schooling memoirs

SOTW Vol 2: Christianity comes to Britain, Chapter 3

2010-09-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

Literature Selection:

Redwall by Brian Jacques

Discussion of Redwall

Discovering Literature Series: Redwall (Challenging Level)

Have Redwall inspired meals through the week(recreate the feast at beginning of Redwall):
you must have The Redwall Cookbook. It is the cutest cookbook ever!!!!

Hot Sweet Mint Tea (black tea, fresh mint, sugar in a teapot) p.21
Shrimp'n'Hotroot Soup p.73
Brockhall Badger Carrot Cakes p.32
Pan seared Fish
Cheerful Churchmouse Cherry Crisp p.35

Hare Pawspring's Vegetable Soup p. 5

honeybaked apples p.19
Summer Strawberry Fizz p.45
Hare's Haversack Crumble p. 61

Mole's Favourite Deeper'N'Ever Turnip'N'Tater Beetroot pie p.53
Stones inna Swamp (bean soup) p.78
October Ale
Golden Hill Pears p.67
Autumn Oat Favorites p.60

Outside'n'Inside Cobbler Riddle p.84
mulled cider

Children's Literature relating to Monasticism:

Barry the Bravest Saint Bernard by Lynn Hall
The last snake in Ireland by Shelia MacGill-Callahan
Marguerite makes a Book by Bruce Robertson
The Holy Twins Benedict and Scholastica by Kathleen Norris
Magic in the Margins by W. Nikola-Lish
Illuminations by Jonathan Hunt
Life in a Medieval Abbey by Tony McAleavy

Discussion of Monasticism (click here for link)

Videos

Redwall, the animated series
The Dark Ages (available via netflix)
Terry Jone's Medieval Lives about Monks and the Church

Hands on Learning

have a day where you keep to a monk's schedule (minus the 2am wake up)
create a mosaic
try your hand at being a scribe with a real quill and ink

Music

Gregorian Chants

Art and Architecture

Science and technology

medieval medicine: wiki article
farming during the middle ages

Have a Monk's Feast (or whatever the opposite of feast is....)

lentil soup
crusty bread
apple cider
cheese
sliced apples and pears
pan sauteed tilapia (or other fish if you want to be more authentic)

Chapter 3: Monasticism Discussion Questions

2010-09-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

What is a monk? A monk was a man (or woman, called nuns) who gave up their own lives to the Catholic Church to perform Opus Dei (Latin for "the work of God"). This included feeding and housing the poor, attending church services, prayer, and caring for the sick and dispossessed. For a monk, prayer was a full-time commitment, every hour of the day was focused upon it. Monks lived in isolation to avoid the distractions of marriage, family, business, and personal pleasure. At first Monks sought out solitary places in the deserts. Eventually, they began to live in isolated groups called Monasteries.
What is an Ascetic life? Monks lived Ascetic lives, that is to say they lived a life of self denial. They rejected all of the comforts of normal lives we take for granted: soft beds, warm, filling meals, comfortable clothes. They slept on uncomfortable beds, wore scratchy clothes, and only ate one sparse meal a day. All to remember Jesus' suffering and to emulate his life. Benedict, an early founder, set down rules for monasteries.
How did one become a monk? some Monks were adult men who came willing to the monasteries after renouncing their past lives. These Monks were called "conversi" (latin for "to convert"). Other times parents would bring their young boys, between the ages of five and seven to give to the monasteries. These young boys were called "oblates" (latin for "offered up"). Oblates grew up in the monastery until they were ordained as full fledged monks. It was thought that oblates would have a deeper loyalty to the monastery because they grew up within its walls. Oblates were well educated by the monastery, however there wasn't much leeway given for boyish mischief.
What did a day in the life of a monk look like?

1:45 am - Wake Up
2:00am - Church service: singing and prayers (Matins)
3:30am - back to sleep
4:00am - church service: singing and prayers (Lauds)
5:00am - private scripture reading and prayer
6:00am - Church service, then breakfast
7:00am - Work
8:00am - Church service: singing and prayers (terce)
9:15am - work
11:45am - Church service: singing and prayers (Sixtus)
12:00pm - Midday meal
1:00pm - Private reading and prayer
1:45pm - sleep
2:45pm - Church service: singing and prayers (Nones)
3:00pm - Work
5:45pm - Meal
6:00pm - Church Service: singing and prayers (Vespers)
7:15pm - Private reading and Prayer
7:45pm - Church service: vespers
8:00pm - Bed

What was a meal like in a monastery? Monks ate meager, plan meals in keeping with their vows of asceticism. Food was not to be enjoyed, but it was necessary for survival. Usually Spartan meals were prepared without the use of spices. Most monks counted on two meals a day during the summer when there was more work to do, and one meal a day during the winter. Monks were restricted to vegetarian meals, unless an illness compelled them to eat red meat.
What other ways did monks practice self denial? monks rarely bathed and did not pay attention to their hygiene. Monks also took a vow of silence. This meant that monks did not speak unless they had business to attend to. They didn't engage in social conversation. Over time, frustration with this rule led monks to develop a complicated sign language in order to communicate with each other.
Why do monks wear a funny hairstyle? It is called a tonsure and it was to symbolize that they had devoted their life to serving God. A type of mark of servitude.
Who was the Leader of the Monks? Each monastery had an abbot, a leader who made decisions about the monastery. Abbots had most of the power in a monastery. He was expected to be fair, and to rule wisely.
What kind of work did Monks do?
Monks farmed the land they owned while singing psalms. Vegetable gardens were the main source of food for the monasteries and the gardens would be quite large. Monks found resourceful ways of irrigating the land and clearing swamps. Monks also invented improvements to farming tools and techniques. Crop rotation was created by monks.
Some monks tended livestock that lived on the monastery grounds. Cows and sheep provided milk and cheeses for the monastery. The monks churned their own butter and made their own cheeses.
Monks provided shelter to travelers, much like an inn. They would provide a place to stay for travelers regardless of social or economic status.
The monastery maintained an infirmary, type of clinic or hospital for the local population. Medical care was rudimentary at the time, but monks had the time to read up on the latest anatomy and bloodletting. Most medicines were herbal in nature. That is why most monasteries had an expansive medicinal garden.
The "Piscator" had the job of fishing rivers and ponds on the monastery property to provide fish for dinner.
"Cellarer" was in charge of all the food and other provisions. He hired and supervised the servants who prepared food.
"granatorious" assisted the cellarer, maintained the grains, was in charge of grinding and selecting grain.
"kitchener" decided how much food the monastery would need for meals.
"refectorian" handled all matters relating to the dining room, keeping it clean, supplied with dishes, napking, serving containers, utensils, and cloth.
Monks were the most literate segment of society. Many Monasteries became learning centers that maintained schools and libraries responsible for furthering the arts and sciences.
"Almoner" aid to the poor
"infirmer" cared for the sick
"guest master" took care of all aspects of housing travelers and guests.
"Scribes" were scholars who valued knowledge and preserved old, fragile greek and roman manuscripts that were crumbling. They copied famous works by hand. Back during these times the only way a book could be produced was for it to be handwritten. There were no printing presses, or computers, or copy machines. The term manuscript, "manu" in latin means "hand", and "script" meaning "writing". Many monasteries contained a room called a scriptorium where scribes sat and worked. Scribes each had quills from swan or geese, ink pots, a small knife for sharpening quills, and a compass used to regulate the spaces between the lines. Monks would at time get bored and write in the margins of their copy work, this has become known as marginalia. Some examples: "Only three fingers are working now", "I can't wait for dinner time", and "my parchament is the roughest in the world".
"Illuminators" drew colorful illustrations for manuscripts. These rare manuscripts commanded high prices, making illuminators a highly valued asset to the monastery. Illuminators learned to create a wide range of decorative motifs from simple enlargement and coloring to decorative vines, to elaborate full-page polychrome depictions of biblical scenes that even included thin leaves of gold.
"Binders" bound the pages of a manuscript into a book. The most common way was to sew the pages together into groups called fascilies. They were then placed in a cover made from wood or heavy leather. They were secured by pounding wooden pegs through the covers and the fascilcles.
Monks became skilled at creating mosaic and stained glass to beautify their churches.
The "Cantor" directed all of the music of the services.
the "sacrist" tended to the chapel itself, the altars, and all religious objects.

History of Monasticism

251 AD Anthony the Hermit (later St. Anthony) in Egypt gives up his possession, including his lands to retreat into the desert to live a life of self deprivation. He is considered to be the father of monasticism.
300 AD other monks decide to follow his example, these become the desert fathers, the first monks. Their emphasis on solitude became the foundation of monastic life.
Basil (300-379AD) began founding monasteries in Greece. The Rule of St. Basil also called for charitable work, including orphanages.
400 AD monks begin organizing into communities that live together in walled enclosures called monasteries. Early communities were self sufficient.
529 AD Benedict leads some of his followers to a mountain where he owns property founding the monastery at Monte Cassino. Benedict creates the Rule of Benedict.
Ireland became a major center for monasticism. Columba (521-597) greatly influenced Irish Monasticism.
(540-604) Pope Gregory I (Gregory the great) had once been a roman of noble birth gave away all his personal property and entered a Benedictine monastery. Later he founded several monasteries and and served as Abbot. When he became pope in 590 he encouraged the growth of monasteries believing that they would strengthen the church throughout Europe.
596 AD Pope Gregory sends an italian monk named Augustine to convert the Angles King Ethelbert.
(672-735) Bede the Venerable was a prolific writer who lived his life in a monastery. Introduced dating from Christ's birth BC/AD.
700 AD Church declares Rule of Benedict it's standard for monasteries.
800 AD Charlemagne set out to regulate the monasteries under a central authority.
910 AD Cluny Monastery founded as a reform movement against excess. Cluny Monks were expected to strictly follow Benedictine rules.
1084 AD Carthusians Monastery founded. Another reform movement, very strict order.
1147 Cistercian Monks created an intricate network of drains, irrigation canals, and reservoirs.

SOTW Vol 2: The Early Britons, Chapter 2

2010-08-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

Major Literature: Beowulf (the adult version)

listen to Beowulf in the Old English/Germanic. Note the differences between Old English and our modern English, listen for words that sound the same.
Read some of the prologue during the Celtic Feast (see below)

Children's version of Beowulf:

The hero Beowulf by Eric A Kimmel
Beowulf by John Green
Beowulf the Warrior by Ian Serrellaire

Discussion of Beowulf:

Discuss the background and history of Beowulf
take note of the map above
List the three monsters in Beowulf. Sometimes in literature monsters are more than just a character, or the bad guy. Sometimes they represent people's fears. How are the monsters described by the author? What fears do you think the monster's embody?
Specifically with Grendle's mother, what do you think the role of women was at that time? How would grendel's mother be frightful to that society?
What monster's scare you? What are monstrous traits?
Grendel is described as having the "Mark of Cain" . What does that mean? Discuss the Cain Tradition.
Kennings are metaphorical descriptions. Examine some of the kennings in Beowulf and some modern kennings.

Hands on Learning:

Create a paper mache mask of your own monster

Additional Reading:

Music to explore the theme of monsters:

Movies to explore the themes: (the links go to netflix)

Art and Architecture:

Have an early Celtic Feast (w/ no silverware except a spoon if you can't stand it, eat with your hands!):

Art: Greek Story Vases

2010-06-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

Today we did a fun art project that mimics some of the pottery from Ancient Greece. I found the project Here. At some point during the creation, John's dinosaur cup came to life and he chased everyone around with it :).

A word of warning: Oil pastels do not wash out easily, I have had the best luck with formula 409 as a pre-treater. Even then, it doesn't always come out.

First we printed out these pages. The kids drew the story they wanted to tell and some patterns onto the paper. Then we transferred it onto the Styrofoam cups and completed the activity by adding the oil pastels.

The Minoan Eruption of Thera

2010-06-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

Today we used baking soda and vinegar to mimic the eruption of Thera that we read about in our history curriculum. The kids just loved this. Even after everyone had a turn, they continued blowing up the volcano for about an hour afterward.

If you were interested, we got the volcano from Lakeshore learning store.

Ancient Greece Unit Study: Book List

2010-06-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

Here is the list of books we are using for our Ancient Greece Unit Study, I have included links to amazon or the publisher wherever possible.

D'Aulaire's Greek Mythology: I have been SOOOOO impressed with this book. Absolutely beautiful illustrations. The kind of illustrations that fire your imagination. The writing is amazing, they never seem to underestimate the child.
A Guide for using D'Aulaire's Greek Mythology in the Classroom: If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't purchase this one. I have only found one project in here that I couldn't dig up myself online.
D'Aulaire's Greek Myths Teacher Guide: This book is amazing. Seriously. I am such a picky woman and I could. not. be. happier. My friend Amy turned me onto Memoria press and I have been just nothing but impressed with their curricula. (She really should get some kind of kick back for the reccomendations :) Memoria press elevates this guide to an art form. When we saw this at the conference I nearly mugged her for the book.
The Wanderings of Odysseus: We have enjoyed this one. It is a good read, but be warned it is tiny print, very tiny print that drives me to my reading glasses.
Story of the World Volume 1, with activity book: This is our history curriculum for the year and we love love it.
Magic Tree House: Hour of the Olympics: The kids are loving this one!
Ancient Greece and the Olympics: a Non fiction companion to the Hour of the olympics

Then we went to the library and checked out so many books on ancient greece that I was walking out like Quasimodo. You know its sad when you bring a stroller to the library, not for the baby (cause you don't have one), but for the books... The librarian just smiled and said "oh you are homeschoolers?"

Ancient Greece: Kick off Olympics :)

2010-06-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

We invited some friends and had an awesome Ancient Greek Olympics. Each olympian received a laurel crown and a medal for their efforts. For a craft they made the little olympic torches. (If you would like to make one to click here).

We had a long jump, relay races, chariot races (with each kid taking a turn being the wheelbarrow/chariot), a javelin throw (the kids made the javelin with straws), a shot put throw (though not historically accurate, it seemed safer than greco-roman wrestling).

This was an awesome way to kick off our Greek unit study. We always love hanging with our homies, but this really created an excitement and enthusiasm for the upcoming academics. As we complete activities I will post them here!

Home organization

2010-05-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

Check out my post on my family blog about Home organization

Homeschooling advantages

2010-05-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

In August my friend and I are starting a group for new homeschooling parents called New Beginnings, and going over all of the information it has caused me to think. Have you ever had that happen where you know you have always felt a certain way, but some situation forces you to articulate the why behind what you are doing. So this was my week to think about the reasons I have chosen to homeschool.

Advantages

Family. Family has always been first priority on our list. Homeschooling allows us to have an intimate, tight knit family life. My kids name their siblings as their best friends. Without homeschooling, we couldn't have this because of my husband's job. Homeschooling, we are able to have more time together as a family through the day.
Individualization. We look forward to allowing each child to find their independent personality and to pursue their own interests and pursuits. I have never wanted to raise my kids to be my clone, nor do I want them to be a "product" of society. I think I have a difference of opinion with public education, they want to "standardize" education and the students. I want very much to individualize education, and to raise children who are very much individuals.
Hands on learning. We incorporate fun, quirky, interactive learning as much as possible in our schooling. The kids love it, I love it. We are able to make learning something my kids look forward to and are excited about.
The arts. All of the classes that the public schools are cutting out, or underfunding: music and art, we are able to incorporate in our school as a staple.
Catering to learning styles. I am able to choose curriculum that appeals to each child's individual learning styles. Right now, we are using three different math curricula for each of my three different kids.
Subject mastery. We don't leave a subject matter until the kids have mastered it. No one is "left behind" because the class has to move on. We have a 1-1 ratio and we have the luxury of doing that.
Testing. Standardized testing: we don't have it, 'nuff said.
Maturing. The children are able to mature at their own rate, they aren't being dragged along by their peers. They can tackle issues at their own pace with our help.
Gifted. We are able to allow our kids to fly as high as they can. We aren't required to hold anyone back to wait for the rest of the class to catch up. If one of the kids masters a subject, we are able to plow right through it until we get to challenging material.
Vacations. It is trivial, but we get to vacation during non-peak periods :).

