A Charlotte Mason Homeschool Sampler

I have uploaded some copywork pages and one workbox number card page

2012-02-04T11:22:00.000-08:00

I am finding it is easier to access this stuff on my Homeschool Launch page-so I will eventually get them all moved here.

For now there are a few copywork pages and one workbox number card set there. Please remember these are not to be sold or distributed. These are for your own family's use. I have noted where I found the images on the pages. The workbox one uses MS Word images that are copyright free as long as they are not used for profit (which these are not). If you are not a member of HL, it is a quick process to join. You do not have to contribute (from what I can see) in order to use the other files that are there.

You can find emeat SheriH's Homeschool Launch Page

Artist Study: Pierre-Auguste Renoir Copywork pages: UPDATED INFO

2012-02-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

I have uploaded these to my Homeschool Launch page. You will need to join if not a member but it is free and only takes a few seconds. These are a good way to use the CM method of copywork while exposing them to a few different pieces from Renoir. This will go into their Great Artists Notebook (3 ring binder) they have.

For elementary grades

For Jr/Sr high (or for those students who

can do a lot of copywork neatly, precisely

and in a short amount of time.)

Images are from Olga's Gallery

Thank you Olga's. You make studying art possible for our family and others.

Images used with permission in accordance with their terms.

Emma (cross post) info

2012-01-28T12:26:00.000-08:00

I wrote about Jane Austen's Emma and the importance of having good literature in our children's education.

Enjoy.

image from Amazon.com

It's all about Emma

Our little art collection that must be framed

2012-01-21T12:43:00.000-08:00

So I took down the poster above the white board and taped up these 5 pics the kids have done. These are my favorites ones from their projects so far. I will hopefully find some white frames to really draw attention to them and also, as ya know-we have to be matching with the room decor-LOL...

Oh, the writing on the board is for my teen's study of Emma. We have so many characters and crazy love triangles that we figured it best to plot out the story characters and some interesting facts on the board to make sense of it. :)

Left to right: the two Renoir mixed media paintings (DD decided not to add lettering to the can), the Pointillism project my DD did a couple years ago (you can read about it here) and the two 6 step paintings the kids did with our CM co-op.

I love how the kids art makes our room so cozy and personalized. I love being able to look back at what they have done too.

Art Idea: for Renoir study-Mixed Media Still-Life

2012-01-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

To go along with our Renoir study, we did a Mixed Media Still-Life art project found on page 45 in the book: Discovering Great Artists.

For those of you who do not have access to this book, I will give you the directions for completing it. :)

Gather your materials:

for each artist you will need-

*cardboard or matte board

(size up to you-I used the cardboard backings from some

yellow note pad pages-those were pretty good-altho, having something

slightly thicker would have been best-

but look at those cardboard backings under

your paper pads-good way to recycle them!)

*white tempera paint (I found white poster paint and it worked)

*painters tape

(get FROGTAPE by Shurtape (green), if you can-it works better than

the blue painters tape-I found mine at Home Depot which seemed

to be the cheapest I could find. It was about $4 which is the same price as

the blue tape. THIS IS THE BEST tape for painting-

it does not leave those little boo-boos like

the blue will-let me tell ya...

and yes, we have used both-will not use blue again)

*pencil/eraser (altho try to not erase if possible)

*paint brushes, water container

*water colors

*real or fake flowers/twigs/etc. for your still life

(be creative-look around your home for fun things to use)

*type of vase

(again be creative-I used a tea pot and a container for coffee)

Process:

1. Tape the cardboard to something-painter's board, drawing board, etc. I used two pieces of white board. I had extra from when we cut down the large piece we bought/used for the classroom. Maybe even a clipboard will work-anything to secure it to so the cardboard doesn't slip. Yes, you can just place on protective cover/paper, paint it and then just do this, but I find that you'll get a better result when the paper/board is secured to something larger and hopefully, waterproof or not so absorbent as the paper.

2. I like to create about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch trim-depending on how big your project is. Will this show when I frame it? Probably not on this one because it is an ugly brown cardboard, so I will try to cover it with a matte...but with a white board/paper it looks very pretty when you have an edging.

3. Paint the cardboard white (tempera/poster paint). I did this twice to be sure the cardboard was covered nicely. The poster paint may not have given us the result the lesson wanted (for it to bleed with the watercolors) but I wasn't about to drive to the mall area to just buy one bottle of paint)...so we used what the local Meijer store had and it was just fine. Let dry before you begin the drawing/watercolor part.

4. Set up your arrangement, and have student lightly sketch the image.

The boy was more focused on creating a background, and I think that jetting out image on the right side is a window sill, I think. :) This just goes to show how everyone sees/does things a bit differently. :)

5. Use a light color to wash color into the background coming close to the image.

6. Use watercolors and paint-try to let it bleed/blend together.

7. When dry, have the artist sign their name and frame it.

The teen still needs to put the writing on, but we had to let it dry first and then she had to leave to babysit, so once I have these framed, I will post them (and obviously, there will be their signatures and the writing on the can in this picture).

And there you have a Renoir inspired art project-and hey-you don't need to be studying him to do this. It is just a great, fairly easy project to do with your kids.

Artist Study: Pierre-Auguste Renoir

2012-01-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

We'll be starting our Renoir study and so I thought I would post what we'll be using.

I moved the Renoir study up b/cuz I have most of the materials I need. Right now though, the Rembrandt "Faces of Jesus" art exhibit is going on at the DIA, so we are going to try our best to get down there to see that and then we'll study him afterward. I simply didn't have time to get the necessary books/supplies for his study in time-but no matter, the kids are flexible and it will give them something to mull over until we get to him specifically.

Unfortunately, I am not seeing us get to the Rockwell display in Ohio. Time is just running out and sadly, we may not be able to lay our eyes upon his actual stuff. I am saddened but perhaps the Lord will provide a way before it's moved.

Sources and Texts for Reading and Activities:

(waiting for these from our library inter-loan)

The top 2 books are on loan from the library.

They are

Renoir by Peter Feist

(this is the older version. BE AWARE-there are many nude paintings shown in the book-I highly recommend you preview and cover those before younger children look thru)

and

Monet and the Impressionists for Kids

by Carol Sabbeth

(this contains many art activities for kids on many artists)

I own these:

The Color Your Own Renoir by Dover

(I have the kids choose 2 pictures that they will color for their notebooks)

Discovering Great Artists Hands-On Art for Children in the Style of the Masters

by MaryAnn Kohl and Kim Solga

(lots of artists and projects in here)

and

Renoir Activity Pack by Mila Boutan

(this has a book on him, an artist's notebook for the

child to work thru and a poster they can color)

Additional Sources for Picture Study:

I have this:

so I will pull out the Renoir pictures for the kids to study

I have the 2nd and 3rd levels too, so I will check those for additional pics

and I have 5 prints that I had ordered directly from the

National Gallery of Art in Wash. DC.

many years ago-so I will have them study those and maybe choose

another one or two from the above art book source (Renoir)

to give them about 4 to study.I just checked and it looks

like they don't have them (only a few) like I have-sadly-

so maybe searching for companies who print them will work,

if you want professional prints.

[I will get a pic up soon of what I have]

Once we get going and finish up our notebooking pages, I will post those too. I use the generic form I have on the artists for the bio part, but will need to create my own copywork page for them with a quote and pictures from him.

If we add some other projects I will add those to the update post as well.

Added new page with Home Educating Family review links

2012-01-07T07:46:00.000-08:00

If you didn't know-I am currently working on the Home Educating Family review team and I have created a page for you to see the products I will or have reviewed and if they are up, the links to them. HEF has many give aways and products that are reviewed for you to enjoy. There is also a new blog that you can read thru. Lots of great info there-you can even leave a comment under the products you know or are interested in! Enjoy.

View my page here

HEF blog page here.

HEF review page here.

2012 projects the CM way

2012-01-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

Again this past year escaped me and I was not able to hit upon all the subjects I wanted to. But being the veteran that I am, I will simply dust myself off and get back on the horse...I hope. My goals for this semester is to study:

Art Study-Renoir: I have all the books I will need from the library already here, I just need to find the material for the notebooking, copywork and have the kids select their pictures. Easier said than done since I have a back log of several reviews to get done prior to the end of January. Hopefully, I will be able to find most of these resources already done, so I won't have to spend too much time creating my own. I hope we can at least read the material before February then start there after.

Nature Study: not going to happen. Shameful but true....unfortunately this is the first to go on the list if I am drowning and that would be now. SO once we get into a nice schedule rhythm, I will think about what we'll do.

Musician: again-this is a big iffy. I have material and an idea but the time to work out a schedule and plan is not here for this month. I will think upon this in February or March. It just isn't in the cards right now.

Handy Craft: maybe some holiday themed projects-I will have to ponder this later. We'll take a look-see at what Mrs. Sharp has to offer and go from there.

Lapbooks: we have 3 actually that I am reviewing so that will be what we focus on. They are for Valentine's Day, President's Day and St. Patrick's Day. Guess we'll just include a small handy craft into that lessons and call it even.

