Weavings

Da Vinci Novel

2012-01-17T07:42:00.000-08:00

We recently finished reading a book about Leonardo Da Vinci for a read-aloud. It is called, Leonardo: Masterpieces in Milan, by Catherine Jaime. This is the type of book that gets you right into the historic setting, so you can feel like you are experiencing what things were like at that time. We learned some things about Leonardo's life story-- but mostly this book was focused on the time he spent in Milan working on assignments for Duke Lodovico-- which included various paintings, a huge horse sculpture, being a wedding planner/coordinator for three weddings of nobility, and painting the wall mural, "The Last Supper" in a large room of a local monastery. The author has woven an interesting story-- including some hints of intrigue and suspense about the political events occurring at the time of Leonardo's work in Milan.

We took a look at pictures of "The Last Supper" right after finishing the book-- we just had to see it, after hearing its story. We also learned some interesting things about this painting on the internet, like how the door-- that is currently intruding the bottom center part of the painting-- was not there at the time the mural was painted. Also, this work of art was nearly destroyed in WWII-- if it hadn't been especially protected with sandbags, it might have been lost when allied planes bombed this monastery in Italy in an air raid.

This is only one book in a series of three about Da Vinci by this author. She has written a historic novel about Leonardo's earlier years in Florence, Italy, and also a book that describes his entire life. After reading this one, I'd like to read some of her other books-- she has MANY books about various people and places in history. Her website is www.catherinejaime.com/home.html

Africa Wall Poster

2011-12-31T11:12:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of our Africa map in its current state-- only need to add in a few countries. We've been learning about each country using Expedition Earth-- My passport to the World, by Cindy Horton (published by Bramley Books/Knowledge Quest. This book tells about every country in the world! We won't get through the whole world this year; we've decided to concentrate on Africa and Asia. We're also using some internet video clips/photos and misc. other info to learn more about the countries.

It's been fun putting on the colored paper cut-outs of country shapes on this large wall poster-- it is actually made from four pieces of white posterboard joined together. The freehand drawing of countries that I did didn't exactly turn out exact . . . so some countries are a little wider than normal or otherwise unusual looking-- but it is close enough to get the idea of where things are and their general proportions.

Chemistry Games . . . and more!

2011-11-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

I just have to share the link to this fantastic website: Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop:

http://www.ellenjmchenry.com

I learned about this on a homeschool forum. This site is like a treasure trove for those who are looking for interesting ways to study science and history. Especially science; Ellen has written several science courses for children, available for sale on her site. We have not used any of these yet, as we already have chemistry course materials for this year, but have really enjoyed using the free board and card games she has-- these are PDF downloads; it's easy to print them out and make the games.

James and I have played "The Periodic Table Game" several times-- this game board is printed onto 4 pieces of card stock, and forms the entire Periodic Table. To play the game you start on the element with atomic number 1, and go in numeric order across the elements, rolling a die to make moves. At each stop, you acquire a certain number of pennies-- depending on the element, you may gain pennies or have to give some back. Also, certain elements get bonus pennies or an extra roll if you identify them as being named after a person or place, or having certain characteristics.

"Quick Six" is a card game-- these cards are very interesting to read; there is a card for each element, and they have information about how the elements are used, with some simple artwork. You read through a list of "clues," and see if any of the five cards you have been dealt match with each given clue. You set aside the card, if it does. The goal is to be the first to have six cards in a set aside pile. A new card is drawn each time a match is made. Chemistry info is both learned and reviewed by doing this game, and we have enjoyed playing it.

There are some other chemistry games, too-- we haven't tried them all yet.

The games are all free downloads; we've found them well worth the effort to print out and prepare (very minimal work is needed, but cutting out cards can take a little while).

Out-of-Print Music Stories Book -- A Rare Gem

2011-10-06T17:17:00.000-07:00

We've been reading this rare old book-- Stories of Great Musicians, by Kathrine Lois Scobey and Olive Brown Horne. The high school library in my hometown was purging all their old books when I attended there many years ago, and I am so happy to have been the recipient of this-- a collection of stories of classic musicians, in the "living book" Charlotte Mason style.

James and I have enjoyed this book a lot. We learned about many composers-- Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Schubert, and Wagner; the stories are short biographies that span the entire life of the musician.

These are written in a way that is fascinating and has evident respect and affection for the musicians themselves. There are stories here that might not be found in a music history textbook-- such as how Beethoven wrote his "Moonlight Sonata" as a result of a surprise visit to a blind music lover who was a complete stranger.

