Homeschool Friendly Work Spaces

Collected from various places across the web(Mid-Century Modern, Eames, Danish Modern, Vintage Modern, etc.), I keep them as a part of my decorating scrapbook(digital) for inspiration. I used to see these vintage furniture styles all the time at the thrifts; however, now that they have become popular, they are more difficult to find!  The tops are all laminate which makes for a friendly surface to paint, roll play-do, glue and do other messy projects. I gave up trying to keep my wood table clean and went with a hard surface table and pleather/metal seats. I enjoy projects so much better now because clean-up is quick and easy, just a wipe down with a cloth and some mild cleanser.

We also got rid of much of our carpeting a few months ago, and went with painted floors. So far, so good. The floors are much easier to keep clean. Although our place may not be magazine worthy, my life is a lot less stressful. It works for us.

Try Craigslist for inexpensive homeschool pieces. We've purchased much of our children friendly furniture inexpensively from sellers on Craigslist. Thrift stores are good too; however, in our area the quality and condition is often not as good.

A gallery of pictures here to envision these styles better.

Before Telephones/Cell Phones There Were Pigeons

Wartime hero pigeon Paddy honoured with fly-past
Paddy, a messenger pigeon who served with the RAF during the Normandy operations in June 1944, was remembered in his home town of Larne on Friday.
PDSA, Britain's biggest veterinary charity, awarded Paddy the Dickin Medal, dubbed the animals' "Victoria Cross", 65 years ago this month.
He received it for being the fastest pigeon to reach England with a coded message from the battle-front beaches of Normandy.
The brave bird brought back vital information about the Allies' progress, flying 230 miles in four hours 50 minutes - the fastest time of any of the messenger pigeons involved in the mission with an average speed of 56mph.
     PDSA spokesman James Puxty said: "Paddy's contribution to the D-Day operations was a credit to the thousands of messenger pigeons donated by the racing pigeon fraternity for service during World War II.
"He was one of 32 brave, feathered heroes that received the PDSA Dickin Medal for their life-saving flights during the war, and the only recipient from Northern Ireland."

More about our fine animal friend, the carrier pigeon below. Free printable children's stories, all in public domain. To print, right click on the images of the pages at the links.  These books are also downloadable.

Carrier Pigeons, 1907, Primary Education(elementary)

Willie's Carrier Pigeon, 1894, second grade reader

The New Popularity of the Carrier Pigeon, 1901, St. Nicholas Magazine(elementary)

The Standard Fifth Reader, 1857, poem, elocution lesson

The bird, let loose in Eastern skies, when hastening fondly home,
Ne'er stoops to earth her wing, nor flies where idle warblers roam ;
But high she shoots through air and light, above all low delay,
Where nothing earthly bounds her flight, nor shadow dims her way

So grant me, God, from every care and stain of passion free,
Aloft, through Virtue's purer air, to hold my course to thee ;
No sin to cloud, no lure to stay my Soul, as home she springs ; —
Thy Sunshine on her joyful way, thy Freedom in her wings !
~ Moore

Carrier Pigeons in the Army, 1918, New Reed and Kellogg English(late elementary - early middle school)

Carrier Pigeon, The Encyclopædia Britannica, 1897

Carrier Pigeon, The World Book, 1920

Pigeons, Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study for Teachers and Parents, 1911(elementary)

Carrier Pigeons, Heroes and Greathearts and Their Animal Friends, 1908(elementary and up)

Arnaux, the Homing Pigeon, Classics Old and New, 1906

Arnaux, Animal Heroes (full story) middle school and up, 1905

Vintage Clipart Decorative Letters

So much can be done with these decorative letters found for free over at Clipart ETC. We used the ones with a children theme to make a lacing name game with recycled cardboard(dry food box). I also thought about making some A-Z blocks with these letters, or a decorative alphabet poster. Instead of printing out each letter individually, I used Google's free Picasa to make a collage. This way all the letters are uniform in size, and print out all together.

Those black dots on the printouts is my printer's fault. The ones at the link are clean. After I took this picture, I colored in the letters in black. It makes it much easier to read.

Free Columbus Day Vintage History Story

"Sail on ! sail on ! sail on ! and on !' " They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow, Until, at last, the blanched mate said : "Why, now not even God would know Should I and all my men fall dead. These very winds forget their way, For God, from these dread seas, is gone. Now speak, brave Adm'r'l ; speak and say — " He said : "Sail on ! sail on ! and on !" They sailed ! They sailed ! Then spake the mate : "This mad sea shows his teeth to-night.‎"
~ From Discovery of America(Columbus), Great Inventions and Discoveries, a vintage textbook for young readers, 1911.
To print and/or save, follow the link and right click on the images of the pages(See Table of Contents, begins on page 92). The entire book is downloadable as well.  Free and in public domain.

I just love old textbooks for younger children. The language is so beautiful, and at times history is romanticized, but what better way to get children interested in history. There is time enough in the later years to learn that "history is written by the victors".

For younger children - Cut and paste, Story of  Columbus in pictures.Click on image to enlarge.

A is For Alice in Wonderland - Cut and Paste

Free Alice in Wonderland vintage printables here. We made the Cheshire cat today.

Our Mr. Sun

Original is clearer. See here. Free and in public domain.

Sewing Craft for Children: Make a Tea Cup Mouse

Adorable! See here for instructions.

Building Blocks

sheep
Originally uploaded by sassyarts.

With blocks before the wagon's wheels,
It's hard to make it go,
And blocks within a person's mind
Make learning very slow.