Since narration, copywork and picture study is in the above subjects I actually have something CM related covered! Whoopie! Normally this has already been planned for and ready to be done-but alas, some years just knock ya off your horse and you need to just go with it. That would be right now. Maybe by next semester I will have my stuff organized and pulled together all proper like. SO if you too suffer from being behind your goals/plans, fear not-you are not alone and somewhere there is a Starbucks or Caribou coffee that has your name on it. :) Look for the bedraggled ole lady sitting in a dark corner b/cuz that would be me...sipping my coffee and avoiding anything that resembles planning or being organized. :)

Artist Study: Norman Rockwell

2011-11-15T17:08:00.000-08:00

So we have slipped a tad on our Artist Study, mainly due to outside things blowing our schedule out of the water [a bit]...oh well, such is life. Anyway, I had the kids choose 4 larger prints of his work for their picture study. I was able to get some big coffee table books on N.R.'s material and just made color copies then backed them with black card stock. It is not as clear as having exact reprints would but alas, on a tight budget-one must improvise. On the back, I just glued a piece of wht. paper down with the name, year and medium used to create it. We have done some notebooking and copywork for him as well.

Our goal is to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Art Museum in Dayton before it is over in February. That would be the first time I could schedule (and find one relatively close to us-like by 3-4 hrs) a field trip to an art museum exhibiting a collection by an artist we're currently studying! Wow. Now to see if I can pull it off. Hmm.

Right now, the kids' picture studies are (w/blue painters tape) up on our white board so they see it constantly. Since I have very little wall space in the education room-this is a perfect way to display it.

Top 4 are the pictures my son chose, the bottom ones my dd chose.

The clown one was huge [took up 2 pages in the book]

so it has that funny line down the center-of course,

after I copied it, I found a smaller one that would have worked better-

oh well...

My son's Artist Ntbk:

I have the cover page for each artist.

The kids get to choose which picture they want to have on it.

I simply made the page on the right.

I found a quote that the student could handle

copying and put a few extra pictures for them to look at too.

The one on the left is the generic form I use for all the artists we study,

I simply find smaller pictures of the artist's work and have them cut/paste them on.

Nature Study: Pears (also comparing to apples)

2011-10-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

More Nature Study with the OHC notebook ebook for the worksheets

and the pear page that was painted-well I dunno where the instructor got that.
I guess one could find one by looking for pear coloring pages. We used the "wet on wet" watercolor technique (first layer section with plain water then add some paint on to brush) then did another layer with either red or green to add layers. After it was dry they used an old toothbrush to slightly fleck the pears with spots (using brown or green w.c. paint)

One area one had the watercolor set up, then while that dried,

they worked on the worksheets where they dissected,

tasted and compared pears to apples.

Final results.

Nature Study: Rocks and Gems

2011-10-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

We are using the Considering God's Creation program [continuing it from last semester] for the boy's science this year, and we are currently studying Rocks and Gems. So in true CM fashion, we set up an area for displaying our rock collection. Since we live in the gravel pit area of the state, and our sub is located on a giant [no longer used] pit-we have a HUGE selection of rocks to choose from. For the first time-living in a gravel pit area is actually a good thing (we usually curse the abundance of these rocks-as it is very hard to get anything to grow-rocks sprout like weeds and well-they are usually a nuisance]. We have a large variety too-from fossils, to sandstone, to volcanic rocks, to some we cannot even figure out.

It is very easy to get a collection going and fun to display them. I wish I could find those cabinets that museums use to keep their goodies, maybe I will someday, but for now-the counter will do. The egg carton serves as a nice tote for the rocks and you can have your student label their specimens too. We haven't gotten that far yet....but we do have some nice notes on a few so far (worksheet provided in CGC worktext-and these are very nice-thorough and useful)...

*all books are from the library, and you need a big variety due to there being so many rocks-the cross reference is necessary. Unless you have a geologist/petrologist in the family. The elephant carving was a gift :) but that is soapstone, so it counts.

There are only a couple of these forms in the worktext, so I made copies-as I want the boy to do quite a few to get a good idea of the variety of rocks out there.

Nature Study: Goldenrod (pics added)

2011-10-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

We started our study by doing some research and hearing a story-now the On One Flower by Anthony D. Fredericks [got thru the library] is more for pre-K through about 3rd grade. I had procured this to use for the co-op's study this week but due to a few things going on-it was cancelled. Now why waste a story? So my kiddos sat through it. My teen was interested in the art (her major) and the boy enjoyed learning about the flower/bugs and seeing the art too. I wasn't finding too many stories relating directly to the Goldenrod-so this was the best I could do. We then moved to the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. We read pages 503-506 and did lesson 132 noted in this section.

Essentials: Tool kit [they each have their own-I just took a pic with one]with all the goodies: magnifying glasses, paints, pencils, tweezers, erasers, and so on. Flower presses-we ended up putting 2 good specimens in (being that it is early Oct., the flowers are moving into the end of their season-so there were not too many fresh and full flowering Goldenrod to collect. But we only need two-so we were happy.

The kids' field study sheets. You can see the obvious difference between a 10 yr old and a 17 yr old's work. I do not require the younger kids to get too detailed, unless they choose to do so. They both still have to add the Latin names and the boy may need to add a poem or something. And they'll both need add some yellow in the flower section to jazz it up before we slip these into our Nature Study Binders.

Goldenrod in the field

look at that ugly bug!

Power of Observation

2011-09-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

Since we have absorbed the Nature Study into our lives (several years now), we are seeing the fruits and it has rubbed off on dad too! Not that we didn't naturally notice stuff, but now we almost "look" for goodies displayed about....

Dad found this right by our bird feeder/bushes area. Seems a wee little bird didn't make it-but left behind its bones for us to find. If one wasn't being observant-they'd of missed this unique look at the bone structure of a bird. Yes, NS does pay off and it does train the eye/mind to seek.

Do you see it?

Look who dropped by-well, dropped down is more appropriate-EWWW

2011-09-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

Monster spee..i..deer (like Megamind says) decided to set up house and home on our front porch-problem is that is-well was-right over our heads! Can you imagine sitting outside all comfy like to enjoy the fall air to have this drop into your hair!? It had to go!

Then this neighbor decided to show herself-and well-she was gross, and had to go too-Speeiders beware...STAY AWAY from my porch cove.....you may be helpful critters but you gross me out!

2011-12 Great Artist Study

2011-09-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

Well, this year we have decided to study the following fellows:

Norman Rockwell Rembrandt Renoir

We are starting with Rockwell. We love his art, humor and style and because he is an American-we'll begin with him. :)

I had originally planned to study Vermeer, but after seeing the Detroit Institute of Arts will be showing some of Rembrandt's art-I decided it would be fun to be able to see an artist's actual art while we are studying it. And don't cha know, when we were driving through Ohio recently, I saw one of the art museums had Rockwell there-ugh. Maybe the DIA will get his stuff too. And, because I love Renoir's work, we'll cover him this year too. I will see if we can squeeze Vermeer in later this spring. We'll see. The biggest challenge with the older artists (Reformation/Renaissance period) is that my son cannot see a lot of the colors/pictures due to them being so dark, in browns and deep colors that his eyes cannot discern. So Rembrandt and Vermeer may be 3 week or less studies to compensate for this issue. We'll see how it goes.

As we work through our studies, I will post ideas and links and our projects for you too.

Many new goodies added to the for sale stock pile

2011-06-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

Take a look and see if I have something you need. Prices now reflect postage paid for most items and lots of good ones added. Understanding Writing, Anne of Green Gables and more!

Main HS blog page with details

Artist Study: New Picture Study portfolios by SCM

2011-05-27T07:12:00.000-07:00

Picture Study Portfolios by Simply Charlotte Mason

I just received an email from SCM and they were discussing their new artist picture study portfolios. These look wonderful. They include a bio on the artist, 8 quality picture prints, a mini-guide explaining different elements about the pictures and more. You can download a sample of one of the artists too.

I am happy to see this sort of product, because it is time consuming and sometimes daunting to locate all this information and the pictures to study. It would especially helpful for newbies to the CM methods. I am just sad that they don't have the artists I am going to be covering this coming semesters. But I guess if they get a good response on these, they will continue to create more. Anyhoo-I wanted to pass this info along, in case you do not subscribe to SCM's email newsletters (which I recommend, they always have a nice article and insight and links noted within it). If you decide to purchase one-leave me a comment and let me know how your family liked it. I am curious to see how they are.

Water Color Project instructions

2011-05-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

I just copied/pasted my pal's instructions. I am hoping I put the right pictures with the steps, to help you see what it should do-but folks, I am kinda guessing, so please forgive me on that. :0)

Just go for whatever happens happens here-esp. if it is your first attempt. I actually cut, down to size, some left over white board (from Home Depot-the stuff I used for our white board in the classroom) but anything that is slightly larger than the paper size, and is hard enough to not absorb water, will do. We used painters tape to seal around the edges. About 1/2 inch or so around the edges-keep it tight or it will bleed, losing that nice edging. The rest of course, will stick to the board. Try not to move the boards if possible. Otherwise, wait until they are dry before doing so. Otherwise, paints will run, plastic wrap will pop off and so forth.