When Dad is reluctant to homeschool

2010-04-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

For many of my more mainstream friends I am their "friend who homeschools". In the past two months I have received two emails from moms I don't know, but were referred by a friend, who are considering homeschooling. Both emails were very similar.

"I am considering homeschooling my (daughter/son). My husband is dead set against it, but I think it would be best. So I am considering just taking them out of school anyway and beginning to homeschool. Where do you think I should start?"

I personally don't think it is even a viable option. Here is why:

Homeschooling doesn't happen in an 8am till 3pm setting. It invades every aspect of your life.
Homeschooling requires more time from the educator. If your husband resents the free time you need to take for preparing and planning, well, that is just bad juju.
The children are going to pick up on Dad's negative feelings, and make your job harder. Rolling boulders uphill each day will really take the joy out of you.
There are expenses to homeschooling, and even though I think they balance out with the things you don't have to purchase when you are homeschooling. You don't want Dad to resent every purchase you make for homeschooling.
Each parent is just as important, education decisions should be joint decisions that neither party hijacks.

The common denominator here is resentment. No one likes having their rights trampled on and no one will be open minded to an idea that is being forced upon them.

So what is a mom who wants to homeschool to do?

Open up a dialogue. I would ask for an ongoing series of conversations where you can each research your views and present what you think are the compelling arguments to try to find a compromise. Express how important homeschooling is to you, but offer to be open minded about his point of view as well, and to other solutions (private schools, co-ops, private classes, a charter school).
Begin researching homeschooling and the benefits. Grab every book you can get your hands on about education and homeschooling specifically. But, also research what are popularly considered to be the pitfalls of homeschooling. A well thought out decision makes a plan for the positives and the negatives. Typically people new to homeschooling worry about socialization. Make sure to research the classes and co-ops (a group that gets together for joint classes) in your area.
Consider joining a group like New Beginnings(click for link) in your area. New Beginnings is a year long, intensive program that prepares you during the first year of homeschooling. But you can of course join if you are considering homeschooling. Devoting your time to educating yourself shows how serious you are about homeschooling. It might help Dad to see that this isn't a whim, but that you are taking it very seriously and that you will have support once you begin.
Attend a homeschooling conference in your area and ask Dad to attend with you.
Join a local support group in your area. Most homeschooling families are very open to having you (and Dad) come in and observe what their homeschool looks like and to discuss what the benefits of homeschooling have been for them. Your local support group leader would be able to point you in the direction of a veteran homeschool family.
If Dad is still really reluctant, ask him if you could "try it out" for a school year.
If Dad isn't comfortable with that idea, ask him if you could "try it out" for a summer, with the commitment that if it goes well, you can extend that to the next school year.

Egyptian Feast

2010-04-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had our much anticipated Egyptian Feast. The kids looked forward to it all week. These little mini-units really are adding the "hands-on" spark to our week I was hoping for.

We used sheets and safety pins to make last minute no-sew costumes. Inspiration struck in the craft aisle and I picked up some foam sun visors at walmart. I love a store that will sell me chicken and craft items all at the same time. We used those, along with sticky gems to make the Egyptian style pharaoh necklaces.

Chloe was happy and posed for a picture. The second picture she isn't so happy. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of wearing it all the way through dinner. It itched, it felt weird, she swore it was poking her. The Egyptian princess was displeased. I let her go and change. Sometimes, its just not worth it :). After changing we got back to happy faces thank goodness.

John became confused about which country we were studying halfway through the meal and stuck a gem in the middle of his forehead. Silly Silly boy. Emma Gave Daddy the history lesson on Egypt. Before we ate we each dipped a bit of bread in "wine" (grape juice). We discussed how the egyptians did that as a sacrifice to the gods. I supposed in a way it was sorta like saying grace for them.

For our Menu tonight we had:
Egyptian Shrimp
Cut fruit
Pita Bread with Hummus or Fig Jam
Tiger Nut Sweet
Spiced Oranges and Raisins (over ice Cream)
Raspberry Mint Cairo Cooler
Root Beer (cause they drank a whole lotta beer)
Ancient Egyptian Chicken Marinade
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2T cumin
1/4 white onion, grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t black pepper
1/2 t salt
Marinate chicken tenders for several hours, then grill.

I printed off some hieroglyphic alphabets and the kids made their names on the scratchy pads. The kids made ankhs out of clay.

I taped up some paper up in the hallway and let the kids practice their "tomb painting". And no, those aren't all my children, a friend stopped by for me to help on her blog :). I will link up to it when she has it all running.

Field Trip: Discovery Green, Alice in Wonderland

2010-04-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

We went down to Discovery Green, a big park in the center of downtown for some fun and a play today. It was so. much. fun. THIS is why I choose homeschooling. Emma really enjoyed the play. At times John payed attention (he even blew kisses at the actors) and at other times he was more interested in a snack :). It was such a blast, I am so glad the spring weather has sprung around here.

Our friend, the anole

2010-04-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

This totally cute little guy turned up in our yard today while the kids were playing. He quickly became our nature study. The kids came rushing in screaming that they found a chameleon. I sent them back outside with my camera to capture some pixs.

Here is some info about our friend.

Meet the Carolina Anole

Found naturally throughout the southeastern United States, anoles are often referred to as the "American chameleon" because of their ability to change the color of their skin from green to brown (and vice versa). Anoles are typically found in bushes or trees, but because they are excellent climbers, they can also be seen on walls and fences. A distinguishing characteristic of the anole is the bright red dewlap present in all males and some females. Anoles can inflate this vividly colored piece of cartilage located under their chins to make themselves look larger and more dominant. This behavior is most often seen in males intimidating rivals or courting females. Females also have dewlaps, but they are less colorful than those of males and seldom displayed.

Like other reptiles, anoles are ectothermic (cold-blooded) animals that regulate their body temperature using the environment. When an anole needs to raise its temperature for activities like hunting or eating, it basks on a tree branch or a rock, absorbing heat from the sunlight. To warm up quicker, some anoles change color, from green to brown, because dark colors absorb more sunlight than light colors do. To cool down, anoles seek shade and shelter beneath a rock or log. They can also change color, from brown to green, to absorb less sunlight.

Burning Grass and sundials

2010-04-08T21:00:00.001-07:00

We studied the sun today in Science. We are using the Apologia elementary curriculum. The kids made use of the new magnifying glasses they got for Easter by trying to focus the sun's beams to burn blades of grass.

We also created a simple sundial and followed the shadows around the yard each hour of the day. I think because so much of what we are doing is "hands on" the kids really look forward to both the science and history.

How to Train your Dragon, Viking Feast

2010-04-07T16:40:00.000-07:00

I LOVE unit studies, love, LOVE, big pink puffy heart loooooove unit studies. I could, and have gotten lost in them. Remember when we studied birds for three months? I still plan to use the more in depth, longer studies. But, I wanted our family to have a smaller, hands on units once a week to celebrate whatever we were currently learning. It is so fun. To make it work it has to be simple, easy and doable on a weekday night.

Tonight we had our viking feast for our little "mini unit" on How to Train your Dragon. We read the book and Daddy took the kids to see the movie this morning while I was at a medical appointment.

For our menu:

Non alcoholic mead (because Brian draws the line for historical accuracy at liquoring the kids up. although... they might sleep good that night)
root beer (we are vikings after all, must have the drinks flowing)
beef stew with root veggies
Jarlsberg cheese
brie on rye bread
stewed fruit and yogurt
gluten free pancakes with Cherry fruit sauce
a chocolate bunny (vikings did eat rabbit, just probably not chocolate ones.. but this is what happens when CVS extra care bucks meet the Easter clearance aisle).

For the non alcoholic mead: take a sliced lemon, a cup of honey and throw it in a saucepan or teapot, sprinkle it with cinnamon and pour 3 cups of boiling water over. Let it steep for a few minutes, then strain it and chill it.

The stew: I bought a package of stew seasoning and threw it in the crock pot. I was careful to use only root veggies like carrots and turnips, but not potatoes, the vikings didn't farm them.

stewed fruit: I threw a frozen package of mixed berries into my smaller crock pot and let it cook on low

cherry fruit sauce: I took a container of cherry jam, added some apple juice to thin it and heated it in a saucepan.

I managed to score some bamboo plates (the vikings would have used wood) at Whole foods. I was so excited, obviously in a mini unit I am not going to go crazy over historical accuracy, but it was a nice touch. The viking hats are available in the party goods section of Walmart right now because of the movies release. Emma wanted to dress up like a dragon, and those pajamas are available there too.

Our activities and printables:

you can print out the game "viking voyages" here
the how to train your dragon site is here with lots of online games.
make a viking shield out of aluminum pizza pans here
BBC's kids viking site with games and just a ton of cool info is here
we made a viking longboat with directions here
we made a viking paper doll with the printables here

Look who turned up for Nature Study?

2010-04-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

This super adorable bunny invaded our yard yesterday during school. The kids went nuts. I went nuts too. It is so stinking cute.

There was pretty much no way I was going to get everyone back inside to finish up school, so we just grabbed the books and headed outside. We had to stop school every 20 minutes or so for "bunny watch".

Brian jumped in to help with school today. He taught Chloe all about quarters in money and in fractions. The kids think he makes a pretty good substitute teacher.

Brian was so cute, he made a salad bar for the baby bunny and overturned a chair so the little guy would have shade and be less conspicuous to predators.

John and I worked on his speech exercises while we did the sand table.

Hey There little Red Riding Hood.....

2010-04-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

That song was so NOT part of our Red Riding Hood study. It gives me the heeby jeebies. But here is what we did do (if the links don't work, visit the blog and you will get the links):

We used this page (click for the link) for the readings. It has four different versions of the Red Riding Hood story.
we found coloring pages Here.
If you want to highlight the stranger danger aspects of the story THIS is a great resource.
DTLK has some great crafts and activites. We watched videos of little red riding hood on youtube here and here and here.

Why Fairy Tales?

2010-04-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

Before I had small children, when I was studying in college, I remember the ideas being planted about the usefulness of fairy tales in introducing the world to children. I am speaking of the original fairy tales, the unsanitized versions; not the Disney versions. It is of vital importance that we not try to whitewash the fairy tales, because that slightly grim edge is what makes them useful.

The world is a scary place, but children are innocents. You don't want to terrify them, or rob them of that feeling of safety; however, you want them to be safe, and wise. Fairy tales are the perfect vehicle for this. They present a world that is much like our own, only it is just fantastical enough to not be personally threatening to the child. Rather than shelter children from life's evils, we can equip them with the tools needed to face them head-on with confidence.

We studied "Little Red Riding Hood" this past week. Of course the moral of the story is "listen to your mother and don't talk to strangers/wolves". Just yesterday there was a story on the news. At a park that we frequent with the kids, a man tried to abduct a little girl. We talked about this with the kids, and what was interesting is that they made the connection between the story of Little Red Riding Hood and child abduction.

Bettelheim, a famous autism researcher commented as follows on fairytales : "The prevalent parental belief is that a child must be diverted from what troubles him most: his formless, nameless anxieties, and his chaotic fantasies. Many parents believe that only conscious reality or pleasant and wish-fulfilling images should be presented to the child-that he should be exposed only to the sunny side of things. But such one-sided fare nourishes the mind only in a one-sided way, and real life is not all sunny."

The fairy tale, according to Bettelheim, confronts the child squarely with the most scary subjects in life: death, aging, loss of a parent, being trapped or lost, and other stresses. The fairy tale simplifies all situations, allowing the child to come to grips with the problem in its most essential form. The figures are clearly drawn and the details, unless very important, are eliminated. All characters are typical rather than unique.
Fairy tales, REAL fairy tales present the darker side of the world without scaring the begeepers out of kids. You cannot present the world as a perfect, wonderful place because it isn't and most kids already know that. Real life is much more like a fairy tale: deeply flawed at times, sometimes prejudiced, at times dangerous, but also wondrous, and magical with good things that could make you swoon. There is always room for a hero in an imperfect world, and isn't that what we are trying to inspire in our kids, heroism?

So to that end, before my children are too old, we decided to review some fairy tales. I will post here what resources we use if you want to follow along.

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun....

2010-04-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

The weather here has been gorgeous, absolutely awesome. Chloe the cat decided this morning that she likes to do her schoolwork in the sunlight that streams through the kitchen window. Most of this week we just took school right outside. One of the best parts of homeschooling is that we can do school wherever we please. If we keep this up I am going to need ideas on how to keep papers from flying away in the breeze.

It has been a bit difficult to focus, the warm (but not disgustingly hot) weather beckons. This is the magic time here in Texas, the gorgeous just right weather. Unfortunately that will evaporate right around the end of May when we all scurry inside, or into pools to avoid the heat.

Today we started a "Fairy Tale unit" that I will post up on the blog in the next couple of days and we had some friends over for recess/PE.

Field Trip: Houston Livestock show

2010-03-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to the Livestock show with some friends. The kids really loved it. Besides just getting to hang with their friends, there were plenty of fun learning opportunities.

They got to learn about bees, and see bees building a hive.
We saw a baby calf be born. Mommy got to answer lots of questions about the afterbirth hanging out of the poor mommy cow. TMI? Yeah... it was for me too.
The absolute favorite for Chloe and John was petting the bunnies.
They had newly hatched and hatching chicks.
We saw a milking demonstration too. It was fun and educational, but with my dairy allergy I swear just thinking about milk made me itch.

The Playdough Miracle transition activity

2010-03-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

If you have had any experiences with "group education", or public education, then you probably know all about transition activities. A transition activity is all about mentally preparing a child to move from one activity, or frame of mind, to another. Saying grace, or washing your hands before dinner is a very common transition activity.

We have started using playdough as our transition activity into school. Yeah, can you tell we just rolled out of bed? I think the kids are still a little bleary eyed in the photos. It has worked well for us. It flips some nice switch in the kids brains for school time vs. play time. It creates a nice little bridge for us, and my youngest just L-O-V-E-S it. The one day I tried to skip it in the interests of getting school done so we could run errands, he totally called me out on it.
On the one hand, playdough is kinda messy and requires some clean up. So it does take some time. But not nearly as much time as trying to drag mentally unprepared children through a day of school.

Some other transition activities could include:

songs at specific times/reasons of the day.
visual cues: flicking lights on and off.
using verbal cues: after we ____, then we will ____.
setting timers for when activities will begin/end
having a written schedule on the wall for older children to look at for transition cues.

Child Neglect: Guilty

2010-02-18T19:32:00.000-08:00

Every mom experiences some Mommy doubt and Mommy guilt. I do too. Usually I can tell when its pointless mommy guilt, because it is something I can't do anything about. I try to let it roll off my back. But then, sometimes I experience Mommy conviction (for lack of a better term). When someone says something, or your kids say something and it suddenly clicks, it hits home. Suddenly you see what you have been doing wrong, and the consequences it will have.

I had one of those moments this past week.

I was at a homeschool meeting when the speaker began discussing how to structure your day if you are homeschooling more than one child. My ears perked up naturally because I have more than one child to homeschool and I have been tweaking our schedule lately. She explained that it is a natural inclination to structure your school day around your oldest child. However, her advice was to structure your homeschool day around your youngest child (even, and especially if they are not yet school aged). In other words, you meet the youngest child's needs first. This is a family activity and the whole family should be involved. If I spend the whole day shooing John away from school, or just giving him busy work and not giving him my attention, then I am creating a negative association with school. Guess what I had been doing all this time? When it is his time to start school in a few months, he won't want to have anything to do with it.

Wallowing in what is going wrong is so unproductive. Thankfully the meeting is held in Barnes and Noble so I could run two aisles over to get some solutions. Here is what we have changed.....

