Follow the Yellow Brick Road- More Oz projects!

Today I only bring you a glimpse of what I've been up to as of late. I have not had time to put together tutorials on these, but I wanted to share these wonderful projects anyway.

First we have Dorothy and the Tornado inspired by Oodles of Art Falling Back in Space lesson.
This project shown is my sample. I tried to encourage the kids to update Dorothy- if nothing else just so the character wearing a dress and the angle didn't create an "I see London" issue, and so we could use the opportunity to bring in thematic elements from the book and movie. Notice the rainbow and blue bird themes as well as the green sickly sky in the background.

Next up is our current project- The Not-so-Scary- Scarecrow. This is actually a mixed media, 2 piece of cardstock project. We did the background in pencil and sharpie and then colored in with crayon using heavy pressure to blend the colors. I encouraged the kids to use at least three different colors in each area- three greens in the cornstalks, three red/orange tones in the pumpkins, three blues/purples in the sky, etc. The scarecrow was done on a second piece of cardstock in pencil and sharpie then painted in with watercolor. I showed the kids the wash technique of laying down water in each area first to keep the colors light and only in the wet area.
Once it was done we cut out the scarecrow, attached it to the background with rolled tape to get a more offset 3-D look and them added in highlights and shadow details with more crayon and/or oil pastel.

The last one is not really an Oz project, but I suppose I could call them Cyclone Coasters!
They are based on this fun project at Art Projects for Kids. I just about used a whole magazine for this one. The only difference in my sample is that I did not complete the last step of pushing the coils into a bowl-shape, but just left them flat and painted them with white acrylic craft paint.
I have been meaning to add some more color or design or even make some coasters, but it hasn't happened quite yet.

That's all for now!

Except for this heads up...
Tune in next week for the announcement of a brand new blog carnival and a contest to kick it off!

Read more...

Oh My Gosh it's a Bosch! Part Two the Art Lesson

By Kendall- Age 9

The Art Lesson-
Bosch was a Dutch Surrealist Painter in the 15th and 16th century. This is 400 years before most people think surrealism really began. Artists like Salvador Dali took the art form to it's highest peak in the early 20th century. The art form incorporates realism in fantastic and often nightmarish situations.
Bosch explored the both the good and bad extremes that people can sometimes be. In this we will do the same through depicting beauty and monsters together.

Materials

9" x 12" piece of drawing paper
pencil
black sharpie
markers
oil pastels

1. Fold the paper in half lengthwise. On one side draw the side of a vase in pencil. Start at the top corner and make curves all the way down to the bottom of the paper.


2. Now draw the same curves on the other side in a mirror image.


3 Some of you will recognize this as a drawing exercise called "vase faces" or "gargoyles". If you look carefully you will see the profile of two rather grotesque figures in the curves you have just made. Now it's time to play them up and make them as bad as you can.


4. Once you are happy with how horrifying your profiles are, make as pretty a face as you can in the middle space left by the profiles.(see the Botticelli Face of Venus lesson for a face drawing tutorial)


5. If you have any white space left fill it up with pictures of things you like and don't like. (For instance kitty cats and broccoli)

6. Use a black sharpie to go over all the pencil lines, and then color in with a combination of marker and oil pastel.


7. Bosch used his paintings to tell stories, so as an extension of this activity you can write a story about what it happening in your picture.

More pieces from the kids gallery

By Tatum Age 8

By Zee Zee Age 9


This lesson has just been used by Tech4Learning in their Spring 2009 issue of Creative Educator to support the integration of technology,
art, and language in the classroom using their Pixie2 software
(which my kids love by the way, though it was not used to create this lesson
and is not necessarily needed to complete it)

Read more...

An Easter Rainbow Book

Materials
7 sheets of paper, red, orange, green, blue, purple, white
paper plate
pencil
paper trimmer and or scissors
stapler
clip(optional)

1.Start with 7 sheets of paper stacked in this color order, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and white. Use a paper trimmer or scissors to cut the papers in half lengthwise.