1. There are 3 main kinds of watercolor paper -- rough, cold press and hot press (smooth) -- we used rough. As for the paper-it is expensive-we just purchased out right from Michaels and tore them into 6 pieces each. If you only have a few students-obviously, you can have larger papers.

Arches brand is the best and you can get books (called blocks-so you won't need a board then) .. like this... http://www.dickblick.com/products/arches-watercolor-blocks/ -- it is glued down on all 4 sides so you have a flat surface that doesn't move until you cut it off the block. OK here is from Michaels ... http://www.michaels.com/Arches/products-artsupplies-arches,default,sc.html

2. Using painters tape, tape paper down to a solid surface (example white erase board) not cardboard.

3. Have plenty of water, watercolors (cheap Crayola works fine) and a "good" paint brush that holds water (not one that comes with the Crayola paints), and a rag or paper towel

4. You will need some leaves-real or fake to use on the day they trace. Variety is good!

5. You will also need a pencil, saran wrap, reg. table salt, a couple Q-Tips and Rubbing Alcohol. Oh and an old toothbrush if doing the spatter technique.

Steps to paint the picture:

1. Paint the whole blank paper with water, with a big brush drip yellow and blue and red (primary colors) onto the paper. This is called WET ON WET painting. The colors will blend on their own, if there is enough water and fill the page. Let dry with out working on it.

Here you can see the various early stages....

2. Trace leaves "artfully" across your dry painting. We used artificial ones of various sizes and shapes.

You can see the red, yellow, blue bleeding in the background,

the sketching of the leaves there and the saran wrap.

Actually the purple leaf has the rubbing alcohol affect on it too.

3. Pick a leaf outline and paint it with water then with paint, again this is WET ON WET painting. You can try part of the leaf yellow and part red = if there is enough water and paint the colors will blend and make orange. Do other leaves that DO NOT touch. You can also try WET ON DRY -- leave the leaf outline dry and paint on it with just wet paints. These will not blend, they will stay the exact colors you pick. Let dry.

Saran Wrap look.

4. Now that everything is dry again... pick another leaf and do WET ON WET again -- take a small piece of plastic wrap (Sranwrap) and place it on the leaf while still wet. Do not crinkle it up too much but it should have lines and over laps on it. Do not push down on it either, it will push the paint and water out of the leaf outline. Let it dry with the wrap on it. When it is dry you can peel off the wrap and it will look like a crinkled leaf.

Red leaf has the Rubbing Alcohol technique, the light blue and purple ones

also appear to have the Saran Wrap look.

5. Pick another leaf that has everything around it dry and do another WET ON WET (use fun fall colors like green, yellow, orange, red, brown) and then use a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol. Dip the Q-tip in the alcohol and dot the leaf. Let it dry. It will look like a bug was eating the leaf or cool mold was taking over.

Notice the spattered look this student got from using the toothbrush. Very nice.

6. After all leaves are painted there are a couple of other techniques that you can play with. You can use a toothbrush and splatter wet paint on dry paper. You can add a new layer of paint to an already painted leaf that you think needs more color. Try not to over work your picture, watercolor should flow like water.

This one shows the salting results quite nicely.

Be sure there is plenty enough water on it to absorb the salt-

not enough, the salt will just stick.

7. When all leaves are done the negative space needs a wonderful dark wash. We used a beautiful dark blue with some people adding a touch of purple or green (depending on if they had lots of purple leaves -- they added green, or green leaves -- they added purple). Remember to use lots of water and it should be WET ON WET again to get it to flow and blend. While it is still wet take a pinch or 3 or 4 and scatter it over the "water" let it dry with the salt on it. The salt will move the paint and water out of the way in a fun star-like way.

Nice mix of the techniques on this beauty.

8. Once you are all done and it is dry, take off the tape and look at your painting. Notice how the different layers (or washes) show through. That first step of yellow, red and blue can be seen in interesting places, like where the salt moved the water. Or where a leaf has a sunny hue under it but is painted green too. Figure out which side is up and make sure you sign and date your work.

This is a very young 4 yr olds. So even the little guys can make a keepsake!

Be proud of your hard work and patience. It is amazing how everyone can use the same instructions and they all look so individual and unique! Remember to not worry about "mistakes" after it is all done and you look at the whole picture it looks like you wanted it to do that and it wasn't a mistake after all!

Another 4 yr olds-quite impressive~

Here is a good website to see some more watercolor techniques... http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolor-tutorials.htm

Darker background choice on this one-bleeding, salt

and Rubbing Alcohol show up nicely on this one.

Good leaf color changes, outlines and leaf variance

(and my boy is color blind so he cannot even appreciate

some of these dark colors, esp. the deep purple

and grays-but still not too shabby!)

There you have it-our co-op kids' works of art! I will post the stray student's pic once I get it-she was absent that last day.

Hey, when you all get yours done-link the post to my comments section, as I would love to see what you all did! Be sure to frame your beautiful pieces of art too!

Updates

2011-05-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

I am still waiting for the step by step process for the watercolor project. I will post that once I have it.

I broke my ankle the day prior to Good Friday (and didn't even know it til Wed. the following week)-so I am not doing much for the next month. I will try to post as I can, but concentrating is difficult. I also have 5 more TOS reviews to wrap up before I jump ship (after 3 years of serving on the crew) so I have to focus on that as well.

I will be attending our state HS convention near the end of May (I will have to hobble but thankfully, I have a couple more weeks to recover) and I am looking forward to it immensely. I have not gone in many years~ and this will be the last one where my dd Cassie will be interested in attending (she graduates next year). I am also totally geeked about hearing Eric and Leslie Ludy speak (they have many sessions and will address the general session too). I plan on posting highlight notes from the classes I go to, and will post those on my Homeschooling on a Wing and a Prayer blog by mid-June.

We are nearing the end of this semester and I look forward to reconfiguring our next session, along with getting outdoors more to explore nature, the sky (as one child just wrapped up astronomy and the teen is going to be starting it), and using the new goodies I have already bought (and will at convention). I will do a post of the artists/composers we will cover, the Shakespeare plays, and the NS/Handicrafts we plan on doing.

That is it in a nutshell. Nothing too exciting, but we are still plugging along :0)

Happy Glorious Easter to all of you

2011-04-24T05:09:00.001-07:00

HE has risen! He has risen indeed!

Have a blessed Easter Sunday!

6 Step Water Color art project-cross post

2011-04-15T08:27:00.001-07:00

I am cross posting this one-too good to keep on just one blog-
This is from our AO co-op class on water colors:

During our Co-op the kids worked on a 6 step water color project. I have to get the exact directions still, but thought I would share the results-they are beautiful (and they didn't even turn out like they were "suppose" to-so we'll do this again to see how we do the second time around. Doesn't matter-I am quite pleased with them!)

Using watercolors, a series of steps, saran wrap, salt, rubbing alcohol, and lots of water-plus a black pen for outlining-this is what we got and I cannot wait to frame and display these beauties!

Final results are striking. DD's is horizontal, DS's is vertical

close up of dd's-salt is the white splashes, round dots-I believe is rubbing alcohol...have to check tho

close up of the saran wrap leaf-it is suppose to leave these marks-dd's didn't work right-prob'ly b/cuz we had to move them to dry (due to being at the church and we couldn't leave them out)...so when we do this at home, they will stay put to see if we get better results.

I will post some more of the other kids too-have to get them transferred to this puter first-but they are gorgeous! I am so proud of our little watercolor artists! Look for the update soon-

Handicrafts: Braided Rug projects

2011-04-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

Finally-got the big one done. Had to remove about 6 or more rows worth of stitches, as I sewed them too close/tight. Oi. Lesson learned. Buddy helped finish Sissy's rug too. She admitted her laziness, altho reminded us that she braided the stuff-and it qualified as more tedious. Hmmm. Well, we needed to get it done before our last class this Thurs. and we did it.

Group shot of the rugs made by the co-op kids. 2 are missing, but what a lovely variety!

Buddy had his done (a Frisbee) rather quickly. He found he really likes to sew, so he offered to help a couple classmates too, which they gladly let him do. In fact, we all like the project so much, that we will continue making braided things. I want to research the internet some more in order to get some ideas/tips for the best material (the polyester is a bit too stretchy and perhaps that is why it wants to puff up a bit) first. I want to try a nice cotton fabric one-but worry about the fraying...guess I will see what the pros recommend and go from there. We all decided that once we decide to commit to a precious child [to adopt], that we will start a baby rug project to help keep us busy with our hands while we cannot do much else as we wait [maybe I will call it a worry rug-can put my nervous energy into rug making]-and heck, we'll have a nice rug too.

And here they are-Sissy chose to go with blues and as I pointed out before-Buds went with a bit more splash (well, that and there weren't a ton of color choices) . We are all pretty proud of first attempt at this fun handicraft~hope you'll consider making a rug for yourself!

You can see the size difference. I think hers is the largest project in the group. Once we

meet up this Thurs. I will snap some shots of the entire group's projects

to highlight the variety.