I have read this a couple times through, with two different groups of my children, and each time I read it I feel so privileged to have a copy of this old book that is long out of print. The copyright in my copy is 1905.

Although this is out of print, there are some other old, used copies available on Amazon.com very inexpensively-- WELL WORTH the price to the fortunate people who purchase these remaining copies. It is also available for Kindle readers.

Africa

2011-09-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

We have taken a look at a few countries in Africa so far this year. Here is our wall map of Africa; the countries we've studied have colors and names. Our map isn't exactly in correct proportions, but we have the general size and shape of things. Needed to make an extension for the horn of Africa, after had already drawn in a lot of the rest of the map!

This is an interesting study. We're using Expedition Earth, by Cindy Horton. It actually has a page for every single country in the world-- unless some new ones pop up (after March 2011), like maybe in Sudan?
There are some interesting facts to read, and for some of the countries there are recommended video/photo links. We enjoyed watching and listening to the drummers of Burundi, on the computer.

Along with this book and our wall map, we're using two books in a series: You Can Change the World, by Jill Johnstone, and You Too Can Change the World, by Daphne Spraggett with Jill Johnstone. These give stories about people who live in different countries, or are in different people groups. They also have specific info about the religion of each country/people group.

It took a little preparation ahead to plan a reading schedule for the stories from the "Change the World" books so that they will line up with our main geography text (Expedition Earth). Also have found some misc other supplementary reading. For each continent, the countries are presented in alphabetical order. That's why our wall map is getting filled in with what looks like random geography.

There are country flag flashcards and country shape flashcards that we've been using to match up and help with review. I think putting the shapes on the big wall map does help a lot, too, in being more familiar with each country's location and shape.

We aren't planning to go through every country in the world this year, though . . . because we want to go a little more in depth, and at a relaxed pace. So will be looking at Africa and Asia. Those are pretty big continents, with LOTS of countries so it will be easy to spend a year on them.

You can learn more about the Expedition Earth world geography text here: http://tinyurl.com/3dbxcgg

Butterfly Mosaic

2011-09-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

Here's another example of what you can do with plastic lids-- all those milk jug, buttermilk, kefir, vitamin bottle, and misc. other small lids. We saved lids for about a year, and then had a really big collection. These colorful lids work great for making mosaic pictures-- LARGE mosaic pictures!

Big Pig

2011-08-03T17:00:00.001-07:00

Here's a photo of our pig-- Molly and James and I made this big picture (it's about 2 1/2 feet by 3 1/2 feet), with recycled plastic lids. See, there is a reason to save odd materials like plastic lids . . . ! These came off a variety of milk jugs, buttermilk, kefir, etc. It took awhile to collect them, but then we had a big bunch of lids-- and they worked great for mosaic materials. We arranged the lids first, within a pencil sketched pig shape (on a large matboard lying flat). Then one at a time, we put glue along the lids' circular edges and pushed them on. The pig's tail is made of felt.

Summer-- the Set Up Season

2011-07-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

Am so glad to have time during the summer to think about what we are going to be studying, and get things set up. The last few days I've been doing a lot of sorting and organizing and reorganizing . . .

Have found that using plastic tubs and toteable file boxes is a good way to store materials we aren't currently using. We have put them on some large racks in the garage. (When you see the above picture, don't worry that homeschooling is going to take over every inch of your house; it will-- that's part of the "learning lifestyle"-- but you have to keep in mind that we have a lot of materials, from 25+ years-- and for many of these things, out in the garage is a good storage place . . .)

James and I are going to be studying chemistry, physics (intro level)and some anatomy/health as well as looking at history during ancient, Bible times, and also world geography.

While setting up for our own school, I also am trying to set up some new e-books for sale . . . am working on a couple new titles, and if you're a CurrClick shopper, all of our e-books will be on sale there for 25% off during their "Back to Homeschool" sale (will be coming up in August). Here's a link to our products at Currclick: http://www.currclick.com/index.php?filters=0_0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=250&affiliate_id=60643

Announcing: Bible Memory Passages - NKJV! And Bible Verse Songs . . .

2011-06-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

We have a new freebie on our website; it is Bible Memory Passagesin the New King James Version. This e-book is also available in the 1611 King James Version. The NKJV is what I usually use, so I'm really glad to have gotten permission from the publisher to make the e-book in this version-- and to have it ready and up on our site!

