Feelin' Crafty

Here are a few of the crafts I've been working on to give as gifts this year:

Crocheted snowflake ornaments for my sister.

A poop duck for my husband's boss. I thought crocheting something for a man (and a construction foreman, at that) was kind of cheesy, but the thing CRAPS CANDY. Who wouldn't love that?

And finally, a potholder and dish cloth set for my sister-in-law.

Handprint Angel Craft

I found this cute angel craft, and "Rupert" was excited to give it a try. I told him how to do it, and he went up and made it all by himself. Fun and easy to do, and I love the Christmas verse on the front.

1st Grade: Week 17 Highlights

We took an easy week this week and did a gingerbread man theme. We read 2 versions of the gingerbread man story and compared and contrasted them using a venn diagram. I printed up gingerbread man themed math worksheets and other activities, and we made and decorated real gingerbread men.

Phonics: We continued working on the sight word flash cards.

History: We started on our Egyptian burial mask.

Music: "Rupert" got some beginning Christmas music from my former piano teacher, and has been having fun playing that.

ASL: We've been practicing telling a simplified version of the Christmas story in sign. In doing so, we've learned the signs for God, Jesus, king, shepherd, wise men, worship, born, savior and celebrate.

1st Grade: Week 16 Highlights

Spelling: "Rupert" took on two spelling lists this week and got every word right on the first try. It's funny how he can do that but then it doesn't transfer over to his writing (the fun writing that he does on his own). For example, he was wrapping Christmas presents for his grandparents and wrote "To grandpo Mik" instead of grandpa Mike. I'm sure it will all fall into place in time.

Phonics: I made a few sets of sight word flashcards and we put some of them to use this week. It has been a nice little break from the usual. I used the Dolch sight word list that I found here.

Math: More math worksheets this week. We also played with the abacus on "Rupert's" request. Today we went to the childrens book store and got a workbook that I think he will like.

History: We talked about the new kingdom of Egypt and a couple of memorable pharaohs, Hatshepsut and Tutankhamen. We'll continue with this chapter next week since I got a few videos on King Tut at the library that should be fun and interesting.

Science: This week we talked about reptiles. We read about iguanas and rattle snakes. Again, "Rupert" felt compelled to make a costume and taped a piece of green tissue paper to his chin so he could be an iguana with a dewlap. He is a funny guy! He also enjoyed making this lizard mosaic with beans.

Art: We did another water color lesson. We are really having fun with this. I think the big lesson for "Rupert" to learn is to relax and not be concerned with perfection. He sometimes gets frustrated that his art doesn't look the same as that of the lady on the video. He wants to copy her work EXACTLY. I keep reminding him that the great thing about art is that everyone's comes out differently, and we can appreciate the differences. Here's "Rupert's" painting:

And here's the one I did:

1st Grade: Week 15 Highlights

After a nice long Thanksgiving break, we got back to work this week, and things went very smoothly. I'm becoming more flexible, especially in math, and things are just flowing better. Isn't that what always happens after a nice break?

Math: "Rupert" is in love with math worksheets. Who knew? I printed up a few for this week and he is asking for more. I see a math workbook in his future. This week we worked some more on carrying and also did some greater than or less than exercises. He LOVES those!

We have all but abandoned our Math-U-See curriculum, well...really we HAVE abandoned it. I was sad to see it go because I love it so much. I love how it makes math make sense. But it just doesn't fit "Rupert" right now, and it was causing him to dread math. I'm not exactly sure why, but that's the effect it has had at this time. I'll definitely keep it in mind for later though. He could grow into it.

History: This week we learned about the rise and fall of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, and how eventually, Egypt became strong once again and the New Kingdom began.

ASL: We had a lot of fun this week learning birthday signs! Now I can sign my favorite treat, "cake"! :-)

Grammar: We finished up pronouns and started on verbs this week.

Spelling: This week "Rupert" caught the spelling bug. I gave him his list and, granted, his lists are only 6 words long, but he kept asking for more and more until I finally stopped him at 4 lists. Yes, he did about a month's worth of spelling this week. Out of 24 words, there were only 4 that he needs more work on. We added them to his list of trouble words.

Music: We began our annual listening to Tchaikovsky music this week. It's just a little something special we do at Christmas time. "Rupert" gets to fall asleep at night listening to Tchaikovsky. It's funny to see him making connections and recognizing pieces that he has heard before. The other night, he raced down the stairs after we had put him to bed. He HAD to tell us something! He was so excited to find that a song that was used on a Spongebob episode was a piece written by Tchaikovsky!