We start each morning with play-dough. It is John's favorite activity, and it will strengthen the girls motor skills as well. We do it until John is bored, which is usually about 30 minutes.
We do our joint learning classes like history and science first so that John can participate as long as he wants to.
While Chloe reads to me, Emma and John do math, or vice versa. Emma is doing her math and John helps her count out her manipulatives or he comes over and laces cards with me.
After lunch we sit down to have craft time before we restart school.
I have special sticker books for John and some pattern manipulatives that we work on together. The difference now is that instead of having him do his work on his own quietly, I make him a part of everything. He is in the "attention rotation".

We have been homeschooling now for close to three years and it has become more and more a part of our lives. School time doesn't just happen during specific hours, its a lifestyle for us, it has become a part of our family life. So it follows that we don't have to stick to some magical date to begin John in schooling either.

Why Reading Aloud is so important

2010-02-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

"Few children learn to love books by themselves. Someone has to lure them into the wonderful world of the written word; someone has to show them the way."
-Orville Prescott, A Father Reads to his Children

I have made reading aloud an important facet in our homeschooling. Typically we read aloud for an hour a day. But, regardless of the education method, reading aloud should be a cornerstone of every child's education.

While reading grade level material, or board books aloud is important, and it can be a great moment of intimacy. That isn't the type of reading aloud I am discussing here. The reading aloud I find so important is reading aloud on a higher level than the child is currently reading, and reading highly engaging, timeless, imaginative books that will open the natural curiosity of a child. Reading aloud won't teach a child how to read, it will teach them how to want to read. My children are early elementary and a few of the books we have read aloud this year are The Secret Garden, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and The Hobbit.

Reading aloud creates the following in a child:

greater reading comprehension.
create an association for the child reading=pleasure.
increased desire to learn to read, or to be reading, thus creating a lifetime learner.
build vocabulary from hearing new words used in context.
provide a role model for reading. Children who see their parents reading, are more likely to read themselves throughout their lives.

If you are more interested in this subject, I recommend with the absolute highest regard Jim Trelease The Read Aloud Handbook. He outlines in detail the benefits of reading aloud in the first part of the book, and provides reading lists for every age range in the second half of the book.

She wants to look surprised, but she had too much Botox

2010-01-13T18:58:00.001-08:00

You know, once the kids hit four years old they just start to look all wrinkly and aged. That's why in our house we like to start them on Botox at age 5. Ha!

We went to the Dermatologist to get one of Chloe's warts frozen off. She was so very brave that the Doctor wanted to give her a treat. Since she can't have candy with the artificial colors, the doctor gave her this shirt!!! It is her favorite color purple, and its sparkly. What's not to love? Cracked me up! They also gave her a juvederm headband that matches.

Next stop the Preschool pageant Circuit!!!

Using the Wii Fit for Homeschool

2010-01-06T21:36:00.000-08:00

Okay, can we pretend for a minute that you can't see how messy my house is? Cause really, I almost didn't post the pics. These were taken very close to Christmas when I was in full craft mode (not cleaning mode).

Anyway, we got the Wii for Christmas. It has worked unexpectedly well during our homeschool hours. I have used it for TV on rainy days. And we have used it to get the wiggles out in between classes. When I need to do classes with just one girly, the other sister can take advantage of the Wii. I feel very much that it has done what it advertises, it has upped the fitness of our family without any of us realizing we weren't just having funtimes.

AD Players: Do you hear what I hear?

2009-12-10T20:38:00.000-08:00

We went to a holiday play this morning by the AD Players. It was really nice. We have enjoyed all the plays we have gone to by them.

For this one they dramatized the Christmas Carol "Do you Hear what I Hear?". They added in lots of physical comedy which made the kids laugh.

I wish I had better pics. If I take a pic with my cell phone, no one can breathe, or blink, or it blurs out. You can imagine how difficult this makes it with wiggly children... New mantra: must remember camera, must remember camera.

Homeschooling in December

2009-12-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

This past Monday we met our friends at the Space Center for a play date. We LOVE space center. Perfect for a laid back play date. Which has been awesome, because save for this play date I would have nothing to post about.

I am almost beginning to think that trying to school during December might be an exercise in futility. And it has nothing to do with the kids, this one is all me. Being "Santa's little helper" is exhausting work. It tends to eat into my time. This is my FAVORITE time of year. I can barely stand it, I want to do everything, wring all the holiday cheer out of the season that we can. And I find that my mind is just... elsewhere. I am the one with the sugar plumbs on the brain. Plus, we have had wonderful field trip opportunities. So, although we have managed to squeeze our reading in faithfully, I have been elfing around on the rest of it.

It was also probably a mistake to give the family the Wii early. We knew we weren't going to be able to do Christmas on Christmas day, so it just got to be "why wait?". Well, to be honest, I was the why wait person and being that we are both HUGE gamer nerds, it wasn't hard to talk Brian into it. So, I should amend that to: "We have faithfully done our reading, and our PE on the WiiFit". (I highly reccomend that PE part, we have a BLAST!). Also, I might have Wii elbow, and that is embarassing. I have been officially injured by a video game, and hoping it will heal, I don't look forward to explaining that to a DR.

So, I still wanna have fun. I am not overly worried, we do school all year round, but I would like to do a tinsy bit more of our regular work so I can save us the awful "review period" after the holidaze. How do you cope with Decembers?

Nutcracker 2009

2009-12-05T20:34:00.000-08:00

I left my camera at home and had to take the pictures with my phone. So the quality is lacking. We went to see the Nutcracker this week. The kids had a BLAST! The performance was
wonderful, and I loved how they stopped at intermission to explain how the props, costuming, and stage managers contribute to the show. The second picture is of the device they use to create realistic snow. Is sifts the fake snow down onto the stage in a realistic manner.

I also realized it has been awhile since I have posted. Man, the holidays, or the holidaze has set in full force. Thankfully, I have all the shopping done, most of the crafting done, and all the presents are already wrapped. So I am looking forward to settling back down to school this coming week!

Weekly Wrap Up

2009-11-06T16:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I am starting to think that our schooling this week was like a wagon slowly sinking into the mud. Seemed like the more we attempted to move our wheels and make some progress, the deeper in we stuck ourselves.

On Sunday, I took Emma to the Urgent Care center. She had been either bitten or stung by something on her little finger and it had swollen up to scary proportions. So we got some steroids. The week before we had been fighting off some kind of cold, so Sunday was supposed to be my catch up day. Wave goodbye to the catch up day Mommy. Because of that, Monday we decided to do basic school so I could attempt to catch up. We did manage to do a candy experiment.

On Tuesday we were still catching up, so we ran errands and did our basics (spelling, reading, phonics, math). Which was probably a good idea since the child who had started her steroids was having emotional meltdowns every fifteen minutes. As a mom, even though I know its medically induced, its still emotionally draining. When its 10:30am and the patience fund has run dry, that is whey you know its going to be one of those days.

On Wednesday I had another root canal (we are up to #4) on the same tooth. Oh Joy! Since I don't really respond well to heavy medication, we decided to take the day off totally. Unless playing the playstation could count as school? Please?

On Thursday, we had fun!!! Thank Goodness!!! We went on an Aquarium Field Trip. We had a blast, it was a ton of fun and very educational.

Today, we spent a quiet day at home. We did our basic schooling, and I am finally caught up around the house (for now, I should be knocking on wood). I think we will take some of the fun stuff I had planned for the week and do it over the weekend.

I don't think the week was a total loss, we did get our basics done. But I really do like to have more "fun" in our schooling each day. The kids vote for fun too. We had less fun and more errands. Apparently, even if you throw in a slushy from Sonic, its still just errands. According to my kids "you just can't make that fun, Mom".

Too much Halloween Candy? No Problemo.... Hello Science

2009-11-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

We have a lot of Halloween candy we can't eat. So we decided to do experiments with the candy we couldn't eat because of the colorings in it.

Our first experiment was "Does it contain Acid?". We took candy, put it in water, then we added baking soda. If the solution bubbles, its an acid. If it doesn't, its not an acid.

Nerds are definitely an acid. M and M's are not. It was fun, the kids loved playing mad scientist with the candy.

We plan to do more experiments this week. We have a whole bucket of candy to make it through!

Blogging as writing practice for children

2009-10-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

Writing is a large part of my curriculum with Emma. Not only is it an important skill to be able to communicate via the written word (and no, texting doesn't count at all as written word); writing can be a creative outlet as well.

Spelling and Grammar are learned naturally through intensive reading and writing. Before my ah-ha moment Emma did her journal time/writing time on a whiteboard or notebook paper. While that was alright, I either had to erase her work or find some way of storing a bazillion little sheets of paper. I came up with an idea that has made our writing time so much more exciting!

I blog about our homeschooling experience right here, and I blog about our family life over at the Hobbit Hole and I have another blog to keep track of recipes we like at Foodophiles. All my children see me blogging frequently. They love looking at the pictures and the comments friends and family leave us. Their excitement about our family blog got me thinking.

I thought about that, about how exciting it was for me to get feedback on the writing. We have used the blog to keep in touch with extended family and keep them current in our lives. My big idea was to make Emma her own blog, but to make sure it was safe and private.

She looks forward to posting every single day. It is the very first thing she does when she wakes up in the morning. Her enthusiasm is effusive. Currently, she has five blog posts waiting for me to help add the pictures so that she can publish them. I can barely keep up. It has been thrilling for her to get the kudos from her family, and extended family for her writing. For her Dad and I, it has been wonderful to see her perspective on our family activities and to hear what she feels. I am also excited that these posts will be memorialized into a kind of blogging vault. We can publish her blog via some online companies into a bound volume for posterity, and we don't have to worry about where to store all those composition journals.

If you are interested in doing this, but worry about security, I would encourage you to explore the security options the various blogging platforms offer. They really have made it quite safe and you can hand select who views the blog. For Emma, I first established an email account for her. On her email account, I receive a copy of any incoming, or outgoing emails to both my account and to my cell phone. Then we set up her blogger account as a completely private account with comments fully moderated. If you have a child who is interested in facebook/myspace, consider having them blog instead. They will be writing without realizing it might be school work. Shhhhhh, just don't tell them its school work.

The AD Players: Secret Garden Play

2009-10-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

We went to see the AD Players presentation of The Secret Garden. It was wonderful, the girls loved it. They both posed for pictures with "the acting bug". Chloe got autographs from Collin and Mary. This was such a huge hit, we can't wait for the Christmas play.

Fire Safety Unit Study

2009-10-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

I recently had a brainstorming session, where I tried to come up with all the skills/info I thought would be important for the kids health and safety. So we are covering those areas this semester. Our germ unit was a part of this brainstorming session too. This past week was fire prevention week, and this unit study seemed to be a natural progression. We visited the firestation and got some great handouts from the firestation that will supplement our curriculum here and we had a GREAT time. This unit study is probably best for preK- elementary aged children.

Books:

Fire! Fire! by Gail Gibbons
Changes, Changes by Pat Hutchins

Activities:

have kids practice stop, drop and roll. Explain why it works.
have a smoke crawl race.
what does fire need to burn? air, fuel and heat. Light a candle, place a jar over it... why does it go out? Explain how this works with stop, drop, and roll.
check all the smoke alarms and change the batteries.
explain to the kids what a fire fighter entering the home might look like with the fire mask. Stress the importance of not hiding from the fire fighters.
learn our address and phone number, and how to call 911. What to report to the person at the 911 call center. Reinforce that you ONLY call during an emergency, discuss what would constitute an emergency.
dramatic play: let the kids pretend to be firefighters.
Visit your local fire department.

Making an Escape plan:

explain to the kids why it is important to have a plan use this handout.
stress that in the event of a fire emergency they are to get out FAST, not to try to save any belongings.
Fires can be scary and confusing, you might not be able to see well. Smoke may make the house, or their room very, very dark.
create an escape plan that includes at least two ways out of the house. Then practice using those escape routes. Especially practice taking out a window screen, or lowering a ladder. Actually go out of the house using your two escape routes.
Include information about feeling the doors for heat, and the doorknobs for heat.
crawl low if there is smoke along your escape route (run through your escape routes practicing crawling).
pick a safe spot outside for the family to meet.
discuss how important it is to stay outside the house no MATTER WHAT. Don't go back in after pets, or toys.
Do a fire drill at night, when everyone is asleep to see if the smoke detectors wake the children, and practice using the escape routes. Read this article for the reasons why you should do this.

Coloring Pages:

DLTK

Crafts:

Fire truck Egg carton Craft
Fireman toilet Paper craft
Fire straw painting craft: Supply each child with a straw and a piece of paper. Have kids create a construction paper house that they can glue onto their paper. Then place a dot of red, yellow, orange paint on the windows of the house. Then, have them use the straw to blow the paint around their picture creating flames.
Fire Truck Sponge Painting: cut a sponge in the shape of a fire truck and let the kids press it onto fire scenes they create.
Fire Truck Saran Wrap Painting: Give each child a piece of paper with thick lines of red and yellow paint. cover it with saran wrap and then let each child drag the saran wrap a bit to make flames.
Fire shaving cream play: drop red or yellow food coloring into shaving cream and schmear it round!

Songs:

Firesafety song
The Fire Song
Sing the chicago fire song: One dark night while we were all in bed, Old lady Leary left the lantern in the shed, and when the cow kicked it over, she winked her eye and said, its going to be a hot time in the old town tonight! Fire, Fire, Fire!!! (then stop drop and roll)

S'Mores and Brownies

2009-10-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

Last year we were a part of American Heritage Girls. We liked it, but it was too much in our schedule. It's one of the things that makes having a husband with a variable schedule difficult, it makes signing up for activities that are a weekly commitment difficult.

This year we decided to go back to Girl Scouts, but to sign up for the juliettes program with our friends the Ischy's. Meeting with just one other family allows us to be flexible. (the juliettes program is a program for independent girls instead of a whole troop).

Our first meeting was awesome, we ate smores, learned our brownie handshakes and promises, and drew pictures of girls enacting the girl scout law. This has been the perfect fit for us and we are having a blast!!!!

A few of our activities

2009-09-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

Pancakes!

2009-09-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

Field Trip

2009-09-30T20:31:00.001-07:00

This week we went to the zoo, it was SO fun! You can read about it here

The Secret Garden

2009-09-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

The Secret Garden is the next book we were set to tackle this school year. I wanted to try to incorporate our younger kid activites into the curriculum this week instead of dividing it up. We wind up overlapping so much, it just made sense. In order to make our learning a tiny bit more flexible, with each unit study I have gotten both the hardcopy of the book, and if its available I have gotten the book on CD for the busy days when we are in the car. This has been a lifesaver!

Book summary:

Mary, a bitter young orphan girl from India, is brought to England to live with her uncle on the Yorkshire Moors. Upon encountering numerous problems in adjusting to the rigid, lonely, and unfamiliar life of her uncle's mansion, she gradually befriends Dicken and her cousin Colin. Together, they venture to restore the Secret Garden, into which entry had been forbidden by Mary's uncle. The story culminates when the garden flourishes once again; and Mary's cousin is able to walk again, thanks to her, after spending years confined to a bed, believing he was forever destined to be a hunchback. The Secret Garden conveys a message of hope--a message based on the powerful role of friendship in bringing about a change for the better

Extended Activities:

Find India on the globe, then also find England on the globe. Trace the route Mary might have taken, discuss the differences in travel then and now.
Use Google earth to view photos of India, or find photos of India online.
for preschoolers, do a flower/gardening unit
Grow a lima bean seed. Discuss the parts of the plant, and what plants need to grow.
Dickon planted potatoes in his garden. What do potatoes need to grow? Purchase small trashcan, punch holes in the bottom of it. Then fill it with potting soil. Cut up several potatoes and bury them in the potting soil inside of the trashcan. Watch potatoes grow. Better directions here.
Watch video on what the moors of England look like here
Compare and contrast England to India.
Watch movie versions of the book, compare the movie to the book. Which version did you like the best?
What would Mary, and her mother have worn? Look at fashions of the 1900's here
Get some paper dolls from the period
Draw a picture of what your secret garden would look like.
colin says there is magic in the world, but people dont know what it is, or where it comes from. He says that maybe its saying nice things to people that makes magic happen. Learn a couple of simple magic tricks.
Take the time to say nice things to each other.
place all the major events in the book on slips of paper. Have the child put them in order.