Also, speaking of Bible memory, Here is a review of a different Bible memory product, available through another company, that I’m really excited about:

The other day, while doing some artwork, I was listening to a CD that a friend of mine created, that has Bible verses set to music. There is a verse to go with every letter in the alphabet.

I was so impressed with this music, and wanted to tell you about it; it is a great way to reinforce verses kids already know, or just to “slip” some in while they are playing quietly or doing art/crafts or household tasks.

I don’t think I could adequately describe these songs—you’ll have to listen for yourself—but these are some of the adjectives that came to mind when I was listening: delightful, charming, impressive.

There are a variety of musical styles—in general they tend to be mellow (no hard rock or rap here . . . !) and have some interesting solos as well as group singing.
The name of the CD is ABC Bible Memory Verse Songs, and the songs were composed by Mrs. Candace of Sonbeams, a homeschool curriculum company.

These songs can be used as part of a school routine, too, if you’d like to include them—Sonbeams has created a preschool curriculum for teaching letters and numbers and colors, etc. that also uses the Bible verses that are in these songs.

She has a special offer (that ends tomorrow—June 30 is the last day) for receiving a full month of lesson guides—these have some creative and kinesthetic activities as well as Biblical concepts. For example, for letter D the story of Daniel is used, and kids also write “D” in the dirt with a stick and glue over a workpage letter and sprinkle it with dirt! There are some fun matching card games in the letter lesson guides, too. Click on the following link to receive access to these lesson guides—you are welcome to save them to your computer for future use. These cover letters A,B,C,D as well as some numbers, colors and shapes, and Bible stories, and give a good idea of what the curriculum is like.

http://www.sonbeams.com/blog/2011/06/11/free-1-month-homeschool-preschool-kindergarten-curriculum-trial/

Candace has also generously offered two special coupon codes for friends of Gentle Shepherd, for the Bible Memory Verse Songs:

for 30% off the mp3 files and parent/teacher guide, use code GENTLEMP3
for 30% off the CD (without a guide- but this is a hard-copy CD that will come in the mail), use code GENTLE

More Knights . . .

2011-06-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

OK, I admit I'm not a pacifist. Not a war-monger, either, but when my 11-year-old son asked me to make some felt toy knights, that sounded like a really fun project.

So here are the newest additions to the knights set-- swords and shields, lances, and horses with armor.

The lances have double-ended knitting needles sewn inside, to keep them straight. Coming up soon will be a princess, and a dragon. Maybe part of a castle, too . . .
Cheerio!

Spring Gardens

2011-06-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of our new strawberry bed-- a friend was so kind to give us some starts, and they are the everbearing type. Molly and James helped to prepare the bed, getting out rocks and hauling in some rich soil from an old garden area.

We also started some snowpeas, in the side garden . . . but mostly the slugs have eaten the seedlings, so need to get some other things planted there, and put out some slug traps.

What are you planting this year?

Knights

2011-04-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

James was asking me to make some feltboard knights. So here are three! I found some silver craft foam that was sparkly, so now we have some knights in shining armor! Also found that a placemat that was made of plastic with a metallic look worked really well for armor, too. The plastic and foam are glued onto the felt backing with craft glue. I needed to handsew a black felt "inside" onto the grey felt backing, before glueing on the armor.

So now we are making swords and shields, and next will be a dragon-- and of course a princess, and horses for the knights, and maybe some parts of a castle-- but then we'll need a king and queen and lords and ladies . . . this project just keeps going!

The Sound of . . . Schedules

2011-03-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

I so enjoyed listening to Molly and James singing this morning. It was one of those days that I felt hopelessly behind. I hadn't gotten plans made over the weekend, and so was busy trying to write the kids' assignments as they were getting finished with breakfast.

"I don't have an assignment page," said Molly, as she started on her usual morning schoolwork routine.

"I'm behind," I said, adding, "I'm working on it, now."

While I was doing paperwork, James practiced piano. Then Molly got out the ukelele, to show her sister a song she could play. Then James got out his guitar and started playing and singing "You Are," a Christian praise song he is learning. Then he asked me about how to play one of the chords-- an E minor-- on the piano.

At that point, Molly came to the piano and started playing all the chords and singing the song. It sounded great! They decided to try both playing together, with piano and guitar at the same time.

There may not be a sound more lovely than that of your children playing and singing a song to God. So I had this wonderful pleasant feeling while writing out the assignments.