Science: This week we learned about peacocks and flamingos, and of course, "Rupert" fashioned a peacock costume out of construction paper and tape...lots of tape. I also see a case of tape in his future. :-)

Art: We finished up a painting that we started last week (thanks again for hosting art day, Morgan). Here's "Rupert's" watercolor fish:

And here's the one I did:

We had a lot of fun with this and I've resolved to do more art in the future.

Cursive Tracing Printables

Every time I turn around, "Rupert" is connecting his letters up trying to write in cursive. I finally decided that if he's so excited about cursive, maybe I should print him up some cursive tracing pages so he can learn to do it correctly. I found this site the other day where I can customize my text so that "Rupert" can practice with words that are interesting to him. Fun little tool!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

We recently finished reading Mary Poppins, and we got the movie from the library and watched it as well. "Rupert" must have been feeling inspired because he went up to the homeschool room and started creating. When he came down, he had this in tow and was begging to go outside and give it a try. Ahhhh...I love this kid's creativity!

It's Knitting and Crocheting Season

I just finished this hat and scarf set for my niece. The hat has ear flaps and I love the tassels! I hope she likes it and it keeps her warm as she plays in the snow this winter.

Already in the Christmas Spirit!

We recently bought the fixins for a Christmas wreath for our front door. "Rupert" was SO excited for the day after Thanksgiving (I made him wait...one holiday at a time, now.) to make his wreath! He could hardly stand it! So, first thing on Friday we got crafty and made this:

Thanksgiving is...

Well, from the looks of it, to me, Thanksgiving is baked treats. Here's what I baked today:

Pumpkin pies, brownies and cranberry bread. I can't wait till tomorrow!

Every year we put up this "Thankful Tree" and each day "Rupert" gets to write what he is thankful for on a leaf that we then attach to the tree. This year he was thankful for Grandma & Grandpa, Christmas, Wall-E, the piano, angels, Uncle Erik, Mom, Kiki (the cat), himself, Daddy, God, our house, planets, and Kiki again. Can you tell he REALLY likes the cat?

Oh! And we did a little turkey craft too!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

A Couple of Book Sites

Again, thank you to Morgan for sharing this...

This one has 19th Century School Books online. I was especially excited to find the McGuffey Readers there!

And Page by Page Books has books that you can read online for free!

Enjoy!!

Daily Devotions for Kids

Thanks to Morgan for posting this site! I just looked over it for a few minutes tonight, and it looks WONDERFUL! Thank you so much for sharing!!! I can't wait to start doing these daily with "Rupert". http://kids4truth.com/

Free Educational Videos!!

I got these sites from a couple of blogging friends of mine, and they look AWESOME! It's amazing what is out there for the taking, and I am so happy that Morgan and Dana brought these to my attention:

http://www.neok12.com/

http://educationalminimovies.com/

http://www.watchknow.org/

Thanksgiving Activity

I got this idea from the HowStuffWorks website. What a great idea! We've been doing a "Thankful Tree" for the past couple of years (I'll be posting about this year's tree in a few days), but I think we'll do this message box next year, so the whole family can get in on the thankfulness fun!

Thankful Message Box

Help the family get into the Thanksgiving spirit with this message box.

What You'll Need:

Shoe box

Tissue box

Paints

Paintbrush

Assorted decorative art supplies

Pencil

String

Tape

Small slips of notepaper

When the pilgrims first harvested crops in their new country, they held a big party to celebrate and give thanks. When your family sits down to a big Thanksgiving dinner, everyone's stomach is probably very grateful for all that delicious food.

But what else are people thankful for? The week before Thanksgiving, paint and decorate an empty shoe box and tissue box.

Tie one end of a string around a pencil, and tape the other end to the tissue box. Set a stack of notepaper next to the pencil. Invite family and friends to write down what they are thankful for, and put the slips inside the tissue box.

On Thanksgiving Day, take turns reading the slips aloud. The shoe box can be used to store the slips, adding a new bunch of "thankful messages" each year.

You may want to paint traditional Thanksgiving symbols on your boxes, such as turkeys, pilgrims, Native Americans, and harvest foods, such as corn, pumpkin, squash, and apples.

You can print the words "Give Thanks" around the opening of the tissue box and the words "Our Thanks" on top.

1st Grade: Week 14 Highlights

I have lots of pictures this week. Let me start by posting pictures of our Ming bowl from last week. We finished it up this week and it came out pretty cool! I have a feeling this will be on display in our home for years to come. Here, "Rupert" is decorating it:

And here it is all finished!