Art projects:

Make a construction paper flower collage
use clay to make a flower stamp, make a flower picture with clay stamp
use pastels to make a large (o'keefe like) flower
make tissue paper flowers
make a watercolor garden
do flower face painting

Discussion:

How does Mary change physically and/or mentally during the novel?
Where is Mary first taken after her parent's death?
What nickname does the clergyman's son give to Mary?
How might Mary's life be different if her parents hadn't died of cholera?
Mary eventually moves to her uncle's home. Is moving hard to do?
Both Mary and Colin are described as very unpleasant children. Why do you think they are so very unpleasant? Who is responsible?
At what oint in the story does Mary begin to be less contrary and selfish and more normal, caring?
Why does Mary respond differently to Martha?
Does mary do the right thing to Colin the night he has hysterics?
What is meant in this story by the quote "When you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow."?
what is the magic that makes colin walk? (positive belief) What magic would you want for yourself? what would you choose for your family members/friends? Do you believe this magic exists or not?

Younger child activities:

Nursery Rhyme:

Mistress mary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockel shells,
and marigolds all in a row.

Books:

Planting a Rainbow, Lois Ehlert
The Reason for a flower, Ruth Heller
The Tiny Seed, Eric Carle
Trees, Harry Behm and James Endicott
The Mouse and the Potato, Thomas Berger
Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Jeanne Titheringron
Over in the Meadow, Ezra Jack Keats

Explain the process of a seed growing into a plant. If you have them, show pictures of seeds and plants. Be sure to explain that plants need water, clean air, and sunlight to grow. Then sing the following song and have the children act out the plants growing process as you sing. (the child will start curled up as a "seed")

The flower seed song (to the tune of Ten Little Indians)
One little, two little, three little flower seeds
Four little, five little, six little flower seeds
Seven little, eight little, nine little flower seeds
planted in my garden
Water those seeds and watch them grow (sing three times)
in my flower garden
The warm sun helps the flowers grow taller (sing three times)
in my flower garden
Watch those flowers sway in the breeze (sing three times)
in my flower garden

Give the kids art supplies and ask them to create their idea of a garden
Explain the purpose of earthworms in the garden. Purchase some earthworms from the bait shop. Let the children handle the earthworms, if you are brave enough make an aquarium home for the worms and allow the kids to care for them. (Worms eat corn meal, green leafies, grass cuttings, potato peelings, bread crumbs and coffee grounds (2 TBL every other week). When you are done, let them wriggle back into the ground.
How Bees pollinate flowers: paint flowers on a piece of paper that have 2 inch circles in the center and let them dry. Once they are dry, sprinkle either cornstarch or flour into the centers. Fashion "bees" our of pipe cleaners and show how the pollen will stick to the "bee" when it visits the flower.
Listen to Laurie Berkner's Bumble bee song Here.
The magic of the garden, was the special feelings that Mary and Colin experienced about each other and themselves. Hide a mirror in a box and cover the box. Have the children guess which special person could be in the box. Then pass the box and let them look into the box at the mirror.
make a paper plate self portrait using buttons for eyes, yarn for hair, and a Popsicle stick to hold it up. Have circle time and chat about the things that make each of us special.
Each child traces their handprints on a different colored construction paper. Each family member lists on each handprint something special about each child.

Vocabulary Words:
anxiety
atrophied
Ayah - an Indian term for nanny
bloated
bounteous
clotted cream
Cholera - a disease of the intestines that is often fatal
copious
currants
disconcerting
domain
draughts
flatly - dull, without expression
fluently
frail - weak, sickly
gentry
inordinately
moor - English prairie lands, rolling hillsides that grow wild plants
musty - smelling old and damp
nanny - someone paid to care for a child
pilgrimage
pother
restive
revelation
secrete
sour expression - an upset look
stern - very strong and firm. Usually not kind.

Rosh Hashanah Unit Study

2009-09-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

In our house, we celebrate all of the Jewish and the Christian holidays. I wanted to make sure as the kids got older that they understood the meaning behind all the holidays. So for this year we are going to do a short unit as a family in the evenings as each holiday comes during the year. This week we will celebrate Rosh Hashanah.

What is Rosh Hashanah?

"In the seventh month, in the first day of the month shall be a solemn rest unto you, a memorial proclaimed with the blast of horns, a holy convocation...."

Rosh hashanah is the Jewish New Year also called The Feast of Trumpets because it is a holiday where we blow the shofar, or ram's horn. It is a time for thinking about the past year, and gathering our hopes for the new year. Rosh Hashanah is observed in the Fall season of the western calendar, usually in September.

Leviticus 23 calls the blowing of trumpets a memorial but does not say what it is a memorial of. A memorial of the creation of the world, at which the sons of God shouted for joy (Job 38:7). This holiday was the new year’s day, on which the people rejoiced in a grateful remembrance of God’s benefits and implored His blessing for the future year.

Before Rosh Hashanah we reflect on the previous year, contemplate any mistakes we might have made, and putting things in order by seeking forgiveness from others, and from God. We pray prayers for forgiveness and search out hearts for areas where we might need to recieve or give forgiveness. We try to maintain a reflective, forgiving mood. The eve before everyone has a bath to make their bodies new, maybe a new haircut and new clothes. Treats are given to children.

The eve of Rosh Hashanah a meal is prepared. Usually it includes fruits and honey both to celebrate creation and to hope for a sweet new year.

Traditional foods sweetened with honey, apples are served, pomegranates, cabbage, gourds, dates symbolizing sweetness, blessings, abundance and the hope for a sweet year ahead. So, so why an apple? Actually we eat apple dipped in honey. At the festive meal we take a piece of apple and dip it into honey as a token of the wish for a sweet year, adding the blessing: "May it be your will, Lord our God and God of our fathers, to renew us a good and sweet year." It works.

Teshuva (repentance)

Repentance is a singulary human ability to realize you have done wrong, say you are sorry, and try not to do it again. You are getting a "Do-over". It is important to both confess your sins to God, but also to repair any wrongs you have done to fellow humans. Such is the power of teshuvah that it restores people to closeness with God or with the other person. Repentance does more than undo the past evil. It brings healing and a new closeness and sympathy.

What is forgiveness?

Forgiveness is a rather complicated notion. In my opinion forgiveness means giving up the grudge. If you have a good basic relationship, and its either one little thing, or several that have caused a rift, then I think forgiveness will also repair the relationship. However, I don't think you have to want to hang out with someone in order to forgive them. Forgiveness is a choice you make in your own heart not to hold a grudge against that person, to just let it go.

Tashlich - Drowning Our Sins

On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, after the afternoon services, Jews visit a body of water or pond, containing live fish*, to symbolically "cast away" their sins into the river. Crumbs of bread are tossed into water, after the Torah verse: "And you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."

Readings
Genesis 21:1-4, 5-12, 13-21, 22-27, 28-34

Numbers 29:1-6; 1

Coloring pages

http://www.aish.com/h/hh/f/fa/52874647.html
http://www.chabad.org/holidays/jewishnewyear/flash/flash_play.html
http://crafts.holidays.net/view_craft.php?id=296
http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/yomtov/rosh-yk/rhpages.htm

maze

http://image.aish.com/holidays/hh00_print_maze_younger_kids.gif

Crafts
Charity box, rosh hashanah apple cards, shofar
honey card craft
apple candelstick craft
3 D Dove
apple of hope

catch up week: narnia craft wrap up

2009-09-12T20:39:00.000-07:00

We forged ahead in our school work, but we left a few narnia crafts behind. So we used our catch up week to finish them and as an excuse to drink hot chocolate.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Unit

2009-09-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs unit study

Because we planned to see the movie, and I love the book to begin with, we decided to do a unit study on the book. The kids are super excited about the idea. There have been some new books that have been published in anticipation of the movie. If you have older kids, there is a novelization of the movie also. We decided to focus on the weather and nutrition for our part of the unit study.

**Unlike other units I have written, this is not my original work, I have merely compiled other resources into one place for our unit.

Books

The Cloud Book by DePaola, Tomie
It Looked like Spilt Milk by Shaw, Charles Green
No Peas For Nellie by Demarest, Chris L.
Rain by Kalan, Robert
Rain Drop Splash by Tresselt, Alvin
Rain Talk by Serfozo, Mary
The Sly fox and the Chicks by Sommer, Carl
The Snowy Day by Keats, Ezra Jack
Stone Soup by Muth, Jon J.
Un-brela by Franson, Scott E.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Carle, Eric
What will the weather be by DeWitt, Lynda
Bahsghetti Spaghetti by Vettiger, Susanne
Gregory, the Terrible Eater by Sharmat, Mitchell
Growing Vegetable Soup by Ehlert, Lois
If you give a pig a pancake by Numeroff, Laura Joffe
Jamberry by Degen, Bruce
Mooncake by Asch, Frank
Pancake, Pancake by Carle, Eric
The Popcorn Book by DePaola, Tomie

Songs

Oats, and Beans, and Barley Grow

Oh my what will the weather be?
Oh My, What will the weather be?
Oh my, what will the weather be?
Oh my, what will the weather be?
It will be (rainy, cloudy, sunny, snowy, windy) today.

Whats the weather like today?
Whats the weather like today? like today? like today?
Whats the weather like today? on this (day of the week) morning?
The weather is (sunny, rainy, cloudy, snowy, windy) today X2
on this (day of the week) morning.

Mr Sun
Oh Mr. sun, sun, Mr. Golden sun
Please come shine on me
Oh Mr. Sun, sun, Mr. Golden sun
Hiding behind a tree
These little children are asking you
To please come out so they can play with you
Oh Mr. Sun, sun, Mr. Golden Sun
Please come shine on me.

What's The Weather?
sung to the tune of "Clementine"
What's the weather?
What's the weather?
What's the weather like today?
Tell us (child's name),
What's the weather?
What's the weather like today?
Is it sunny? (hold arms above head in a circle]
Is it cloudy? [cover eyes with hands]
Is it rainy out today?[flutter fingers downward]
Is it snowy?[wrap arms around body and shiver]
Is it windy? ["blow children over" with a swoop of your arms]
What's the weather like today?

Activities

Take the kids for a walk to look at the clouds in the sky on multiple days and talk about the different shapes of the clouds.
Watch a weather report with the kids, then have the kids give their own weather report using cut out pictures of weather.
Let the kids do a fashion show for various kinds of weather
Make a storm. Begin by rubbing your hands together making a soft sound, Tell the children to imagine that it is beginning to rain softly. continue to develope the storm by snapping fingers. Follow this by patting your legs, then reverse the action to have the storm subside. (You can add in thunder with a drum, or a cookie sheet). Then have the kids create a storm also.
write the names of different clouds onto a divided sheet of paper, then have children create the cloud types with cotton balls, glue, and marker.
Graph the weather for the week.
create Mr. Weatherbear from cardboard, cover him with felt. Cut out various weather outfits from felt. Each morning when we do the weather graph, have the children dress Mr. Weatherbear for the day's weather.
Practice writing in the "snow" (using shaving cream).
Turn on the sprinkler and go rainbow hunting.
There are many people that work together to make the community function smoothly, called community helpers, such as the mayor, doctors, police and firefighters, as well as the storeowners, transportation workers, and sanitation workers. Make a list of community helpers referred to in the book. Have your child brainstorm other community helpers to add to the list.
Have your child make a pretend map using the description at the beginning of the book, including oceans, deserts and mountains. Make sure he adds a compass rose (North, South, East, West) and labels the town of Chewandswallow. Make a story disk (maybe with a meatball on it) and place it on your map. You could also let your child make a small map of Chewandswallow for your lapbook.
visit a land fill and a recycling plant. Think about ways you can stop throwing so much stuff away that will be hauled to landfills (recycle more, take things to Good Will, start using cloth bags at the grocery instead of plastic, make a compost pile as mentioned in the story- “the rest of the food was put back into the earth…”).
Measure 15 inches (like the drifts of cream cheese and jelly sandwiches). What in your house is 15 inches high/long? Compare to things bigger or smaller.
make giant meatballs or pancakes together!
Messy, but fun- Dry out some pieces of bread and let them build a boat or house with peanut butter.
Go and see "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" at the theater.

Science Experiments

"When it rains where does it go?" Have kids use eyedroppers and various materials (cotton, synthetic, paper, papertowels, cardboard). Drop water onto the materials to see which are absorbant. Then ask question like which surfaces outdoors will, or won't absorb the rain? What type of clothing do you want to wear in the rain? What causes flooding? Talk about saturation point.
Pop Popcorn, show kids a cup of popcorn kernels. How much popcorn do you think this will make?
The water cycle involves evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection of water.
Make it rain using this condensation technique
Read here about thunderstorms and lightening.
conduction activity here
convection activity here.
convection current activity here
make a tornado here
Make a storm with a tornado tube and some old bottles.
Learn about evaporation by placing a dish of water in the shade and another in a sunny spot. Put a thermometer alongside the dish to introduce temperature. Observe the dishes and thermometers periodically during the day.

Crafts/Art

Make a cloud mobile (p 463 circle time)
make rainbow mobile (p.476 activity)
make a windsock
Make a symmetrical cloud painting by placing drops of white paint on a blue paper, then folding the paper in half, pressing down. Open he paper, add glitter to the paint areas, and there's a white puffy cloud.
Observe the clouds and draw what you see.
Make a diorama of a favorite part of the book (you can use play food to be the “giant food”).
make a spaghetti and meatball hat craft here
make this picture except have food falling.
corn weaving with yellow, brown, and orange construction paper. (p. 169 circle)
make an ear of corn from a paper plate.
make banannas from hand tracings. Paint the fingers yellow and the little bit of wrist brown.
make grapes with purple paint and fingers.
make paper plate pizza. take paper plate, paint red paint for sauce. Cut toppings out of construction paper.

Games

Play the weather game (p. 473 activities)
make "puddles" (about 8-10) out of blue construction paper and laminate them. Have the kids practice gross motor skills jumping from puddle to puddle.
play games on movie site

Discussion

In this book the sanitation department has to work really hard to keep up with the leftovers. How do you get rid of your garbage? Does your student know where it goes? How is recyclying different?
Where does our food come from? We know it doesn’t rain down from the sky, but does your student understand that food doesn’t really “come from” the grocery store? Talk about Froberg Farms.
List the problems that happened, such as flooding, tornados, etc. Ask, how can we stay safe during this weather?
how it would affect the economy, employment, etc. in our town or area if food suddenly started falling from the sky. **Think about stores, employees, truckers, shipping industry, warehouses, factories, packaging plants, and an almost endless list of areas it would affect.
** How would it affect your family economically? This will vary depending on your employment and buying habits or how much you grow yourself, etc
how it would affect the economy, employment, etc. in our town or area if food suddenly started falling from the sky. **Think about stores, employees, truckers, shipping industry, warehouses, factories, packaging plants, and an almost endless list of areas it would affect. ** How would it affect your family economically? This will vary depending on your employment and buying habits or how much you grow yourself, etc
Discuss your family food budget. Compare prices from several stores and graph the information. Talk about using coupons, buying in bulk, etc.
Discuss cooking from scratch versus packaged or restaurant meals. Compare price of prepared food to fresh. For example price raw potatoes, frozen potato products, boxed or canned potato products, potato chips, French Fries at a restaurant, etc. Compare cost per ounce.

Language Arts

Write about what food you would like for it to "rain" on you. If food dropped like rain from the sky, wouldn't it be marvelous! Or would it? It could, after all, be messy. And you'd have no choice. What if you didn't like what fell? Or what if too much came? Have you ever thought of what it might be like to be squashed flat by a pancake?
The Israelites and Manna (Exodus 16)
Students will use a spreadsheet to organize compound words they find in the book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. After entering the data, they will sort the columns by alphabatizing the words. As a fun ending activity, they will re-sort, using only one column of words, thus creating “new” compound words. Students will write a sentence with their new compound word.
A tall tale is a story that contains humor and elements which are exaggerated or hard to believe. Discuss with your child how this story fits the definition of “tall tale” and give specific examples.