Later, I thought, "Hmmm . . . maybe if they do this on their own I shouldn't bother even giving assignments . . ." But then, if I hadn't been already teaching them instruments on a regular basis would they have had the skills to spontaneously experiment like this? So that idea was allowed to "pop" like a burst bubble.

One thing I've noticed in homeschooling is that having a regular schedule helps things run more smoothly and ensures that things "get done." But there are always those serendipitous moments, whether arising from a planned activity or from someone's temporary interest-- where time and "plans" are no longer all that important, and the enchantment of learning and discovery, or some creative endeavor just "takes over," and we're so glad for the freedom to follow along.

A Trip to the Turn of the Century

2011-03-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

If you'd like an interesting way to take a look at turn of the century American history, find out if your library has a copy of a reproduction of an antique Sears, Roebuck and Co catalogue. We checked out a copy of the 1902 catalog that was published by Bounty Books in 1969.

James and I flipped through the pages from cover to cover, and commented on some of the amazing prices and interesting objects. We saw an early record player, in the "Talking Machine Department," and a piano could be purchased for $59.45, a guitar for $2.45, and a little wind instrument called the zobo was only 8 cents.

There were bicycles, guns, farm equipment, books, a basketball and basketball goal (an iron frame with cotton netting basket which appeared to be closed at the bottom).
There were buggies and wagons and sleighs to be drawn by horses, and an amazing "electric belt" which was battery-operated and worn around the waist as a health treatment.

This device was said to enable its wearer to "face the world anew," for $18.00. And what's more, the catalog said, "$18 will bring to you health and strength, vigor, manliness and happiness . . ." all with a money-back guaranteed 10-day trial.

There was a vapor bath cabinet, too-- this looked like a cube with a person's head sticking up out of the top-- and must have been a type of sauna, for $5.25.

We didn't look at every single page (there were 1161 pages), but enjoyed browsing through, and seeing china and clothing and cast iron cookstoves. Among the ladies' clothes was a long dress called a "wrapper--" that sounded like a curious name, to me. For some clothing, instead of using standard sizes, the buyer was requested to give certain body measurements.

Sears Roebuck had their name on the label of the "Arsenic Complexion Wafers," sold to preserve and enhance beauty. It was also on "Electric Liniment," a liniment that was electrically charged, enabling it to relieve rhuematism as well as sprains, bruises and sores.

After hearing our comments, Molly took a look at the catalog, too. She made some interesting discoveries, like a ring with two real diamonds that cost $2.75, and cameras that looked more like small suitcases.

I took a look at the shipping prices, too. To ship 100 pounds first class to Washington state was $3. But if you lived closer to Sears' Chicago warehouses, shipping was much less-- in Illinois it cost around 40 cents to ship 100 pounds.

This catalog was so interesting! It was a great way to investigate how things were in America at the beginning of the 1900's. So, for a trip to the wondrous year of 1902, look for this book!

Dip Bowls-- A Preschool Art Teacher's Best Friend

2011-02-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

You know a really good way to provide paint in separate colors for preschoolers' artwork? It's dip bowls-- those little bowls sold by kitchenware sellers for putting small amounts of salsa or other dips, in. They're fairly inexpensive, not as easily tipped as paper cups, easy for brushes to "dip" into, and easy to clean up when painting is done.

They have lots of other uses for crafts, too-- you can put out small quantities of sequins, beads, pom-poms, or other materials in these bowls. This is easier for young kids than boxes with dividers.

Also, they work well for putting glue in, and dipping a cotton swab or cardboard strip or wooden craft stick into, to apply glue for collage or other gluing projects.

These little bowls are great for crafts! You may be wondering why I am posting about doing preschool crafts when my youngest kids are 11 and 14 . . . well, my kids babysit for a young nephew, and I am also in charge of plans for crafts for young children for a Sunday School program. And besides that, these bowls are so handy that we often use them ourselves-- myself and my older kids-- when doing artwork.

Grimaces . . . and God's Good Gifts

2011-01-25T13:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a bad day. It was Monday, for one thing . . . and both my homeschooled kids were sniffling and generally feeling lousy from a cold. It was hard to tell if my teaching methods were a mis-match, or it it was just a "bad day."

Because I couldn't seem to get cooperation, I felt like what I was doing was a failure, and I felt like crying.