2.Use a large circle to draw a curve at the short edge one of the papers. Cut this curve and use it as a template to trace the same curve on the remaining papers. Turn over and trace on the other side of the papers. You want a mirrored curve here so that later when the pages are folded in the curves will match up.

3. On the white paper, after the curve is traced, add a wavy line on both sides.

4. Cut all the curves.

5. Stagger the papers so that each shows evenly. Fold the bottom up to meet the white and create two rows of cloud. Crease the fold. Clip to hold in place.

6. Reopen and staple on the crease. It is best to staple from the outside in so that staple points aren't sticking out to poke little fingers.

7. Close book up and place under heavier books to get to lay flat.

In honor of National Poetry Month, this is my Easter rainbow poem. You could write this out in the rainbow book you just made! I am planning on making these with my Sunday school class of kindergartners and four year olds this Easter. I will print out each verse on labels or sticker paper and have them stick on the appropriate verse for each color.
If anyone would like the corresponding bible verses, let me know and I will post them.

A Rainbow for Jesus
By Julie Moses

Red is for the blood
Jesus shed on the cross
Orange is the color of spices
Used to prepare his death cloths
Yellow is the color of the hem
Of an angel's robe,
who From the tomb,
Rolled away the stone.
Green is the color of
the brand new life
We find in Jesus Christ
Blue is the color
of the comfort and peace He gives,
even in the midst of strife.
Purple is the color
Used to dress a king.
Remember the rainbow and
How Christ gave us everything.


This book can become many things. You can write your own rainbow poem or story in it, cut out same colored items from magazines and make a rainbow collage,
or think of items that are that color and draw them in yourself.
Turn it into your own favorite bedtime story so that you too can have rainbow dreams!
For older kids who want to get in on the fun have them check out some rainbow history.

This is a video of the same process.

Read more...

"The Scream" by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch
has always been a favorite of mine. I have seen reproductions ranging from extremely vivid colors to black and white graphics. It is a strong piece of emotional art work springing up from the
abstract expressionist movement.
It has inspired countless parody as one can find by simply Googling images for the title. It is at once simple and extremely complex, silent and deafening. I learned for the first time today of it's connection in concept to the eruption of the volcano of Krakatoa, a natural event with global ramifications. In the painting you can hear the explosion in the reverberating waves of color that are at battle with the sounds of the death-like figure's screams. Pretty heavy for kids you might think, but when you see Macaulay Culkin putting on aftershave in Home Alone you are really looking at the same image. Kids scream. People scream. Screaming occurs for multitudes of reasons, from
fear, anger, frustration, excitement, or sheer joy.
It is all the about the emotion, not the specific emotion, and
that is what abstract expressionism really is.
Today I bring you my version of an art project and unit study ideas to help you learn more about this painting, artist, and correlating connections.
(Can you tell how much I love alliteration?)

What you will need:

white cardstock
masking tape
cardboard or other drawing board
pencils
black sharpie
oil pastels

1. Start out by having students draw a single figure in the center of the paper. It does not need to be the whole figure. It can be cropped to show only a face and upper torso or a full length figure.
(for a figure tutorial- check out Paul Bunyan or Dancing Divas)
2. Make sure to draw the features of the face with a strong emotion and expression!
3. Outline the shape of the figure and then "echo" these outlines all the way to the edges of the paper. Try to make these outlines as wavy as possible, as if they are vibrating.
4. Use black sharpie to outline all the pencil.
5. Color the inside figure with either all cool(greens, blues, purples, greys) colors or all warm(red, yellow, orange, pink, brown) colors.
6.Color the reverberation lines with the opposite type of colors. If your figure is warm, use cool colors, or vice versa.(tip: work from the inside out to avoid smudging color all over you paper)
7. Lastly re outline all the black lines with black oil pastel.(You could also rub a bit of paper towel over the whole image to smudge the black a bit and add some texture- but be careful- a little goes a long way!)

Here you will see versions done both ways...

To extend this into a unit study...

Science: Study sound waves, geology, or vulcanology

History: Learn more about Krakatoa's eruption and how the weather affected history.

