Library Art Day - Eric Carle

I took the kids to the homeschool class at the library again where they study the style of an illustrator and then make a craft along that theme. This week's illustrator was Eric Carle, author of the infamous The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and The Very Quiet Cricket. 

Did you know that Eric Carle would paint tissue paper, let it dry, paint it a different shade, let it dry, and then cut out shapes from the tissue paper to make his illustrations? I thought that was fascinating. I have read his books for years and could never quite figure out how he accomplished his art. 

The kids were given scraps of paper, in all different patterns and colors, and were told to cut out shapes to make a collage. Campers made a dolphin coming out of the water...

Ziggy made a night scene, complete with a boy peeking out of the window in the house...

And the Suz (with a lot of help from Ma and the Brown Bear book) made a duck...

I know. I did a craft and it was awesome. Mark it down. Doubt it will happen again.

Library Art Day - Lois Ehlert

As homeschooling gets to be more "popular," I'm amazed at the resources made available to students during the day. It's awesome, really.

One of our local libraries has a class twice a month geared for kids five and up. And WHEW, we are finally there. The class is in the afternoon and I have zero children who need a nap or a rest or a diaper or a snack. Okay, so I still pack snacks. Can't help myself. I get hungry.

Anyway, this series of [FREE] classes is focused on children's book illustrators and their style of art. During the session, the kids listened to a story written and illustrated by Lois Ehlert, talked about her style of art, and then were sent off to create their own collages.

I particularly like outsourcing our art classes as my skills, they are nil. And it was nice, so nice, to have someone else in charge of the chitlins for an hour during the day. 

In Pursuit Of Emory Parady

Never did I think that when we started studying the Civil War last spring did I imagine we'd still be unionizing and confederatizing this winter. But alas, it's a big ol' war, with studios filled with fabulous prizes. And besides, Lincoln was DA MAN. So the Civil War is worth spending a little time on.

Seeing as we're nowhere near the great battlefields out east, the kids have asked what role Oregon played in the war. Well, after a little sleuthing around, I discovered that one of the men who captured The Evil Assassinator John Wilkes Booth is buried just ten minutes from our house. Huh! Who knew? So we took a little field trip one afternoon to see Emory Parady's grave, which is inscribed as follows:

Member Co. H, 16th NY Cavalry

One of the 26 enlisted men who captured John Wilkes Booth,
the assassin of President Lincoln.

As we were leaving, I told the kids they were fortunate to pop into a cemetery *just like that* to see a little piece of history. They wholeheartedly agreed, or maybe they were just glad to be out in the fresh, cold air. We finished our living history lesson with a stop by the bakery for a box of glazed donuts. Just what Emory Parady would have wanted.

 

The Dam Tour

The boys and I have been doing a unit study on electricity and magnetism. I'll often pause while I'm reading aloud, trying to make sense of flying electrons and currents and outlets and how all that adds up. Campers finally looked at Zig one day and said, "I think school is mostly for mom, and we just tag along." 

Oh, they think they're so funny. (I still can't explain the difference between AC and DC, except I know they're a band from the 80s, whose music likely killed whatever brain cells my future self would need for explaining, well, AC/DC.)

We've talked in excess about hydroelectricity, so it was due time for a trip to our local dam. I even convinced Pa to come along, because who can resist an afternoon making dam jokes? Certainly not us. And if you think we can turn on the Dam Access Road and not milk that for all it's worth, well, you know us not at all.

The dam is out on the Columbia, so we got to drive through the gorge on what ended up being a sunshiny day. Nothing better than a dry day of sunshine during a Pacific Northwest winter. And seeing as it was a Monday in January, we had the place to ourselves. Even got a guided hour-long tour, for free, just to ourselves. We saw turbines, salmon climbing their fish ladder, and sea lions who'd come too far upriver (not joking--still in shock that there were sea lions! in the river!). 

We also got to ride the longest escalator that exists this side of the Mississippi. That baby was six stories long and took 90 seconds from start to finish. Not kidding! It's like Disney!

Hope you enjoy the pics from our dam tour.

Homeschool Sports Class

One of our local community centers is especially generous to the homeschool community, hosting classes in multiple subjects, one of those being "phys ed." And seeing as March is one of our more antsy months of the year, I signed my kids up for the class.

Each week, the kids played in a huge gymnasium with about twenty other homeschooled kids, most of them six to nine years old. The class lasted an hour, and for the most part, the instructor had the kids playing games that included RUNNING. God bless that young man -- for he understands grade schoolers in the spring.

The class included a whole mix of games and sports, and my boys were so happy to participate in the class and get some of their winter wiggles OUT. Suz wasn't old enough to take the class, so she hung out with me and her other four-year-old buddies on the side. Several of our friends signed up for the same class, which made the whole thing super fun for the moms. Oh, and the kids too, but since when is their education about them?

I didn't get many good pictures, as the lighting is weird in the gym, and the kids were always moving moving moving. But I did snap a couple of good ones right before class had started one day, when the Suz was also allowed on the floor:

 

The class was a fun time for us all, and I certainly plan to sign the kids up when the rainy blahs roll around again next winter. Yay for group games and exercise with someone else teaching the kids!