Nutrition

Discuss healthy food choices, including the five food groups (grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat and beans). You can include in your discussion any particular choices your family makes regarding healthy eating (trying to eat mostly whole-grains, not eating meat, etc.).
Talk about the food pyramid, identify the different categories. Try to eat meals with offerings from each.
Ask your child to analyze the day’s meals as written in the book (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Are the meals healthy? If not, what could be changed?
Have a vegetable tasting.
Where does it come from? (ketchup, orange juice, peanut butter, applesauce)?
make butter, fruit salad, peanut butter, muffins
make "stone soup" (veggie soup with a stone in it) and read stone soup.
Junk food, or healthy food? Talk about what makes food healthy, what makes it junk?
using the food ads, make a nutritional menu for your own healthy restaurant, then using notpads dramatic play restaurant.

Bible

Memory verse: “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” (Psalm 34:8)
The people of Chewandswallow came to a place where they needed a refuge from the extreme weather they were experiencing. Talk with your child about what it means that the Lord is our “refuge”; share personal examples of how He has cared for you and how you have experienced “tastes” of His goodness in your life.
Bible Story- Manna From Heaven
In the Bible, there was a time when food really did rain from the sky! Read Exodus 16 with your students. Be sure to discuss thankfulness and complaining. You may even want to mention that we need to be thankful for the foods we do have to eat even when they aren’t our favorites.

The Sneeze that got away

2009-09-09T15:36:00.001-07:00

Today we also talked about how when sneezes get away uncovered they can cause germs. To demonstrate I took a spray bottle full of regular water, pretended to sneeze, but didn't cover it. The kids were able to see and feel the water vapor land on them.

Then we added food dye to the bottle. (call me crazy but I didn't want the food dye to stain their clothes). We "sneezed" into tissues using the spray bottle, and saw how it stained the cloth.

This was a big hit. It just went on and on, by the time we were done, the clothes were soaked.

On a completely unrelated note, how does the dog wind up in every single blog post?

Playing Doctor

2009-09-09T14:03:00.000-07:00

Since we are studying germs it seemed the perfect time to talk about the doctor. The kids got out their doctor kits and their animals to have some dramatic playtime. They had a blast, didn't want to stop, as I write they are STILL playing doctor more than two hours later. As you can see we started with stuffed animals, then the dog joined in the fun and became the "live" test subject. Poor Mac, I told him to run... he just didn't listen.

Germs/Bacteria in Food

2009-09-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

We learned about germs in food by using yeast growth. First we drank two sodas. This might have been the kids favorite part of the experiment. When else do they get to drink soda at 10am?

We dropped one teaspoon of yeast into each bottle, then we filled each halfway full of warm water and put a balloon on top. One bottle went into the fridge, and one went onto the counter near the oven.

We talked about how the yeast would act as bacteria would, if the balloon blew up, then the yeast was growing.

When we got home, the balloon on the counter had blown up, but the one in the fridge hadn't blown up at all. We are going to watch it a few more days to see what happens.

Glitter Germs

2009-09-09T13:28:00.001-07:00

We are learning about germs, and unfortunately germs are invisible. Since kids this age are so concrete, I wanted to give them a way to "see" the germs.

First we used hand lotion to give the glitter something to stick to. Then I sprinkled glitter on the kid's lotioned hands.

I had them do some of the things they would normally do on an average day. Like turning on a light, or scrathing their nose. They were able to see how the glitter rubbed off onto the lightswitch.

Chloe was in the shower when we started, so she played ring around the rosie with Emma and John when she came out and we saw how the glitter transferred onto her hands also.

After this experiment everyone felt that they understood germs more completely. The kids were motivated to run around the house sanitizing all the lightswitches, doorknobs, remote controls, and keyboards.

Frustrated in Slackerville... sort of OR can I have a Mulligan?

2009-09-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well, we are behind... already. Even though I understand why, I find it depressing. Last week Brian had four days off, which only left us three days for school. You might have noticed the "blog silence". On those three days I wasn't getting much sleep and was feeling pretty off anyway. So for most of those days we went for the "fun factor". So now I am a little frustrated. I know we did school over the summer, so its not as though we are in danger of not doing enough school for the year. But I hate getting off track.

At first I thought maybe we should try to cram two weeks worth of school into this one week. But honestly, that makes me tired and overwhelmed. I can only imagine how the kids would feel about that. Instead, I think we are just going to have a catch up week this week and get back on track next week, just a little behind.

I think I tend to schedule us as though we don't have a real life where people get sick, or have unforeseen circumstances. I schedule us for the ideal circumstances, and then when real life happens (as it always will) I feel defeated somehow. So, to remedy this, I think I am going to start scheduling some catch up weeks into the schedule. If I loosen up the scheduling, then when something happens I won't be scrambling for what we are doing. If we don't need to use the catch up week, I can just stick a random unit study in there.

Preschool-Swine flu Prep: Germs and health care

2009-08-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

I will post pics of what we do each day, but here is our plan for preschool this week.

Books:

Those Mean Nasty Dirty Downright Disgusting but... invisible Germs by Judith Anne Rice
A trip to the Doctor by Margot Linn
Germs are not for Sharing by Elizabeth Verdick
Germs make me Sick by Melvin Berger (this was a Reading Rainbow book)
Achoo! All about colds by Patricia Brennan Demuth
Germs by Judy Oetting
Going to the Dentist by Fred Rodgers
Bill Nye the Science Guy's Great Big Book of Tiny Germs as a reference book

Activities:

Sneeze Experiment: Grab a spray bottle, fill it with water and food coloring. Use the spray bottle and tissues to "fake sneeze" and to show how germs spread. Explain the right way to sneeze, to prevent germs spread.
Heart rate activity: Feel your heartbeat at rest, dance to fast paced music, then feel your heartbeat again afterward. Exercise is a very important part of staying healthy, explain why it is important to get exercise each and every day. What types of activities will get your heart rate up?
September is Yoga Awareness month. Discuss how stress affects your health. Practice Yoga and deep breathing.
Talk about how nutrition and vitamins affects our health.
Grow germs to study them in "petri dishes": In a saucepan mix 1 bullion cube, 2 tsp sugar, 1 cup water, and 1 envelope of gelatin. Divide the mixture between little sauce cups, or foil muffin tins and let cool in refrigerator. Once they are cool and solid, touch one with your unwashed finger (make sure to label and keep track), one to a light switch, leave one out for 15 minutes, wash your hands and touch one, and leave one covered as your control dish. Observe what happens. Germs that land on the nutrients in the cups grow and multiply, they will make colonies big enough to see without a microscope.
Does washing hands work experiment: Tear a paper towel in half, get each piece wet and put each of the two pieces in a plastic ziploc bag. The take your hands outside and rub them in dirt, touch your dirty hands to a slice of bread. Put that slice in one of the ziploc bags with a paper towel in it. Then wash your hands thoroughly. Touch your clean hands to another slice of bread, put that slice in the other bag with a paper towel. What happened? You should see mold growing on the dirty bread after a few days. Washing your hands takes off all the microscopic germs
Use syringes with the needles removed to paint a picture. This is an especially good activity for kids who are nervous around needles.
How germs are spread: Have the children all use lotion on their hands, then put superfine glitter on their hands. Go about your day. Where does the glitter end up? That is where germs would be also.
Why do we keep food in the refridgerator?: Take two soda bottles, fill them halfway with warm water. Put a packet of yeast into each bottle, and 1 TBL sugar in each. Fit a balloon over the neck of each bottle. Place on bottle in a warm place, and the other in the fridge. Which balloon blows up, and why?
Make a stethescope from pipe cleaners, tin foil, and cotton balls.
Make a doctor bag .
Use cornstarch to show how germs are spread.
Discuss brushing teeth the right way. Use an empty egg carton for "alligator teeth" give children an old tooth brush, and white paint to "brush/paint" the alligator teeth right. Explain how we have to get between the teeth. Practice flossing.
Discuss first aid, what to do in various situations.
create a stuffed animal first aid station. Any bears who neeed "stiches"?, Use Plaster of paris and white gauze to cast an animal.
Finger cast finger puppets: Use plaster of paris and gauze to create a finger cast. let dry, then decorate the cast.
Use a paper plate to create Mr Yuk. Then go through your home and talk about all the items that are poisonous using Mr Yuk. Go to your local poinson control center and grab some Mr Yuk stickers, lable everything in the house that is hazardous with the stickers.

Narnia wrap up: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

2009-08-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

This post is linked to the Weekly Wrap up @ Weird, unsocialized, homeschoolers.

The rest of the book went by in a blur. Once the action in the book really started moving, the kids didn't want to put the book down. I would never deny them books, so we made it through the last five chapters all in one sitting. Hence the "wrap up" title. So here are the discussion/narration questions for the last five chapters.

Discussion/Narration:

The petrification of the little party of animals having tea is really the first true tragedy we witness in the book? What does this make you think about the witch? Does this change how Edmund sees the witch?
Although Edmund has been feeling sorry for himself because of the change in how the witch was treating him, when the animals are petrified, it is the first time that Edmund has felt compassion for someone other than himself. Do you think that Edmund's ability to feel for others signals the beginning of his change and repentance? Discuss Compassion?
Why does Aslan have Peter fight the wolf? Couldn't Aslan have fought the wolf easily? Peter's fight with the wolf is his entrance from childhood to adulthood.
When Aslan sacrifices himself, the stone tablets break. Aslan's sacrifice of love breaks the witches unforgiving reign (remember she was the one to round up those who did wrong) and ushered in a new vibrant, forgiving era. Discuss how this mirrors what Jesus did.
The battle scenes after Aslan rises again show the struggle for good against evil.
In the battle scenes Edmund fights bravely. Why do you suppose that was important for Edmund? Do you think he had lingering guilt? In a sense, Edmund is redeeming himself in the same was Aslan redeemed him, but it is important that each person redeem themselves as well.

Activities:

We watched two versions of the book. We watched the Disney version of the movie and the BBC version of the book. We all agreed that the BBC version was more accurate to the book, but the Disney movie was more fun to watch even though there were inaccuracies.

In closing, we were all sad to see the end of this unit. We LOVED it. It was fun and the kids really extended what we did in class, into their imaginative play and their discussions. That for me is the surest sign that what I am doing is sparking the kids imaginations. The kids lobbied to read Prince Caspian instead of our next choice "Ramona the Pest". I think that we will go ahead with Ramona, and then we can read Prince Caspian next semester.

These blogs show the past posts backwards, so just in case you are looking for the rest of the series here are the lessons in order....

Preschool Week 1: Handwashing Unit Study, Swine Flu Prep

2009-08-24T15:53:00.001-07:00

I am a bit of a germ/pandemic freak. Somewhere in Sugarland my parents are laughing hysterically. I have the reputation in the family as the person most likely to open doors with her elbows.

So given the predicted surge in the swine flu epidemic, I thought it was the perfect time for us to have a "health and hygiene" unit for our preschooler. (and lets face it, the rest of us could use the reminder too).

So we learned how to wash our hands:

warmish water
generous soap
lather the palms, tops of hands and in between fingers and nails while singing "happy birthday" song twice.
rinse
grab ONE paper towel (we are still working on this)
turn of faucet with used towel
throw towel in trash (another sticking point)

Then we added bubbles to the sand and water table to wash off all our water toys and have some bubble playtime.

The older girls enjoyed making little books that explain handwashing. Tomorrow we are going to do bubble painting!

Lesson 6: TLTWTW Chapters 9 & 10

2009-08-21T19:09:00.000-07:00

Chapter 9 summary:

The story shifts to Edmund, as he walks to the witch's castle he is debating with himself over the white witch.
He makes it to the White witch and tells her everything he knows. She is scared and orders her dwarf to bring her sledge

Chapter 10 summary:

Meanwhile, the kids are making their way to the stone table. It is a long and tough journey.
Mr beaver finds them a cave where they can rest
They here bells and assume it is the white witch's sleigh, but its really father christmas.
Santa gives them all very useful tools

Analysis:

Describe Edmund's argument with himself on his way to see the white witch. This shows his downward spiral, he isn't being surprised... and he is plotting to lord it over his siblings, wants to get even with them.
Santa comes when Aslan comes to Narnia. What could this mean? Why do we celebrate Christmas?

Activites:

make a lion mask
look on line for how beavers make dams
will Loew's cut wood for a shield like Peter's for me?
get wooden daggers/swords for the kids?
let the kids act out the scenes we read today
make jingle bell necklaces to mimic the sleigh bells.
make a candy sleigh

Lesson 5: TLTWTW Chapters 7&8

2009-08-17T19:23:00.001-07:00

Chapter 7 Summary:

The children come across Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who assure them they are friends.
The Beavers tell the Children about Aslan, but won't say anymore, warning that the woods are alive with dryad spies. So they invite the children back to their house for dinner.
Edmund wants to run away to the White Witch, but instead goes with the others to the Beaver's home.
They prepare a feast of fish and potatoes

Chapter 8 Summary:

Mr. Beaver tells the children that Mr. Tumnus has been taken away by the White Witch's secret police.
He tells the children about Aslan, the rightful King of Narnia and tells the children that they must go to Aslan.
Mr. Beaver explains that the children are to meet Aslan at the stone table to fulfill a prophecy.
He explains that the White witch is not human, but half Giant and half Jinn. Descended from Lilith on one side.
The children notice that Edmund is gone and want to mount a search party, but Mr. Beaver says not to waste the time, that Edmund had the look of a traitor and he ran off to join the White Witch. Everyone wonders how much of their plans Edmund heard.

Questions/Discussion points:

Why do the children demand that Mr. Beaver show them a sign that he is a friend? Is that a smart thing for the children to do? Is it possible to be wise and smart while still having faith?
What do you think of the children's reaction to Aslan's name? Aslan is supposed to be a representation of Jesus, Lewis was trying to portray the power that is in Aslan's name, much like Jesus.
The meal that the children eat with Mr. and Mrs. Beaver is the total opposite of Edmund's encounter with the white witch. Lewis goes into great detail about this meal, and how satisfying it was. The children had an honest hunger, and the meal was satisfying to the children.
In this chapter we get a description of Aslan, what did you think of him? Is he friendly? is he good?

Activites

Make a lion craft here.
Beaver Toilet paper craft here.
Have whitefish and potatoes for dinner
What do you think a Dryad would look like? try to draw one.
Draw a contour tree

Child originated learning

2009-08-17T18:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, even though it was Sunday, we were all set to do a full day of school. We had taken off a day to hang out with Daddy during the week, and I was anxious to complete everything I had scheduled for us this first week.

But over the weekend I had cracked a tooth, and I had a headache, and a sore throat. Basically, I was a wreck.. I didn't have the patience I normally have and I just couldn't muster the will to get started. So I put school off a bit and got started on the kitchen. I felt so GUILTY for it. The whole time I was washing dishes I was beating myself up over it, I was so disappointed that we hadn't been able to put check marks next to everything I had planned.

So I walked into the school room and I found this scene. These girls of mine were writing a story of Narnia, their very own creations all their own idea. I heard them arguing different parts of the story back and forth, trying to pick the direction they wanted their stories to go, choosing a setting for their stories and remembering details from the book. They were so insanely creative with these stories.

I realized....I had been a fool standing at the sink beating myself up. Sure, I could have busted up all this natural learning they were doing to impose my ideas and my schedule on them. But frankly, I think they learned more all on their own inspiration then they would have with mine.

Pictures of the White Queen

2009-08-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

These were our project with Narnia today. It was fun, but I had to draw the outlines for the queen. Yikes, thank goodness I wasn't interested in making her pretty. The kids had a blast making these. We still need to add the white fur trim, but I think they came out rather well.

PS, it is rather difficult to get gluey glitter off your kitchen table. Next time we will put down newspaper.