Geography: Learn about Norway

Math: How many sound waves are in you picture? How many miles is it from Krakatoa to Norway?

Language Arts and Music: Write a song or poem about
the things that make you want to
SCREAM!


Links and Resources

Edvard Munch at Kinderart

Art Smarts for Kids

National Gallery of Art

Enchanted Learning

Volcano Videos at How Stuff Works

Read more...

Tall Tales- the unit study

A little overdue, but as promised, here is the rest of the Tall Tales Unit Study. The art lesson was in this post. Today I will cover Geography,History, Science, Math, and Language Arts.

Geography- Learn about all the places Paul and Babe went. Maine, Minnesota, Oregon. Or the places he made according to the legend: the Rocky Mountains, Appalachians and the Mississippi River. (For an add-on to spelling, learn how to spell all these places and learn the Mi-double-s-i-double-s-i-double-p-i spelling trick.)

History- Part of why Paul did what he did as a logger was to make way for the Westward Expansion of the United States. Settlers headed west to become pioneers. Some real life stories to learn about, that center on this topic are Louis and Clark and the Oregon Trail.

Science- As I mentioned, Paul Bunyan was a logger. What a great way to tie in to the study of environmental preservation and the global effects of deforestation.

For math- I challenge you to incorporate the art lesson. Use ratios to make a life size version of your art project in a driveway or park with chalk. Start by making a square grid of you first project with one inch squares. Go outside and measure the same grid but this time use one foot squares. Copy the lines from each box on the small project into the larger one. This is the same method muralists use to make large scale art projects on the sides of buildings.
When you are done answer these questions:
1. How tall was Paul Bunyan on paper?
2. How tall was he outside?
3. How about Babe?

Finally, for language arts, there are lots of tall tales told by many different authors and illustrators. I have some listed below in my recommended books.
After reading a few, write your own tall tale to explain some part of historical or scientific occurrence. Be sure to include larger than life characters in unbelievable circumstances. When you are done, be sure to write your tall tale on very tall paper!


Additional Links to Explore
Paul Bunyan, The Giant Lumberjack Online Story | Ox Craft | Coloring Pages | Preschool Lesson Plan Printable Activities

24718-sample.pdf (application/pdf Object)

CurrClick - Rainbow Horizons Publishing Inc. - Readers Theater III - Tall Tales

Free Johnny Appleseed Apple Lapbook

Johnny Appleseed and Westward Expansion



Stay tuned later this week for:
Art Emergency- Super Art Teacher to the rescue (Two art lessons on Ferdinand Leger)
Shady Little Shamrocks- A St. Patrick's Day Art Lesson
Greek Speaking Scratch- Use Greek Vases to tell stories in pictures and symbols.

Read more...

Tall Tales- in short.

Well here is at least part of my promised art lesson on Paul Bunyan and Tall Tales.
I plan to have the rest up by tomorrow. For now, here is the drawing lesson...(click on picture to make it larger)






















They are based on the world's largest fiberglass statues found in Northern California.

Read more...

And the Winner Is...

Jamie at

Cultivating Joy In a House Full of Boys

and her suggestion of a unit study on knights and castles!

My suggestion is to begin the study with the art lessons then learn about the subjects and finally at the end of the lesson to create the same projects again integrating all the new knowledge gained in the learning explorations!


First the knight drawing lesson...


You can click on this to make the picture bigger.
If the visual step by step is not enough, let me know and I will post a more detailed tutorial.

Additional art projects to go with this study can be found here..

Dragons
Castle 1
Castle 2
Princesses

The Usborne Book in my recommendations also has a castle drawing lesson in it.


Second, the artist study...
Raphael- St. George and the Dragon.

Garden of Praise Artist and Painting Study- A bit higher level but it also has a link to color the picture online.

Math...
Practice your math facts with these games...
All you need is a chessboard, knights, rooks, kings, queens, di, and flashcards or a regular deck of playing cards.