**a commenter asked where they are going to put the rugs: the boy uses his like a Frisbee-and dd isn't sure yet-so it is in the hallway to the kitchen right now. Thanks for asking :0)

Artists: Artist Study Memory Game

2011-04-08T15:04:00.001-07:00

So, I purchased those dollar store bulletin board packs way back, just knowing I could make something from them (this one has 5 each of an artist palette, glue bottles and packs of crayons) and then a pack of 25 little easels. What I thought I could use them for, I had no idea. But I could see the potential. Finally, it came to me-we study at least 3 artists a year. So why not make a matching project/game that my son could do, to help retain the artist styles and typical art work?

I visited Olga's Gallery for Mary Cassatt's and Winslow Homer's images; and for J. J. Audubon's art to create these little gems! I had fun-and I was able to get 8 different easels for each artist palette. I will grab some more when I go to the local Dollar Tree, and hopefully find some more of these packs so I can continue with this (adding artists as we go). I have yet to laminate them, but was so excited to show them off.

This is a very easy project-simply size the pics [on your MS Word or similar program] to fit the easel and type the title (I didn't put the year for 2 reasons-wasn't sure I could fit it all on, and the pics dates were not listed, so I have to search each one to get that...so they remain dateless..but you could do that if you wish), and on the back put the initials of the artist in a corner (this serves as a self-check, but don't tell your student if you want them to really work at it. This is a Montessori trick...it allows you to say, "Check it", if you don't have time to come and do so yourself. You need to be careful with children who will simply flip it to get the answer, and not sit a moment and ponder the picture to make a guess. My son knows the "trick", but also knows I expect him to be honest about trying to figure it out first-which he will).

This is going to be an excellent workbox activity too. If you are not sure what a workbox is, visit my blog to get more ideas and help.

And without much further ado-My Artist Study Memory Game

3 artist palettes with the individual artist's names and DOB/DOD

with 24 art easels (8 each)

I tried to find pictures we didn't necessarily study individually, to really test their skills-and
I tried to get pics that were various mediums.

Did you see that JJ A also did portraits? Yep-

so I added a couple for interest-it is just too easy to see

a bird/animal painting and know it is JJ A.

So when the child plays, they look thru the mixed up pile,

and place the correct image under the correct artist!

~Have fun~

Mary Cassatt Update (co-op study)

2011-04-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

Well, we are pretty much done with our MC study. We have one more class session and we will watch the DVD based on the children's book (I watched them all folks and boy oh boy were they cheesy or inappropriate for kids-this is the only one I can honestly recommend) called, Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists: Mary Cassatt. It is only about 22 mins. long-perfect for our wide age range (and I mean for the antsy teens too) and yes the little ones as well.

image from Amazon.com

listening to a bio on MC and working on their 3 picture notebook page

working on the monoprint art project

I have yet to get the other camera's pics so we're missing a lot of the little kids shots...will upload a few once I have them

The kids have done several post card sized picture study narrations [I have the form for writing them down on my Squidoo page, see this post for more info], and I am very pleased with how well they have done. My kids were the only 2 that have done it for a long while, 2 others have had some exposure to it too, but the rest were totally new to it. They picked up the concept and did quite well. Plus, now they are reporting "finding" her works everywhere from greeting cards to posters on the wall at the library. That folks, is the frosting on the cake-that they can recognize her works in the world around them.

They each maintained a MC folder too. I only had 6 sessions to plan and about 20-40 mins for getting all the info squeezed into that time frame. I obviously recommend more time for this when doing it at home, but even with this shorter time span to present and discuss and practice the picture study, they are retaining and learning a lot about Mary. So even if you can squeeze a few hours here and there, your kids will be that much better off.

Each child chose a picture they wanted with

the info concerning it, for their cover

The notebook page on her bio and the pastel art coloring

The 3 images NTBK sheet and the Monoprint Art project my dd did

the 2 my ds did (the colorful one was his "practice for mommy please " that he did at home, the blue egg was the one he did quickly in class)

These folders are easy to create (and cheap) so if you want you can do your whole series in folders like these. Depending on how many projects and notebook/copywork projects you want to cover, the amt of the page protectors and overall thickness will vary.

For our classes we did the 2 notebook pages (I choose 2 different quotes-the easier one for the younger kids, the more extensive one for the teens) and the kids 5 and below did not have to do the copywork (altho a couple chose to). We did 2 art projects: the use of pastels to color a painting of MC, and the monoprint using tempera paint and an etching tool (see the Great Artists book for details. Now this is not as easy as the book describes...I was apprehensive about the younger kids' ability to do it without smudging it completely and regarding if they would "get it"-some did pretty good, but I am not sure if they "got" why we were doing it. Doesn't matter tho, they enjoyed it and heh-painting is fun!). Do a few practice tries yourself to get the paint to the right consistency and to gauge how thick the paint needs to be/which etching tools work best PRIOR to showing the kids. And we had them study at least 6 cards to narrate/describe and I read two books on her life. The teens will present their art cards they made (highlights the painting they like best with the name/date of it, using various papers and using a range of mediums to create enough) to the group, noting why they chose that particular picture/what was it about it that made them choose it (we will put magnets on the back so each family will have 5 art cards for their fridge to look at and study every day!) [I will come back and add those pics after the last class]. Then we will sit with some popcorn and drinks and watch the DVD to wrap it up.

And there you are 6 weeks worth of mini-lessons that you can incorporate into your artist study.

Ultimate Blog Party

2011-04-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Ultimate Blog Party is up and running, if you have time-join it! It's a great opportunity to meet a ton of bloggers and you can enter to win a bunch of cool prizes!

If you are linking over from my main blog-Homeschooling on a Wing and a Prayer, then I thought I would take a moment to explain the focus of my Charlotte Mason Blog.

I decided to start this blog to highlight all the Charlotte Mason (educator from England during the late 1800s-early 1900s, who stressed a more gentle way to teach children so that their love of learning was not squashed) ideas we implement into our homeschool and the Ambleside Oaks HS Co-op I run. I have many pages which detail the areas we focus on and lots of posts to give you more details on the projects and ideas.

Handicraft ideas

Picture Study ideas

Art lessons at the co-op

Copywork ideas

Square ft. nature study at the co-op

If you are looking for a different approach to educating your own [you do not have to be a homeschooler to enjoy CM's ideas! You can do many of these with your own children during the "off school" hours and all summer long too! The Nature Study is one of the easiest and most rewarding studies for anyone!], or if are rather familiar with her methods-I hope that you will find some [new] inspiration and ideas here on my blog!

Enjoy!
BTW-I have more posts coming...as we wrap up our co-op for the spring, and once I get a bit more time-I will be able to do so-so visit often.

Handiwork Projects: Rug Braiding

2011-03-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

In our CM co-op, we are working on rug braiding. My son chose two colors (a bit wild for my taste, but it is his project) to work with. He is making a "Frisbee" as the boys felt it was something more fun than say a rug or hot pad. I will show the finished project, once we get there-but here are some snippets of his work. He really is enjoying this class and he enjoys the sewing and creating part too. Mind you-we stress in our house that it is important for dudes to know how to sew and fix stuff-because like the frontiersmen, there may not be any chick in the background to help out, when the need for repairs occurs. It is a rather handy skill for all people to know. Even the basics is better than nothing...and so, he sews. :0)

My daughter chose 3 different materials. Her rug is looking rather pretty-but she is still in the braiding stage, due to her wanting a rug of a decent size...I will post those pics once I get some (always forgetting)....

As Charlotte encouraged, handiworks are a great way for the children to learn a valuable skill, and it teaches them patience, fortitude [to complete it], and opens doors to areas they may have thought they had no interest in. I encourage you to not let this area go by the wayside...it is just too valuable!

the kids are to be working on this at home as well, as our time is limited at the co-op...

You can see my dd's [in blue shirt on left] rug rope on the table (blue)-it will make a pretty little area rug for some room. :0)

More curricula up for sale-take a look

2011-03-06T11:56:00.001-08:00

You can see the listings on the Curriculum for sale page, noted above. thanks

Artist Study: Mary Cassatt (co-op class)

2011-03-01T16:24:00.000-08:00

This Thurs. we start our new trek session in our CM co-op...and I am looking forward to teaching my class on Mary Cassatt. I don't follow the CM way for picture/artist study completely the way it is recommended, since I usually shorten the study to 6 weeks (I find the kids grow bored after that), and usually ask that they cover 6-8 pieces of art from that particular artist. I think it is a good balance and allows for enough "spark of interest" and general introduction to get them at the very least, familiar with the techniques and style of the person we are studying.

image from wikipedia.com

they have a nice amount of info on there too

Since the trek session is 6 weeks long, this is a perfect fit for my style of teaching this area of CM. I plan on having them do some notebooking/copywork about her, the picture study using the art cards with 24 of her most popular paintings, doing some art with pastels (one of her choices for art mediums) and another couple art projects, listening to and narrating back a few stories which cover her life/career to then wrap it up with a movie based on her.

The biggest issue I have had is the movie. One was so boring, I fell asleep. The other has a bit of nudity and well, seemed somewhat inappropriate for younger children (which I have in the class), so I await another two options to test out to see if I can even pull that movie wrap up off. If I cannot find something suitable, then I guess I will have to come up with a few more projects to finish out our class. I will do an update post to highlight our sessions and projects and the like.

