Hands-on Learning Archives - Page 5 of 19

Nature Study: Leading by Example

February 19, 2014Tracy

I love nature study. I love teaching the wonder of God’s creation to my kids. I love trying to learn about what is around us. I love the skills of observation that it teaches.

It thrills my soul to see the kids with their nature notebooks and colored pencils. But lately, I feel that I’m having to coerce them more. Perhaps because it’s been a little while since we’ve studied nature; we’ve been all wrapped up in earth layers and volcanoes. Perhaps it’s because we’ve moved from 25 acres of country to a backyard in the city.

As I was mulling over this problem (and reading Charlotte Mason’s thoughts about children learning from an atmosphere, the ideas that rule MY life), I decided that maybe they would do better with less coercing and more example. Confession: I had not yet started a nature notebook for myself.

And so, with much trepidation and embarrassment, I began. I pulled an unused journal from my shelf and started. I can’t tell you how hard it is to share these pictures. They are not nearly as splendid as I’d like them to be; a fourth grader could probably do better. But my one consolation is that perhaps I will encourage another untalented mother to step into an unknown realm for the sake of her children.

The result of leading the way? It’s worked!

The kids are now eager to see what I have in my notebook, eager to copy what I have drawn and discover for themselves, eager to bring in the outdoors for more study.

Even Littlest grabbed a book and “pen” the other day for his trip outside.

An Update and Review of Christian Kids Explore

January 24, 2014Tracy

It’s that time of year. I see it all over blogs and pinterest. It’s the time of year when curriculum goes on sale and homeschoolers come out of the woodwork offering advice on how to evaluate your year. And because of all that evaluating, I’ve been in a very reflective, evaluating frame of mind. One of the areas I’ve been evaluating has been our science, specifically our Christian Kids Explore curriculum.

This is the first year for me to attempt to tackle something resembling formal science. Nature studies, lap books, read-alouds and living books—yes, yes, and yes, but up until this year there’s been very little in the way of science experiments and formal observation and terms (well, unless you count the parts of the skeleton and body organs as “terms”).

But honestly, during my evaluating, this is one of those areas where I’m realizing that I’m not superwoman, that there might be somethings I’m just not ready for. While science has been a highlight for the kids, the subject always listed as their favorite when we talk about school, I’ve felt like a total failure in this area—and I’ve missed our nature study, something we really haven’t had time for (or the weather for lately; it is winter after all).

So, on one hand, my first reaction was to decide to purchase a formal science curriculum next year. Something more structured, more like the real thing. But then, how would I have time for that? As I confided to my husband my struggle, he gave such a terrific insight. He mentioned that he didn’t remember having formal science until 5th or 6th grade, so why not enjoy nature study and simpler science activities until the kids were old enough to be doing most of history independently. Then, I could feasibly switch my teaching efforts to science at that time. Ah, bless that man!

So that’s what I’m doing, starting now. I have a fabulous nature-oriented study on rain (welcome to the Pacific Northwest, folks!) that we are doing, and it’s been such a balm to my nature-loving soul.

What’s the deal with our other science, Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space? Here’s a quick list of what it is and isn’t:

Christian Kids Explore science review

It Isn’t…

a textbook, which is a good thing really. But that also means that there are no photos or colored illustrations. It’s an introduction into a topic, some terms to learn, and some coloring pages and experiments.
a complete science curriculum. Really, my best description is that it provides the backbone, the jumping off point for you to create your own unit study. There is a great list of both book and video resources by topic and grade at the back. But it takes a lot of time to piece together a study on your own, as I’ve learned first-hand.
watered-down, in the sense of a shallow little kid’s book on science. I loved that it used real science words and explained concepts for all ages.

It Is…

just barely scratching the surface of the subject. To me, it didn’t feel complete on it’s own. I felt that it needed embellished with those “additional resource suggestions.” And that took more time than I had.
for all ages, but sometimes that idea felt like it compromised some of the quality of the activities. Maybe it tried to be too all encompassing?
a great jumping off point. If you are looking for a place to jump-start your science unit studies, this is a fantastic resource, providing the activities and terms and allowing you the freedom to customize for each level. If you are expecting that, and allow the time for yourself to do that, it’s a terrific curriculum. I, on the other hand, was rather caught off guard and out of time.