I did cry, last night, when I woke up in discouragement and despair. I prayed to God to help me rest . . . and He did (eventually). This morning, I prayed that things would go well for our school time today, and guess what . . .

Today has been a wonderful day. We started late, and didn't get all of our usual schoolwork done, but it's OK. Looking all over for something new to learn for piano (it's Molly's lesson day), we found a really fun piece-- that Molly likes, and is not too hard to play. And Later I had time to work on the artwork project I need to do. While I was going back and forth between "pencil" and "eraser" on the computer-- trying to get one spot to turn out just right, Molly said they were through with their other schoolwork, and we could do science now.

Well, science had to wait, and I kept thinking I was "almost" finished with the artwork, but while I worked, Molly picked up the guitar and started strumming, and James came and taught her some chords. I was so happy to listen to them playing the chords while I kept erasing and drawing . . . then he taught her how to play "How Great is Our God," and they were playing and singing . . . and then it looked like science was never going to happen-- I was really "almost" finished with the line art design, and Molly and James were starting on the ukelele, too. After James showed her a few chords, she played a song, and was pleased with how easy the ukelele was.

The art design finally reached its goal, so I stopped drawing and erasing . . . I hated to interrupt the kids from their ukelele playing, but I pulled out the science book to see if it was a long lesson or short one. After a quick glance, I knew this was a great lesson for tomorrow.

So anyway, we decided to just make lunch--since it was too late for science-- and I'm so thankful for God's blessing us this day with happiness . . . and success!

Sticky-Note Flip Books

2011-01-15T22:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday it was Molly's idea. Though I know this particular technique has been done before . . . still, it was something very new to all of us.

We were going to make animation flip books. You know-- lots of little pieces of paper all the same size, stapled together, and a picture drawn on each page, to show animated action happening . . . like a balloon flying up and away, or a flower growing, or someone waving his hand . . .

Well, Molly said, "We could use Post-It notes . . ." And we had some, so we tried it out-- and discovered that sticky notes work really well for this, and you don't have to cut out lots of little pieces of paper. Compared to using 3 x 5 cards, the pages move more quickly, so the action looks smoother.

We just tore off a certain segment of the notes-- about a 1/8 inch thick stack-- to use. Because there is still a sticky surface on the bottom page of the stack, you can just add one note in reverse position there, so the two sticky parts connect, and then the bottom won't be sticky.

James's animation was "Monster Eating 1 2 3." The numbers gradually appeared, and then a monster with big teeth gradually ate the numbers. Molly made a smiley face that slowly appeared, and then grew arms, and then a balloon was attached to one arm.

This turned out to be a really easy project. It only took about 5 or 10 minutes, and we all liked flipping the booklets to see the action. (So give it a try, if you're looking for a fun and simple art project !)

Good idea, Molly!

Felt Fallout . . .

2011-01-06T08:21:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of a Christmas gift project; this was great fun to make. I made a collection of felt people in various races, and also a felt car and house and trees, and my husband made a flannel board-- built with two pieces of thin plywood, with a long metal hinge across the top, with the flannel covering glued on the inside. This allowed two kids to play at once-- on opposite sides-- and the board worked really well. The present was for our three granddaughters (ages 4, 2, 1) and the oldest girl found an interesting way to move aside certain felt pieces she was finished playing with at the moment-- she would toss them over the top (onto her unsuspecting sister . . .)!

Good Times

2011-01-05T15:37:00.000-08:00

We were at the table at lunch Monday, and somehow a conversation started between James and Molly. "You tooth-brusher!" said one, and the other retorted, "You milkshake maker!" and it went on and on with "leaf-raker," "banana peeler" and other equally ridiculous "insults." Finally, James said, "OK, Molly, I wasn't going to use this one, but you've forced me to-- you . . . you . . . you . . . PUDDLE JUMPER!" Followed by much laughter. This spontaneous word game continued for a while, and included another phrase that James felt he had no choice but to use. I can't remember all the phrases they coined, but it was entirely silly, and also just one of those times that you feel privileged to be a witness to creative genius.

This is also a time that I am so glad the kids are homeschooled, and have such great comaraderie as well as me enjoying being there to see antics like this.

New Pages are Online! December coupon code special!

