Archive for April, 2009:
Simon’s Big Day
World’s cutest cupcakes (made by Aunt Lisa)
World’s cutest three year old
(with his "birthday hat" and birthday melon)
Happy Birthday, Simon! Everybody just loves you!
Mailing May Lap ~N~ Note
We finished our study of Mailing May yesterday. We used the lessons from FIAR Volume IV. For Eiljah’s notebook, he used the FIAR Fold N Learn, resources from Homeschool Share, and a train project pack from HOAC (a super member freebie).
Topics of study included trains, the post office/mail, the 1900s (then/now), vocabulary, facial expressions in art, quilt patterns, Idaho, Daniel Boone, wild/domestic animals, and probably something else that I’m forgetting.
Elijah’s favorite part was learning about trains. Yesterday, our loveseat became a train. He was sining I’ve Been Working on the Railroad at the top of his lungs (and a little off-key!). He was telling Simon things like, "You, fresh fish! Grease the pig!" (Which means– "Hey, new worker…oil the engine!")
Books Used
Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell
House in the Mail by Rosemary Wells
Hail to Mail by Samuel Marshak
The Post Office Book: Mail and How It Moves by Gail Gibbons
Who Was Daniel Boone? by Sydelle Kramer
Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine
Train of States by Peter Sis (we only used the Idaho page)
Points to Ponder
We are moving our homeschool in a new direction. I’m not sure exactly what this will look like. We are keeping math and some language arts, but I want to try to dive in to (instead of just dabble with) delight-directed education.
Elijah will get to decide what he’s going to learn about, about 80% of the time. He already has a list ready for me of the topics he wants to explore!
Here are some great quotes that are inspiring me to do in my heart what I already know I should do…
"Self-education is the only possible education; the rest is mere veneer laid on the surface of a child’s nature." ~Charlotte Mason
"There isn’t any known way to bulk-education; it’s all custom work."
~John Taylor Gatto
"All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education." ~Sir Walter Scott
"To teach a man how he may learn to grow independently, and for himself, is perphaps the greatest service that one man can do another." ~Benjamin Jowett
"The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn." ~John Lubbock
"Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion has no hold on the mind. Therefore do not use compulsion, but let early education be a sort of amusement; you will then be better able to discover the child’s natural bent." ~Plato
Beaver Lapbook
We started a pond study. It was interrupted with a study of Mailing May (which we finished today…pictures coming soon). Elijah told me he didn’t want to continue with the pond study, so we just put everything (mostly beaver stuff) in a simple lapbook. I didn’t make the templates this time; they are from Hands of a Child. The few pond themed things are mostly from Evan Moor’s Giant Science Resource Book.
Play-doh Cookies!
Some Friday Fun! In Elijah’s first box today, he found a recipe to make…
More About Clay
Here are some answers to all your clay questions.
What’s the name of the book?
We are using Fun with Modeling Clay by Barbara Reid. Better books might exist. This just happened to cost me about a dime at a book sale, so this is the book we are using!
What type of clay was Elijah using?
Sculpey III. I found that 14 oz. pack (Crafter’s Variety) at Wal-mart for around $10.
What were his first steps in using the clay?
The book has a page of tips (page 4) and then a page about tools (page 5). I think he read those one day for a workbox. For another day, I had him practice making the basic shapes on page 6 (ball, egg, pancake, and drop). Then…on another day, I had him practice making the basic shapes on page 7 (cone, snake, sausage, cylinder, box, ribbon). Finally…on another day, he was to choose a creature from pages 8-9 to make (options are snake, spider, and ladybug). He chose snake and went through the four steps to make his.
More about the book
The book is split in three main sections: animals, people, pictures. The instructions for most of the projects aren’t too hard if you can make those basic shapes. I would have a child practice the basic shapes until they are easy. The pictures section is pretty elaborate! It has a part with 3-D scenes, too. Elijah already announced that he wants to illustrate his next story with clay. It will probably take a year to do it, but I told him that would be fine.
Where to buy Sculpey III?
I am still figuring out where to get the best bang for my buck. I was able to use a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby yesterday making a 20 oz. package $9.59 (cheaper than Wal-mart and more clay!). My Hobby Lobby store only carries three options in the Sculpey III, though. Rainbow Resource definitely has a better variety, and the prices are probably better than anywhere (unless you have a coupon).
I hope that helps! Have fun with your little sculptors!