Directions: Roll di to see who goes first, highest number goes first. Players pick their game pieces- king, queen, knight, or rook and start on corner of the chessboard. The first piece to make it all the way across wins. (Depending on the age and interest of the players you can have the players move straight ahead in a column to the other side or have them move on a winding path through every square on the board- for this option use a roll of the di to determine how many spaces will be won with a correct answer, incorrect answers lose number of squares indicated by di roll.)Have the player pick a card with a math fact, if they answer correctly they can move ahead, incorrect answers lose one square.
Variations of this game are really endless and brainstorming new rules with your players could result in a really fun new game.
Some variations I thought up were:
Knight's War- 2 players
Use regular playing cards or flash cards. Shuffle cards and place in a stack. Both players draw a card. High card or sum gets to move on the board. Another variation would be low card or sum gets to move.
(if any of you out in blogger land have additional suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments for this post.)

There are also several books about Sir Cumference in my recommendations. They may or may not be ready for these. I think they are pretty clever and fun though. Use at your own discretion.

History-
Excavation Project- get a small knight figurine- one that won't melt at higher temperatures- put in a muffin tin or cupcake liner. Fill with muffin or cupcake mix and bake as directed. Let "archaeologists" excavate the knight relics with plastic fork tools.

Lots of additional suggestions can be found in the links section at the end of this post.

Science-
The middle ages is not well known for it's scientific advancements, but something that was of great interest in those days was alchemy and blacksmithing.
Research and learn exactly what alchemy is. Interest in this subject in China led to the discovery of the formula for gunpowder!
Blacksmiths were of great interest to all the knights because that is how they got their armor and shoes for their horses. See if you can find a blacksmith still working today and take a field trip to a forge.
In the meantime, try creating your own "chain mail" with paper chains. Use grey or black construction paper to make chains that interlock together the way they did on a knight's hauberk.


Language Arts-
Try reading some great knight stories out loud. Kid friendly versions of Robin Hood and King Arthur would be great and inspiring bedtime tales.
Try writing acrostic poems with the words knight or castle.
K-kneel
N-noble
I-iron
G-gauntlet
T-triumphant

Or a write story about one of the amazing art creations they have made!

Additional links...

Medieval Unit Study Plan

Castle Unit Study Links

Kings and Queens Unit

Free Knight Lapbook Template

Tons more info available at Mr. Donn's.

Books you may find helpful. I often check the ISBN numbers and then request them at my library through inter-library loan as opposed to purchasing a ton of resources.

Videos for teachers about knights...

Before I leave what is already a remarkable long post, I want to let Dana at School for Us know that her Tall Tales suggestion was too irresistible to pass up, but too lengthy to include in this post. I will be posting an art lesson and unit study on Paul Bunyan and Tall Tales tomorrow!
Stay tuned also this week for

Art Emergency- Super Art Teacher to the Rescue!

Read more...

SpellQuizzer

While we are still on the topic of spelling, {a topic in many households(home or traditionally schooled) that can lead to hours of conflict}, let me tell you about a new resource that was brought to my attention.
SpellQuizzer is a downloadable spelling software program created by a parent to help his own kids master the art of spelling.
It is designed to be used with any existing spelling curriculum or can be used to create a personalized one specified to meet your child's individual needs. Many spelling experts recommend keeping a list of children's most frequently misspelled words and incorporating those into their spelling lists. This program would make doing just that extremely easy. You could also create spelling and vocabulary lists straight from the literature you are already using, a favorite technique of Charlotte Mason.
This method is a personal favorite of mine as well.
The program itself is not flashy nor is it difficult for either parent or student to use. Many programs I have seen in the past get so mired down in the game elements that they become cacophonous, appealing to short attention spans and creating even shorter ones. The methodology of this program is rooted in simplicity and therein lies the fun. The quizzes are self-correcting and kids are rewarded for success with a cheering crowd.
Once you download the software, you have thirty days to preview it for free. Using it is a simple as typing in your spelling lists for the week. Older kids could even do this step on their own as a spellchecker is built in as a safeguard. The spellchecker is sensitive to both US and UK spellings. After the lists are typed in, the program prompts you to make a sound recording of a sentence using the spelling word. These are then used as prompts for the quizzes. I usually have my kids write out sentences for their spelling words each week, but for reluctant or beginning writers, this step could be a really useful first step in that process. Speaking in sentences is far less daunting than writing them and once spoken becomes far easier to write.
This is especially fun if kids have license to make silly sentences or to record them in silly voices. Most kids love to hear the sound of their own recorded voice.
Parents are not only allowed, but encouraged to be silly as well. To do this, you will need an external microphone for your PC.
Most people have a PC microphone that plugs into a USB port, but if you don't they are usually available at a retailer for about $10.
I believe this software will appeal to the visual, auditory and kinesthetic learner as well since you get an opportunity to see, hear and type out the words.
The program also features import and export options for sharing lists. This would be especially useful for teachers to send home lists for students to practice with at home or for homeschool groups to use.
I believe this is a great product to try out for that thirty day trial. If it is working for you than the $29.95 price tag will be worth it as well. If you don't see benefits than you have nothing to lose. After the thirty day trial is up, you must pay to receive the software license. If you don't, you simply lose access to the program. You are not required to give credit card information that will be billed at the end of the trial period. For those of us who have forgotten when a trial period ended and been charged for something we really didn't want will really appreciate this.