2010-12-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

After nearly a year of work, questions, learning, trouble-shooting, revising, and making sometimes slow but always ongoing steps, our new web pages are finally up online! Come and see them if you haven't already . . .

www.gentleshepherd.biz

There is a free e-book for all new subscribers-- this is a book about math games you can make yourself, called Six Easy-to-Make Math Games. The games are for kids ranging from preschool to fifth grade. For a couple of the games there are game board pages to print out. There are photos of all the completed games, and instructions for how to make them.

To receive this e-book (and sign up for our Gentle Shepherd email list), use the form at the top of the home page on the website.

ALSO, we are offering a coupon code for $5 off any order of $6 or more-- this is a one time use for the month of December. Use the code NEW-SITE.

Turkey Feathers

2010-11-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

These turkeys are from Thanksgiving last year. I just found the picture. Adding feathers was an extra for these hand turkeys. The feathers are taped between two "hand" layers. Have a good time with family and friends this Thanksgiving!

U-Make Matching Cards

2010-10-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

Our newest product is a set of farm animal matching cards. This is an e-book, and the animal card pages need to be printed out (twice, so you can play a matching game) on cardstock. It's easy to put the file on a jump drive and take it to a quick-print, if your computer doesn't do color.

These cards are very simple to make. After printing the pages, just cut them apart, following the gray guide lines. If you'd like them to be more durable, they can be laminated (usually this is available at a quick-print, too).

We use the cards with our middle grade kids (11 and 13) for Spanish practice; by the way, the words for all the animals' names and sounds are given on a couple pages of this e-book, for four different languages (English, Spanish, French, German).

They could also be used by younger children; memory match is a game for all ages.

To see some sample pages from this matching cards e-book, go here: http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/farm-animals-matching-cards/12988216

Stone Soup Homeschool Blog

2010-10-20T07:02:00.000-07:00

Robin Foster Montoya of Stone Soup Homeschool Network has put an article I wrote as a guest contributor, on her blog and Facebook page. This is a more detailed account of our astronomy study, with lots of pictures made by Molly and James! Take a look!

http://www.stonesouphomeschool.com/1/post/2010/10/exploring-astronomy.html

Diligence I Have . . . Maybe not Patience!

2010-10-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

        I don't remember asking God for patience . . . but that seems to be a recurring theme this year. Back in January, I had the silly notion that I could build a simple new website in about a month . . . the end of January seemed like a workable goal. Then it was the end of March . . . and then when I finally got the hang of how to build pages it was the end of summer. Got a long ways during summer-- but had a couple items to finish up, and beta testing, trouble-shooting, help from friends and family and God's sustaining hand . . . and now my end of September aims need readjustment.

        So even if I wasn't looking for it, I feel like patience is something I need-- like the children's song goes, "I need a little patience; I need it right now . . ."

        This journey of website building has been filled with learning more . . . learning to follow processes that took doing, and then re-doing . . . finding that if I tried one more time a different way (the right way) the eureka moment would finally come. Seeing the need to diligently follow every pre-planned step but also make some unforeseen twists in the trail . . .

        I'm so glad to have learned (in a basic kind of way) how to make web pages, and how to make them a united website. Now we are truly at the final stages (I think!) of this website launch. But I'm not going to wager a guess on when! Just going to keep creeping along, and like the tortoise in Aesop's fable, will eventually get there.

        But for me, this really isn't a race. That's something this year has taught me. So it's OK if things don't happen as fast as I'd like. I might even need to take a couple of detours along the road, or have a long snooze like the rabbit-- but I can still "get there."

Star Spangled States

2010-07-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

This year we studied the 50 states. We used the Star Spangled States Book and workbook, by Joel King, as the backbone of our study, and this was a great way to go.

There is a page to read about each state-- we divided up each page's reading between the three of us who were doing the study-- Molly always read aloud a certain section, James read another section, and I read a third section.

We also read about each state from a book called, The Arrow Book of States, by Margaret Ronan, published by Scholastic in 1972. This was a Goodwill find, and I was so thankful to have it-- the additional info was very interesting, and easy for kids to understand (not that the Star Spangled book was uninteresting or hard to read; it was just good to learn even more). By the way, this book is out of print, but can be found at used bookstores like www.abebooks.com.

On the same day each new state was read about, the kids also each traced the outline of the state, by puting blank paper over a copy of a blank outline map. Then they colored their drawing in, while listening to the Arrow Book of States. The kids liked trying out different media for coloring in-- that was fun-- like watercolor paints, chalk, crayons, felt pens, color pencils, and tempera paint.