History: This week we learned about ancient Africa. Not a lot is known about ancient Africa because, unlike Egypt, not many artifacts have been found there. We did learn that the Sahara Desert was not always a desert, though, and we read some old African folk tales. We finished up the week with an African feast! We had Grandma and Grandpa over for the feast and we tried some African dishes like Papaya stir-fried rice:

Fried plantains:

Date Chewies:

Chicken with figs:

And banana and date bars:

We also painted our faces with West African designs that I found here. We made instruments and had a little African concert as well. It was a fun time, and the food was great!

Science: This week we did an experiment to see what would happen to an egg if we left it in a jar of vinegar for three days. Here it is when we first poured the vinegar in. It seems to be sitting on the bottom of the jar and there are tiny bubbles forming all over the shell. The acid in the vinegar is reacting with the calcium carbonate in the shell and carbon dioxide is being released as little bubbles.

Here it is later, floating now. There is a collection of foam floating on the top of the vinegar.

Here the shell is completely gone! All that is left is the thin membranes that were just inside the shell.

And here is our egg compared with a regular one. It is bigger than the regular egg because it has absorbed some of the vinegar through osmosis.

Grammar: I found a song about pronouns that is sung to the tune of "When the Saints go Marching in". I may use it. We'll see how it goes over with the little man.

ASL: As long as we are talking highlights...We finally broke down and looked up the sign for "fart". Ahhh...the joys of parenting a boy. I know you're curious, and it really is a great sign, so here you go. Just click on the letter "F" at the top, and you'll find "fart" in the column on the left. Enjoy!

We're taking next week off for a Thanksgiving break! Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!

English From the Roots Up

This post is just a reminder for me as I plan future school years. Part of Classical Education is learning Latin. I wasn't and am still not convinced that I want to teach Latin as a whole language. I want to continue with ASL and learn Spanish because of the practical application of those languages. Just because I don't want to learn/teach Latin, doesn't mean I want to miss out on the benefits of being familiar with Latin roots. I can certainly see how understanding the Latin roots of words can help with spelling and with decoding the meanings of new words (especially as we study science). I stumbled upon this book at Higher Education, and it looks really good. It looks like something I'd like to do with "Rupert". It teaches not only Latin roots, but Greek as well. I can see these skills coming in handy as he advances through his academic career and into adult life. So, yes, I'll definitely keep this book in mind!

Educational Videos

Thank you, Morgan from Amazing Grace Learning Academy, for sending me this link to tons of educational videos!! What a great collection!!

Homeschoolers Excel in Social Skills

I found this on The HomeScholar:

A little story for the next time you’re asked about socialization…

April 22, 2008

In 2006, my boys were two of 108 top applicants invited to compete for ten full-tuition scholarships at Seattle Pacific University. All 108 invitees had great SAT scores. All had compelling personal stories. Between them they had thousands of hours of community service. Indeed, there was very little – on paper – to distinguish one from the other. That is why, I suppose, SPU used a full day competition to make their decision.

When they were on campus that day, they were evaluated in all types of settings: class room observation, panel discussions, faculty interviews, dining table conversations, walking between classes. For eight hours, they were under a microscope. When they got back, both boys agreed it was the most exciting and invigorating day of their lives.

Only ten full-tuition scholarships were given that year and my homeschoolers got two of them! What made the difference? In addition the normal stuff (GPA, SAT, community service), we were told that the winners were chosen based on things like:

• intereaction with their peers,
• engagement with the faculty,
• self confidence,
• maturity,
• courtesy, and
• a well developed sense of who they were.

In a nutshell, they were chosen based on socialization. Now isn’t that the most ironic thing you’ve ever heard!!

Remember: we did nothing special. We were just ordinary homeschool family struggling our way through high school. The only difference was we taught our kids at home, independently.

Eventually, the world will recognize the superior socialization provided by homeschooling. Do not be discouraged when you are asked for the thousandth time “what about socialization?” Just smile and tell them our story and think about the story you will be able to tell in a few years!

Do you have a favorite socialization story? I’d love to hear it!

Hey, Did I Mention...

I got a new camera!!! Ok, so I got it about 3 weeks ago and I'm just getting around to posting about it. :-) It's a Canon Rebel XSi. I still have lots to learn about it, but I'm coming along, and I LOVE it! It's so nice to be able to get nice shots indoors without having to use the flash. And even when I do use the flash, it doesn't look half as bad as it did with my other camera. So, all you photography friends out there...if you had to pick ONE favorite lens, what would it be?

Five Little Ducks Went Out One Day...

I got all the duckie finger puppets done, and their mother too! And heeeeeere they are...

