Full Circle

Modeling Illustrators

In Classical style, to become a successful writer, students learn by first modeling the style of great writers. In the same fashion, to become an accomplished artist, one learns by imitating the works of the masters. Today, we used this technique in our artwork, but by using great storybook illustrators as our models. I chose four books and handed them out to the kids with instructions to choose a picture and copy it as closely as possible.

I gave Do Monkeys Tweet? by Melanie Walsh to Little Brother...

I gave The Duchess Bakes a Cake by Virginia Kahl to Middle Brother...

Sister used Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina...

and Big Brother copied from Petunia by Roger Duvoisin...

A is for Affirmations

I'm excited and nervous to participate in the Encyclopedia of Me meme that my sister at Bella Dia came up with. I have bloggers-block most days so this will be really helpful to loosen up my writing skills. After much "angst", "anxiety" and "apprehension", I came up with "affirmations" for my letter A...

A while ago I created these affirmations for the kids and I to read together when we start our days. We try our best to do it every day, but it usually ends up just a couple of times a week. I guess I need to come up with an affirmation that says... "I will read my affirmations every day" ;)

I do unto others as I would have them do unto me.

I do not take what is not given.

I speak truthfully.

I treat all living things with loving-kindness.

I use good manners to show others I care about them.

I welcome mistakes as opportunities for self-improvement.

Apologies are made swiftly and sincerely.

I am responsible for the choices I make.

I share in the joy of others.

I find ways to be helpful.

When someone is hurt, I comfort them.

I am respectful of my mother and father.

I am forgiving.

Greek Orders

We've been studying Ancient Greece lately and we're focusing on Greek architecture for the next few days or so. We started by learning about the three Greek orders: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. We looked at websites and pictures in books, then we got out the Sculpey and started making our own. After baking and cooling, we painted the columns with white acrylic paint. We let the paint dry, then applied a coat of Mod Podge for a glossy finish.

Here are some websites to learn more about Greek architecture with photos and links to show examples of each style....

Illustrated Architecture Dictionary

Ancient Greek Art and Architecture

Classical Orders of Architecture

Pinecone Bird Feeders

A little late posting, but this is one of the things we did to celebrate Earth Day. First, we collected a lot of pine cones, not hard to do in our area!

Then, we smeared the cones with peanut butter and rolled them in bird seed.

We made little slip knots and "roped" the pine cones with twine to hang in the trees.

It's helpful to have a sink full of soapy water ready-to-go for messy hands.

I was concerned about using peanut butter for the birds, seems like I had read somewhere it wasn't good for them, but I did a search and couldn't find anything to substantiate the rumor. I found this article that says it's not a problem.

Aren't they pretty? We made a dozen and hung them all around the yard. Now, we're hoping we get some hungry customers!

Little Sprouts

We've had great luck so far with the seeds we planted on the Equinox in honor of the goddess Ostara. We went to the nursery that day and the kids picked out a couple types of seeds to plant. Big Brother chose tomatoes and sugar-snap peas, Sister picked out basil and cilantro, Middle Brother got cucumbers and radishes and Little Brother picked out corn and bell peppers. They used cardboard egg cartons filled with dirt and then labeled them. When the time comes to transplant them to the greenhouse, we can cut out the little egg spots and plant them directly in the dirt. It's still too cold to plant anything outside yet, even in the greenhouse. Our frost date isn't until June 15, so although it's been somewhat warm, I don't want to do any spring planting yet.

Remembrance of Things Past

I remember a time in elementary school. We were going through some dreary lesson when, outside, without warning, the sky turned gray and small raindrops grew from little pitter-patters to big slapping sounds. All the kids ran to the windows, in awe of what was going on outside, while our irritated teacher, looking at the empty chairs grumbled to us, "It's only rain, we've all seen it before!" As a kid, I never understood how she wouldn't want to run over to the window, too, and take in the drama. Did she just not appreciate it or was it because she was a grown-up wearied of another rainstorm?

Well, here I am, a "grown-up" now, and I was reminded of that teacher today, as the kids were constantly tempted outside by the warm sun coming through the windows. I was happy to suspend school and chores to let them run around and soak it all in, to me that's what childhood is all about. I admit there's part of me that got frustrated thinking we weren't going to accomplish much today, but when I remembered that worn-out expression on my teacher's face in contrast to all the wonder-struck smiles on my classmates I thought, "huh-uh", that's not going to be me. I don't ever want to turn into that dull, jaded teacher of mine. So, I grabbed my camera, slid on my flip-flops and stepped out into the sunshine to take a few photos to preserve the day.

Black History Month

This is a great timeline to include for discussions of the history of civil rights, take a look ;)

School Break

We'll be taking a break from school 'til after the new year. I always have good intentions this time of year to continue and only take a couple of weeks off, but it never works out that way. We have doctor appointments to go to, Karate classes, holiday parties, baking, shopping and wrapping... the list goes on and on! In the meantime, here are some fun websites to visit:

Make-A-Flake

recite some winter poems

Make snow ice cream

Read about the ICEHOTEL

Make a snowglobe

And books of the season:

Holly, Reindeer, and Colored Lights

Iliana, A Winter Solstice Tale

The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

Night Tree

A Pussycat's Christmas

Thanksgiving Thoughts

To prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday, we've been talking about its history and meaning and exploring it from all perspectives. Here are some websites we've used for discussion...

National Day of Mourning

Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation

George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation

Plimoth Plantation

The First Thanksgiving

And some book recommendations...

On The Mayflower

1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving

Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl

Samuel Eaton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy

Cola Fountains

We had heard about these cola fountains circling 'round the internet and I think my husband saw something about them on The Today Show. Then, the kids saw it done on MythBusters and we just had to try it for ourselves. You need a 2 liter plastic bottle of diet cola (doesn't need to be a name brand, but must be "diet") and a package of mint flavored Mentos. The idea is to get as many Mentos into the opened container of cola as quickly as possible. We made a little paper funnel to help us out. Our biggest fountain used about 10 Mentos. So, open the bottle, set up the funnel, drop in the Mentos and jump out of the way! We had a blast!