There are some Star Spangled States workbook pages to do after each new state is introduced. These are for review of states already covered. After all the states have been looked at, there are more review workbook pages-- to practice what states border other states, and what the capital cities are.

At the beginning of last summer, when I was planning for this study, the kids had the great idea of making a huge wall map. Then they would paste on/color on some things related to each state.

Drawing is something that comes easily for me, but this was a bit of a challenge. I bought a tall roll of paper and put it up across our dining room wall the week before school started. Then, by referring to an atlas book that had a U.S. map, I sketched the states in-- starting at the east coast and going west. As the states started to take shape I found I had to examine them, do some erasing, and revise . . . and revise . . . trying to get close to the correct proportion and location compared to other states. So this project took a while. After a couple of hours it was finished, and I went over the outlines with a gray felt pen.

This wall map was an important part of our study-- we took one or two days to put up facts/figures/images for each state. Doing this generally took some preparation on my part-- I made a list of things we could put on for each state, and the kids chose a couple of items to make. I made several more. Sometimes I drew a picture that James would color in. Sometimes James or Molly or I would look for images on the computer, using "Picsearch" on the internet. We'd print them out, add color highlights, and cut out the images.

It was fun to see the map fill in, through the year. Since we were going through the states in alphabetical order, spots that had facts and pictures were scattered over various parts of the map. Eventually there were more filled-in states than blank ones. And then one day the map was all done. It had taken about 2/3 of the school year to do. And it stayed up the rest of the year; we liked having it on the wall and looking at the fruit of our labors, as well as being reminded of various facts and state locations.

When the kids had a question about what states were near a certain state, it was simple to just look up at our wall map and point out the states. I think I, myself, also found it easier to learn all the locations of the states from this extra large map than if I'd only been looking at a small atlas page.

And having the map up made for some interesting table discussions at dinner, sometimes. My husband like to see the new things we put up, and sometimes commented or asked questions about them.

A couple of other elements to our study, added in as memory aids and also for fun, were a song and a chant. The song, called Fifty Nifty United States, has been around a long time. It is by Ray Charles, and is popular in schools-- I watched several different You-Tube videos of it, and we slightly altered the lyrics to come up with our own version. We sang this song together about twice a week.

The chant was one I made up, that we used many years ago when our oldest children were younger and they were doing a U.S. Geography study. It is for all the capital cities with their states. It is a fun chant to say, and I would lead while the kids chimed in. (If anyone wants to hear it/have a copy of the words, let me know; a recording is in the works). We said the chant together two or three times a week, and it took all year to get good familiarity with it. Doing this chant repeatedly helped us remember the capitals, which came in handy for the second part of the Star Spangled States workbook.

Oh, one more extra part to this states study-- we also used a cookbook called The United States Cookbook, by Joan D'Amico and Karen Eich Drummond. We tried out some of the recipes for regional foods as part of our lunches and snacks (both James and Molly usually make some lunches and some snacks, as part of their school schedule). Some favorite recipes from this book were "Banana Berry Pancakes with Real Maple Syrup" (for Vermont), "Cincinnati Chili Over Pasta" (for Ohio), "Baked Apples" (for Washington), and "Cheese Quesadilla with Vegetables" (for Arizona).

Astronomy!

2010-04-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

This winter we studied astronomy, and here is a picture of the balloon/small ball solar system model that has been hanging across our living room ceiling for the past few months. It was pretty easy to make-- Saturn was made by blowing up one of those extra long balloons and curving it around a regular balloon, attached with tape. All the balloons/balls were hung from thread and attached to the ceiling with pushpins. The dimensions were approximately to scale, except for being much closer together than in the scale of the real solar system, and Jupiter and Saturn needed to be bigger-- probably using a large punch ball would have been better for each of these planets. There was a handy list of approximate sizes to make each ball/balloon in the book we were using, Exploring Creation With Astronomy, by Jeannie Fullbright. We used a couple of small balls for the smallest planets--Mercury and Mars, and a large bead for Pluto.

Grassheads!

2010-03-04T15:10:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of our "grassheads." These little TP tube people were fun to make. We put a sandwich bag inside, attached with a rubberband across the top outer rim. They are filled with potting soil, then planted with wheat grains, to make wheat grass.

The "hair" came up within a few days. One picture is of a couple days of growth; the other one, after about a week, looked like a "bad hair day"!

This was a craft during our homeschool kids group.

