Art Class & The Homeschool

 

Why is it that most back to school pictures and ads contain art supplies? Most public schools do not incorporate art into their education, so why should we? Are we as homeschoolers incorporating art into our home education? BIG gasp here!

 

I may have just stepped on a lot of toes here, but I think I fear art more than I fear Algebra! lol. I know nothing about color wheels nor do I have any clue about the critical pedagogy of art. Nevertheless, I do like to shop at Hobby Lobby and Michael's...lol...and I have a ton of art supplies, brand new and still in the package!

 

 

Nowhere in my home will you find glitter, I despise the stuff. I remember the day my little man got his official title of "Homeschooler." I breathed a sigh of relief and said to myself, "Never will there EVER be another glitter covered art project brought into this home!" YEAH!

 

You know the evil glitter; it goes everywhere, gets on everything, including our bodies. LOL...nothing like finding that you have glitter all over your face when you go out in public.

 

Often times I giggle inside when I am talking to someone and they have glitter on their face, I think, "That poor Mamma."  I am so anti-glitter that if I get a card in the mail and it has glitter on it, I won't even take it out of the envie...lol. I keep the card in the envie, read it while carefully prying the envie open and then toss it out.

 

So, what will your art class look like this year?

I'm thinking of asking a friend of mine who has taught art to be a guest blogger this fall. Got anything you want to ask about teaching art? She has taught all ages and she is good at what she does (shhh, don't tell, but I don't think she likes glitter either!).

 

Next time I will share how I, the anti-glitter homeschool art teacher has incorporated art into our homeschool.

Moe 

 

Christmas & Only Children part 2

In the coming days before Christmas you will see some posts on things that our family does to help in raising our only child to be a caring individual and ward off the evil selfish behavior that is so prevalent in our world today. This would fall under Character Training and is taught on a daily basis in our homeschool.

What are the hardest things to teach an only child?
*How not to be selfish
*How to be giving
*How to be thoughtful

What can you do to teach the above things?
*Teach them to think of others first
*Give them opportunities to serve others
*Teach them about taking care of others

How does our family teach these things?
*Make placemats for Meals On Wheels
*Play the piano & sing Christmas carols at a nursing home
*Buy Christmas gifts for needy children

Here are some pictures of the placemats that we made.

 

They are simple to make, we just used construction paper, markers and scrapbooking stickers. We decorated them up and we will delivery them to the local Meal On Wheels to put out as tray favors.

We have also done this at other times of the year and they are very receptive to it. You could also use  old Christmas cards by cutting out the pictures and gluing them on, scrapbook paper scraps, use punches, Cricut machine, die cuts, rubber stamps or have the kids draw a picture on them.

 

Check back in the coming days for more festive ideas for you and your only child :O)

Moe

Winter Time Kitchen Decorations

Cricut fun!!

 

I had some fun playing with my Cricut machine! I made this cute refrigerator snowman using the Snow People cartridge. LOVE IT!  It was easy to make and very cute. I also made a knit type of hat with matching scarf (made out of card stock not yarn) so that I can change his outfit. After the winter season is over, just pack him up in a baggie and he will be ready to go next winter.

Right around the Christmas season we all need to take a small break here and there. It was nice to relax on Friday with another homeschooling mom. She chatted with me while I cleaned up my craft room and got organized. Got a lot accomplished, the conversation was like a soothing balm and we both felt refreshed. She entertained my two guys, (my husband was on vacation and our son was enjoying some man time with Dad) she brought her Kindle FIRE and they both played on it while we visited. So with a cleaned and organized craft room I was able to PLAY!!

What sort of fun have you been having with your Cricut machine?
Moe

Come see what I made during my mental health day!

I was wanting to spruce up our school room and with the recent discussions about Workboxes, I thought I would start there. So I decided to get out my Cricut machine and goof around a bit on my mental health day. LOL.......here is what I made.

I used the Locker Talk Cricut Cartridge and laminated the items that I made. These were very easy to make. Here are a few close up shots.

Here is our pencil, ink pen/marker and Post-It Note bins.

The infamous Post-It Note drawer......lol.  My guys won't let me live this one down!

 

 Our reading & language bin, DS says we need to change this to Literature this year since he is in Junior High now.....we shall see about that  ;O)

 

 As I read through the Too Much Stuff book from author Kathryn Porter I have come to realize that I have some clutter issues, one that I found was POST-IT Notes, I have about 15,000 sheets of Post-It Notes. I got them on sale one time and thought, I would use them. So lets just say I have a drawer full. I will post a picture with my book review next week. Back to the Workboxes, I had a lot of fun making these and the mental health days was good for me. I spent the afternoon listening to homeschool convention tapes (yes cassette tapes, I borrowed from a friend, but the information was still very relevant.)

Hubby was pretty impressed with these new Workbox labels, he says it makes me a better mom when I take some time for me on occasion.

 

Take some time for you and have some fun this weekend!

Moe

 

 

Rainy Daze Activity Sticks

I just found a really cool idea for the new school year! It's called rainy daze activity sticks. I can't wait to make these!! I saw them over at How To Next For Less blog. Erin has a list of ideas to put on the rainy daze activity sticks on the blog along with full detailed instructions on how to make them. I think with having an older child I will make different activities than she has. Here is a finished project from her site.

So head on over and make one of these for your homeshool!! I'm thinking of some nice fall colors to use on my sticks. Post a picture of yours. I will do the same when I get mine finished.

Take time to think through some fun ways to spend time with your child this school year. What are you looking forward to when school starts? I'm looking forward to campfire school!!  My husband made me a very nice fire pit for our campfire school. We love to sit around the fire and do school.

Have a wonderful week!
Moe

Deuteronomy 6:7
"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

Book Monsters (craft idea)

These are called Book Monsters from Positively Peaches blog. I love the idea. I was having a bad day and a friend of mine and her husband made a little talking video with these cute little guys for me. It cheered me up, if she would like to share her video here she may  ;-)

Here is a link to how to make these guys. I think I am going to make some with pretty patterned paper and skip the monster idea. Here is an idea of what I would like to do.

These are ones that a scrapbooking friend made, she posted them over at Scrapbookaddict.com
They are more my style.


Here is another cute one from I Could Make That blog.

Click on the different links to learn a few ways to make these, some just need the corner of an envelope.........think of using up all those junk mail envies that you get!! I plan to make some of these this weekend, I'll post pics when I get them made. Post any that you make too. I think that these could be something cute, quick and easy to encourage someone at church.

Moe

Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

I've had a hymn running through my brain all week long and I can't come up with all the words, it has "Glory, glory, glory" in it.

Scrapbooker and stampers check this out!

Our local scrapbook store bought out a store going out of business and they were selling paper racks, I bought one and LOVE IT!!  I highly recommend getting one, they are so nice to stay organized. I had my paper just stacked in drawers and could never find what I needed.

Now I just need to figure out how to label each row? Any ideas? I think sticky notes would fall off, maybe address labels folded over? What do ya think?

Moe