time and are already looking forward to next school year when performances will include A Wrinkle in Time and A Charlie Brown Christmas!

After the show, we had a chance to meet the cast and take a photo with them. I can't tell you how impressed I was with all of the kids in the show!

Now that our kids are old pros at attending the theater, they expected to go to lunch at Good Dog (like we did after the last play we saw) and then play at Coolidge Park.

Unfortunately the carousel was undergoing maintenance, but the kids still had fun climbing the big magnolia trees and chasing each other.

Before heading home, we decided the weather was perfect for a little cardboard sledding, so we headed over to Cardboard Hill in Renaissance Park and let the kids slide down all sides of this steep hill.

It was such a fun way to spend our school day!

Productions we have had the privilege of seeing performed this year include: Charlotte's Web, The House at Pooh Corner, and A Year with Frog and Toad . We can't wait for next year's line up.

If you've been following along, here are our previous Friend Friday adventures this school year:
August: Coolidge Park
September: Creative Discovery Museum ⎮ Greenway Farms Picnic ⎮ Chattanooga Zoo ⎮ Big Soddy Gulf
October: Reflection Riding Center (Monday Friend Day) ⎮ Charlotte's Web

November: Creative Discovery Museum ⎮ Pioneer Days at Audobon Acres

December: Christmas Cookie Party ⎮ Christmas Cookie and Bird Ornament Party

January: Creative Discovery Museum ⎮ High Point Climbing Day ⎮ Challenger Center
February: Hidden Hills Farm Maple Syrup Day ⎮ Valentine's Party ⎮ The House at Pooh Corner

March: Hidden Hills Tractor Day and Cardboard Sledding (sans friends) ⎮ Cousins Visit the CDM ⎮ Cousins Visit the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum ⎮ Chester Frost (sans friends) 

The House at Pooh Corner

*all photos of the play via the Youth Theatre at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre Facebook page

I have written before about our Friend Fridays and the important role they play in our homeschool. One of the many activities that has fallen on Friend Friday is attending a local children's theater to see performances of some of our favorite children's books.

Back in October we joined friends to see a production of Charlotte's Web – and we all loved it. Then the Children's Theater did a production of Beauty and the Beast that we chose to skip, but our friends enjoyed seeing, and last Friday we had the opportunity to see The House at Pooh Corner with some of these same friends. Next month we hope to see A Year with Frog and Toad – which Jack and I have just started reading together.

The morning of the play, we finished up the book and the stories about Winnie-the-Pooh were still fresh in our minds. Since the book is by an English author, I found myself having to explain more to Jack. There were also more characters to keep up with. I kind of wish we had chosen to listen to an audio version of this book... maybe another time.

While the showing of Charlotte's Web was packed, The House at Pooh Corner was only about two-thirds full when we saw it. The play was cute, but the kid that played Tigger made the play. Isaac and the other little guy in our group thought Tigger was hilarious and they couldn't take their eyes off the stage!

While Charlotte's Web really followed the storyline from the book, I found The House at Pooh Corner blended story lines and left out a lot of (what I thought were) important elements. Either way I don't think the kids noticed and we still had an enjoyable time with our friends.

Afterward, we were able to walk over to Good Dog for hot dogs with one other family. Then we let our kids run wild at Coolidge Park, before ending with a carousel ride. Have I mentioned that we love where we live... and Friend Friday?

I will leave you with one of Pooh's poems/songs from the book since it has been in my head all week:
The more it snows (Tiddely pom),
The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
On snowing.

And nobody knows (Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes (Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes (Tiddely pom),
Are growing. 

 

If you've been following along, here are our previous Friend Friday adventures this school year:

August: Coolidge Park
September: Creative Discovery Museum ⎮ Greenway Farms Picnic ⎮ Chattanooga Zoo ⎮ Big Soddy Gulf
October: Reflection Riding Center (Monday Friend Day) ⎮ Charlotte's Web

November: Creative Discovery Museum ⎮ Pioneer Days at Audobon Acres

December: Christmas Cookie Party ⎮ Christmas Cookie and Bird Ornament Party

January: Creative Discovery Museum ⎮ High Point Climbing Day ⎮ Challenger Center
February: Hidden Hills Farm Maple Syrup Day ⎮ Valentine's Party

Charlotte's Web

If you know me in real life, or have been following this blog for any amount of time, you know that I love to read. Part of my goal in homeschooling is to pass along that love of reading to my children.

*all photos of the play via the Youth Theatre at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre Facebook page

As I prepared for this school year, I looked through the piles of books that Daniel and I still have from when we were kids, and made a list of books I thought would be appropriate to read aloud with Jack throughout the school year.

That preliminary list included: Charlotte's Web, Winnie the Pooh, and Frog and Toad. So imagine my delight when my good friend informed me that the Youth Theatre at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre would be performing all three of these as plays during the 2017-2018 school year. They also performed Beauty and the Beast, but we opted to skip that play due to it's two-hour length.

So our very first experience attending a play for school was a local production of Charlotte's Web. During the two months leading up to the play, I read the book aloud to Jack. Often stopping to make sure he was grasping the story and could tell it back to me (narration) or answer my specific questions.

We finished the last chapter on the morning of the play, then headed downtown to meet our friends for our Friend Friday outing. 

The play only lasted 60 minutes, but hit all the highlights. I only had to step out for a few minutes with Isaac because he was hungry, but even he sat a watched most of the production.

Jack's favorite part was the scene where Wilbur was attempting to run away and he ran wildly across the stage leaving mayhem in his wake. I was really impressed with the set and how closely they stuck to the book, even though they had to leave parts out to fit the allotted time.

My kids surprised me with their ability to sit quietly through a play, and enjoy and understand what was happening on stage. 

Afterward we walked to a Mexican restaurant with our friends. The kids all sat together and the moms sat together and discussed the play and life in general. It was a perfect Friday afternoon.

When we went our separate ways, Jack asked to go to a playground he likes that is downtown. Since it was so beautiful out, we drove across the river to the park. The kids briefly played on the playground equipment before they found some discarded cardboard boxes and took up cardboard sledding instead.

It was the second time for Jack, and this time I rode down with Isaac before he attempted on his own. We had a lot of fun, and are grateful for all that our city has to offer, right down to the grassy hills by a river front that you can sled on year round!

The next play we hope to attend is The House At Pooh Corner. We have started reading that book aloud in anticipation of the play. 

Check back on Fridays to see our weekly outings.
If you're following along, here are our previous Friend Friday adventures this school year: August: Coolidge Park
September: Creative Discovery Museum ⎮ Greenway Farms Picnic ⎮ Chattanooga Zoo ⎮ Big Soddy Gulf Picnic
October: Reflection Riding Center

Update: A couple of months after the play, we noticed that Charlotte's Web was on Netflix, so we watched it for a family movie night. I later quizzed Jack about the story. We discussed the differences in the book, play, and movie. I was surprised at how much he remembered – even obscure things after so much time had passed. I am grateful to be on this learning journey with him and to see first-hand all of the connections he makes and things he remembers.