For now-this is what I will be using (but will add more as we go):

Source texts/books for reading:*

there is a movie on this,

so I may save the book and use the movie for the littles.

Yet to be determined. Otherwise, this is one I will definitely read.

I will have this available for the older students to thumb through.

It has info regarding individual paintings and is actually quite informative.

I own and love this one!

I have many more that I can get thru the library-but at this moment don't recall their titles...

Sources for Picture Study: *

These are cheap(ish) and excellent for picture study-altho not terribly large. You can also go to

Ambleside Online

have lots of helps there

Mary Cassatt-the Complete Works
excellent source for picture/dates/biography

Olga's Gallery

another excellent source for pictures

also many good "coffee table" books are available thru your library

These are coloring pages and we will use some for our pastel practice (we are coloring in with pastels...my concern is not that they can draw and reproduce the picture, but that they get practice using pastels...which can be messy and a bit tricky)

Movies:*

The first one is probably the better of the bunch. It showed nudity and was a bit too long to expect younger children to sit through. The second put me to sleep-not that is it bad-but the narrator seemed too monotone to keep anyone's attention. The third was OK, but totally off in many of the sequences of her life. I prefer material that is accurate and this was (like the Winslow Homer one) a bit of a stretch...so it doesn't make my cut. I have that one movie to review (noted above-the one that is like the book) and I think I was able to find another-so I will let you know how those are once I have had a chance to watch them.

Art project helps:*

I will be using one the ideas found in here regarding MC's style.

*images from amazon.com

Additional helps:

Jimmie's Lenses

Jimmie has loads of helps and links, and this is where I found the downloads for the notebooking pages

Now I also have required the children to have a 3 pronged notebook to keep their goodies in and a cover which has a pic (of their choosing) of one of her pieces, along with the name/year it underneath and the title, "Mary Cassatt Artist Study".

I used a stiffer piece of card stock (scrapbook paper) as the base

then added printed pic/name/date and black construction paper for the

framing. I also hot glued on the little flower jewels. Because this one

has glitter on it-I had to hot glue it all on and I frankly, it was a bite to do. I recommend

not using the glittery kind (maybe I say this after I burnt my finger and had a glop fall on

my hardwood floors...regardless, it doesn't work super swell for this project)

The pre-teens/teens will also make each family a packet of art cards (so each teen will make a set of whichever picture they choose to do) on a 5x3 1/4" card. I believe I will have them put magnets on the back so the families can place these on the fridge to see the cards everyday. I made the first one (the example) with Mary's name and pic. This should be fun to see how each student chooses to do their cards (creativity will be required) and what pics they choose. They will then present the cards at the last class, and discuss why it is they chose that particular painting and what it is about it that "spoke" to them. This I guess, will be a mini speech opportunity for them!

I have the picture study narration page up on my Scribd site (in case you want to use it)...

Picture Study download

You should be able to download it, but if not, I believe you can check the requirements for Scribd and see if you need to join (free) and what it takes to do so.

So after we wrap up our study on MC, I will do another post showing you the results.

Winslow Homer Art Activity

2011-02-08T12:06:00.000-08:00

As a part of our study on Winslow, we wanted to try one of his watercoloring styles. The results were kinda funny, but we had fun doing it and it gave us an opportunity to do something artsy on this cold, winter's day.

We decided to try the watercolor project found in the Discovering Great Artists book-I bought this way back when the olders were still in the elementary grades and love it-very useful resource! The object was to recreate one of the painting techniques Mr. Homer used.

Our supplies

This is a wilderness, wet-on-wet watercolor painting exercise.

After letting them dry, we were to draw in some details. The trees need much improvement, but we were mostly going for the blended watercolor look, not so much the detail work.

The bottom one is my rebel daughter's version-ocean version.

She added some splattered white paint to show the ocean spray and for whatever reason,

I forgot to take a pic of it. Looks about the same but with white specks in the water.

It was fun to try this technique. Especially since we'll be doing a huge watercolor project in our co-op in March. That one will use watercolor and salt and layering of paint to get the final picture. I will be sure to document that here for you as well.

Fellow CMer is hosting 10 days of CM

2011-02-08T07:36:00.000-08:00

Thought I would pass this along. Cindy over at Our Journey Westward is hosting a 10 days of CM series. Great way to get more insight to Charlotte and her teaching methods. Take a look see! Enjoy.

Ode to a good story: Chronicles of Narnia Magic

2011-01-18T19:19:00.000-08:00

After visiting the local theater to watch the newest edition in the Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, I couldn't ignore it anymore...it was time to go to the source and start the readings of these classics by CS Lewis. These stories are just too delicious to ignore, and way too special to not explore as they were originally penned. So after draining the library system of just about every Narnia book, or explanation of it-we began our journey.

Don't get me wrong-we have touched on his works prior. My oldest three have read A Horse and His Boy for their LLATL lessons, and after watching the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; my teen read the book, along with the Magician's Nephew, Prince Caspian, and is currently reading the Dawn Treader. It isn't that we completely ignored his writings-it was just that we never "studied" them. Until now that is.

image from narnia.ugo.com

My 9 yr old ds has not heard them and I knew it was time. So I started with the Nephew because I tend to like to be chronological in such readings. His mind works that way too. So I have been reading about 3-4 chapters per sitting (altho he begs for more) and have found that suddenly my very active boy becomes quiet and lays back to listen intently to the unfolding story. Suddenly, my dd will "appear" as tho she were looking for something, or up to some other activity, whilst I am reading- to only "cave" and plop down to listen in herself. Lo and behold, dear old Dad stops his busyness and listens in too (he has not seen any of the movies). Wow!!!! That is what is suppose to happen. That is exactly what Charlotte Mason expected from living books.

The beauty of a well-written story being read aloud is that it simply envelopes the listeners (and the reader I might add) to draw them in, to take them somewhere and to allow for words to create. That is what I want for my children-to so love a story and listen to it unfold that they are drawn to it and ask for "one more chapter" to be read.

So what is it I have planned to include in the study anyway? Well, after collecting the goodies, I also saw that there was a British version of the Silver Chair in DVD form. So even though it pales considerably to the awesomeness of the Walt Disney versions (altho they have yet to make that movie), it was worth watching to just get an idea of the story. I chose that movie, to intro the study [altho the WD movies had already done so], and am now working through the readings.

I plan on throwing in some map work (after all, one must draw and see the land of Narnia to truly appreciate it), some character study (since the books were pretty much written to showcase several good and bad ones) and of course, pull in the parts that reflect Christ and the Lord Almighty. I haven't given it much thought to this point, since I only gained access to the materials a week ago. I will come back to post on what we do/did exactly but for now-we are spending our time working through the Nephew story.

Following CM's ways-I ask the children (mostly the boy) to tell me what he remembers and he also asks questions if he is uncertain what is going on within the story. I will most likely pull in some copywork and maybe some lapbook mini-book snippets. From there-I do not know yet. I have the books I am finding most helpful so far, listed below. I figure I will have to purchase a few because it will take time to work through each book; and I am sad to say-the library won't let me renew it that many times.

images from amazon.com

and I plan on taking some snippets from the lapbook on the Magician's Nephew, which is available for free from Homeschool Share-which happens to have been designed/created by my good pal, Lynn (she has several blogs like me-we're blogaholics I guess) and Luanne Angelo.

That is the start anyway. Please come back to see how we progress and if you have any good links to sites with more Narnia goodies, feel free to mention them.

Shining Dawn Books Winter Blues Sale and Give Away

2011-01-16T07:24:00.000-08:00

Well here is something that will definitely cure your blues! Shining Dawn Books is having a give away, and a Sale! Gotta love that. These eBooks are very nice looking!

Shining Dawn Books Give Away

You have until Jan. 20th to enter, and all you need to do is spread the word that they are giving away 3 prize packages! Be sure to read the extra ways to earn additional "tickets" too.

I actually got a good chuckle out of the A Fungus Among Us one-cute title! Could have used that this past fall when we found tons of fungus during our NS!

Well, take a look-see, as these can really help you with your NS!

Artist Study: Winslow Homer

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

Now, although we have taken a break from Audubon-we are not done with him. We are stretching his study out for the whole year-because we will be studying birds in the spring, and will add in Audubon's works to it. So I guess, we have a year long study and then 2 or 3 minor ones.

So to start the year, we'll dip into Mr. Winslow Homer's works. We already started by watching a movie about him [Winslow Homer-An American Original ] to get the interest flowing (this movie was based on a time of his life after the Civil War-mostly fictitious but still fun to watch).

Now we will go through some of these books...

where the kids will learn about his life, and also go thru many of his works. They will be able to select some of the pics that they would like to study as well. I will be ordering the art cards on him, soon-so whilst we wait for those to arrive, I will have a few color copies made for them to review. We will work on putting info in our artist notebooks and also using some of his techniques to create our "masterpieces".

I will post as we work through our 6 week study of Homer, and the sources for you too, so you can learn about this amazingly gifted artists.

Nothing to do with CM-but much more important

2011-01-05T08:59:00.001-08:00

If you don't follow our regular homeschool blog, Homeschooling on a Wing and a Prayer, then you most likely missed this little sitzie that has come upon us. We have recently felt the leading of the Lord to adopt. But not just any child-but a child with special needs-one through Reece's Rainbow. We actually had a precious one in mind-because the Lord pierced our hearts with him-but well...I will let you read the post, Waiting for Answers, to glean the basics.

