Hands-on Learning Archives - Page 6 of 19

Notebooking the Lapbook Way

December 4, 2013Tracy

We’re doing a lot of notebooking this year. I love so much about lapbooking, but in the end, the space it takes was a real deal-killer this year. I am all about concise, confined homeschool. Besides, there’s the fact that my kids still pull out their notebooks from 2 years ago to show people, while the lapbooks stay untouched on the shelf. So, back to notebooking it is.

But I am trying to keep the spirit of lapbooking in mind. We are using, in a sense, a notebooking-hybrid.

Our notebooking pages this year are filled with pockets and mini-books, flaps and folds.

Some of our creativity is out of the pure of joy of creating, while some of it is born of necessity. For instance, our Story of the World activities include a lot of puppets and finger puppets. The kids love these and always opt to do the puppet-project if there is one. Storing all of those pieces takes a little creativity.

A super fun and effective way to “notebook” our finger puppets is to trace the kids hands, have them decorate their hand, then I cut the “finger” lines with an exacto, and we slip the puppets over the paper fingers. Too cute!

For us, it makes our memories easier to take with us and easier to share with others. (Plus, it helps me keep all the parts and pieces in one place.)

Note: Many of our lapbooking/notebooking elements are courtesy of the free downloads from Dynamic2Moms website. Check out their vast collection of resources for history.

Exploring Earth and Science: Volcanoes

November 20, 2013Tracy

All right, I have to admit I was very tempted not to post this. You have to understand the pressure in the blogging world to be sure you are Pinterest-worthy. And this is far from Pinterest-proud. But for those home-educators who feel like you fall immensely short of Pinterest, take heart!

That’s right, folks. Our volcano was a solo cup on top of a water bottle. Not too impressive, and yet very impressive. In other words, this experiment is so much fun that it doesn’t need much embellishment. And here’s the reason why I post this: I almost skipped this experiment. Why? I didn’t have the clay and the specified supplies for volcano making.

Yes, I had vinegar and baking soda and food coloring. But all I had for the volcano itself was this ugly solo cup and an empty water bottle! Let me reiterate what I am learning—a pretty pinterest board is not my aim in life; teaching my kids IS!

So, I swallowed my pride and worked with what I had. We had a volcano, and it erupted impressively. The kids were duly amazed. But here’s lesson #2 that I learned during this process. I cannot set off a volcano, take a picture, and hold a squirming toddler at the same time. NOTE TO SELF: YOU ARE NOT SUPERWOMAN!

Yes, the volcano exploded but with no photographic evidence for the kid’s notebooks. So, we had to repeat our experiment (indoors the second time, because it was beginning to rain). As you can imagine, I had no complaints from the kids. And having learned from my first folly, I occupied my toddler in another room for this second attempt.

One last new item for this year is that I’m trying to incorporate more pictures into the kids’ notebooks of the year. My printer-ink budget may limit this to some degree, but they were so excited to have the pictures for their notebooks. And I was so thankful that I didn’t skip making the memory simply because it wasn’t up to Pinterest-standards.

Exploring Earth and Science: Speleothems

November 15, 2013Tracy

In addition to our spontaneous nature study excursions (which we’ve enjoyed immensely lately, getting to know our new area), we’ve also delved into a more formal science study this year. Our first official science experiment was to make our own speleothems with epsom salt and colored water, a very impressive start.

Oldest loved watching his experiment change. Our curriculum (Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space) provided an experiment sheet to record the daily changes. He measured the water in the cups and sketched the changes each day. It went very well for our first experiment, and I was so grateful that it did. (Nothing like a failed first try.) But there are a few things I might do differently next time.

The form was cool and made him feel very grown up, but it was a little small for him to draw accurate sketches. A larger notebook page or a fun folding book might have been a better method of accomplishing the same thing.

Overall, though, it made a big impression and boosted his enthusiasm for science and discovery.

Hands-on Geography

November 13, 2013Tracy

I will admit, as I planned and plotted for this year, I wondered if maybe—just maybe—I’d tried to do too much. After all, the activities of 3 different geography curriculums did seem a little excessive. But I couldn’t help but love how the three complimented each other so well, one filling in for the gaps of the other two and vice versa.

Surprisingly, we’ve had plenty of time for everything! I’m stunned and amazed at how smoothly all of the components have fit together. Just to clue you in, Oldest does the maps from Tapestry of Grace on our magnet board; this is probably his most intensive mapwork. Then, Oldest and Middlest complete the simpler map work from Story of the World before listening to their audio history lesson, and we play Mr. Sprinkle with that map. Quite honestly, this map time is more for Middlest, but Oldest enjoys the fun activity and review.

Last but not least, I added Leagues and Legends to our geography mix. Here’s why: my son needed to know how to use a map, not just how to locate Scandinavia and Normandy. L&L, as we affectionately call it, covers the equator, longitude and latitude, directions on a compass, how to draw your own map, and much more. The storybook tells a funny, memorable dialogue among three men, Mr. Tardy, Mr. Longitude, and Mr. Latitude. It’s short and thorough, and very entertaining.

Then, there’s the activity book, which has been a highlight for Oldest. There are enough activities to work one a week for about half the year. Some of the activities include toilet paper roll puppets for the characters, drawing a map of your room or neighborhood, coloring the different points on a compass, making your own compass, etc. And best of all, most of the activities are things he can complete by himself with a little instruction.

Rather than one more thing to do, Leagues and Legends has been another hands-on component to geography that my son looks forward to every week.

Activities for the Littlest

November 8, 2013Tracy1 Comment

There are some amazing ideas on Pinterest and the other fabulous blogs on the internet. But sometimes, the best ideas are so simple.

Of all the super cool ideas I’ve been trying with Littlest, the hands-down favorite was the day I handed him a paper sack. That’s right, folks. A plain old paper bag has been the biggest hit.

For days in a row he has played contentedly with that same paper bag, putting different toys inside and taking those same toys back out. One day, it’s cars; the next, it’s blocks; then, it’s counting bears. One sack=days of fun.

So let me just encourage you—before you stress out that you don’t have a Pinterest-worthy idea ready for your littlest learners, bring out the tupperware. Empty your spice cupboard. Get out the fruit loops and a spoon. And by all means, don’t forget the plain old paper bag!

Just Make a Mark

November 6, 2013Tracy

I recently stumbled upon an art website that I absolutely love. She has fabulous ideas, substance, and an organized layout that makes it easy to find age-appropriate projects. She also suggests some really fun resources.

We had lots of fun with one of her ideas to teach the dot. I pulled up the youtube video of the book The Dot as a fun intro into our lesson.

http://youtu.be/t5mGeR4AQdM

The kids were immediately intrigued, and the story was so good that we ended up watching it at least 5 times. Then, the kids donned their plastic bag art aprons and got to work with oil pastels and watercolors—making their marks and squiggles; learning about oil and water; experimenting with mixing colors, and lots of art wonder.

Perhaps that’s one of the joys of teaching art to little ones—letting the wonder of discovery make its indelible mark.

Illuminated Letters and Calligraphy

October 25, 2013Tracy2 Comments

We’ve been learning about the fall of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic Empire, and some church history over the last few weeks. St. Patrick, St. Valentine, and St. Augustine are a few of the names we’ve read about. And for art, we’ve explored the printed books the monks would work on.

We read Caedmon’s Song, a beautiful book about a shepherd who became a monk and wrote songs. Then the kids colored an illuminated letter. But I thought it might be more fun to go a step further.

We cut out our illuminated letter, glued it to some brown card stock, and experimented with calligraphy markers. I did help them with the actual writing, holding their little hands as they wrote so that they could keep the right angle. But to see their eyes light up as they saw the beautiful letters was worth a little intervention.

Then we hole-punched the pictures and threaded some twine for hangers. It was a fun way to explore the work the monks would do and the perfect craft as we head into the Thanksgiving season.