Snow and floods

2009-08-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

Today we played with some fake snow I picked up at Mardel. It was the best we could do for our Narnia Winter here in Texas. This was a new brand, and I like it. It is dry like Styrofoam. The other kind I have is kinda wet and gelly, and makes a bigger mess.

After reading our portion of Story of the world we made a mock up of the River Nile. We took aluminum pans, filled them with potting soil, made a river, sprinkled grass seed, and then flooded it the way the river Nile flooding watered the farmers plants.

HUGE hit! The kids had a ball. I had to promise they could flood the river again soon.

Through the magic Wardrobe

2009-08-12T20:23:00.001-07:00

Part of our Narnia Lessons includes Dramatic play. For us, this mostly means letting the kids act out the parts of the story we read each day.

So since we are only a few chapters into the book, and the wardrobe still plays a critical role, I devised a way to make it more "fun" for the kids. We took a tension rod, suspended it in the hallway with a few clothes on it.

This was such a hit, by their reaction you would think I just built an actual wardrobe by hand. They made me laugh. The best .99 I ever spent.

Oh and I had to include this one... I think John might be thawing towards school. Here is playing "Mr Tumnus" with his umbrella. He cracks me up. Of course, two minutes later he was trying to whack his sisters over the head with it. That is definitely not very Tumnus-y. But those fauns can be unpredictable...

A bumpy start, but a start none the less

2009-08-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

This morning was bumpy. It was our first day back to school. We have been doing school all summer, but in shorter bursts. This morning it was hard to get back into that routine, very very hard. But we had fun none the less. We managed to do all our subjects, and we did our Mr. Tumnus from Narnia pictures. When it was all said and done, we did a nice long recess time to clear our minds.

Week ONE The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe Unit Study

2009-08-08T11:17:00.001-07:00

This will cover Chapters 1-6 of the Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I am gearing this roughly for third grade. Because of that, I am ignoring some of the more theological or philosophical ideas put forth in the text. However, I have tried to introduce the concepts when it would be appropriate. I think If I was doing this for my kids when they were older (and I totally hope we do it again), we would be much more involved in the study of skepticism vs belief, and the deeper character studies and theological issues. So here are the links to a weeks worth of lessons I have written) or you could just scroll down....

Lesson 1: Intro to Narnia
Lesson 2: Chapters 1 & 2
Lesson 3: Chapters 3 & 4
Lesson 4: Chapters 5 & 6
Vocabulary List

Lesson 4: Narnia (TLTWTW) Chapter 5 & 6

2009-08-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

Chapter 5 Summary:
Lucy and Edmund come bursting out of the wardrobe. Lucy enthusiastically tells Peter and Susan about Narnia and wants Edmund to back up her story. When Lucy tells the story and looks to Edmund for verification, Edmund tells the others that he and Lucy were just playing a game. This gives him an opportunity to act superior to Lucy, but his plan backfires. Instead, Peter and Susan think he has been spitefully playing with Lucy's mind. Feeling that they are getting out of their league and fearing that Lucy is losing her mind, Peter and Susan decide to seek the advice of the Professor. When they speak to him, they are surprised to find that he appears to believe Lucy's story. He points out that they have never known her to lie, whereas Edmund has a history of lying. The Professor says that the rest of Lucy's behavior proves that she is not insane. He contends that Susan and Peter's views of the possible and impossible are narrow if they reject the possibility of "another world" such as Narnia. Furthermore, the Professor also concocts an ingenious theory to explain how Lucy was only gone for a second. He explains that a separate world would more likely have a separate time that would not correspond to our sense of time. Peter and Susan leave the Professor's room more confused than when they went entered, but with just enough doubt to become wary of the whole subject. They remain quiet about the issue and make sure that Edmund leaves Lucy alone, so the excitement seems to subside. One day, all four children are standing together in a hallway when they hear the housekeeper coming down the hall with a tour party. Fearful of being found in an awkward situation, they try to avoid the party, but the party seems to follow them everywhere, and they find themselves chased into the wardrobe room. Hearing people fumbling at the door, they all step into the wardrobe.

Chapter 6 Summary:
Once in the wardrobe, the Pevensie children notice almost immediately that they have entered the world of Narnia. Together they set out to explore the snowy wood. On the way, Edmund admits that he has been in Narnia before, and everyone is furious with him. Lucy leads the group to Tumnus's home, but when they get there, they find that it has been ransacked. A note on the floor informs all visitors that Tumnus has been taken away on charges of treason. Lucy understands immediately that this means the Witch has discovered that Tumnus spared her life. Lucy implores the others to help her rescue Tumnus, and everyone except Edmund agrees. Since Edmund is outvoted, they continue on to save the faun. They do not know where they are going, but a robin leads them to the middle of the wood. Peter, Susan, and Lucy believe that the robin is friendly, but Edmund whispers to Peter that the robin may be on the wrong side, and leading them into a trap. Edmund contends that they do not even know which is the wrong side and which is the right. He also points out that they now have no idea how to return home, which troubles Peter greatly.

Discussion/Narration:

Edmund is shown as a malicious, flawed boy. Edmund seems particularly spiteful because he deliberately refuses to support his sister, Lucy. Edmund's actions suggest that it is not just a desire for the enchanted Turkish Delight that motivates his treachery. Edmund's greed for power and superiority also prompts him to treat others with cruelty. How do you feel about Edmund?
Peter and Susan's response to Edmund's behavior reveals a great deal about their characters as well. Although Peter and Susan do not initially believe in the existence of another world, they immediately understand that Edmund is treating Lucy unkindly. Peter and Susan do not join Edmund when he taunts Lucy. Even though they don't necessarily believe her. What do you think about this choice? How do you feel about Peter and Susan? Have you ever not been believed, like Lucy? How did that feel?
Using the professor, Lewis puts forth an important lesson, We should trust a person not based on the probability their beliefs are true, but on their character. Lucy is a good, honest person, while Edmund is frequently dishonest. Lewis shows children how important it is to judge someone's character first, before you believe what they say. Is this true, Can you judge how responsible someone is by looking at their past actions? How do the siblings know that Lucy is more responsible than Edmund? What is it that responsible people DO? Can someone who has been irresponsible change? How does that happen?
How does this lesson apply to Edmund? Edmund does not properly evaluate the Witch's character. Instead, Edmund gets in trouble because he immediately trusts the Witch and believes her offers of power and luxury.
Edmund doubts that the robin is really out for their good. How can we know for sure whether the Witch is really evil and Tumnus really good? We do not really have any more evidence than the children, but we feel that we know intuitively who is good and who is evil.
If we have to follow our instincts, and if they lead us into trouble, we will be no worse off than if we had cowered on the sidelines. If the children had not followed the robin, they would still be standing in the wood, unable to commit to any plan of action. This applies to a person's faith in God. Blind faith is at the core of any fervent belief in God, even though there is no way to logically prove the existence of God.
Define responsibility: Being dependable in carrying out duties and obligations. Showing reliability and consistency in words and conduct. Being accountable for your own actions. Which of the Characters in the story so far have shown responsibility? Which haven't?

Activities

Draw a picture of all the kids in Narnia. Then create a wardrobe door overlay to glue around to frame the picture.
Play the Narnia Game online
Fold a paper into fourths, write the name of each sibling on the top, create a list of words that remind you of that character.

Lesson Three: Narnia (TLTWTW) Chapters 3 & 4

2009-08-08T09:43:00.001-07:00

Chapter Three Summary:
Lucy runs out of Narnia through the wardrobe and is shocked when her siblings declare that she has only been gone for a few seconds. She brings them back to look in the wardrobe to show them the strange world of Narnia, but now it is just an ordinary wardrobe. Peter and Susan tolerantly assume that she is just making up stories, but Edmund spitefully torments her about her fantasy world. On the next rainy day, the children play a game of hide and seek. Edmund peers into the spare room and sees Lucy vanishing into the wardrobe. He follows her into the wardrobe, he finds himself in Narnia. Edmund sees no sign of Lucy and Edmund is unsure what to do. Suddenly, a deathly pale woman approaches on a sledge pulled by white reindeer. She is carrying a wand and wears a fur robe and a crown. The woman stops in front of Edmund, demanding to know what he is. Edmund introduces himself awkwardly. She sternly informs him that she is the Queen of Narnia and that he must address her appropriately. Edmund is puzzled, and stammers something incoherent.

Chapter Four Summary:
The Queen discovers that Edmund is a human child. Though she had looked stern and threatening to Edmund at first, when she hears that he is a human she suddenly becomes very attentive, and invites Edmund to sit in her sledge under her fur mantle and talk with her. Edmund does not dare disobey her orders. The Queen conjures up food and drink for him, which consists of a hot drink and a box of Turkish Delight (a type of chocolate). As he eats and drinks, the Queen asks him many questions. He is completely fixated on the sweet food. The narrator explains that the Turkish Delight is enchanted, causing whoever eats it to feel an insatiable greed for more. This chocolate compels the unfortunate eater to keep on eating it until he is prevented from doing so or until it kills him. Since Edmund is distracted by his desire, he does not notice the ominous signs when the Queen interrogates him sharply about his family, particularly his brothers and sisters. She seems intrigued to hear that there are four children in his family, two boys and two girls. Edmund also tells her that Lucy has been to Narnia and met a faun.

When Edmund finishes the Turkish Delight, he desperately hopes that the Queen will offer him more, but she does not. Instead, she asks him to bring his brother and sisters to Narnia to meet her. The Queen sends him back to the lamppost. There he meets Lucy, who tells him she has been with Tumnus, who is well and has not been punished by the White Witch for his treachery. Edmund asks her for details about the White Witch, and he realizes that the Queen of Narnia is the same person. Edmund, however, is still obsessed with Turkish Delight and rationalizes that the Witch and the Queen are not the same entity. Edmund and Lucy go back into the wardrobe to the Professor's house. Although Lucy is ecstatic that now Edmund can support her story, Edmund is not eager to look like a fool because of his original skepticism.

Discussion/Narration:

define. greed: excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs. Gluttony: overindulgence in food, drink or intoxicants. The Turkish delight represents greed.
The witch is mean when she first talks to Edmund. But after she gives him the turkish delight, he doesn't seem to be able to see it.. why do you suppose that could be?
The narrator was careful to say that the magical Turkish delight fed greed inside the eater, not that it blinds him. This means that Edmund is still responsible for his own actions, he has the choice whether to follow his gluttony or not.
It is a flaw in Edmund's character that his greed is stronger than his concern for his siblings.
Edmund allows his greed to get the better of him and it shuts his mind to the belief that the Queen is the white witch. This is an example of how making bad choices and choosing the wrong things can cloud your judgment and perceptions. It can inhibit your ability to make moral choices.
What do you think of the White Witch?
The White Witch is, perhaps, your typical witch. The Witch is evil to the core, without even a hint of goodness within her, which we can attribute to her not being human. Although the Witch claims she is human, she is actually part giant and part Jinn. The Witch is merciless, cruel, power-hungry, and sadistic. The Witch claims the throne of Narnia by brute force. She enchants the land so it is always winter and never Christmas and so that the poor Narnians have no hope. The Witch sways many Narnians to her side out of fear or lust for power, so that the Narnians are divided and are completely terrified. The Witch carries a golden wand that she uses to turn living things into stone—she does this rather frequently when she is annoyed. The Witch is hated and feared throughout the land, but no one except Aslan has the power to stop her.

Activites:

Make Turkish delight Here (or get peanut brittle or fudge and call it Turkish delight, cause the Turkish delight does not look gluttony inducing). Since its "enchanted" it can be whatever I like I suppose.
Make hot chocolate with lunch, like Edmund drank in the Witch's sleigh.
Edmund describes the White Witch as a great lady, taller than any woman he has ever seen. She is covered in white fur up to her throat, wears a golden crown, and holds a long golden wand in her right hand. Her face is white-like snow, or paper, or sugar icing-except for her very red mouth. Give the kids white yarn, white paper, and glitter to create the white witch. Then have them describe her appearance on a piece of paper with words. Here is our pics.
Put the tension rod back up and let the kids act out the scenes again.

Read Chapters 5 and 6 for tomorrow.

Lesson Two: Narnia (TLTWTW) Chapters 1 & 2

2009-08-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

1. Review what was read yesterday

Chapter One Summary:
Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie are four siblings who have been sent to the country to escape the air raids of World War II. They stay with Professor Kirke, an eccentric but kind old man, who resides in a house filled with twists, turns, and surprises. On their first day in the country it rains, so the Pevensies decide to explore the house. As they explore, they discover a spare room that is completely empty except for a large wardrobe. Peter, Susan, and Edmund leave the room, but Lucy stays behind to look inside the wardrobe. Surprised when the wardrobe door opens, Lucy steps inside the enormous closet to find a snowy wood at the back of it. Intrigued, she explores the wood, knowing that the safe wardrobe is still behind her. Eventually she meets a faun, a creature that is half goat and half man. The faun is carrying an umbrella and several parcels. When it sees Lucy, it is so startled that it drops all of its packages.

Chapter Two Summary:
After the faun recovers from the scare, it asks Lucy if she is a Daughter of Eve. Lucy does not understand this question, but she later realizes that the faun is asking whether Lucy is a human girl. Lucy replies that she is a girl, of course. The faun introduces himself as Tumnus, and asks Lucy how she has arrived in Narnia. Narnia, it turns out, is the name of this strange land that Lucy has entered. Lucy is confused and replies that she has come in through the wardrobe in the spare room. Tumnus misunderstands this, and thinks that Lucy comes from a city called War Drobe and a country called Spare Oom. Tumnus invites Lucy to his home for tea. Lucy agrees, on the condition that she does not stay for a long time, and they travel the path to Tumnus's house. Lucy has a delightful tea with Tumnus. Tumnus serves wonderful food and then plays beautiful music for her on a little flute. Finally Lucy shakes herself out of her reverie, or dream, and announces that she must go home. The faun sorrowfully tells her that she cannot go home. When Lucy asks why, the faun bursts into tears. Lucy comforts him as best she can, and Tumnus tells her that he is crying from guilt. He is a servant of the White Witch, the horrible ruler of Narnia, who has cast a spell over the land so that it is always winter and never Christmas. He has been enlisted to catch any humans he can find and bring them to her. Tumnus does not say what the witch will do with the humans, but we can assume that they will be killed. Lucy begs Tumnus to release her, and he agrees, saying that he had never met a human before and did not know what they were like. Tumnus walks Lucy back to the lamppost at the border between Narnia and the wardrobe door, and they say farewell.

Discussion/Narration:

Explain why the children were sent to live with the professor. Internet link about this. How would you feel if you were sent away to the country? Do you think this would make your sibling relationships more important?
The older children especially have more responsibilities. What is it like to be the eldest child? the middle child? the youngest child? What responsibilities do you have?
The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe are about 4 siblings who laugh together, struggle together, fight with each other, have adventures together. Each of the children brings something different to their siblings, look at each of the children, and their actions/choices and describe what they each contribute to the family. (ex=susan is kind to her siblings).
Describe Lucy's first adventure into the Wardrobe.
Narnia is experiencing only Winter because of the Witch's spell. If you could only have one season forever, which would it be?
The witch imposes an enchanted, eternal winter upon Narnia. Winter sounds pretty good to us here in Texas, and snow is fun to us, but that is only because we don't live with it every day. Remember how cold it was when it snowed last year? Winter is a dead, stagnant time of stasis. A time when things no longer grow, animals hibernate, people huddle up indoors. Normal humans tire of winter, and long for the break of Spring. An eternal winter would be oppressive. Lewis gives the overall impression of a barren empty land. The season of Winter represents that Narnia is under an evil regime.
There is an exchange in the first chapter when the children are anticipating getting to the professor's home and Peter is excited by the animals that might be there. He says, "Did you see those mountains?....there might be eagles, hawks!"
..."Badgers" says Lucy. "foxes" says Edmund. "Rabbits" says Susan. Have you noticed that each of the animals the children chose are a bit like them? Hawks are noble, strong birds. Badgers are loyal and faithful. Rabbits are shy and sweet. Foxes are cunning, and not wholly trustworthy. What animal would represent you if you were in the story and why?
The Faun Tumnus is ultimately good and kind. He may begin the story in the service of the white witch, but when he understand ultimately what his mission is, his decency and kindheartedness surface when he helps Lucy escape.