Now as we wait-I intend to not sit idly by-but to become a prayer warrior (waiting to see who we are assigned) and work on saving some money to help us adopt down the road. So what is my goal for this post? It is to raise awareness about something so needed-and you my dear readers can help! Visit Reece's Rainbow to learn more and find a darling you can help, and visit my blog for updates on our Give Away Package Fund Raisers coming soon!

Please watch this video by Eric Ludy too. All you need to do is insert your child's name and face onto that orphan, and you will be moved. What if you bore a child in a country that regarded it as nothing more than a shame and useless creature-if you had basically no option but to place your precious child into a baby house to wait, and wait for their forever family, or sadly, for some (could it have been your child?) to never be adopted-but rather placed in a mental institution with little human contact, rotting away in a crib/bed to await the ultimate price-death? Would you not want someone to consider them, anyone with the capacity to see they are fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator, and deserve to be loved? To have someone come and remove your child out of that hellhole and into their family, to be loved and cherished and provided for? I would. Many of those parents do not have the option to raise their child, or they follow what they are taught by their society-that a child who is different, is worthless. God help those babies-God help them!

You can make a difference-just by sharing their story and other adoptive families too!

Versatile Blogger Award

2010-12-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

My friend Michelle gave my CM Sampler award this lovely award! She's the TOS buddy my hubby visited whilst in her part of the world. It was fun to live vicariously thru the hubby's visit-someday, I pray we'll meet in person-be sure to visit her blog-she has a lot of good stuff there!

Anyhoo-

I have to expound 7 things about me and pass it along. I have decided to pass it to 2 other deserving blogs, which you can visit after reading my 7 did ya knows....

1. I am praying about something so huge, and life changing-that it has swallowed most my thoughts of late.

2. Our eldest is graduating from college next week, with her Bachelors Degree-so I guess I didn't mess her up too much by homeschooling her all the way thru high school-she can relate to the "real world"!

3. I have not done one iota of Christmas shopping yet-but plan to this week and next.

4. I am doing my best to learn a new language (ties into the first ditty there).

5. I am in dire need of my hairs getting highlighted-the grays are creeping in people!

6. I am gearing up to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" 300x before Christmas Day.

7. I have lived in this house 6 1/2 yrs and have yet to choose a color of paint for our master bdrm and get it painted-which is so not my usual! I dunno what is up with that. But it is on my Absolutely Must Do list for the coming year.

Now for the 2 bloggie pals:

Rachael at Homeschooling Kiwi Style

(she is not only a hsing momma that uses the CM style-she's from New Zealand-always a delight to see how other moms from around the world home educate!)

and

Erin from the Closing Time Blog

(not only is she a fellow TOS mate, but she is married to an Aussie-and since I have a "down under" theme going here, her blog is a perfect choice. Esp. since they just left to visit family in Australia.)

Now, these are just a tiny sample of all the wonderful bloggers I have a privilege of knowing- thanks again to Michelle for thinking of me as a Versatile Blogger and may God bless all of your days!

Copywork Ideas: Classical in nature but perfect for CM copywork requirements

2010-12-01T19:19:00.000-08:00

My son has been working throught he Copybook series by Memoria Press for a long time. He finished book I a whilst back and is about 1/2 through the second. I actually received these as a part of a review (there is also some info on the Latina Christiana) but had to tuck them aside for a time due to his handwriting issues. When he was ready, I introduced them and he just loves them. They tie in beautifully to the CM copywork needs, and also it uses some of the Bible (KJV) as it's material, along with other poems and such. He begs to do this! And he is taking his time to print legibly, with his nicest work. So I guess if one is using a mix of Classical and CM-this is a perfect fit. I cannot say enough good things about this series. I have actually tucked the first volume away as a keepsake. The precious printing and the artwork is so adorable-truly a treasure in deed.

Yet another copywork idea for those of you who don't want to spend time hunting down copywork material on line, or in your collection of stuff.

**I actually did received this Copybook series from Memoria Press in 2009, so that I could review it and give my honest opinion of their products. I did not receive any financial compensation for that review, nor for this little ditty.

Copywork Ideas: Boy oh boy a taste of George

2010-12-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

Now when it comes to good sense, who could argue with ole George Washington? Probably not many. When I renewed my subscription to the Old Schoolhouse Magazine about a year or so ago, they had some freebies you could get and well, this was one of them! I was so excited because I knew that summer we'd be going to Washington, D.C. and I was not leaving that area without seeing Mt. Vernon. So I tucked it aside and there it has been patiently waiting for this special moment in time-when we hit the area of history study on George Washington. I am excited to start this unit and I know the boy will be quite tickled to finally get to work in this.

sold by Greenleaf Press (direct link to this is here) and it is not too spency ($6.95)

So as we move through the George stuff, the boy will work on one page at a time. It not only suffices in the copywork needs department, but it ties in beautifully with our early American history studies.

I really like Rule 18a...but I think I will add in a wee bit more to this...

to make it say:

"Read no letters, books, or papers, or text, chat or read FB on your phone in company:..."

I think that would best sum up the crazy habit I believe we're all a bit guilty of! LOL...This is such a nice book because it is printed words (as the boy is not reading cursive yet) and it also has a page on the opposite side for drawing. Both very CMy in my opinion.

I should think this a great copywork book for your special little man, or little miss too! After all-we must remember the young ladies need to know such proper behavior as well.

**I received the Handwriting by George Copywork book for free as a part of a promotion through the Old Schoolhouse Magazine renewal program. I did not have to do anything for it other than renew my subscription. I did not receive any financial compensation for my honest opinion of this book, nor anything else for that matter.

Composer Studies: Tchaikovsky and the Nutcracker Ballet Lapbook

2010-11-22T13:54:00.000-08:00

Being that I enjoy the lapbook/notebooking way to remember our studies, I decided to put the Tchaikovsky study into a lapbook. I pulled components from all over, and if you read through the original post, you can get those from there. You'll have to look around those links and use what best fits your purpose. I didn't want to turn this into some long, drawn out study-so I picked a few here and there to make our version. I ended up struggling a bit to find exactly what I needed, so I simply used MS Word to create a few booklets to complete it for us. We will continue to listen to Tchaikovsky's music for a couple more weeks, to help lock the unfamiliar ones into our heads, and that will conclude our study of him for now.

Yes, please notice the white lapbook-new product my friend is making,

and also note the 3 hole punched strip at the side of the lapbook-

that is one of the best things since sliced bread-

now you can add one of these to your book and it pops

into a 3 ring binder to stay safe and cozy like.

So all in all-we watched several (mostly bad) DVDs on the Nutcracker* to introduce ourselves to this story (which my dd and I already have seen/known about) and jump start our look-see into Mr. Tchaikovsky's life. We read several books not only on the ballet, but on Mr. Tchaikovsky (our favorites were Tchaikovsky Discovers America by Esther Kalman, and The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers) as well. We added in a few mini-booklets, the puppets (minus the popsicle sticks, as we just used them to decorate the lapbook), and the timeline on him to complete our project.

I do have lots of lapbook examples on my Scrapbook and Lapbooks by Sheri blog, if you are in need of ideas for ways to turn your materials into keepsake projects. All you need to do is convert the ideas to your current needs regarding your subject of study. The post describing what I did to create this lapbook can be found here.

Hope you are inspired to try turning one of your CM studies into a lovely keepsake lapbook. I think you'll be glad you did!

*The Nutcracker with Macaulay Culkin was OK, the best we saw. Strangely, it ended like right after the Sugar Plum stuff; which was odd-it left us hanging.

Shakespeare: Midsummer's Night Dream Puppetry Fun

2010-11-20T11:38:00.000-08:00

Well, being that we decided to create a couple puppets for this Shakespearian play-figured I should show them "acting" up a bit. I found these puppets on the Bard Puppet Page, if you'd like to add these to your studies too. We only chose the Princess, Puck and Bottom the Donkey. I didn't honestly think the kids would be into this activity but they both enjoyed it; and it is fun to be silly with them.

Little bit of mischievous behavior going on here. I printed them off on white card stock for durability, then we used color pencils to make em pretty with mini-brads (can be found at scrapbooking stores) to attach them.

Composer Study: Tchaikovsky and the Nutcracker Ballet

2010-11-15T20:28:00.000-08:00

Sugar Plum Fairies dancing in my head, with a giant Nutcracker chomping on walnuts and pecans...hmms, sounds like the holiday season has begun! So of course I decided to do a composer study of the very dude who composed one of the most recognizable melodies we hear on TV, in the stores, and at the local ballet productions this time of year.

image from Wikipedia.com

Since I had planned on doing him a couple years ago (ah hem, but never did) I have most of what I need sitting on my shelves. To round out my collection, I spent a few moments rummaging through the library catalog, and found/reserved/checked out enough sources to give us plenty of "food for thought" to make this a good study. So after a few days of pulling components I want us to cover; I have copied off the necessities, and will start our study this week. This is kind of a piece meal sorta study, but I think we'll get enough of the basics to remember the key points and have a decent intro to Tchaikovsky.