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Spelling Tangle

Looking for ways to make tangle doodles more practical in your home school day?
Try tangle spelling words.
Start with block or bubble letters and then fill them up with lots of patterns. The patterns could be based on repeating the letters of the word to make a design or simply as a design itself. They will be staring and studying the spelling of the word in a visual mode regardless and unfortunately so much of our spelling in English is really based on visual memory.
My second grader missed paint on his spelling test this week. I told him we would start doing this with his spelling words next week. When I thought a little more about it, doing this with all ten words might be a little much. We only do school four days a week so he would need to average 2.5 words a day. So I told him, maybe we'd start with a pretest and then only have him tangle the words he misses on the pretest. No need in having him practice ad nauseum what he already knows.
His response to this was, "Well, I 'll just have to get them all wrong then."
Addiction does run in the family...

I suppose you could do with this math families as well. Start with a block or bubble number and make drawing patterns of the equations or use the numbers themselves to make patterns in the open space.

See addiction seeks justification...


Just in case you are wondering what a tangle doodle is, let me explain...


For more on this subject please see my other posts about Tangles...

Spreading the disease: how to find tangle pattern inspiration

Art as Worship- Tangle Style

Tangle your way out of the doldrums.

Read more...

The Nutcracker- A Unit Study

These samples above were done by students in third through fifth grade


Soapbox time again.
The Nutcracker offers an amazing array of subjects to explore in a unit study.
Just a few...



Language Arts

The Nutcracker and the King of Mice


Fine Arts/Music/ Theater/ PE

Ballet
Dances
Waltzes
Pas De Deux
Tchaikovsky

Social Studies

Christmas celebrations around the world
Germany, Russia, France
(Clara is German. The original story comes from Russia. Alexandre Dumas revamped the story to the one we are familiar with in the ballet.)
The history of Christmas symbols(IE;the tree)

Science

Different types of snow
Snowflakes
candymaking
rats and mice- how are they different, how are the same?

Math

Telling time
Calendar(when is Christmas?)
Counting- characters, mice, rats, soldiers, fairies, dances, songs, etc.


Here are some other useful links as well...
Powerpoint Nutcracker Themes

The Nutcracker Story
Holiday Traditions- The Nutcracker Story Lapbook

Free Nutcracker Unit Study
Nutcracker Art Lesson

Read more...

NaNoWriMo!

What is NaNoWriMo?

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

In 2007, we had over 100,000 participants. More than 15,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

So, to recap:

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.

Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

Still confused? Just visit the How NaNoWriMo Works page!