1st Grade: Week 13 Highlights

History: This week we learned about the early civilizations of Ancient China. The people there (much like the people in Mesopotamia and India) settled near a river so they could use the readily available water for drinking and farming. In China, this area was between the Yellow River and the Yangtze River and was called the Yellow River Valley.

We learned about the first Ancient Chinese writing, pictograms, and "Rupert" had a lot of fun trying his hand at drawing some.

We also read about the Shang dynasty, the farming of rice, and the discovery of silkworm cocoons which led to the invention of silk fabric.

We're currently in the middle of making a Ming bowl. Here's what we've done so far:

This week we said good-bye to our dearly departed Chicken Mummy. We made a non-traditional sarcophagus out of a shoe box and buried him.

Science: This week we learned about penguins and chickens. We found and tried a couple of science projects relating to chicken eggs. In one, we learned about how the weight of the hen is spread over the surface of the egg so that it will not break when she sits on it. "Rupert" squeezed an egg in his hand as hard as he could to see how strong the shell is.

We also cracked an egg open to see the parts that are inside and talked about how each of these parts helps the baby chick to grow and hatch.

We made a bird feeder this week to go along with our bird studies. It'll be interesting to see if we get any visitors.

Math: This week we practiced double and triple digit addition and carrying, greater than and less than, and introduced the skip counting by 4s song.

Kung Fu: We worked mostly on his new forms and grab arts this week, but also practiced all his old stuff in an attempt to keep him from forgetting it. There really is quite a bit that he knows now.

Spelling: We finally ran up against a challenging list this week, and we will continue to work on this list next week. His lists are usually only 6 words, which I think is a good amount for a beginner. It won't burn him out, but he's still learning new things. This week we worked on words like: going, seeing, feeling, and keeping.

Grammar: I originally scheduled grammar twice a week, but "Rupert" seems to really like it and is requesting that we do it daily. I just may honor his request. Then, if he wants to slow it down later, we can do that too. This week we finished up our discussion on nouns and introduced pronouns.

ASL: I'm trying to use signs as often as possible as I speak, so "Rupert" can see it more than just at ASL time during school.

Writing: This week's writing consisted of making a birthday card for "Rupert's" great uncle, and we also did two lessons in his Writing with Ease book.

Reading: We're currently listening to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on CD in the truck, and Daddy started reading The Indian in the Cupboard this week as a bedtime story.

1st Grade: Week 12 Highlights

Hey, look at me! I'm actually on time with this post! Wooohooo! We had a great week this week.

Math: This week we worked on adding triple digits, and "Rupert" did wonderfully with that, so I introduced carrying. He wasn't terribly excited about carrying, and fought it at first. But toward the end, he claimed that it was "easy". We'll see if he remembers it next week. I'm planning on slowing down and just letting it all sink in for a while.

I also introduced rounding to the nearest 10 (which he didn't really understand the point of), and greater than and less than (which he LOVED, especially after I told him that the "alligator" wants to eat the biggest number and I let him draw teeth in the "alligator's mouth"). "Rupert" also enjoyed singing the skip counting by 3s song to the tune of Jingle Bells. It was just another reminder to me that I need to find more musical learning opportunities for him. If something is put to music, he's got it down in no time!

Phonics: We learned about the soft C sound this week.

ASL: Reviewed last week's farm signs, and learned some daily routine signs.

History: We talked about the Indus Valley in India and the people who lived there. Our history project was to make a Mohenjo-Daro dwelling using clay bricks. We also completed our Chicken mummy project.

Cutting the bricks:

Constructing the Mohenjo-Daro dwelling

The finished project

Chicken Pharaoh project:

Rubbing in the spices and oil:

Wrapping the hands and feet first:

Half wrapped:

Our finished Mummy!

Science: We started on the bird section in our animal studies, and learned about parrots, eagles, and owls.

Writing: "Rupert" practiced his writing skills while writing letters to two friends this week.

Grammar: "Rupert" almost has his 4th poem memorized! Now to practice public speaking. He seems to use baby talk for some reason when he is reciting his poems. It's very strange because we have never used baby talk with him, nor he with us. I think it's part of this new feeling of embarrassment he is experiencing. I've noticed that when he gets embarrassed, he clams up, becomes less active and more quiet.

We unexpectedly had some home-ec time this week when "Rupert" cooked French toast for breakfast two days this week. He loves to cook, and I, for one, am so excited about that! :-)

Finger Puppet

Ok, so my aunt saw "the cutest little knitted finger puppets" at the children's bookstore the other day and asked if I could knit her some. I thought it would be fun to try, so I looked online for a pattern and found one for a duck. I think it came out pretty well. :-)