Because I have a teen and an elementary aged child-I decided to just do this as a group. Sissy can do most of the writing (esp. since it is harder for the boy to do a lot of it) and I will have the Boy do more of the age appropriate materials I found. I have a couple DVDs of different versions of the Nutcracker for them to watch, and even a book or two for that. Then I have a few good sources for the composer side of it (which the teen will put in her Composer mini-book and some will go in the lapbook) to which we will work on whilst focusing on the ballet. After we have completed the study, I will be sure to post some pics.

image from Widipedia.com

Sources for Tchaikovsky and the Nutcracker Ballet

Squidoo pages by JoyfulPamela

Tchaikovsky Study by Jimmie

puppets for Nutcracker Ballet

The Nutcracker Lapbook

Homeschool Share-Ballet (look in list to find Nutcracker info)

The sources we are using:

these are just pics, not linked-as one can get them from so many places or you may even have them on your shelves like me. I also have a couple Classical CDs with a few selections of his on it too-so we'll listen to that as well.

and from the library I have found several books/DVDs
examples of said finds:

DVDs/Videos

we may us this one too (Toy Castle), that is if I can stomach this-LOL

and I found a VHS of this-pray for me people-that I can watch at least 5 mins of it

We have the two cartoon ones right now-waiting for the DVD of the Nutcracker to come in, so we'll try to start with those 2 and at least get an inkling of the ballet (for the boy really, as the teen and I have seen it performed before). I have a low tolerance for cheesy movies, so hopefully these are not as bad as say, The Brave Little Toaster~hopefully! **Update-that Toy Castle was terrible (as I figured it may be)-I don't even think a toddler would like it. The Nutcracker Prince was eh. They did sit and watch it but it was not very accurate nor really good, so I am not recommending those 2 versions. We just received the Nutcracker DVD and I pray it is good. I will update once we have a moment to watch it.

So once it is completed, I will add the pictures of the lapbook/Composer Study pages (teens) for you. Look for those in mid-December.

Shakespeare: Me thinks maybe

2010-11-14T13:52:00.000-08:00

OK, so one area I am notorious for avoiding just short of a plague-is yes, Shakespeare. Perhaps that horrible movie I had to watch in high school did me in (all I remember is it had witches in the beginning scene-so you Shakespeare buffs, let me know what that was)....after all, it was terrible! I didn't understand Shakes then, and I have pretty much avoided him, until recently. Shameful? I dunno. The jury is still out on that-but in my renewed vigor of getting back to utilizing more aspects of the CM way-I have taken the plunge into the pool, attempting to give my remaining two students [at the very least] a taste of ole William Shakespeare's writings. The final push to give it the ole HSer's try, came from one of the moms at our new CM co-op (A'Monica) with the experience of her Shakes Class (Julius Caesar); which my daughter enjoyed and I saw that it wasn't so scary to learn/teach (so I knew it was time to stop lallygagging and get to this area of our studies).

All was not completely lost in regard to my early exposure to Shakespeare [after bearing through that terrible movie/lesson in high school, or was it Jr Hg? I dunno-but it was terrible..oh, I already said that]; as I did happen to catch a Sesame Street Monsterpiece Theater episode one day, when my older two were just babes~which did ease the pain and ignite an extremely smallish ember. There I found, I could understand Shakespeare. So for those of you who are Shakespeare-challenged, you too can start at the very basic level, just like me...pre-school level that is! LOL Then once you get your bearings, try something a bit more true to Shakes, such as I.

Taming of the Shoe {Shrew}

Or perhaps Hamlet (starring Mel Gibson) tickles your fancy?

or this one to see which is apparently Much Ado About Nothing, just in case you are still scratching your head

As for our initial attempt:

We are doing a mini-lesson on A Midsummer's Night Dream. And I mean MINI. We have read the story via the Tales of Shakespeare: Told for Children by E. Nesbit. We will also read the Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary Lamb version too. To add to that, the teen and I will just act out a few selected areas of the play (using A Midsummer's Night Dream (written in play form) by Oxford School Shakespeare). I have found some pretty coloring pages, and activities too [via that most reliable blogger lady, Jimmie], for them both to do to round out this mini-study. [FYI: Ambleside Online has info on this subject too]. If we survive, then I guess we'll pick up a new play next semester. This is our first attempt here at home (in a very, very long time) to do this, and I am hopeful.

So if you too have been struggling with this whole Shakes business-I suggest starting with the Sesame Street versions, then branching out by utilizing a lot of the ideas found on Jimmie's info page dedicated to Shakespeare.

picture from Karen's Whimsy

OH-and in case you are curious here-in regard to us watching a movie about A Midsummer's Night Dream-

We tried, and I mean it was totally, almost as unbearable as the movie noted above-we tried a 1950s (?) version, but we simply couldn't do it-we turned it off after about 15 mins [the shrilling Indian boy was the last straw]! IT was just as bad. So I am on the lookout for a modern, well done version [if you know of one, please share the title!]-so until then (if ever) we will rely on our readings of it. **update: OK, I just watched the BBC versions and I can live with that-so I guess that will work.

Hey, if a recovering Shakespeare-aphobic can attempt this, why not you?

Blog Post Index for Articles pulled from my other blog posts

2010-11-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

I have 4 (actually 5, one is on HSBlogger and I have yet to figure out WP, so it remains dormant) other blogs besides this one-and because the CM posts were getting lost in the shuffle, I decided to start this one, specifically dedicated to CM related ideas/projects/activities.

Therefore, I will be posting links to my other articles, so you can read those too. I pulled over the most relevant ones, but there are plenty more that could offer ideas to help you implement the CM materials you have. If you have not been to my What's in the Box? blog (workboxes), I suggest you visit it. Pretty much anything you have can be tweaked to fit that application (more of an organized way to have your school day flow.) My Scrapbook and Lapbooks by Sheri Blog has plenty of ideas for putting your studies into lapbook/notebook form, which is easy to do with many CM subjects (NS, Art, Music, History, Literature, etc.), so take a peek over there too. I hope this helps you out!

Nature Study:

Queen Anne's Lace Study

Nature Study with Teens

How I do NS where we live

Art Appreciation:

Professional Looking Projects-John Audubon study

Music Appreciation:

Chopin-Envelope Book

Miscellaneous:

Our Method of HSing

Poetry: Mini Book to store info on Major Am. Poets

2010-11-12T18:42:00.000-08:00

I have been using the Learning Language Arts Through Literature pretty much since we started homeschooling. I love that it follows the CM way rather closely, and that I don't have to think too much-as it is all laid out nicely for teacher! In the high school years, they offer the Gold Series-either for American or British Lit. My daughter is loosely working through this level (as she had read a couple of the book prior, and we are doing a different writing program this winter, so we deleted that part), and has now entered the Poetry Unit. Being that I am on a "make a book" kick, I grabbed one of my last remaining little blank books to create her Major American Poets Memory Book.

Our version of a Table of Contents

the one side is done-we'll add a complimentary color paper on the other side,

and her notations when completed

As we work through this, I will post an update.

This little ditty is meant to serve as a quick refresher for her. We will have one page of containing the artist's info (courtesy of Wikipedia) and one page where she has typed up a list of their most recognized poems and a notation of the one she studied and liked best (which we have yet to do seeing how we just started this unit).

She can then flip through, like a memory book of sorts.

This application can be used with pretty much any study the child is working on-esp. in mini form, if you don't have a need for a lot of info to be included.

I did upload the cover and poet listing to my Scribd pages. (I ended up cutting off the outlines b/cuz the teen wanted to have them backed with black cardstock first-and I didn't have enough room. So keeping the outline is totally up to you.)

**the blank books can be obtained from several sources, and soon [very soon] my pal Heidi will have her stuff available for purchase. If you absolutely cannot wait, I bought these from Bare Books [but you will need to have a $25 min. order to purchase anything]. I used some scrapbook paper I had laying about to add some color and pizazz to it. We attached a gold ribbon to the top ring on the book so she can page mark her current study.

And there is yet another little project to enhance one's HS education.

Nature Study: Tree Identification cards for your NS travel box

2010-11-12T16:16:00.000-08:00

I found these via Scribd-made by thesnailstrail and they are for your NS travel box*. I copied them off, laminated them [I put 2 cards back to back to save on lam. sheets and so I wouldn't have a blank side on it], trimmed them, punched a whole in each card, then added the jump clip. Excellent for quick identification of the tree specimens you encounter!

And by all means-stroll around The Snails Trail Blog (esp. if you have toddlers/pre-k students). She has some awesome ideas and other printable goodies too.

Look thru Scribd for more identification cards-I saw some bird ones there too. It is much more light-weight to have these in your carryall instead of heavier Field Guide books.

*What is a travel box? Simply put: a box or bag that holds all your NS sketching/painting/bug collecting goodies. I like ones that close, so the stuff does go flying thru the air with the greatest of ease whilst traipsing through the woods/plains/fields and back yard.

**I am not 100% sure here-but I believe if you do not have a Scribd account, you may have to pay a small fee to download stuff. A cheaper idea is to create an account and download something useful...that you created and then you can access the other documents. If someone knows for sure, let me know. I have an account so I am not super clear on this.