So, while Christian Kids Explore is a great science curriculum, particularly for those that like to create their own unit studies, it has not been a good fit for us. What have you found yourself evaluating lately?

Art in the Mail: Kelly Kits review

January 18, 2014Tracy

During my online holiday shopping this season, I stumbled upon a product that was an absolute God-send. Art kits that come in the mail with all the supplies included! Can anyone else say “hallelujah”?

And I’m not referring to craft kits. This is real art—sculpting, painting, drawing, collage, and printmaking—complete with a mini-lesson on a famous artist and a cross-curriculum lesson incorporating another subject. Kelly Kits are sold as a monthly subscription service (purchased monthly or annually) or in packaged kits of 5 projects. The subscription packages come with enough supplies for two projects, $9.99 a month including shipping.

But when I received our art in the mail, I’ll be honest, I was a little disappointed. It was soap-sculpting. Sculpting soap was an art project I must have skipped at least three different times last year. I had no desire to see my children make a mess with a bar of soap and butter knife. I didn’t want the tears when their tools slipped and carved into their masterpiece. And I didn’t want to end up carving for them.

So when our mail-project included a bar of soap, I was bummed. (Why not watercolor, pastels, or print-making?) And yet, it couldn’t have been more perfect to illustrate the awesome-ness of Kelly Kits. Here I was at the kitchen table with everything my kids would need for this project: two bars of soap, different sized carving tools, and templates. I had no excuse.

Of course, the kids thought it was fantastic. I showed them the instructions and helped to get them started (I traced the template onto their soap for them). Then I let them get to work. They needed a little help from me but did most on their own. And they loved every moment of it. When they were done, they even carved embellishments, a face and scarf on the snowman and ornaments for the tree. Because I had everything I needed, my kids got to enjoy a project that I definitely would have continued to skip over.

Our mini artist lesson was on Michelangelo. It gave an example project to google, a brief bio, and a couple of age-appropriate discussion questions.

The bonus was a science lesson and experiment with the left-over soap shavings. We learned about molecules and surface tension.

I did the whole kit in one morning. The kids had so much fun that they couldn’t believe they had done school. Because, of course, learning about sculpting, Michelangelo, molecules, and surface tension doesn’t count as school, right?

If art is something you have trouble fitting in, or if you’d just like the convenience of having all you need right at your fingertips, Kelly Kits are awesome! You just can’t beat getting art in the mail, with project supplies, instructions, and everything included.I have been super-impressed with Kelly and with her Kelly Kits. Her YouTube videos are also fantastic and really give you a good picture of what the projects include.

Check out the new Kelly Kit website and art videos, or visit her Facebook page.

Toddler’s Christmas Gifts: Busy Bags

December 23, 2013Tracy

For ages I’ve been wanting to make those fantastic looking “busy bags” that are all over the blogs, pinterest, and the wide world of the web. But between homeschooling, keeping housing, ministering to our church, and keeping my toddler out of the toilet water and electric outlets and glass dishes, I never seem to find the time for making those crafty little inventions—until I had an “a-hah!” moment organizing my Christmas gift list.

One of our Christmas traditions is to let the kids make gifts for each other rather than buy them, so when I got to wondering what on earth my kids could make Littlest for Christmas, I suddenly had an epiphany of all my pinterest board ideas getting made for me by my incredibly crafty ~~minions~~ children! Voila! What a wonderful gift to Littlest and to me!

And really, they were more than willing, even super excited about the idea. I bought up felt in a variety of colors, some stiff felt and some soft felt. Then, the only other major supplies were a Sharpie marker and a few good scissors (as in new, sharp scissors not kid safety-scissors). My kids are pretty handy with scissors and were closely supervised, so I let them have at. But do proceed with caution.

The felt was very easy to work with. I drew our designs right on the felt and let the kids do most of the cutting. All working together, it took us a little over an hour to make all of these. Very do-able.

We made…

a pizza with toppings
a face with funny facial features (several different eyes, mouths, noses, and hair) (original idea found here)
a forest scene
a garden scene
felt roads for his little cars (original idea found here)
a “hide the mouse in the house” game (original idea found here)
plus a few motor skills activities with threading and buttons

We are all super-excited. The kids can’t wait to play WITH Littlest in his new quiet games. I can’t wait to have a few quiet activities he can do during our school time. And we knocked out two projects in one swoop: a Christmas gift and my busy bag wish list.