When the grass was up and growing well, our kitten had a great time knocking over the tube people, and chewing on their hair; we had to grow her her own dish of wheat grass. But she still seemed to prefer knocking over the grasshead people, even when her own grass was up!

New E-Books!

2010-01-19T16:17:00.000-08:00

About the New Website!

2010-01-07T08:16:00.000-08:00

I forgot to explain about the new website in the last post...

We are constructing several new pages for our website. We are switching to selling e-books on our own site, instead of through Lulu. We will still be having hard-copy books be available through Lulu's print-on-demand services.

New Books! And a New Website!

2010-01-07T07:38:00.001-08:00

I always feel much jubilation when I finally get another book finished! I guess that is because I have so many, many computer files for books that are pretty much ready to go, except for needing a little formatting and a cover design. And it seems like the cover designs are what take so much time, that making new books has gone very slowly...

So I am excited and happy to have these two new e-books available. My sons helped me with learning how to format the cover with computer text and graphics, but the underlying picture for these covers was a piece of marbeled paper that I and Molly and James made at the beginning of this school year, as our first craft project. We made lots of other pieces of marbled paper, too, but I especially liked this one. Will probably make some more covers with marbeled patterns, but using some different colors.

In case you don't know how marbeling is done, it's really very simple. You just put water in a rectangular pan, put some drops of oil paint on top of the water, swirl it only very slightly, and lay a sheet of paper on top. Then you lift up the paper and let it dry. And everyone who looks at these says, "Ooh, " and "Ahh."

Oh, ya, I guess I should tell about what's inside these new e-books, too!

These are writing prompt books. A topic is given, for making a picture, with a large box on the page for drawing in. There are lines for writing, under the picture box, so the child can write something about the picture or make a story about the picture.

There are two sets of these, because although we originally used these with 2nd to 4th grade kids, we later decided to try them with some of our middle school-aged kids, and found that they enjoyed them and did some very skillful and creative art and writing with them. Sometimes older school-aged kids don't have many assignments for creative writing; a lot of times their writing is mainly related to school subjects like history or science. But given an opportunity, like using these pages or other simple, open-ended projects, they will often come up with very imaginative ideas for both drawing and writing.

We needed to alter some of the prompts for the older ages set, and make more lines that are closer together for writing. There are 36 pages in each set. This makes it easy to do one page a week through one school year. Or, you can do one page every two or three weeks, and use the pages over several years.

The Old Schoolhouse Store: new WeE-book

2009-07-31T16:40:00.000-07:00

The Old Schoolhouse Store has published a WeE-book about homeschooling young children. I wrote the two articles in it; the first tells about an easy way to teach using "notebooks." These are not large 3-ring binders, but smaller-- report folder-sized collections of pages that can be read through daily. They can also have pages removed or added whenever needed. This is something I did with my kids... and still do! James, who is 10, is going through a notebook this summer to practice some math things like square numbers, place value to the billionth place, and some Spanish vocabulary. We're also doing a fun song about sandwiches (I Love Sandwiches, an adaptation of Bob King's song).

But this thin notebook method is especially great for young children; I thought it should be called "the rocking chair method" because I remember having my young preschoolers on my lap on the rocking chair while we went through their pages.

The TOS WeE-book gives more details and examples about this method, and there are even five ready-to-print preschool notebook pages included at the end of the WeE-book. In the second half of the book, there are lots of other ideas of things to do with young children-- many of these use materials that can be hand-made-- along with color photographs of some of the activities.

To find this WeE-book, go to www.theoldschoolhousestore.com and look in the WeE-books section. It is called Homeschooling with Young Children, and costs $1.95. (In case you're not familiar with WeE-books, what they are is short e-books; you will not receive a printed book, but a download for an e-book. You can then either read the book on your computer, or print it out on a printer. )

New Blog Adventure

2009-07-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

OK, it's time to start something else new-- a blog! Our homeschool curriculum business, Gentle Shepherd Curriculum, started very quietly this January, with our first book. Now we have four different titles, with one being available as a printed book and all of them available as e-books.

I think e-books are the wave of the future, and I am so pleased to be riding on this wave. There are a lot of things I like about e-books, but one of the best things, for teachers, is that you can print out all the pages on your computer. No more lugging of workbooks to the copy center, and turning and positioning each page on the copy machine. It is so easy, and convenient, to print out the e-book pages, and you can choose to print out only a few pages at a time, if you want to. The computer will be there, later, ready to print out other pages as you need them.