Month: October 2016

American Flag Tin Whistle Case

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A few weeks ago my toddler got ahold of our classroom American flag, and of course, broke it. I had been planning to make my 1st grader a nifty tin whistle case anyway, and then I had the bright idea: make the flag into the whistle case! I held the flag up to the whistle, and it was the perfect size fabric 🙂

I realized that the flag fabric alone wouldn’t be sturdy enough to make a proper case. Since my sewing skills leave much to be desired, I went for the most basic method: I got a piece of felt from the craft store, which happened to be almost exactly the same size as the flag – yay!

I pinned the flag onto the felt, then sewed the two pieces of fabric together freehand (honestly, I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of getting my sewing machine out). I then cut the one long side of the fabric that I had left unpinned, so that it lined up with the flag.

Once that was done, I literally just placed the whistle in the rectangle so that the length of the whistle and the length of the fabric almost perfectly lined up. I then folded the fabric over it, to create a pocket for the whistle to slip into. Then, with the whistle still inserted, I rolled the fabric up and pinned down the previously-sewn seam where the fabric ended. I freehand-stitched the seam to the rolled up fabric, and when I got to the bottom of the case, I simply sewed the end shut.

Whala! A cute tin whistle case for about $1.50 – and patriotic too!

Homespun Homeschool Week #9

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Week 9 of Homeschool: We made a Japanese collage kimono, learned how to play Mary Had a Little Lamb on our tin whistle, wrote haikus, made more pop-ups, observed flowers on our bean plant and transplanted it to the yard, had fun playing with color, mirrors and light, sang on our first recording session for mommy’s song “Days,” made a Japanese kite, and wrote out the right hand to Fur Elise!

 

 

 

Homespun Homeschool Week #8

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Week 8 of homeschool: we made a Tang Dynasty pop-up palace, checked the progress of our bean plant, made block print wrapping paper like the ancient Chinese, drew impossible squares, made Van Gogh pop-up art, created an impressionistic landscape from last week’s thumbnail study, made a rainbow with water, sunlight and a mirror, wrote poems about our Solar System… and then made some more pop ups!

Homespun Homeschool Week #7

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Week 7 of homeschool: we took a tour of our solar system, posted Martin Luther’s 95 theses of the Protestant Reformation, read (& wrote) Robert Frost poetry, experimented with litmus paper to find acids & bases, did thumbnail studies of impressionistic landscapes, looked at hail up close, and assembled a puzzle of a Monet painting!

Homespun Dance

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Homespun Dance

I love the fact that learning thrives in community. We are fortunate enough to be surrounded by some amazing families, who are in this crazy endeavor with us. One of those families run the Citrus Heights Dance Academy. So it was a no-brainer to put my son in dance classes there. I am looking forward to the Christmas show, where I will be right up there on stage with my son, making music, while he dances and shines. I love that he is getting to experience the arts in this way. And I love this picture!

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Tasting the Past

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Although I generally try not to hold by son back too much, I have tried to keep him from working ahead in our Classical Conversations work, so that he can be fully engaged each week as we encounter new material. But the kid is a sponge. And unbeknownst to me, he had worked ahead and memorized the Presidents (or at least gotten pretty far along), before I could stop him.

With the upcoming presidential election, there is an added element of interest, with questions like, “How long till we know who is President?” And “So I guess there were no debates when Washington became President, because there weren’t 2 parties yet.” For the State elections I took him with me to watch me fill out the ballot, so he could see how the process works. The fact that his uncle was running for office gave us another reason to focus on politics. Unfortunately, we learned that people running for office can be ruthless and cruel; but that too has been part of the learning process.

My son has been pretty interested in George Washington, since he was the first President, so this past week I decided to make Marth Washington’s Ginger Cookies. We got the recipe from a Constitution Island cookbook, when my sister and I were homeschooled in New York. We used to work as volunteers at the island, working with groups of school kids who would come in for field trips. We would make the cookies, and serve them on the boat, on the way over to the island.

It’s always a beautiful thing when you can experience the past – whether by seeing it’s historical markers in person, or even tasting a piece of years gone by. There’s a reason this recipe has stood the test of time. I highly recommend it!

* Martha Washington’s Ginger Cookie Recipe *

(Makes 100 cookies)

3/4 cup soft butter
3/4 cup lard (I just do all butter, no lard)
2 3/4 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup dark molasses

  • Mix first 5 ingredients together; beat well.

4 cups sifted flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. each ginger, cinnamon & ground cloves

  • Stir dry ingredients to combine. Add dry to wet ingredients until well mixed. Dough will be soft. Chill briefly.
  • Roll into 1-inch balls, roll in granulated sugar and press into balls with the bottom of a glass.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes.
  • Note: I sometimes half this recipe because of the quantity of cookies… but I usually end up regretting it.

Letter to China

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This writing exercise was pretty straight forward: write a letter to someone who’s never been to your home – from either another country or even another world! My son picked China. I love the details he included in what he wrote 🙂

Sequoia Scavenger Hunt

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Recently we visited Big Trees Park in Arnold, home to the Sequoias, the biggest trees in the world. I knew I wanted to do some nature observation for our school work, but I wanted it to be lively and fun. What better way to take in all the sights with small boys than a scavenger hunt?

Off we set to hike the park with Granny, looking for the items on the the list. Because of the cooler temperature and rains there were no butterflies to be found – the only item we couldn’t check off the list. But we did spot quite a few squirrels and birds not on the list. What fun, and what a joy to know that while we learn, we are also making beautiful memories with our children.

Making a Compass

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One of the joys of homeschooling has been the discovery that my son loves geography. I have been trying to incorporate as much as I can, in order to give him a broad foundation for understanding how to read maps. Classical Conversations recommended the Legends & Leagues Geography Curriculum for 1st grade. I bought Mr Tardy Goes From Here To There, and the Legends & Leagues Workbook, which have been a great supplement to our other geography curriculum.

One of the activities we did recently was to make our own compass. I had no idea how easy it would be! All we needed was a sewing needle, a magnet, a bowl of water and a small piece of paper. With just a few simple items, we were able to determine North, South, East and West. Now the concept of the magnetism of the poles is something my son has a better grasp of, because he has seen it in action, firsthand. And we got the added bonus of being able to experience the wonder of science together in the process!

(Free Compass Tutorial)

Alexander Calder-Style Mobile

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For our Homespun Art projects I try to use various sources, so that we get exposed to a broad range of approaches. For this project, we used the book 9 Famous Artists Your Children Will Love.

Because we are studying abstract art in Classical Conversations right now, I tried to find an abstract artist who brought another dimension to what we’ve already studied. Because of the 3-D nature of mobiles, this project was perfect! First we read about the artist, then we skipped to the back of the book to the section with art projects for kids, based on each artist. I lucked out on this project, because I already had a mobile frame out in the garage, which I’d used to hang photos over my son’s cradle when he was a baby.

We went online and looked at pictures of Alexander Calder’s mobiles, then talked about the shapes, patterns and the sense of balance he used in his art. We then decided which colors and shapes we wanted, and set to cutting them out of our construction paper. Whala! A study of an abstract artist made fun!