Percussion Concert

For the past few years, I've taken the kids to "kinderkonzerts" put on by our local symphony orchestra in the area public schools. We pay a small entrance fee and get to see four concerts per year--one for each instrument family (brass, woodwinds, strings, percussion). The last concert of the year is always the percussion, which is a particular joy for my kids who happen to like striking things which then make a noise.

Speaking only of instruments, of course.

We generally see a few of our friends at each concert, and the kids also enjoy being inside a Real School full of Kids Their Age and Other Magical Wonders such as Hallways and Cafeterias. It's the small things, you see.

I'm pretty thankful that the education department of city's symphony is top-notch and yet so friendly and accessible to the kids. Win all around.

 

Art As An Experience

Our group of homeschooled friends met up at a hip and trendy painting place for kids, downtown. On the journey there, I got lost just once and had one near accident. Par for the course.

The whole idea behind this art place is that the kids can simply come in and paint whatever they want, for as long as they want. There are "no rules," the lady in charge said. Well, no rules except no painting on the floor, and no running, and no throwing glitter, and no building forts out of the tubes and sheets of cardboard.

So in other words, it's a delight for little girls. *smile*

Speaking of little girls, the Suz was In Her Element, once again, with the paint. She has no reservations when handed a blank sheet of paper and some paint and some glitter. No. Reservations. Ask my trunk and floor full of glitter how I know.

The boys spent a leeeeetle bit of the time sitting and painting on paper, one piece each. The Suz knocked out at least three sheets in the same amount of time.

The rest of the time, the kids meandered around and painted whatever surface they were allowed to paint.

And when they got tired of that, they crawled around and through whatever surface they might or might not have been allowed to paint.

Thus the paint you see in Ziggy's hair, and the paint we carried home on our clothes. All in all, a good experience for the kids, and a great way for them to make a mess outside of my house.

Youth Concert

Each spring, our city's symphony invites the grade schoolers to experience not just a full concert, but a setting that is lovely and large.

I look forward to it every year, as it is a low-cost way for me to drool at some cellos. Or school the kids, whatever. I took a couple of my boys' friends with them this year. They are no fun at all. AS YOU CAN SEE.

The Schnitz is the same building that Pa and I were just at for the dance gig. What a nice place. A nice place filled to the brim with kids.

And cellos musicians.

Good tah head tah town 'n' get us some kul-chur!

School's Out, School's Out

The monkeys let the teacher out...

So.

We finished school today (Friday).

WOOT!

I had promised the kids they could have Push-Ups on the last day of school.

It amazes me time and time again how well bribery works. I think we completed two weeks of school in approximately three hours. That's efficiency, right there. Never mind I read "Peter Rabbit" at the speed of light and "Europe is to the east" counted as a month's worth of geography class.

Dude.

So, the school report. Campers has finished first grade and the Zig is done with preschool. Next year I'll have a second grader, a kindergartner, and a very busy three-year-old girl. Oh, and maybe a fourth child younger than Suz. So, you know. We'll be bored.

I'm now giving the kids a weekend off, and then we'll start up summer school on Monday.

BWA HA HA!

Well, I'm only slightly kidding, as I'll still be reading to the kids, making them read, and Campers will be reviewing some math.

Sounds like a rip-roaring summer to me.

Fire Station Tour

Oh, internets!

I am simultaneously trying to plan Ziggy's fifth birthday party, finish the school year, plan for the next one, potty train a three-year-old. teach Sunday School, run the world, watch the entire second season of Lost, have fun in the sun, lose 20 pounds, AND manage a couple of blogs.

So.

Please clone me 17 times, and until then, I give you this:

The final installment of my folks coming to town. We had to interrupt that series with all the girly birthday fun, so here ya go.

While my parents were here, we had a field trip (already scheduled) with our homeschool co-op group. It was the ever-popular fire station tour.

Of course, no tour of the station is complete without the Guides having to suit up and leave, for real, two times during our "tour."

Kids didn't care much about much else besides the lights and sirens anyway.

We took the absence of the personnel as our opportunity to get a group shot:

As you can see, there are a lot of youngins in that crowd. Makes for some pretty crazy field trips, but whatever. My life is just one form of crazy after another.

Here are the firefighters and Pa and Ma Senior:

The kids also got to see one of the firefighters slide down the pole--so that was neat. Other than that, we mostly saw lights and sirens.

And just when you thought you'd seen enough birthday pictures...Zig's will be coming next. Party is on Saturday.

Fidget Smidget

While I read out loud to the kids, they are allowed to play with a few select toys, as long as they listen and keep quiet and sit still and answer thirty-seven comprehension questions to the satisfaction of the overbearing Ma. Well, I happened to be engrossed in our latest book the other day, and when I glanced up, I saw this:

Giggled like a school girl, that I did. I always did have a thing for the class clown.

What A Ham

Finally watched the movie Charlotte's Web, after having read the book a while back. We had to clean the cobwebs from our mind, so to speak, so that we could remember the story. That's what happens when you wait in line to borrow the DVD from the library. Seems there was a city-wide interest in pigs and spiders.