This is a reprint of the NaNoWriMo homepage. I will be undertaking this endeavor this month. I am going to finish my Proverbs devotional! So some of this months posts will be familiar to you and some will be new. I guess using previously written material may be cheating a bit, but I am really want to finish this project and I am using NaNoWriMo as an excuse to do it! When it is done I plan to self publish it and make it available for sale to any one who might want it. Like most of my other projects it will be philanthropic in nature as part of the proceeds from Proverbs, Particulars, and Possibilities will go to a kids mission in Ecuador.
So stay tuned in November, it is bound to be an exciting month!

As a side note, this could make a great homeschool project and they do run a kids version of this program at their site here.

Read more...

Tip Tuesday- on Wednesday.

Sorry all. I am so busy right now. Please pray for me as I am really quite stressed out. I am having to do this blog at 6am after having gotten up at 5am, just so I'd have time to get a shower in. Oh well, I am thankful for the busy-ness though as it means my business is going well. The plaster project is still sitting in my draft folder, but it wants out very badly so please be a little more patient with that one.
On to today's matters...
Today I share with you the secret of my homeschooling success!

THE NARRATIVE FORM!


This is a generic form that you can use for any subject. There are two here to choose from with the only difference being the amount of lines and line spacing.You can use it for big kids or little. They can write it themselves or dictate to you.
If they are dictating and you are writing, I would use the form with more lines as someone else doing doing the actual physical part of the writing tends to free up their tongue and imagination a bit and many, many words flow sometimes. The most important (and fun in my opinion) is the drawing section. My boys have a whole ancient history book they have made themselves using these forms and narrating from The Story of the World.
To print these, just click on the image. A bigger version will show on your screen. Click on file at the top of your screen. Make sure to click on print preview to make sure you will get what you really want. You may have to scale down the image to make it fit all on one paper.
Right now we are using these to do chapter summaries of The Golden Goblet. My ten year old actually types his on the computer in Word and then once it is printed out he draws a picture. Many times the best thing is to have the kids draw the picture first and then write about it. A picture is worth a thousand words after all!


For Website Wednesday these are my offerings for you today.


Drawing Now-
Here you will find little step by step videos of how to draw many, many things. This link will take you right to the knight tutorial, but at the top of the screen you will see the tabs for many more options. My only hesitation in recommending this site is that the advertising on the site may not be your cup of tea and you may not want your child clicking on some of the links provided. My suggestion is to sit next to your child while they do these drawings or remain quite near where you can always see the screen too. The drawings range from detailed and complicated to very simple and recognizable cartoon characters including many Anime and Mange styles.( Just to be clear though, I am not a fan of these styles though my daughter is.)

Wild Weather Adventure!
This is a fun game all about weather. Each child gets their own weather drone and they must navigate through all sorts of weather by answering questions correctly. You can adjust the difficultly levels of the questions.

And a shameless plug, my Chagall lesson is also up over at KinderArt. Of course the authors over there have added much more to it in the form of info about Marc Chagall and the painting the lesson is based on. It is actually one of the features lessons in the slide show on their homepage!

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Website Wednesdays #4

People often wonder how I know about so much cool stuff on the internet. My mom-in-law thinks I am somehow web-gifted. My secret however are blog and bunny trails. In fact, today while reading some other blogs I happened upon a few super awesome sites. Everyone should know about these and if you are in my email address book, you will probably get a little note from me about them.

Without any further ado, today's offerings are...

How to Draw with Jan Brett
Here you will find videos of the author of such beloved children's classics as The Mitten and Comet's Nine Lives teaching you step by step how to draw and paint her wonderful characters and more and it's free!!!

BookPals
This is such a wonderful idea! Well known Screen Actors Guild Members such as Elijah Wood and Lou Diamond Phillips read classic children's stories out loud. There are close ups of the pictures and there are captions under the screen so that kids can read along. There are even extension activities available. Again this is free!!

Spatulatta
I had heard of this site a while back from a friend but I hadn't really checked it out. It is pretty cool. Kids teach your kids how to cook via different recipe videos. The site boasts over 200 recipe videos. The videos are free to watch online but you can purchase their cookbooks and cooking accessories through the site

That is all for today, but rest assured, my bookmarks are many and I will share them all with you a little at a time!

If you know of a site you think I should know about, please let me know in the comments.