The word's "I can't" are like a block
Inside your little head
They will not let you understand
The things that you have read.

Use building blocks, "I think I can,
For God is helping me."
Then work with eagerness and joy,
And wonders you will never see.

Poem from Rod & Staff Grade 3 English
-----------------------------------------------------
Above originally posted in 2007


Because we can never have enough building blocks:

Melissa & Doug 200-pc. Wood Block Set

And this one! Guidecraft Table Top Building Blocks - Set of 90. I think I'll have fun building too(giggle).

My daughter loves to use her imagination and build things. The prices are always good for the Melissa & Doug wooden play sets. Even their multi-colored pattern sets are stackable. She has been using these to make furniture, plates, food(sandwiches and pizzas), and fences.

I've got my eye on these block sets for Christmas.

Homeschooling Fine Arts: Letting Them Choose

"The great artists of old knew that they needed to focus their energies within their own talent’s sphere. They did venture forth and learn more, but it was all within the confines of their own medium. So how do you choose what to focus on and what to pass over?" ~ A thoughtful post/article about Letting Them Choose.

Young Children's Autumn Picture Study: The Gleaners by Millet

Free and in public domain here, 1907 Teacher's Curriculum Planner. Right click on the image of the pages at the link to print/save.

Teacher's background notes.

Vintage October/November Children's Blackboard Calendar

From a 1909 teacher's magazine. Free and in public domain. Click to enlarge and save, or follow the link to the original and right click on image to save/print. Free and in public domain.

We used a write crayon to fill in the month and numbers after printing. Saturday and Sunday go above the first row.

Young Children's Vintage Autumn Picture Study: The Reapers by Jules Breton

"Isn't this a beautiful out-doors picture! Would you like to tell something about it? No, it is not a garden, why did you think it was? Yes, there is a path with flowers growing beside it, and the little boy has been gathering some. What is he doing now? Why is he running? Where do you think they all are going? Yes, they are going home, and where have they been? You must hear a story about that for you could never guess what they have been doing." Read more here.

More harvest autumn art by Breton for young children(elementary school)  here.

These pages are printable, just right click on the image of the page. Free and in public domain.

October Squirrels: Children's Vintage Calendar and Short Story

I printed this out for my homeschooled Kindergartener. This chalkboard calendar is from 1909 which just happens to have the same beginning day of the week as 2010. It is free and in public domain. I found this in a 1909 teacher's periodical on Google Books. Click on image to enlarge.

A story we read as well - The Disobedient Squirrels, 1853. It's got a rather harsh lesson, the fatal consequences of disobedience, but I remember reading these types of stories as a child. In much the same way that Aesop's fables passed on wisdom, these sorts of stories made me think twice about disobeying my parents, and to trust in their wisdom. Right click on image of the page at the link to print or save. There are a few blank pages, just keep clicking through to get to the second page of the story.

The Good Rain: Free Printable Vintage Children's Stories and Poems

All are in public domain and free to print and/or save. To print or save, right click on the images of the pages at the links.

Fourth Grade Reader: Spring Rain Poem(Christian)
Primer Teacher Plan: The Good Rain 

Independent Fourth Reader: Summer Rain(Advanced by contemporary standards, and could be used for older readers as well.)
"A good summer storm is a rain of riches. If gold and silver rattled down from
the clouds, they would hardly enrich the land so much as soft, long rains. ... "

All theYear Round: A Nature Reader(early elementary)

"See it rain! Where does the rain come from? It comes from the clouds. ... The
cold air changes the water-dust or clouds into drops of rain. ... "

New Geographies(middle school)
"Briefly, — when air rises, it expands and cools ; and then rain usually follows. " 

The Children's Hour, Watering His Garden with Rain(early elementary)

High School Geography: Moisture in the Air

Primary Education: Rain Lesson Plan

The Blodgett Sixth Grade Reader: Before the Rain(poetry)

The Poetical Works of William Cullen Bryant: To a Cloud(poetry)

Choice Literature, Book 4: The Signs of Rain(poetry)

The Rain(poetry) by Caroline Mason.

Literature and Life, Book 1: The Cloud, Percy B. Shelley

Merrill Third Grade Reader: The Story of the Water Drops

Henry Longfellow, Summer Rain

Second reader, Rain and Hail

Many more(600) children's texts in my Google Books library that reference "rain" here. It may be a little tricky to print pages from this link. If you can't get to an HTML page, go to "Plain Text", then change the last word in the link address from "text" to "html", and reload. Google books used to have an HTML button, but it has disappeared. I've emailed them about this, but haven't heard back yet. You can still download the books and print in plain text, but the address must be changed to right click on the pages to print and/or save. I've preset the above links, but don't know how to do it from this main search page.

Rain!

Tropical Storm Nicole is dumping a lot of water on us. Hopefully we can get out later this afternoon. Our backyard is flooded, but so far the streets are clear.

Maybe tonight I'll find and post some cute vintage "rain" stories and activities...if we haven't floated away.

Autumn Fruits and Vegetables

September:
Grapes, pomegranates, persimmons,eggplants, pumpkins, tomatoes, spinach, and lettuce.

October:
Cranberries, apples, pomegranates, grapes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, winter squash, broccoli, spinach, and lettuce.

From The Cheapest Fruits and Vegetables Month-By-Month.








Repost from 2007.

H is for House: Free Printable Cut-out

 Click on image to enlarge and save. More free printable cut-out buildings and structures here.