Draw Me a Cat!

Before the sun peaked over the horizon, I heard a little voice this morning asking repeatedly, "Draw me a cat, draw me a cat, pleeease". I didn't pop up out of bed and cheerfully draw her a cat, but I did find a simple cat drawing lesson online later in the day. This site has a lesson for the the cat above.

This one has the sitting cat below.

Early Childhood Learning: My Telephone Number Worksheet

Image source here at About.com Homeschooling. Click on image to enlarge, or go to image source to download. We are working on this one tomorrow.

National Geographic Featured Articles

I have to remind myself to use this resource more often! National Geographic is an excellent source of free historical articles, pictures, quizzes, maps, virtual tours, etc. Here is one that I bookmarked some time ago when we were studying Latin America. Check it out:

Maya Rise and Fall Includes article, maps, quiz, extended learning links, and photo gallery.

Free Vintage Prints of Historical Costumes and Clothing from Around the World

A huge collection of free vintage prints from the NY Public Library Digital Library of clothing and costumes from around the world during different periods in history.

Image: A 16th century English woman of quality

Help Dealing with Homeschool Burnout

I saw these at About.com Homeschooling.

Two of my favorite:

Hitting the Homeschool Wall by Holly Richardson

Avoiding Homeschool Burnout by Isabel Shaw

These are coping mechanisms that I learned the hard way. Students are not the only people who learn and grow in homeschool. It has been the catalyst for spiritual and emotional growth for the adults in our family as well.

DIY Young Children's Pallet Bookshelf

 See picture: I used two of the pieces at left, and five of the pieces on the right( two for each shelf, and one on top to stabilize).

I've been collecting pallet pieces from Home Depot. These pieces were found free in the lumber area, discarded in the trash cans at the end of the aisle. With permission I've been taking these home for DIY projects. Yesterday I made a thin rustic bookcase for my young daughter's books. The thin shelves, which rested between the pallet pieces on the blocks, were the only things that needed attaching. The shelves were screwed down at both ends with a power drill and long dry wall screws. No sawing was needed; these came as they were.


The books shelf holds quite a few books. I was able to empty two very large baskets full of preschool/K books into this bookshelf. We've gained back a good chunk of living space, and it's easier to vacuum now. My daughter loves the ease of finding books and putting them back without the struggle of squeezing them into baskets.

Free Printables: Historical and Literary Paper Dolls

Pages include background and historical information, and some offer links to free e-texts. This is a fabulous homeschool resource, and is beautifully rendered by artist C. David Claudon .

Includes:
Ancient Egyptian Transformations
Clarence's Eight Lives(historical cat)
A Durer Everyman Paper Doll
An Inferno Paper Doll Set
Sir Gawain & the Green Knight
A Plantagenet Paper Doll Set
A Gothic Romance Paper Doll told in the style of the Limbourg Brothers: The Little Mermaid
Geoffrey Chaucer
Dunant's The Birth of Venus: Italian Renaissance Paper Dolls
Commedia dell'arte
Elizabeth I Transformations
William Shakespeare
Taming of the Shrew
Five Saints: S. Anthony, S. Bernardine, S. Joan, S. Rocco, S. Raphael
Renaissance Artists & Models
A Pepys Show: the World of Samuel Pepys in Paper Dolls
Moliere: A Baroque Paper Doll
The Gilt of the Sun: Louis XIV
The World of Oscar Wilde

Addressing the Reluctant Student

A helpful blog post here:Addressing Reluctance in Your Homeschool.

Spinach Enchiladas Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach , thawed, drained and squeezed dry
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 10 (6 inch) corn tortillas
• 1 (19 ounce) can enchilada sauce

Read the rest here at Allrecipes.com

I'm going to try this, or a version of this, tomorrow night. It's got many excellent reviews. I have a box of spinach I need to use up, and I'm not in the mood for quiche.

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.