Curious about our other homemade gifts? The “big” kids will be making our own story stones for each other. Can’t wait for Christmas!

Free Board Game Printable

December 13, 2013Tracy1 Comment

We are gearing up for our first unit celebration of the year, and I’ve been busy plotting our fun. Last year, we made some very special memories playing “Daddy vs. the kids” using the flashcard facts the kids had been working on. I wanted to continue that tradition this year, with a few changes.

After much thought and tons of prayer, I’m excited about out new Board Game Review (Boring name, I know. I’m taking suggestions.) Here’s how our game works. I have our flashcard facts written on 3×5 cards to use as playing cards in a stack turned face down.

1. Roll the dice.

2. Draw a card and answer the question.

3. If answered correctly, move the number of spaces on the dice.

4. Write down the points for the space you landed on.

5. Progress to the end, repeating steps 1-4, and tally point totals.

Let me illustrate for you. Player 1 rolls a 3 and answers the question correctly. He moves 3 spaces and gets 3 points. On his next turn, he rolls a 1 and answers correctly. He only moves one space, but this time he earns 4 points (because he landed on the 4). On his next turn, he rolls a 6 and answers correctly. He moves 6 spaces to the space marked with a “10” and earns 10 more points.

I’m really hopeful about this version of our game because the point totals are not in direct correlation to the questions themselves. Plus, each player gets 100 points just for finishing!

Want to play your own version? Here’s your board game printable. Just make up your own cards, borrow some pawn game pieces from another board game, and roll your dice!

Littlest’s Latest Feats

December 9, 2013Tracy1 Comment

The struggles I’ve had with Littlest this year have seemed tremendous. He’s into everything, and exceedingly perturbed that I would dare to put an end to his escapades. But in spite of his perspective of a “restricted childhood,” he’s gotten to participate in some things I didn’t dare try with my other two at this age. Like coloring and writing with crayons and pencils, and fingerpainting!

I’ve also found that pom-poms are a real winner with him. The more activities I can find with pom-poms the better I’ll be. The other day, he played contentedly for about half an hour with pom-poms, cupcake liners, and my cupcake tin. (Oh, the bliss!)

Middlest had as much fun with this activity as her little brother.

Another winner was pushing pom-poms into a whiffle ball. Any other good pom-pom games? We’re on a roll. (Just wait until I give him pom-poms and a paper bag! I’ll be #1 Mom, for sure.)

Teaching with Crafts

December 6, 2013Tracy

Confession Time—crafts and art are both my joy and my bane. I get so excited writing them onto the calendar and anticipating the experience, but then the day of the craft, it so easy to make excuses for not doing them.

I don’t have the right supplies.
We’re running an hour late in school.
Littlest is into EVERYTHING.
I’m going to be making most of the craft.
I have a splitting head-ache, and it’s flat time to end the day.

But then, when I do finally muster the time, supplies, and energy to pull it off, I never regret it. I never finish our craft time thinking “we should have just skipped this one.”

Part of the reason is that our crafts are tied into our learning. It’s not just busy work. These crafts either teach during the craft, reinforce the lesson, or encourage the kids to repeat the lesson over and over for “fun” (e.g. puppet shows!).

One of our recent crafts that was a huge winner was our Mezuzah crafts that went with our Story of the World lesson on the Jewish Dispersion or Diaspora. In fact, for all of the above reasons and a few more, I’d actually put this craft off for nearly a week. But the kids kept begging. And of course, I had all of those empty Nerd candy boxes that I’d been saving. Thus, we finally pulled it together, and I’m very glad we did.

First note, the instructions said to use matchboxes, but since I had a plethora of Nerd boxes after Halloween, I figured those ought to work just as well.

I hot glued the boxes together and wrapped them in foil. The kids cut out the shema and memorized it, then we stuffed it inside our boxes before gluing them closed. Then, the kids decorated them. With blue sticky tack, I hung them on their bedroom door frames.

For the rest of the day, as the kids ran in and out of their rooms, I heard them shouting the shema “Hear Oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” (Deut. 6:4)

What I didn’t count on was Littlest, watching his big brother and sister, insist on touching the box before I carry him to bed each night.

So when the next craft time rolls around and I have all my excuses handy (and good excuses at that), prayerfully I’ll remember just how life-changing craft time can be.