But back to the movie. Our dear Charlotte, blessed Charlotte, bit the dust. Kinda hard to forget that part. Fortunately, Campers hasn't learned how to make fun of his Ma while she sits and sniffles on the couch, grieving the loss of a make-believe spider.

And you thought YOU had problems.

Speaking of cheap entertainment and problems, I asked Campers if I could have a picture of him with the DVD case, so that we could remember our happy book reading and sappy movie watching.

And while he hasn't learned to poke fun at my sappy-movie tears, he has discovered how to have fun with a photo shoot.

"Fun" being a subjective word meaning "fun" to him and "fume" to me.

What a ham.

At least it wasn't Wilbur.

And The Reason We Read The Book Is...

We live in Beverly Cleary's hometown! Where many of her stories take place!

[And in case you need a refresher course, think "Ramona the Pest," "Beezus and Ramona," and "Henry Huggins," the book we just read.]

Oh sakes alive was I excited when I found that out. And that there is a park in town with Ramona, Henry Huggins, and Ribsy statues to honor Ms. Cleary.

And that Klickitat Street? It is real.

I KNOW!!!

HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?!

And here are my boys, checking out the statue of Ramona Quimby:

They were showing their excitement on the inside.

And Campers cozying up to Henry Huggins:

And it took some convincing, but I got the Pa to sit on Ribsy:

When we read through the book, it was a real treat to recognize the names of streets and rivers and parks. Well, at least it was for me.

Thanks for playing along and humoring the Ma.

There's A Reason We Read This Book

Can anyone guess?



Answer will come tomorrow.

Eat Sugar? For Science?

I tried to readreallyfast through the home school science experiment that instructed us to "mix citric acid with powdered sugar and eat it."

Well, Campers was all over the edge of his seat, drooling with excitement about school.

He was going to Eat Sugar! With a spoon! Just like that!!!

Oh yi yi yi.

And then the little mixture fizzed in his mouth (the whole point of the gig), which he got a kick out of:

And his brother Zig, not so much:

Then they both wanted to LICK THE BOWL CLEAN, to which I quickly squashed that sneaky idea.

I can see that next year I'm going to have to choose a curriculum that builds forests out of broccoli. That will be good learnin' for sure.

If Someone Could Have Warned Me About The Ending, That Would Have Been Helpful

Just finished reading "Charlotte's Web" to the boys.



We loved it.

But because I Have No Memory For Anything Except Where I Keep My Shoes, and sometimes even that's a fuzzy issue, I had no recollection of how the book ended.

Charlotte, Schmarlotte.

Who needs her anyway.

Vengeance Is Mine, He Will Yet Say

Campers memorizes a new Bible verse each week for school. His favorite, out of roughly thirty choices, is:

"Vengeance is mine, I will repay," saith the Lord.

When I explained what the verse meant, Campers said:

"Yeah, I like revenge."

We're doing just fine here, at school. Passing on a lot of Really Admirable Qualities.

So each verse has a song that goes with it, which is why I think the boys like the verse so much. It's a "cool" sounding song. And we keep the CD in the van, where we can listen to their favorite, over and over and over again.

Talk about "vengeance."

But I digress.

So one day, Pa was picking the lot of us up at the doors of Stuff Mart, and while we were loading kids and JUNK into the van, the music was playing. Loudly. And lots of folks, lots of 'em, were hearing the Sweet Melody Of Pure Christian Love coming forth from our van.

"VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY, SAITH THE LORD, SAITH THE LORD!!!"

We were quite beside ourselves, that we were. Bringing folks to Jesus, as best as we knew how.

But the boys were oblivious and continue to love the song. As a matter of fact, it is the only song that I have actually heard Campers "sing."

Because he is far too cool to "sing."

And finally, to the picture. Here he is, jumping on MY bed (notice how I claim the whole thing for myself), running in circles, and singing "Vengeance Is Mine."

It was a Proud Mama moment.

Well, as proud as any Ma could be about her son loving revenge enough to sing about it.

There's A Reason We Love Science

And those two words might be, "sugar cubes." More specifically, "in the mouth."

Here's the Campers, pouring his liquid and waiting for it to be absorbed by the sugar cubes:

And then the Zig, watching ever so patiently for the tower to topple.

You might be made aware of a certain shirt.

Both boys asked if they could drink the sugar water after the cubes had completely dissolved.

I have not snarled that loud in a long time.

What A Gas

Gotta love Science Class.

Today Campers learned that there are insects that FIRE A GAS FROM THEIR REARS to protect themselves. And that this gas forms a SMOKE SCREEN and IRRITATES THE EYES of their enemies.

Now if you think you can get through this type of lesson without giggling like a bunch of school girls, you might be wrong.

And here is Campers, doing his best Bombardier Beetle demonstration:

Bob's Red Mill, The Educational Part

Took a field trip today to Bob's Red Mill, where we saw grains, and mills. And then a few more grains.

The impressive water wheel:

And silo:

And let's just hope that Bob doesn't use these mills to grind the grain, because of course they were meant to be climbed on: