Math and Vegetables: How to Love Both

Math has been a trial to many a homeschool mother.  It’s supposed to be so good for you, and as important to future success as vegetables are to health.  But many kids dislike it, and it often becomes a battle.  If this is where you are (as I was), here are some things to think about.

As a mother of picky toddlers I came across a healthy-kids program that urged parents to make their kids’ veggies more “a-peeling,” and I took this to heart.  Preparing and serving vegetables with a little creativity – letting the kids sprinkle on different toppings, for example – can make the difference between “Blah” and “Yeah!”  Similarly, instead of just handing your child a page of boring math problems, applying a little creative energy to the situation can vastly improve your child’s math experience.  One day, have your child work the problems with unusual counters like cars or marbles.  Another day, write problems on cards, tape them around the house, and let your child race against the clock.  Get away from the written-problem format altogether as you play games that exercise math skills.

If your child only sees peas and carrots on his plate day after day, however, no matter how creatively they are served, he will start to resent them.  This is where you introduce baby corn, cherry tomatoes, sautéed fresh green beans, and sweet potato french fries.  Math is a field (or vegetable garden) that is broad, deep, and beautiful.  Introduce your child to the fascinating concepts that have entertained human minds for millennia: number theory, logic, probability, geometry, and simple calculus concepts.  Look for patterns in polygonal numbers.  Play around with Pascal’s triangle.  Test your brain power with some famous puzzles, and learn about the famous folks who worked on them.  There is math all around us, from the seeds in a sunflower, to ocean waves, to the night sky.  None of these things take more than basic math skills, at least at the beginner level, and having a glimpse into where you can go with math adds meaning and purpose to learning the fundamentals.

The introduction to What is Calculus About, by W.W. Sawyer, states: “In mathematics a certain surprising thing happens again and again.  A person poses a simple question, a question so simple that it seems no useful result can come from answering it.  And yet it turns out that the answer opens the door to all kinds of interesting developments, and gives great power to the person who understands it.”  Playing around with simple, non-traditional math topics can give your child non-traditional insight into mathematics.  Introducing your child to amazing concepts in a no-pressure way will improve their chance of viewing math as the fascinating art and science that it is.

About the author:

Jennifer Georgia has homeschooled her four children since birth; the two oldest are now pursuing degrees in the field of science.  A list of favorite math resources is available on her blog at georgiatimes.blogspot.com.  Jennifer will be sharing many more math tips at the 2010 LDSEHE Home Education Conference in Buena Vista, Virginia on May 27-28.  For more information, please visit www.ldsehe.org.

What About Questions?

On a fall day just after sunset I took three year old Hannah running with me.  She insisted on wearing her running shorts even though it was quite cool.  So I bundled her up in a blanket and coat and tucked her into the jogging stroller and off we went.  As I ran, Hannah and I carried on a cute interchange, both of us engaged and enjoying the company of the other.  Then I suddenly realized the nature of our interaction.  Everything out of Hannah’s mouth was a question:

“What do we do in winter?”
“What happened to the water?”
“Is that a mama horse or a baby?”
“Why are there white lines and yellow ones on the road?”
“Is that Erin’s seminary?”
“Did they move the seminary building?”
“Why was the dog barking at us?”
“Why are there different white lines on the road here?”
“Was there a road running race before Hyrum was born?”
“Or me?”
“Isn’t that a beautiful sunset — orange, purple, pink, blue?”

I was taken with the nature of her questions, their simplicity and how each had to do with making sense of the world and the people around her.  Just open, easy, natural inquisitiveness springing from her need to know.  Is this one of the reasons the Lord has commanded us to be like a little child?  

Questions can be powerful tools that bring direction and meaning to our lives.  Our questions influence our experience and the choices we make.  Questions accelerate our learning and invite the quiet promptings of the spirit.  Asking a sincere question signals that we are ready to learn.  “Ask and ye shall receive,” takes on new meaning when we understand the power of questions.  Is it any wonder that the Lord extends this invitation to us over and over again?

Just a few weeks ago I had an experience that once again proved to me the power of a question.

I was feeling that my life was out of control.  As the mother of seven, it seemed that I was bombarded with all kinds of details and to do’s and tasks that, though necessary, seem to leave me empty and exhausted with little or no energy for what is really important to me.  I needed to get a handle on my life and figure out how to bring back what is most important.  Determined to get to the bottom of this I sat down with paper and pen.  At the top of the paper I wrote this question: “What do I want in my family and home that at this point are not happening regularly?”  Then I  answered my own question.  My list has 28 items.  Some of these are:

1. Singing/making music together
2. Individual dates with children
3. Weekly inventory—personal and couple
4. More gospel stories shared or read
5. Children more involved in cooking and kitchen clean up
6. Children more involved in Family Home Evening
7. Winter walks
8. Me playing the piano to relax and enjoy
9. More consistent reading of classics to children
10. More “tucking in” for each child with quiet, shared reflection about the day and prayer…

I noticed a pattern in my answers.  Every one of them had to do with people and creating connection and shared meaningful experiences.  None of them had anything to do with getting more done or getting all caught up.  It helped for me to recognize this. 

I worked on this question for half an hour.  Just as I was beginning the process of choosing a few and making a plan to get them back into my life, I got interrupted.  My paper was left tucked in a binder for the rest of that week and through the next.  Forgotten.  One morning I found it again.  I read my question and my answers and realized that just asking the question had brought five of these things back into our family almost effortlessly.  Asking this particular question simply helped me to see an unwanted pattern and then to choose people over busy. 

I have another set of very helpful questions I often ask.  Again with paper and pen in hand, I write the names of each person in my family, including my own, leaving a space between names.  At the top of the paper I write these questions:  What does ________ need to feel supported, strengthened, and loved?  What will inspire and motivate them?  What do they need help with? Then I go down my list asking these questions for each person.  I picture them in my mind.  I try to see them, especially their eyes.  I write the ideas that come about each person.  Asking and answering these questions helps me to see what I would otherwise have missed.  And they help me to focus on what is really important... people. 

Sister Wendy Watson Nelson says this about questions:

“I LOVE Questions!  I love their ability to help us focus.  To see things we’ve never seen before.  To understand things we’ve never understood before.  To think things we’ve never thought before.  To have the courage to do things we’ve never had the courage to do before.”

Questions are powerful!  Questions remind me of my little Hannah needing to make sense of her world.  “Mama, what do we do in winter?”  “Mama, is that a baby horse or a mama?” And “Mama, isn’t that a beautiful sunset — orange, purple, pink, blue?”

In the last mile of our run through the rural Erda countryside, I spied seven deer and stopped so that I could help Hannah see them.  We held ourselves quiet and still so we could enjoy watching the deer.  And then we started to run again.  The deer began to run too and it felt like for those brief moments we were running with the deer.  Then the deer stopped and we continued on and Hannah called out, “Good-bye Deer!” 

The author welcomes your comments, feedback and questions.  Contact her atangelabakerspeaks@gmail.com.  You can also visit her blogs:

www.angelabakerspeaks.com
www.joyfulmothering.com
www.angela-baker.blogspot.com

Author’s note:  Change Your Questions Change Your Life by Wendy Watson Nelson is an excellent book to help anyone learn to ask the kind of questions that make all the difference.

Homeschooling for Free…or close to it

by Katrina Fujisaka

Times are tough for many folks right now, so I thought I’d run down a few online resources that I have found useful or exciting. Some of these sites I have described for you, others I’ve included their own descriptions of their sites in quotations.

Homeschool Mom Resources

Free homeschool planners, planning tips, and school calendars.
http://donnayoung.org/index.htm
 

For Elementary School:

Homeschool Math

“HomeschoolMath.net is a comprehensive math resource site for homeschooling parents and teachers: find free worksheets, math ebooks for elementary grades, extensive link list of games, interactive tutorials & quizzes, curriculum guide, and math teaching help articles/lessons. The resources emphasize understanding of concepts instead of mechanical memorization of rules.”
http://www.homeschoolmath.net/
 

School Express

We have a very, large selection of FREE items. Click on the buttons in the menu bar above to locate 16,000+ worksheets, funtime games, make worksheets, online math, activity fun worksheets and United States Units.
http://www.schoolexpress.com
 

Spelling City

“SpellingCity.com is on a mission to make spelling more fun, and give you the spelling help you are looking for. Our spelling program is a breakthrough. All parents and students, whether you are involved with a public, private, or homeschool, can use SpellingCity.com to make spelling lists, practice for spelling tests, and make instant spelling and word games to play online or print out.”
http://www.spellingcity.com
 

America’s Library

This is a fun-filled adventure back in time. Not only are there short but interesting lessons on a good number of individuals, the site is eye-catching and humorous. There are questions for children to answer, special segments, including one titled “The Big Sneeze” which is all about how and why Thomas Edison created the silent motion picture. Some of this content is Jr. High appropriate as well.
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/index.php
 

For Jr. High/High School

MIT Opencourseware

This is the most exciting thing I have found on the internet yet. MIT (yes, the MIT) offers full courses online for free. These are not accredited, of course, because you are controlling the grading. Nothing is sent in to the school. But the entire course is available for viewing online. My son used one of the Intro. To Biology courses as a full high school science credit course in 10th grade. We found the textbook used online for $10. Pretty good deal for a full year’s worth of Biology.

They also have several courses that they have developed specifically for high school students. Spend some time here….it’s worth it!
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
 

Word 2 Word Language Resources

Foreign language resource.
“This site is dedicated to breaking down of language barriers and assisting the users who have the desire to learn a language, a need to communicate between languages, and for those who work with languages as a profession.”
www.word2word.com
 

Guide to grammar and writing.

Sponsored by the Capital Community College Foundation, this website is LOADED with free resources. Extensive reference information and interactive quizzes are available. 
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
 

How to do a research project

Provided by Oaklea Middle School in Junction City, OR, the website give step-by-step instructions on how to tackle a research project. It is designed for students who have never done such a project.
http://www.junctioncity.k12.or.us/Oaklea/ggiddens5.htm
 

All ages

Clickschooling

One of my favorite idea machines! Check out their archives for great links.
“Get FREE, web-based curriculum ideas every day - Monday through Saturday! ClickSchooling brings you daily recommendations by email for entertaining websites that help your kids learn Math, Science, Language Arts, Social Sciences, Art, Music, and Foreign Languages. We'll even take you on a fun Virtual Field Trip once-a-week!”
http://clickschooling.com
 

A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling

Collection of links to a variety of educational and interesting websites. The links are up to date and well maintained.
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/materials/FreeResources.htm
 

Free Homeschool Software

Not free…but cheap!
Free Homeschool Software provides a variety of educational software for almost free.  You pay shipping and handling – which ranges from $6-$7.50 per program. Some programs cost $1 or $2 plus shipping but most just require the shipping. Their inventory is fluid – so check back often. These are top rated educational and edutainment programs. http://www.freehomeschoolsoftware.com

One year of High School Chemistry for $8.50. Pretty good deal.
 

An Old-Fashioned Education

This website is maintained by Miss Maggie, a frugally minded Christian woman. She has gathered a fantastic collections of links to public domain books and writings and organized them by subject. Lots of great stuff here to go through.
http://oldfashionededucation.com/index.html

LDS online resources

School of Abraham

“School of Abraham focuses on academic excellence and gospel scholarship, using a unique approach that sets us apart from other homeschool programs. School of Abraham exists to encourage individual scholarship through an innovative study program which fosters spiritual and moral development in an environment of academic rigor, and helps parents more effectively teach their children the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
http://www.schoolofabraham.com

This is by no means an exhaustive list of what is available out there… there is SO MUCH! The sites listed here are just a few of my favorites. The internet has revolutionized homeschooling. Use your search engine and see what you can find.

Do you have a favorite that you’d like to share? Let me know.

The Art of M.C. Escher

by Kim Kuhn

We are going to take a departure from music and talk about art this month, specifically the art of M.C. Escher.  I picked this artist because he is appreciated not only by the art lover, but by the non art-trained teenager as well.

So let’s take a look at M.C. Escher.  No, not M.C. Hammer, (Can’t Touch This), Maurits Cornelis Escher was born in Leeuwarden, Holland on June 17, 1898, the same year Theodore Roosevelt defeated the Spanish at the Battle of San Juan Hill.  He was a sickly child and received poor grades in school.  The highlight of his day was, of course, art.  However, his father decided he should receive scientific training and since he was gifted in art, Escher should become an architect.  His architectural training didn’t last long, but he did keep in contact with one of the teachers at the architectural school, Samuel Jesserun de Mesquita.  He kept his relationship with him until 1944 when de Mesquita, his wife and family were taken and put to death by the Germans.

Escher and his family were largely supported by his father until 1951 when he finally earned a portion of his income from the production of his prints.  During his lifetime, he was twice arrested after being falsely accused.  The first time was when he was living in Italy.   A woman claimed he had an evil expression and was accused of threatening the life of the Italian leader, Mussolini.  The second time was during his travels to Spain.  He was intensely interested in the old walls in Cartegena.  A policeman thought this was highly suspicious; a foreigner making drawings of Spanish defense works so he was arrested.  After a while, he was allowed to leave, but he never got his drawings back.   He was still upset when he discussed this incident thirty years later.

Escher died on March 27, 1972 in Laren, Holland.

Escher’s works are completely unique.  He does not follow the impressionistic style of Monet nor does he follow the expressionistic style of Picasso.  Escher focuses on lines, spaces, and sometimes optical illusions.  Find, the lithographs, “Relativity” and “Ascending and Descending” and see if you can tell which way is up.  Also, look at “Reptiles” where lizards appear to jump out of the page and back into it.  Some other fun ones that exemplify distortion are “Balcony,” “Print Gallery” and “Still Life and Street.”

Pandemonium of Music

Who knew that having musical kids would be chaotic? I thought, before I started this journey, that musical children were calm, practiced when they should and played wonderful, beautiful, classical music. I guess I forgot my own experiences with learning to play an instrument.

I will have to say that getting my children to practice has never been much of a problem.  Instead, I have found myself saying things like- “If I hear you on the piano one more time I will…… (fill in the blank)” or “Get off the piano! It’s not your turn to practice”. I think one reason my kids play as well as they do is that when I say “Go do your math!” They reply “But Mom! I still have to practice!”

The challenges are many faceted.  On the one hand you want your kids to practice, on the other, with 5 kids taking piano lessons; it can take most of the day to get them through all the practicing. My oldest daughter solved that problem, but introduced another, bringing home stray instruments. Most parents deal with the stray animals- we deal with stray instruments.  My daughter found out that a neighbor down the street from us was moving to the “lower 48” and didn’t want to pay to move their piano.  My daughter insisted she needed her own piano so she could spend more time practicing. In no time at all she and I were rolling a piano down the street in the dark (she didn’t want to wait).

Getting another piano seemed like a good idea, until we moved it into our 2x2 sq. ft. house! The only place it would fit was in the entryway, though the bench did make a convenient place to sit to put on your boots! The size of the house meant that the 2 pianos were about 10 ft apart, one in the entry and one in the living room. Two pianos did solve the practice problem- everyone had plenty of time to practice, but it created a new problem, dueling pianos. One child pounding out “Mary had a Little Lamb” in the living room and in the hall was “The Turkish March”. I could only take it for so many hours before I would demand peace and quiet!  In addition, it has messed up my ability to recognize certain classical pieces as they are thoroughly muddled in my brain. I can hear Debussy’s Reverie mixed in with Beethoven’s  Bagatelle.  No wonder I can’t think straight.

Dueling pianos did have an unintended affect though. When my daughter was competing for the local Arts Council piano scholarship the auditions were held in the high school auditorium at the same time the high school was setting up for a play that evening. Not good planning on someone’s part, but my daughter wasn’t fazed by all the noise and distractions; it was part of her usual practice, toddlers on the lap and noise! She won the scholarship.

As my children grew in their musical talent they continued to collect stray instruments (my husband does too!). We have harps, pianos, guitars, a banjo, saxophone and a trumpet, penny whistles and several different kinds of drums. The owner of the drums wanted them in the worst way. I said Absolutely Not! After all, I need to keep my sanity. He did not give up.  One day, just as my husband and I were about to head to the big city, my son ran up, handed us several hundred dollars that he had saved from his summer job and asked us to PLEASE buy him a drum set while we were there and handed us the ad to show  which one he wanted.  It was a lost battle after that and he got his drum set.

Silly me. I thought that having my younger children learn to play a recorder until they were old enough for regular lessons was a great idea. But for some reason, I could never find them. I’d buy a new one and that one would disappear too. One day I was cleaning out a box and found one of the recorders buried at the bottom. I said “There it is! I’ve been looking for this!” One of my older boys was walking by and told me to put it back! He then asked me where I thought all the other ones had gone. It seems none of my kids can stand the sound of a recorder (especially played by a pre-schooler!) so they had hidden each one in a different place. I stopped buying recorders.

Another challenge I faced I didn’t even become aware of until a friend and I were talking after a recital where her only child and two of mine had preformed. She complimented me on my children’s playing, and then remarked that she was glad her son didn’t play loud songs like my kids did. She was grateful her son liked the quieter classical composers. You mean I had a choice? Who knew? My kids favor composers who pound the piano and are very dramatic (think Chopin, Scriabin, and Tchaikovsky). This was brought home again when one son broke two strings on our piano while he was playing. I was not happy. His teacher was thrilled! She told him that meant he was playing the piece correctly! What? He was supposed to do that?

When we moved to our new house we promised the kids that we would replace our 2 old beat up pianos with new ones. We took the two kids most interested in the choice with us to the piano warehouse where they had about 100 pianos to choose from. They thought they had died and gone to heaven and ran round trying them out. Each piano has a different sound and they were determined to find the one most suited to what they like to play. One found an old 1917 piano with a tinny jazz sound to it and was playing his favorites. The other found a brand new concert grand and was playing a Debussy piece. As I walked around looking at prices, a woman and her friend came in to the store. I was close enough to hear her tell the salesman that she was looking for a used piano for her 6 year old daughter to start lessons on. As they were talking my boys jumped up, found new pianos to try and started playing again. The woman put her hands to her head and turning to her friend said “Oh! I can’t take this noise!”  I wanted to put my arm around her shoulders and say “Oh, Honey! Turn around and walk back out that door! If kids’ playing well bothers you, “Mary had a Little Lamb” 500 hundred times in one week is going to push you over the edge!”

Being the parent of musical children is not for the faint of heart!

A Freedom & Faith Curriculum

by Carol Jensen

Samuel the Lamanite taught me something this morning I somehow had never seen before. It’s this: you cannot teach freedom without teaching faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Samuel couldn’t, Lehi couldn’t, Mormon couldn’t, and a hundred thousand homeschool moms and dads can’t. That’s because without Him, there is no liberty in any sense – political, economic, spiritual, emotional, or physical. It’s simply that no good thing can come without the Light and Life of the World.

For a long time I have wondered why homeschooling – a more free approach to education than public school systems – attracts more god-fearing parents than agnostic or atheistic ones. Perhaps the answer lies in the connection between liberty and faith.

I saw this relationship when I read, “ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death. (Hel. 14:31-31)

Wait! Wasn’t Samuel the Lamanite the one that talked about a night without darkness and five more years ‘til the Savior’s appearance? What was a discourse on agency doing in the middle of his prophecies about the Redeemer coming?

I flipped to the Topical Guide. There it was again: a lesson on freedom of choice in the middle of Lehi’s explanation to Jacob about the Savior’s mission. (see 2 Ne. 2) Then when Mormon addressed the members about making choices (Moro. 7), he admonished them to “lay hold upon every good thing… and in Christ there should come every good thing.”

But suppose we do teach freedom without laying a foundation in Jesus as the Messiah? Neil Flinders, in his book, Teach the Children, helped me see the answer to this question. The result is an individualist education rather than an agency-based one. While the former seeks to fulfill the individual by developing his or her talents, it ends up breeding self-centeredness and glory-seeking. The fundamental question of individualist training is “What do I want?” On the other hand, faith-centered education that is grounded in choice and accountability to God poses the question, “What does Heavenly Father want?” 

So what does this mean to the homeschooling parent who is trying to keep liberty alive in the rising generation? Simply this: education isn’t about the teacher’s will or the student’s will at all. To debate student-led learning vs. teacher-directed education is to have one’s ladder on the wrong wall, so to speak. All of us should be seeking God’s will through the Spirit, which “speaketh the truth and lieth not.” (Jac. 4:13) “and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)

In studying the ancient Greeks, our homeschool group discovered that the significant difference between a Greek “state-centered” worldview and an LDS “family-centered” paradigm is this one core doctrine: the individual’s relationship with God. Because the Greek gods were whimsical, imperfect beings that were equal to man except for a few superpowers, man’s authority and laws were supreme. Men became accountable to government instead of God.   

The lesson is obvious: Our Lord and Redeemer is and must be the head of our school as well as our religion. If we want to teach freedom, let us first teach faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Take a Trip to an Art Museum

We love going to art museums!  Looking at swirls of paint, sculptures larger than life and different artist's styles makes for a fun outing.  Our kids weren't always so excited though... here's some ideas on how to start an art lover in your family, or become one yourself!

Before the Museum  (A little planning before you go makes the trip a lot more fun!):

- Most museums have a web-site showing their most popular paintings, sculptures, etc.  Print out paintings you will see, make a book of things to find, or playing cards with paintings 
-talk about different artists, hang a few paintings from the museum you will visit around the house 
-assign older kids to tell about certain art pieces at the museum 
-call and find out if there is a "Free Day" 
-find out the story behind a painting 
-discuss "museum manners"... do not touch paintings, walk only, stay with the group 
-explain that they will see naked people in paintings 
-invite someone that loves art to join you 
-take the camera!

At the Museum

-Pass out booklets or cards and go on a hunt 
-act out statues or paintings 
-play "I Spy" in one room 
-catch a lecture 
-don't try to see the whole museum in one day (this is why we go on a "free" day) 
-ALWAYS hit the gift shop, you don't have to buy anything, but they have fun items based on the artwork you just looked at.  It's a great place to find good art books, cards, etc. 
-one of my favorite things to do is to have a handful of questions (see below) We choose one room of paintings and have the kids answer them. 
-have them fill out an Eyes, Ears, and Nose chart... and "Jump into a painting".

(here's how)

• Draw a grid 6 across and 3 down. 
• Draw an eye in row #1, an ear in row #2, and a nose in row #3.
• Have the kids look at one painting with lots of details and use their imagination to JUMP into the painting.
• If you were in that painting, what would you see?"  Write words or draw pictures to fill in row #1. 
• What would you hear?"  Fill out row #2.
• What would you smell?"  Have them fill out row #3.

-Share your results with the group.  You will see things that you've never seen! 
-look at lots of different art.  Appreciate your child's favorites, they may not be yours! 
-take pictures.

After the Museum (later in the week and beyond)

-watch a video about a museum...Night at the Museum, National Treasure, any of the Getting to Know Artists DVD by Mike Venezia
-check out books on artists or paintings
-go to a local art show
-talk with artists
-pull out paint or clay and try some artwork yourself!
-our favorite this year:  Create an art museum out of a cardboard box!

• Mimi has an exhibit on a regular basis with different artists. She picks and researches one artist.  She looks at different artwork by them, and then creates her own.  She "hangs" artwork in her mini-museum by the artist and her own replicas.  When it's finished, she gives the whole family a "tour". 

Art Museum Questions 

Print on bright paper and cut into strips.  Have everyone choose 2 or 3.

• Does this remind you of anything else you’ve seen?
• How would you describe this painting to a blind person?
• What time of year is it in the painting?  How can you tell?
• Why did this painter paint this?  What was he or she trying to say?
• What is the style of this artist?  What else did he or she paint?  What subject did this artist like to paint?
• Why would someone pay for this type of art?
• If you could pick a painting or sculpture from this museum for your private collection, which would it be?
• Can you stand in the same position as the person in the painting/sculpture/drawing, etc?
• What do you think the people are thinking? Saying to each other?
• How would you want the artist to portray you in a painting?  Pose for us.
• How does the artist show movement?  Do you think the movement was slow or fast?  What musical instrument or song might accompany this painting?
• How does the artist teach us about this person? (background items, colors used, etc.)
• What questions do you ask a painting?
• Who is the most important part of this painting?  What or who else do you notice?  What is going on in the background?
• What secret does the artist have to tell?  Is there something that this artist puts in every painting?
• Where does this painting take place?  Why here?  Could this happen anywhere else?
• Art is one way an artist can talk to the world.  What is this artist saying to the world?  To you?  Is this message clear? 
• Does this painting look realistic?  How did the artist make it believable?  Look at the placement of the people in the painting.  Are they on the thirds?  What makes this painting interesting?
• How are the paintings in this room similar?  Different?  Is there a general feeling here?
• Color is an important way an artist can influence a picture. Complementary colors are very dramatic when they are next to each other.  Greens and blues are the cool colors and create a soothing effect.  Reds, yellows and oranges are the hot colors.  What colors does the artist use and why? What color did the artist put down first?  Last?
• Brush strokes can affect the mood of the painting.  Are they big or small, rapid or slow?  What did the artist use to get color on the canvas? 
• Size can make a difference on how you feel.  What does the size of this painting make you feel about this painting?  Where would you hang this in your home?

Sick Day Preparation Kit

It’s inevitable.  No matter how meticulous you are in your eating habits and hygiene; no matter how careful you are in your activities; and especially the more you have planned and scheduled—there will be sick days.  They come in all shapes and sizes, seasons and spells.  Sometimes they’re simply “sick of school” days.  Whatever the scope, it’s best to be ready for the subsequent disruption.

Seasoned homeschool moms will tell you that when there is illness, it’s time to rest through reading.  Children can lie snuggled in blankets, near compassionate Mother who is reading aloud to everyone.  It’s a nice picture, but what if it’s Mom who is sick?  What if Mom’s head is pounding and eyeballs throbbing? What if her throat hurts or she’s hacking or has lost her voice? What if there are younger children who are sick and need Mother’s full attention while older siblings who are healthy and wanting to be active can’t stand reading another minute?  That’s when it’s time to pull out your Sick Day Preparation Kit.

The idea is to have a secret stash of engaging educational items that are fresh and inviting, but which don’t require much supervision from Mom.  These can be one-time consumables, or objects which can be used over and over again but which may only “come out to play” on sick days. They can even be new items to add to a favorite family collection such as a new puzzle, card or board game, or Quantum Leap cartridge.  The point is to have an attention grabbing, time occupying diversion that frees up Mom to either heal or be healed, but which enriches the child in the pursuit.

This bit of inspiration came to me during my last illness, when I was horribly sick in bed for a week while the other 6 members of my family were fabulously, vivaciously healthy.  I could barely move or even talk and wanted nothing more than silent slumber.  My precious ones could only handle so much of my checking out.  They were bored and “Mommy lonely.”  At last they were taking to mischief when they found some science kits I’d tucked away to do together “someday,” as well as a special recipe book (The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions by John E. and Danita Thomas) that had always been on the shelf but which lay forgotten.  Long story short, many happy hours thus passed wherein I rested peacefully while my children turned mad scientist, laughing and learning quite independently.  When I finally came to, I realized that my illness and those activities were an ideal match.  I much preferred the kids making those messes when I was too sick to care about it.  I had been waiting for the perfect day to do those things—when the kitchen was “ready,” when there was no hurry or other distraction, when I felt like it, when the stars aligned.  It turns out the perfect day was when I was sick!

It might sound daunting or expensive to make a Sick Day Preparation Kit, but it really doesn’t have to be.  Plenty of great items can be found at the dollar store, or in a bargain bin.  You don’t have to rush right out and buy, buy, buy.  Just pick something up here and there when you find it and tuck it away for that future emergency.

Other suggestions to get you started:

*Pictureka!—a game even very young children can play happily by themselves
*Crayola’s Model Magic
*Disposable cameras—let kids take pictures of their toys or anything that strikes their fancy
*Special snacks
*Simple models
*Easy all-in-one craft kits 
*Paint with water books
*The History Channel’s Modern Marvels DVDs, the Magic School Bus DVDs, or any educational video viewing your family would enjoy.

And if you find yourself with a scratchy throat but still needing to read aloud, I recommend Ricola’s Natural Honey Lemon with Echinacea Throat Drops.  Be prepared and get well!

So, Go Write A Book...

In his great book, Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire, Rafe Esquith recommends that each of his 5th grade students write a book each school year.  In our family we don't just limit it to books...  last year members of our family compiled a family cookbook, wrote book on flowers, made an art kit, created a slideshow, wrote a collection of stories about ancestors, started a scout newsletter, and made a family time line.

Each person must create a big project that encompasses their talents and skills they are learning this year.  Many time these projects count towards our church's "Personal Progress" young women's program or "Duty to God" young men's  award, but we count them as a huge success in writing. 

Creating a big project requires planning, writing, editing, illustrating and a final presentation.  When you create something big and take it all the way to completion, you write differently...you write better.  Knowing that you are writing for an audience gives you a voice and it makes you want to do better.  These projects also encourage computer skills:  learning how to type, center, choose a font and size, find and insert a photo or clip art, print, etc.  The creator gains incredible confidence as they share it with others. 

Projects serve as a catalyst, sometimes one project can lead to another and can even lead to finding your passion.  My daughter's love of changing the letter fonts, creating and organizing information on a variety of projects directly lead to her love of graphic design!

So, this year challenge your family to write a book, or create a BIG project on something that they love. 

Check out the National Novel writing Month.  It's in November and challenges kids and adults to write a complete novel in one month.  We've never done this, but thousands around the world have!   Find out more at:  http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/

The World of Geography!

As a college student I was shocked by how many students at BYU were uncertain about the location of my home state, Oregon. I frequently heard, "is that the state north of California, or is it up by Canada? " I guess I can't really blame them, until a couple of years ago I only had a vague notion about the location of many states, and my understanding of latitude and longitude was a little fuzzy. Rote memorization is a big no-no in our house so I've found some other fun ways for the kids (and myself) to learn geography.

We stumbled on our first game by accident. One summer the boys developed a bit of an obsession with finding out-of-state license plates. Everywhere we went they searched for vehicles from far- away places. They needed a way to keep track of which states they had found so I printed off a map of the United States for each of them, and then when they found a state they would color it in. It didn't take them long to realize that the smaller a state is and the farther away, the harder it is to find! (We did eventually find the elusive Hawaii and Rhode Island plates!)

My boys also like to collect state quarters. I got them each a map to display their collections. Not only have they pored over the maps countless times, checking to see which ones are still missing but they've learned a little bit about each state based on the engravings. I've found that learning about a place is the very best way to remember its location. Besides the quarters we spend a good deal of time talking about each of the states.

We talked about the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock and then we looked at the outcropping of Massachusetts, making it easier to remember which state it is. We've talk about being able to see the Statue of Liberty from both New York and New Jersey, about Mississippi being next to the Mississippi river and about the Pioneers traveling across the Missouri River. Small, simple amounts of information give the names of places meaning and improve recollection. Sometimes we can't think of a good bit of information to "hook" a state name on, then we try to remember something about the shape of the state. We used to confuse Indiana and Illinois until we decided Illinois looked like a swollen nose, which reminded us of "ill".

Our favorite geography games are the "10 Days" series. There is a different game for each continent; the object of the game is to collect 10 country cards that you can place in the right order to take a 10 day journey. As each card is drawn we study the map to find its location and see if we can work it into our game strategy. Often when we're done playing the game the kids like to just play with the cards, planning out all kinds of long exotic trips across the planet.

Another favorite in our house is a game we like to call, "Where in the World is Uncle Ryan?" My brother, Ryan, travels extensively and it's always fun to look up his location on the map, learn something about where he is, and hear about his adventures when he gets back. Even if you don't have an immediate family member who travels, friends, neighbors, and missionaries are excellent sources of information about different places around the world.

Geography is literally all around us. Now that it has become more than a memorization exercise, it is one of our families' favorite subjects!