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Website Wednesdays #3

Okay, this will have to be quick as I've spent the past thirty minutes looking for a bookmarked page to a blog that I left a comment on saying it would be a Wednesday pick.
Do you think I can find that bookmark among the multitude of other bookmarks right now.
HA!
I am pretty good at organizing these, but not today I guess. So I will have to be satisfied to offer you these today.

Here is a recent site I found for art lessons. It is called
Art Teacher on the Net

Something for language arts today. Ever had a word you just couldn't think of a rhyme for? Next time try going over to try Poetry & Prose's automatic rhymer.

Finally something cool that could easily be made educational. I won't spoil the surprise, but click here too see it.


Also a "Mummy-Kens" special report. The "Mummy-Kens" were laid to rest yesterday after being fitted with their burial masks and then laid into their golden sarcophagi.(These were made from the original Ken boxes and covered with gold metallic scrapbook paper) Their pyramid tomb was completed at the same time, so a funeral procession with a professional mourner(me pretending to wail) entombed the mummies.





Thousands of years later, the great explorers find the pyramid of the "Mummy-Kens"!



*Edit note*
I remembered the site! Yay! It is all about learning the everyday skills that as home schoolers we sometimes neglect in favor of academics. It is a great site.
Homeschooling for the Real World.

Also the 141st Carnival of Homeschooling Post is up. Check it out. You may end up back here!

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Website Wednesday #1

This is kind of like Pringles for me. There are so many is is hard to pick just these few to share with you. If you want to see more of my favorites please visit my other sites at Miss Julie's Art School or the Homeschool Herald.

For today I really recommend these three...

Art Smarts 4 Kids
Here you will find a site similar to mine, of course hers is better. She knows way more about art history than me and hers is a blog I reference a lot.

National Gallery of Art for Kids

This one is just plain fun for kids and grown ups. My almost seven year old loves this site, but even an adult artist could benefit from some time in this visual jungle gym.

and

Garden of Praise
This is a great overall home school resource, but there is an excellent art history section as well. Again this is an often referenced site for me.

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Tip Tuesday #1

You have probably heard this before.

"Make learning fun!"


"Yes, yes!" I hear you say. "But how?"

You may have a child who drools(in a good way, not the mind numbed open mouthed sort of way) at the idea of doing endless worksheets and drills(yes they do exist). Most children though, mine included do not like "doing school". Am I a bad teacher? Maybe, but more likely "school" the traditional way, was not designed in the same way a child's learning pattern is designed. A child is hard-wired to seek out fun.
A child who is having fun while learning is going to enjoy learning because learning is fun.

Make learning fun by making learning a game!

"Oh no." I hear you say. "There are so many educational games out there and they are so expensive!'

Yes there are alot of educational games out there and yes they are expensive which is why I don't have very many of them. A lot of them are also very complex and too subject specific. What I do instead is turn the games we already have or know how to play into educational games.


Tic Tac Toe Spelling

This game works best when you home school more than one child, but a single child could certainly play against the house(you)as well. A larger group can play with teams.
All you have to do is make the tic tac toe grid and decide who will be X and who will be O. In order to get your X or O, the spelling word must be spelled correctly.(Think Hollywood Squares.)
In this way you can drill them on their own personal spelling lists and have fun at the same time learning about strategy. For a serious challenge, spell the word for them and ask them what the word is. In this way they have to visualize the words. A super challenge would be to spell it backwards. If they can spell it backwards or identify when it's spelled backwards, you know they have it and probably always will. My kids constantly ask to play this game.
Of course this concept is not limited to spelling, use it for math facts, science terms, history dates, bible story comprehension questions, or whatever else you can think of!

Now use the same idea for any other game you own. In order to get their turn they must answer the questions correctly.

For more kinetic learners who need to be moving to learn, play spelling free throw.
If you don't have a basketball hoop outside, use a wastebasket and a crumpled up ball of paper. The variations are limitless.


In a future post I will share with you some cute flannel board games that you can make yourself and use for these kind of games.
So go ahead, make learning fun!

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