Activites:

Draw a picture of Narnia in Winter. Cut out paper snowflakes and paste them on the sides of the paper as a frame for the picture. Go HERE for snowflake patterns. Discuss how each snowflake is different and unique. Here are our pics
Discuss seasons, especially winter.
Hydrate some of the fake snow, and play with it at the kitchen table.
Freeze containers full of ice in advance. Let the kids play with the ice (maybe color it too?) Talk about how cold it is. How long can you hold ice in your hand?
Hang a tension rod in the hallway with jackets or shirts on it, let the kids act out the first two chapter of going through the wardrobe. Here is our wardrobe
Make Ice Cream in a ziploc bag It will get VERY cold. Talk about how painfully cold it is.
Discuss how things freeze in winter, and how icecream freezes.
For Lunch, have a Mr. Tumnus Tea Party

Read Chapters 3 &4 for tomorrow!

Vocabulary List for Narnia

2009-08-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

Trifle
Passage
Sulking
Traitor
Contentment
Dreadful
Logic
Betray
Reign
Hoax
Premises
Inquisitive
Spiteful
Harbouring
Enchanted
Imaginary
Muffler
Splendid
Superior
Conceal
Festoon
Beckoned
Prophecy
Vermin
Stammer
Cinema
Conversation
Delight
Gloat
Siege
Pavilion
Perish
Shrill
Dungeon
Vile

Intro to Narnia: Lesson 1

2009-08-08T08:23:00.000-07:00

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis

Book Summary:

Four children are sent away to the countryside of England during the war to avoid the air raids. They go to the country to live with an old professor who has no wife, only a housekeeper in a large house. While there, the children find that walking through an old wardrobe in a forgotten room leads them to a magical place, the land of Narnia. A Magical Place where they have many adventures.

About the Author:

C.S. Lewis (Clive Staples) was a pseudonym used by Clive Hamilton when writing books. He was known as "Jack" to his friends. He was born November 29, 1898 in Belfast, Ireland. He married, but had no children. He taught at English Universities where he was a novelist, a scholar and critic of Literature. He won the Lewis Carrol Shelf Award in 1962 for the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Lewis and his good friend J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of the Lord of the Rings, were part of the Inklings, an informal writers’ club that met at a local pub to discuss story ideas. Lewis’s fascination with fairy tales, myths, and ancient legends, coupled with inspiration drawn from his childhood, led him to write The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, one of the best-loved books of all times.

During the Second World War, when children from London were being evacuated to the country, four youngsters were billeted at Lewis' home, the Kilns. Surprised to find how few imaginative stories his young guests seemed to know, he decided to write one for them and scribbled down the opening sentences of a story about four children -- then named Ann, Martin, Rose and Peter -- who were sent away from London because of the air raids, and went to stay with a very old professor who lived by himself in the country.

That's all he wrote at the time, but, several years later, he returned to the story. The children (now named Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) found their way into another world -- a land he would eventually call Narnia.

Introduction to the Book:

The Title of the story is The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. What could a lion, a witch, and a wardrobe have in common?

Read Chapters One and Two of the Text

A year (well, a semester) in literature..

2009-08-06T20:43:00.001-07:00

In an effort to make language arts more fun then the curriculum I ran across, I decided to do my own literature units. I finally think I have worked out what we are using for literature for the first semester. Here is what it will look like. As I write the units I will post them here.

August

3-8^th Pizza the size sun
10^th-14^th The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (CH 1-6)
17^th-21^st The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (CH 7-12)
24^th-28^th The Lion , the Witch and the Wardrobe (CH 8-17)

September

1-4^th Ramona the Pest
7^th-11^th Ramona the Pest
14^th-18^th Cloudy with a chance of meatballs (with field trip to the movie)
21^st – 25^th The Secret Garden

October

28^th – 2^nd The Secret Garden
5^th-9^th Where the Wild Things are (with field trip to the movie)
12^th-16^th Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
19^th-23^rd Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
26^th – 30^th The Hobbit

November

2^nd – 6^th The Hobbit
9^th-13^th The Story of Dr. Doolittle
16^th – 20^th The Story of Dr. Doolittle
23^rd-27^thThe Wind in the Willows

December

30-4^th The Wind in the Willows
7^th-11^th The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
14^th-18^th The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Homeschool Weekly Wrap Up

2009-07-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

I like the idea of doing a weekly review of the week, so I am participating in Weird, Unsocialized homeschooler's weekly wrap up I want to try to do it each week.

This week went really well. Now, to be fair, my mother had my middle child for the week. I posted about how that changed our dynamics here. But I did try a few new things this week.

Instead of prepping each days assignments the night before, I got together all of the work for the week, copied, stapled it and put it in a folder. So my oldest (she is age 7) could choose what she wanted to work on, and for how long. I haven't had a hard time with getting her to do the work at all, but she is my shyer child who is less likely to give me her opinion and I want her to have the sense of pride that comes with "steering your own boat" as much as possible. It was amazing, what I would have planned for five days she accomplished in only three. Which taught me something of a lesson: If I give her the work, she will complete exactly what I have asked her to complete very nicely to the letter. But if I give her free reign, she excels higher than I anticipate.

The second new thing we did this week was to use wipe off whiteboards for alot of work as opposed to paper. WOW! Is this ever going to save us some money on the paper bill. This week we used it for our spelling tests, and our morning journaling, and for doodling... but SHHH, don't tell the principle.

I have also been trying to arrange our plans for the coming year. Last year was our first full year to homeschool, and I feel like we were overcommitted. We were in about three weekly commitment classes/activites. It was just too much, it kinda sucked the fun out of our homeschool because we were always rushing to get somewhere, or rushing to get home and hurry up to do our chores. Alot of these commitments want an answer as to whether we will be coming back by August. I am starting to feel very strongly that we might just drop all the outside commitments and focus more on the schooling end of things.

Have any of you experienced this? When we first started homeschooling I was concerned that the kids wouldn't get enough social interaction. Now I am worried that we are actually being distracted by TOO MANY social opportunities? Am I just a worrier who needs a topic?

Mummy's

2009-07-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

We are studying Egypt with our Story of the World Curriculum and I came up with this fun idea for an activity. Brian thought it was fun.. but kinda gruesome.

First we went the dollar store to buy our "victim". We chose a nice little walrus who we loved and petted before we ripped his guts out.

Then we made an incision at the nose, and took all the "brain" stuffing out through the nose.

Chloe really dug this part.

Then we used some of Daddy's travel sized shampoo bottles as our canocopic jars.

Emma labled the jars for us.

We cut up an old crib sheet to make the mummy wrappings and tied them.

John wanted to mummify the dog too. Run Puppy, RuN!!!!!!

Poetry Unit: Week 1

2009-07-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

Poetry is truth in its Sunday clothes.

Joseph Roux (1834-86), French priest, writer. Meditations of aParish Priest, pt. 1, no 76 (1886)

Poetry is one of the first forms of literature a young child comes in contact with a la Mother Goose. Pat a cake, and jump rope rhymes all become an essential part of children's lives. Poetry and its appreciation are very much in eye beholder. What appeals to one person, might not appeal to another. Usually children prefer rhyming poetry that is not overly complex.

For starters, lets go over some of the vocabulary associated with poetry.

Rhyme: similar in sound, or corresponding sounds.
Meter: the rhythmic structure of poetry

Limericks: 5 line rhythmic verse with a light and humorous feel. The first, second, and fifth lines rhyme and the third and fourth rhyme separately. The last line is the "punch line".

Example of a Limerick:

A flea and a fly in a flue
were caught, so what could they do?
Said the fly, "let us flee"
"let us fly" said the flea
so they flew through a flaw in the flue

Write your own Limerick:

There once was a pauper named Meg
Who accidentally broke her _________
She slipped on the __________
Not once but thrice.
Take no pity on her I ________

Free Verse: Usually lacks rhyme and rhythm

Winter Poem

Nikki Giovanni

once a snowflake fell

on my brow and i loved

it so much and i kissed

it and it was happy and called its cousins

and brothers and a web

of snow engulfed me then

i reached to love them all

and i squeezed them and they became

a spring rain and i stood perfectly

still and was a flower

Haiku: Japanese form of poetry, form is 17 syllables (5-7-5), usually with a nature theme. A Haiku must "paint" a mental image in the reader's mind.

Example:
The Rose by Donna Brock

The Red blossom bends
and drips its dew to the ground
like a tear it falls.

A Rainbow

Curving up, then down
Meeting blue sky, and green earth
Melding sun and rain

Light Verse: a catchall term for poetry with a more relaxed attitude

Example:

Far and few, far and few,

Are the lands where the Jumblies live;

Their heads are green, and their hands are blue

And they went to sea in a sieve.

Narrative: a poetic narration of an event or story, usually with a plot and action, attention to detail.

Example of a narrative:

THE FROG PRINCESS

Green and slimy
Contentedly croaked he
Sitting near the well.

Flying fast past
Beyond her grasp
A ball of gold down fell.

Weepfully cried she
An open inquiry,
"Help me get my ball!"

Suddenly sprung he
Rather righteously
Over the well wall.

Victorious returned he
So ecstatic was she;
"I shall give thee a kiss!"

Smooched she and dwell
Now two croakers near the well -
A frog and his princess.

Alliteration: is the repetition of the initial consonant. There should be at least two repetitions in a row.

Examples of Alliteration:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
Puny puma pit their skills against zebras.
Pretty Polly picked pears for preserves.
Handsome Harry hired hundreds of hippos for Hanukkah.
Angela Abigail Applewhite ate anchovies and artichokes.
Bertha Bartholomew blew big, blue bubbles.
Clever Clifford Cutter clumisily closed the closet clasps.
Floyd Flingle flipped flat flapjacks.

Write your own Alliterations:

Doodling Daughters ____________
Studious Students_____________
Prickly Pears________________
Hattie Henderson ____________
Ida Ivy Identified _____________

Language Art: Poetry Tickles our World: Jack Prelutsky

2009-07-08T14:14:00.000-07:00

I have decided that we will do a poetry unit. Poetry is a literary form in which language is concentrated in order to provoke an emotional response. Poetry is able to explore the meaning of words and turns of phrase in ways that prose cannot.

Poetry is often ignored, but it really does wonderful things for the student. It increases students vocabulary and their literacy. Poetry, especially poetry like Prelutsky's is silly and engaging. It is perfect if you have a reluctant reader. The pieces are short and manageable, full of opportunities for silliness and laughs.

In 2006, Prelutsky was named the first Children’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. He has created silly poems but manages to slip in some very advanced vocabulary.

The books we will be using are:

A collection of poems:

A Pizza the Size of the Sun

And stand alone books:

Behold the bold Umberllaphant
Its Raining Pigs and Noodles
My parents think I am sleeping
Monday's Troll
Awful Ogre's Awful Day
The Dragons are singing tonight

Our friend the moth...

2009-06-15T17:49:00.001-07:00

Sometimes your nature study lands right on your doorstep.... literally.

Language Arts Plan 1: Chocolate Fever

2009-06-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith

The Authors Website

The Author got the inspiration for Chocolate Fever from a bedtime story he told his daughter about a little boy who loved chocolate too much. Turns out, the little boy was based on him!

Book Summary
Henry Green is a boy who loves chocolate. He eats it for every meal! He loves chocolate more than anyone else alive and chocolate loves him back. It doesn't make him fat, or give him cavities, or stunt his growth, give him pimples or a tummyache. His parents let him eat as much as he likes, but one day he gets the "chocolate fever" and it leads to quite an adventure.

Vocabulary List

phenomenon: a rare or significant fact or event, an exceptional, unusual, or abnormal person, thing, or occurrence
nauseating: causing nausea, or the urge to vomit
acquaintance: a person whom someone knows, but isn't especially close to.
prodded: to poke or stir
bluffing: to act deceptively, to frighten or scare by pretense or a mere show of strength
mirth: cheer, gladness and gaiety
earnestly: an intense and serious state of mind
hijacked: to stop and steal something
subsided: to let oneself become more quiet
survive: to remain alive, and in existence
cargo: the goods sent somewhere in a ship or airplane
cautiously: careful, watchful and alert
desolate: devoid of visitors
dumbfounded: astonished

Discussion Questions:
Don't rush the answers. There is no truly right, or wrong answer, you are trying to get the child just to verbalize what they observed in the story. A narration is what you are looking for, not a short answer.

In the beginning of the story, we learn that Henry Green wasn't really born but he was hatched, fully grown from a cocoa bean. Draw a picture of this and then explain it.
Describe what Henry typically eats for breakfast. Does it sound yummy?
Characters in the book try to guess what Henry eats, what are their guesses?
Why does Henry run away from the hospital?
How does Henry trick the boys in the schoolyard?
What lesson does Henry learn through the book?

Activites

fold a piece of paper in half, on one side draw a picture of what Henry eats. On the other side, draw your favorite foods.
Make a collage candy bar wrappers.
what other kinds of fevers could people break out in? what would they look like.
Make a list of all the the characters in the book, put a plus sign if the character was positive towards Harry, a minus sign if they are negative towards him.
Study how chocolate is made from the seeds of the cocoa tree. Cocoa tress can be raised only near the equator. the scientific name is theobroma cocoa "food of the gods".
Watch the Magic School Bus episode on Cocoa trees.
Have a chocolate party: chocolate chip cookies, chocolate pie, hot chocolate, fudge, brownies
Watch you friends and family, ask them what their favorite foods are and make a graph chart.

Changes, Changes

2009-06-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

Okay so after my year end wrap up, I mused on all the things I thought we could do better for this year. I researched curriculum and I feel very comfortable with the choices I made.

For the 2009-2010 school year....

History: Story of the World, Volume 1
Science: Handbook of Nature Study, Anna Comstock
Literature: I write the curriculum
Phonics: Hooked On Phonics
Grammar: First Language Lessons
Spelling: Natural Speller
Handwriting: copywork from Language arts or history
Math: Horizons Math and Singapore Math
Art: Art for all Class (Major Artists)
PE: Pool Time, Park Time or Gym Time, Yoga
Critical/Logical thinking: Board Games
Handicraft: Sewing/embroidery, knitting

cross posted at

Clint the Snake Man

2009-06-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

We loved the snake class "Clint the snake man" put on. It was held at my friend Brandy's house. It was so informative, he explained about snakes to the kids and then they got to hold/pet snakes. They LOVED it. Surprisingly, Emma loved it the most. She informed me she wanted a corn snake for a pet.

Language Arts and Homeschooling

2009-06-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

Homeschooling publisher's have absolutely nailed producing better and more engaging History, Science and Math curriculum. If you take public school curriculum history curriculum and compare it to a homeschool history curriculum the differences are instantly obvious. The homeschool curriculum is typically much more engaging, explores the topics deeply and typically they use alot of whole books and good literature. They make history fun, and therefore the kids absorb more of the information. It is presented in a 'hands on way', that will appeal to a variety of learning styles. The same applies to Science and Math.

But I have been disappointed in Language Art curriculum. To be clear, the curriculum currently on the market cover the fundamentals of Language art and the grammar or spelling parts of the curriculum can be innovative. But the problem is in the literature part of the programs... its dry, and slightly boring. So much really good children's literature has been produced in the past twenty years, but none of it appears in any of the programs. Its almost antiquated. The older classics of children's literature should appear in a good literature program, but there surely is room for more innovative, recent literature as well.

I went to the SETHSA conference trying to hunt down a LA program I could live with, and was dissapointed. Unless I stumble across one at the THSC in August, I am probably left to write my own curriculum again over this next year.

Dinosaur PreSchool

2009-06-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

Playing Catch Up: Year end wrap up Part 1 - curriculum

2009-05-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

I promise we school each day, even though I don't blog each day.... I haven't been blogging over here, I think because I feel like I am in a kind of limbo. Sometimes, when I talk things out, I feel better about it, so I am going to try that out here.