Copywork Ideas: Whimsical and Pretty Expressions for Girls

2010-11-11T15:09:00.000-08:00

One area I have a liking for (at times, my children were rather disdained over the thought) is copywork. I enjoy the fruits of this activity. I love how they learn to notice the details contained within a passage, the appearance of long forgotten words, proper punctuation and the eloquence of various sources found throughout our home (mainly the Bible-but alas, even those poetry books that taunt me from their place upon the shelf). Yes, dear reader-I am not a big fan of poetry, well the stuff that requires you to truly scratch your head and wonder about it. If it doesn't tell me what I need to know in plain wording-I get my feathers rumpled and well-usually choose to move on. Not good heh? Well, I am trying-honestly I am. I do have some favorites that I can tolerate, and have shared them with my children. Thankfully the poetry of the Bible is one area I "get" and love.

Well, as it is I came across Queen Homeschool Supply and found just what I wanted for my teen this year. I have seen her materials and drooled-but it wasn't until I realigned my goals this past summer, that I knew we needed something easy, thorough and designed for the girl in mind. They have one for boys too-and I almost purchased one for my son-but he has 2 copywork books that he is working through already, so I decided to postpone that purchase until those are completed.

The little book to the right is actually a crafty project I worked on a good couple years ago. There it sat on my shelf just waiting for a purpose. I purchased a blank book (a couple actually) at the local HS convention, and then wondered what to do with it. I think I actually watched some rerun of the Martha Stewart show where Rosie O'Donnell and Martha were decoupaging everything not bolted down. It struck me that I could do that with some pictures I had (not sure where I got em-perhaps magazines? I dunno, but one can easily find such things). Then when I unpacked the copywork book-I wondered what she would pen her work into. Then I saw it-sitting all pretty like on the shelf. I knew I made it for just such a moment. It doesn't have lines on the inside paper, so she simply uses a ruler to create some. She also (being artsy and all) puts in different flowers and items that strike her fancy. This will be a beautiful keepsake for her (or perhaps me).

I have seen several nice journals at the local dollar store, so that is another more fiscally responsible option. My biggest concern is that she writes legibly, and takes pain to be sure she is copying it correctly. I actually should go through this to double check, but at 16-I think she is fully capable of doing that herself.

And there you have a nice option for providing copywork to your young lady.

*and just in case you are wondering...I am not a sales lady for Queen Homeschool. I simply adore her stuff. I purchased this material with my own money, and did not receive it for free-but that doesn't matter-I am still giving my opinion of it.

Nature Study: Ideas for a study book

2010-11-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

Providing a good nature study foundation for your student, is one of the most rewarding aspects of Charlotte Mason. Even if you start extremely simple, by just focusing on reading books about a certain subject-you can provide a nice springboard and stir up an interest. Slowly add in an afternoon stroll around your yard, neighborhood, or a local park. Take note of the type of birds, trees, animals and plants you see. Even if that is simply mental notes-or a couple pictures. Then when you get home, look up the item (via the internet, books) and discuss them. Then let it snowball into a more organized, detailed study. Use the resources available-you do not need to reinvent the wheel, as plenty of creative and handy folks have pulled together studies, books and all sorts of ideas to get you on your nature study path. Oh, and be sure to admit to your students when they ask what something is, or where it goes/lives, etc (and you honestly don't have a clue) that you don't know either but you have some ideas as to where you can get that info. It is OK to allow your students to see you too are learning with them. AND you don't have to be artistically inclined to do this-the true object in a nature study is to refine your observation skills-to truly see the Glory of our Heavenly Father-not how well you can sketch. If you feel you and your students need some art instruction, by all means-add it. There are plenty of "how to" books available. Try your library first, go through their collection and only purchase the ones that best fit your family. It takes time, but the results are life changing.

Some examples of NS books

Copywork and art project from Spears Art Studio-High School Curriculum

Sketches by teen-still life and pine cone study/leaf study (drawn during co-op NS class)

The boy's sketches using Barb's Nature Study with the Outdoor Hour Challenges pages

One can add many different forms to their 3-Ring Binder, using a variety of sources, notebook pages and ideas. I find this method works great because a child can add, shift around projects as they build their collection, and even categorize their works. I use the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock a lot. Barb's studies tie directly into this book, and are easy to implement. I find quotes from the Bible, from Queen Homeschool Supply: Nature Lessons for Copywork and various other sources.

Having a good supply of paper, colored/drawing pencils, erasers, crayons, watercolor paints, scissors (for snipping specimens), and any other medium you can use to sketch, or capture your NS moments is a great way to stay "ready". We keep our goodies in plastic, snapped totes so we can take them with us while we travel, do specific studies, and so forth. Don't forget tweezers, variety of magnifying glasses, bug catchers, and a butterfly net to help you corral your findings, so you can sketch them too.

Helpful Links:

Ambleside Online-Nature Study help

Nature Study-info by Jimmie

Artist Study: John James Audubon

2010-11-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

Because the children are both covering American history this year, I decided upon 3 artists that reflect the beauty and nature of the United States. Our first artist to explore is John James Audubon. Not only does his subject matter perfectly mesh with nature studies; it is a wonderful introduction to birds, painting, and observation. We will continue with him this entire year, lightening our focus a bit more this coming winter/early spring, and then end with more emphasis on birds and his art work as the summer approaches.

Combined into our study are some fantastic notebooking pages and animal studies found in the Nature Study with the Outdoor Challenge Hour Ebook by Barb McCoy at the Handbook of Nature Study Blog. We will add the study of the Canadian Goose in to our project, along with bits and pieces of various other ebooks/notebook pages. You can read more about making these and where I found the materials by reading my Scrapbook and Lapbooks Blog post. I have also included some links at the end of this post for you to glean more info and ideas concerning Mr. Audubon.

I created these mini-books to log general info into, concerning the artists we'll study; and I also have one book dedicated just for storing mini-versions of picture studies on them. This is where we add approximately 4 smaller pictures (they can be removed because they are held in with picture tabs) under that artist. I have also provided my children with 6-7 larger sized pictures to use for their main picture study. These are color prints mounted on black card stock. We will store those in our larger (don't have that posted yet) bird study books.

Each child chose the "plates" of JJ Audubon's work to study-both have the Canadian Goose to use when we come to that focused study

I just finished making these prints, so for the next few weeks we will work on studying them and adding more info to our booklets.

Studying prints and artists one of the first methods I tried, when we decided to use CM in our homeschool. I found it to be a great way to ease into it; and the children (and myself) truly enjoyed it. I have not been as consistent with it as I should have been, but I have made this one of the main priorities in our HS curriculum this year. I hope this spurs you on to try your own artist/picture study!

Helpful links:

Jimmie's helpful ideas for Picture Study

Artist Study info by Jimmie

Ambleside Online Artist Study info and Schedule

John Audubon study info provided by Jimmie

image from Wikipedia.com

A Moment with Mrs. Sharp-Martinmas Day [IE: Nov. 11th]

2010-11-11T08:54:00.000-08:00

Paper Lanterns to symbolize the

"light of generosity that illuminates the darkness of lack."

(Mrs. Sharp's Family Traditions, page 213)

In celebration of this lesser known festival, we created our own lanterns to commemorate a man by the name of Martin. He became a monk to dedicate his life to helping those in need, regardless of their social status.
Mrs. Sharp explains the history of Martinmas Day (which I was unaware of myself), then provides the know how to making these beautiful luminaries. It does take several steps, so this is a project that you must start a few days prior to the day you need them. I should think these would be beautiful for Christmas time, Easter, and even for those special moments (such as a wedding shower). Found under the November section of the book.

The final look of the lanterns-all lit up

*as you can see with 3 very different personalities creating these, we have some very wide ranging artwork focus here. My 9 yr old ds (of course) painted cars on his, I did the fall theme and my teen did a Japanese theme. They all are very pretty in person and beautiful when lit up.

A Moment with Mrs. Sharp-an Introduction

2010-11-11T08:34:00.000-08:00

Some time back, I became acquainted with the most gracious, and enlightening Mrs. Sharp. She ushered in fanciful new ways of doing things, by providing her wit and charm and seemingly endless monthly themed knowledge in her beautifully illustrated book, Mrs. Sharp's Family Traditions [by Sarah Ban Brethnachs].

I have found this to be one of my favorite all time books. Hearkening back to the Victorian era, I step into a world of ideals, crafts and poetry just waiting to field tested on my precious children. So in honor of this most dignified lady-I will have a Moment with Mrs. Sharp section on this blog. As we work through the months (and mind you-we don't do everything but pick and choose and perhaps even skip a few things), I will post the projects for you to savor. This is all very Charolotte Mason-esque in nature, as it provides wonderful handicrafts and poetry to add charm to your homeschool.

So grab your favorite cup of tea or coffee, come join us in the parlor and discover the world of Mrs. Sharp.

**I personally purchased this book, so I have not received this in exchange for anything. The mini-review is based solely on my own personal opinion of it.
***Mrs. Sharp's Family Traditions is currently out of print, but can be obtained through online book stores.