We started the year using Konos (which covers our history, science, language arts, bible, etc), Hooked on Phonics, and Saxon Math. Now, the kids LOVE Konos, they just love it and so do I. But I find it to be so time intensive on my part. I really have to sink a whole lot of time into planning for it. Sometimes, I don't have that time, and then I feel overwhelmed. If I cut things, I feel like I am not getting things done.

My friend Brandy and I were talking about it, we were both talking about how obsessive Konos can become. It tugs on all my nerdy heartstrings and I just want to submerge myself in it and not come up. Its impossible for me to "just do the minimum".

So my problem is, it takes us forever to complete a unit. "Birds" was only supposed to last two weeks. It took us about 6 weeks to make it through. Now, I supposed I have to decide if I want to define that as a "problem". The kids know a ton about birds, and maybe its fine to just move at our own pace...

My biggest problem this past year was getting everything done around the house and with homeschooling. I have found it really hard to find a balance. In these younger grades, its not like I can just send them off to do their work, at least not yet. However we did add time for learning an online program This has allowed me to walk away while Emma does Math or phonics. We have run into a bit of a problem, even here. Emma has inherited my brain for Math, which is not good news.

All through school I struggled with Math. In college it all kicked in and I took a good bit of higher math just for fun. But basic math still escapes me. I can do calculus, but I have to count on my fingers to add. Its rather pathetic.

So I am in a bit of a limbo, wondering if what we have been doing is what we should continue doing.

Museum of Fine Art Field Trip

2009-05-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

We went on a field trip with our homeschool friends the Thompson's. It was so much fun, well, except for the part where Chloe and John almost gave the docent heart failure. Even though I have explained to them how we shouldn't' touch things at the museum.... they were touching.

Bird Unit wrap up

2009-04-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

We have wrapped up our bird unit. We really enjoyed the unit, we learned alot and made quite a few memories.

We have recently added time for learning, an online program for math and language arts to our curriculum.

We took last week and part of this week off from our unit studies to take a bajillion completely unrelated field trips.

I believe that our next unit study according to KONOS would be Light. But we might take a quick break to study domestic animals briefly. Lately the kids have been very interested in keeping track of the cat and the dogs. Well, and practically speaking, we need to put some time into training our dog... you know, two birds.... one stone....

Birds at the zoo

2009-04-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

We got a special treat when we were looking at the birds in the zoo. The kookaburra bird did his famous laugh for us. It was awesome! We sang the kookaburra song through the zoo after that for quite a while.

Bird watching on Bolivar Penninsula

2009-04-08T21:28:00.000-07:00

Today we went bird watching. We saw some loons, a ton of seagulls, and pelicans. A sweet little family of Turns entertained us.

All in all we expected to see many more birds, but all the trees were damaged in Ike, so the birds don't have as many places to land.

The focus shifted to seashells, but it was still a blast.

Bird Unit Study, Week 3, day 1

2009-03-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today we did all our regular work... math, reading, grammer and then we went over cardinals and mockingbirds. Emma and Chloe liked the Cardinals the best. It figures, they are colorful and loud.

The girls also spent alot of time today on Starfall.com

Bird Unit Study, Week 2: Lesson Plan

2009-03-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

Birds to review two each day:

mockingbirds - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Mockingbird
mockingbird song : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=779OWVW4G6o
cardinal: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Northern_Cardinal.html
cardinal bird song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrI8t6nhlgg
chickadee: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tit_(bird)
chickadee bird song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvJagVJxLtw&feature=related
goldfinch: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Goldfinch.html
goldfinch song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSnWGAq1Los
Blue Jays: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_jay
blue jay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96NLezGF0_o
sparrow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparrow
sparrow song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PYZeVT_M5E

Nests and Care of Young

bald eagle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOT_zz4ptB8&feature=related
penguins: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxpD4UMci8A
flamingo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxNniujV-Qo

Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday

Try to identify the birds in your area by color, markings, and song. Try to draw them.
Put food out for the birds... use peanuts to make a bird garland, halve oranges and string on trees
start a bird log
on any nice days/feeling good days go walk around the park to view the birds

Tuesday

eat a bird lunch: ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins), sunflower seeds, nectar (soda) through a straw, snakes (hot dogs), fruits.
fill/create bird feeders, sew peanuts on a string to create edible garland for birds

Wednesday

cover one cloth with shortening, and leave the other shortening free. Spray water on the two cloths to demonstrate how a duck waterproofs feathers.

Thursday

Compare a chicken bone to a cow bone.

The vultures are circling...

2009-03-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

Sounds ominous doesn't it? Last week we took off for Spring Break, but as it happens we did have a school lesson. We were driving out of our subdivision when we came across these vultures. A bunny had died in the road and they were "cleaning" it. We have so many rabbits in our subdivision I am convinced we must be sitting on top of a massive warren. So we stopped and watched. (I know, its a bit gorey, but it was very educational). I spared everyone pics of the corpse, but got these great photos of the vultures on our light pole. They aren't the prettiest, but they are huge. The kids were really impressed when the birds flew so close to us and ate the bunny.

Today was our day to study vultures, and of course everyone reminisced about the ones we had seen. We did our math and our phonics/reading/grammer. We are trying to take it somewhat easy, and heal up. Somehow we have wound up AGAIN with this stupid cold/virus whatever it is. So we did alot of starfall.com today too.

Bird Unit Study, Week 1, Day 4: Interesting Bird Videos

2009-03-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

Bird Unity Study: Week 1, Day 3 (Wednesday)

2009-03-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

Emma has been doing so well with her internet research. Her reading skills have just shot through the roof and I am so impressed that she can read the National Geographic and Wikipedia articles. Yesterday we researched Anhinga, Flamingo, Spoonbill, Hummingbird, Roadrunner, and cormorants. The above video shows how Japanese fisherman use the Cormorants to fish for them.

We were supposed to head to the nature preserve to birdwatch, but we are being beaten by whatever this virus is. Chloe said she needed a "4 hours nap" and John was grouchy too, so we skipped it. We were all really bummed, so we are going to try to head over there soon to make up for it.

We worked more on our reading, grammer and math. Even though we missed the nature preserve, it was a great catch up day for us.

KONOS Bird Unit Study: Week 1, Day 2

2009-03-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

Ummm, today was pretty much a bust. We had scouts, and that was awesome. We learned about manners. But we didn't do anything "birdy". After scouts we spent a good 2 hours at the doctors office and now I am on some antibiotics, and hopefully will be feeling better. Downside of homeschooling = there is no substitute teacher to call in when you are sick!!!

Bird Unit Study: Week 1, Day 1

2009-03-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

Today was our first day of our new bird unit. We introduced the idea of a report on beaks and bills. Its interesting how fun that sounds before you realize what it is... Then Emma did some internet research on red robins, toucans, hawks and pelicans. We had planning on going on a nature walk today, but I am so sick and there was just no way i was going to make it on a walk without a stretcher. So we drove to Kemah, near the docks and found Pelicans to watch. Then we came home and painted our bird houses. Emma's so proud of her birdhouse because she built it herself at her scouts!!!

During out trip down to Kemah I was excited to see that my local fish mongers are back in business YAY!!!! I LOVE getting my shrimp from them!

Next Week's Lesson Plan: Bird Unit Study Week 1

2009-03-05T19:36:00.000-08:00

Lesson Plan March 9-15

In addition to the math, grammer, and phonics/reading we do each day....

MONDAY:

Introduce idea of report on beaks and bills
look at bird bookmarks on web
Let Emma learn how to browse/research on the web for: Red Robin, Toucan, Pelican, Hawk, Anhinga, Flamingo, Spoonbill, Hummingbird, Roadrunner, Nightjar, Woodpecker
Use a raw chicken to see parts of bird and look at skeleton of bird online. (where is the most meat and muscle? are bones heavy?)
Go on a nature walk to find as many birds as we can
Look online for anhinga and how they eat, weaver birds and their nest, Egyptian vultures and how they crack eggs, cormorants and how they fish for Japanese fisherman, humingbirds and how they fly backwards

TUESDAY

go online to compare the eyes of an owl (front of head), a sparrow (side of head) and a woodcocks (in back). Why the differences..? (the owls hunt, sparrows spot danger and seed, woodcocks who feed in mud have to have eyes to see danger in the rear)
go to observe some birds on the lake - watch how they fly: Look at position of feet, head and wings.
Scout meeting: manners and social skills

WEDNESDAY

Baytown Nature Center Field trip

THURSDAY

research vultures on the internet
art class

FRIDAY

cover one cloth with shortening, and leave the other shortening free. Spray water on the two cloths to demonstrate how a duck waterproofs feathers.
Compare a chicken bone to a cow bone.
fill/create bird feeders, sew peanuts on a string to create edible garland for birds
model bird feet out of clay
try to sketch birds
eat a bird lunch: ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins), sunflower seeds, nectar (soda) through a straw, snakes (hot dogs), fruits.

Kandinsky Circles, art class, and clay

2009-03-05T15:13:00.001-08:00

Before we left for Art class I caught Emma reading a Junie B Jones book to Chloe. I love sneaking up on these moments between the sisters.

Then we left for art class where we used a brand new exciting medium of oil pastels and clay. We did Kandinsky circles with the oil pastels.

Art Class: Sonia Delunay

2009-02-26T17:28:00.000-08:00

Our spotlight artist today was Sonia Delaunay. (ah, even though I forgot my laptop and couldn't' remember her name). She was an awesome abstract artist who was most famous for they rhythm and use of color in her work. Here is a quick synopsis of her work http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonia_Delaunay .

This top picture is the completed student picture.

First we drew the circles using various lids.

Second we made a line bisecting the circles.

Third the children used colors to fill in their circles, each color needed to be used in at least three areas of the picture.

below are more examples of Sonia Delunay's work

Love Dare: Week 1- Love is Patient

2009-02-04T09:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know that this book is meant for marriage strengthening. But when I read through it, I had a bit of a light bulb moment. See, I think sometimes the sibling relationships closely mock a marriage, and to some extent, I think that as parents we have excused bad, mean behavior by saying things like "oh that's just how siblings are". Or, we have said things like "be nice to your sister/brother" without ever following up with specific teachings about what that would look like. I have a view of parenting that its my job to train them how to treat other people.

So I decided to take the love dare challenges, and adapt them to our whole family, including the sibling relationships. Now, I kinda sorta started this back a few months ago, and then the holidays hit. Back then we were trying to do it the way the book is written, one dare for each day, lasting for 40 days. Well, I don't like that, since I am doing this with the kids in mind, I don't think it "sinks in" that quickly. So we are going to do each dare for at least a week (or longer if we need to).

So onward and upward.....

Love dare #1: Love is patient

Ephesians 4:2 "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."

Dictionary definition of patience:

good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence

is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties.

Biblical Examples of Patience

The story of Job exemplifies patience. Job endured near apocalyptic calamities with patience, never once reproaching G-d.

The story of Micah, for example, is that he suffers many challenging conditions and yet endures, saying "I will wait for the God who saves me." Patience in God, it is said, will aid believers in finding the strength to be delivered from the evils that are inherent in the physical life.

"The patient man shows much good sense, but the quick-tempered man displays folly at its height" (Proverbs 14:29, NAB)

"An ill-tempered man stirs up strife, but a patient man allays discord." (Proverbs 15:18, NAB)

"A patient man is better than a warrior, and he who rules his temper, than he who takes a city." (Proverbs 16:32)

"Better is the patient spirit than the lofty spirit. Do not in spirit become quickly discontented, for discontent lodges in the bosom of a fool." (Ecclesiastes 7:8-9, NAB).

"be patient with all. See that no one returns evil for evil; rather, always seek what is good for each other and for all" (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15, NAB)
"everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger" (James 1:19, NAB).

Stories about Patience

Horton Hatches an Egg by Dr. Suess

Love is the most important, powerful force in the whole universe. Love always wants to do what is the best for others and it can help us to overcome our greatest problems. We are all born wanting to have love in our lives. Our hearts need it in the same way our body needs food and water. Being loved can change who we are, just as certainly as not being loved can warp and twist who we were meant to be.

The two most important ingredients in love are patience and kindness. That is where we will begin, with patience.

When you choose to be patient, you are choosing to bring something positive and good into a negative and bad situation. Patience is not easy, it means that you have to control your anger. Patience helps you to extend mercy, and not react out of anger.

Being impatient makes you say and do things that are angry, foolish, and hurtful. When you choose to be angry, you will create even more anger. It becomes a cycle that builds upon itself. Anger rarely makes things better.

It is a choice you can make to control your emotions, and show patience instead of responding right back to someone who hurts you in anger. If your family(sister/brother/mother/father/wife/husband) hurts you, do you automatically try to hurt them back? Do you immediately become angry? If you do that, instead of giving the good medicine of patience to the problem, you are poisoning your relationship.

Patience makes you smart, wise. Patience doesn't automatically try to "get back at" the person who hurt you. She tries to hear what might be going on for the other person. Patience give you and the people around permission to be human, to fail. When a mistake is made, patience gives time for the person to correct it.

What do you think our house would be like if we all practiced patience? How would you feel if people were more patient with you? How could you make others feel if you were patient with them?

None of us can be perfect, or perfectly patient. But we can practice it, and work at it. Try to make it a part of our family and our relationships.

So your challenge for this week: For the next week, resolve to demonstrate patience with your family. Go one week without saying anything hurtful to your family. If the temptation arises, say nothing, go for a time out, count to ten. Its better to hold your tongue than to say something you would regret.

Each night we will check in at dinner and ask the following questions (of mom and dad too).....
Did anything happen today to cause you to be angry with anyone in the family?
How did you handle that?
Were you able to be patient?
If you could go back, and change how you handled it, how would you do it differently?

Eric Carle Illustrations Project

2009-01-26T17:33:00.000-08:00

This is the end result of our Eric Carle Illustrations project.

At the first class we painted pieces of paper with textured paint. We let it dry. At this class we each chose either an Eric Carle illustration, or an illustration of our own making and we cut out the design and then pasted it onto paper

Navajo Blankets/Rugs

2009-01-25T08:55:00.000-08:00

First I chatted with the kids about Navajo Blankets/Rugs and how they were made. Then we looked up Navajo Blankets on line to get an idea of how geometric they are.

I cut out the front of brown paper grocery sacks, and the kids sketched their designs onto the sack and then painted it on with tempra paint.

Thumbprint Valentines

2009-01-25T08:47:00.000-08:00

We did two versions of this craft for valentine's day. First, we made thumbprint hearts. I helped a lot on this part. It was difficult for the kids not to want to hold down their papers, or accidentally touch them with their inky fingers. Then we used our thumbprints to make butterflies, or other animals like caterpillars. It was fun, but messy. I recommend washable ink.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-21T17:44:00.001-08:00

Native American Pinch Pots

2009-01-20T18:11:00.001-08:00

Art Class 1/19/09: Eric Carle Illustrating and Angie Vandenbogaard

2009-01-20T10:42:00.001-08:00

This is some examples I used for the class of the art of Angie Vandenboogaard. She uses monochromatic polkadots of various sizes to compose her paintings. I love how graphically powerful they are. So part of our art lesson was to imitate her style. Below is Emma and my attempts at copying her style.

Then we went on to do the first part of a project with Eric Carle's illustrating technique. We painted paper with paint, leaving alot of brush marks and texture on the paintings. At the next class we will cut out our pictures from the paper to make our own Eric Carle artwork. So if you missed the last class, and want to participate, make sure you paint some paper with alot of texture for yourself. You will want to do several different colors depending on what you are wanting to illustrate.

Global warming has impacted us all.........florida is GONE

2009-01-20T09:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I had tried to cut the cookie into a round about shape of the US. Then went to bed, while I was in bed the children snuck out and John ate most of california, part of Texas, and Emma took out all of Florida like some rampaging Hurricane.

anyways, so we still frosted it, and of course when we were done the camera was out of batteries. The kids were so not going to wait, so we ate it. But it was fun, really fun.