I should point out that we use curriculum- we don’t follow it; and by that I mean that curriculum is used as a tool for the benefit of my children and myself as teacher.  If something doesn’t work we move on.  Something that works for one child may not work well with another.  We don’t become a slave to published curricula but rather its master.  We use it as we like and when we like and if that happens to coincide with how the curriculum is written then so much the better.

And for us, that is how it’s been with our All About Spelling and Reading programs.  We follow it pretty much as it is laid out in the manuals, with an occasional breaking up of a lesson here and there.

The girls enjoy their lessons and love the additional games and activities interspersed throughout.  For example, Stella loves the simple sketched animal drawings used in AAR.

Here are the girls using their the AAR Capital Letter Alphabet poster. (If I wanted to be nit-picky I would say that the one thing I would change about AAR is the size of their posters.  I don’t have room to dedicate to hanging these up and wish they had an option to swap it out for a smaller laminated sheet.)  Since Stella recently started on the Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading  we have incorporated the consonant song from there into our AAR lesson.  To begin our AAR lesson, we sing the OPGTR song while using the AAR poster.  You can see Mira off to the side singing along and practicing her sign language.

(Yes, we are in our pajamas.  It’s one of the perks to homeschooling.)  Being able to intermingle curricula really helps show the relationship between everything and also increases familiarity when starting new programs.  I am notorious for adding in our Leap Frog songs when Stella gets stuck on something.  Again, it’s all about building familiarity and helping instill a sense of confidence.

Occasionally when out in the homeschooling circles I  hear from some “dragon-throwing” mom who follows a less-structured approach that curriculum is detrimental to children and wholly unneeded.  And for them maybe it is; but for us it works (and if it ain’t broke. . .)  If my children were unhappy- or if I was unhappy- then we would make a change.

But when, on an unprompted whim, Mira decides to create an AAR inspired game for Stella to play, I can’t help but think we’re doing something right.

My girls like what they are doing and, best of all, they like doing it together.

They take pride in their work and feel a sense of accomplishment at completing it.

And to think- we get to travel this road together for the long haul. . .

. . .pajamas and all.

Entry #81  Corie D.

Your CD will be mailed to you shortly!

And for those of you that didn’t win, remember- Hope’s newest CD is set to be released on May 22, 2012.  You’ll be able to purchase your own copy through her website here.

My girls and I are having so much fun learning about famous artists through this CD.  You can see my Adventures In Art unit here.  We’re completing our week with Pablo Picasso and I’ll post those resources for you soon.

Matthew, now at age 6 and an accomplished reader, has moved beyond the game so his mom asked if we might want it back to enjoy with Stella and Lyra.  I almost said no because we have toys and board games coming out the wazoo here; but relented considering Stella’s at a perfect age for it.

This game is a spin-off on Twister– a Twister-lite for preschoolers where they have to place their hands, feet, and ear to letters and corresponding pictures instead of large colorful dots.

The game starts by spinning a “toy-nado” that distributes 5 coins into slots assigned to different body parts (hands, feet, and ear).  The coins are two-sided so children still working on their letter sounds can use images as prompts (ex. Book for B) or for children a bit more comfortable, you can use the side with the actual letters.  Since Stella is pretty confident with her sounds we mixed it up so both ways randomly popped out.

Mira and Stella would take turns calling out the letter-to-body-part challenges to each other.  At first I was doing the calling but quickly realized it would be much more educational to have Stella doing it.  As an added step and review for Mira, I had her show me the letter’s sign in sign language as she was calling.

The alphabet on the mat is arranged so little bodies can easily position themselves with minimal frustration.  Sometimes I would help hold a limb in place while they stretched for the next letter.

This game was so much fun and just educational enough that I decided it warranted its own post.  If you’re looking for a fun game for preschoolers- this one comes highly recommended.

Ancient cartographers used to draw elaborate dragons and sea serpents on maps to denote unexplored territories.  If some faraway land or ocean laid beyond their current knowledge they would scribble in a mythical creature—

Here be Dragons

Such a warning probably worked to keep the less-adventurous souls away, and at the very least, might have given a momentary pause to even the bravest of explorers.

For me, entering motherhood is a bit like heading out to strange, unknown lands.  Sure, you know women have been setting off into it since the dawn of man- your own mother traveled there with you and her mother with her.  It’s definitely not uncharted water; but sadly, some people like to throw dragons on the map anyway.

Only these dragons aren’t the kind that mark the unknown or the unexplored.  No, these dragons cover every inch of the map except for one specific path of the mapmaker’s choosing.  You know- the “only route” to motherhood.  The cartographers who place them there do so with the intention of laying claim that their path to motherhood is the only logical course to take; and to deviate from their navigated course will result in nothing less than DRAGONS— total failure as a mother and complete unhappiness in your children.

Who are these cartographers trying to wield such power?  Other moms.  Moms who are not you- who do not have your kids- who do not walk in your shoes.  The moms who, whether intentionally or not, stir the big ol’ pot of Mommy Wars.

I used to think “Mommy Wars” was just a term touted by a hyped-up media trying to suggest a conflict that wasn’t really there.  The most recent being the Times article, Are You Mom Enough?  Really?  Mom enough??  So some moms are more mom than others?  Or another recent incident  involving Hilary Rosen stating Anne Romney never worked a day in her life, and thus triggering the old stay-at-home versus working mom firestorm.  I wanted to believe it was just the media playing on words and taking things out of context. I mean, seriously, if there is any group of people that should band together it would be mothers, right?

I knew when we decided to homeschool my children that we were stepping off the beaten path and might be met with some raised eye-brows.  And occasionally we are.  I’m pretty good at just shrugging it off.  I would be lying if I said it never bothers me.  Some days after someone’s “well intentioned” encounter, I might have that momentary pang of doubt and wonder- am I screwing up my kids?  The most hurtful critiques that worm their way into my head though, are not from strangers in the library or talking heads on tv but from other moms.

After deciding to homeschool I plunged with glee into as many homeschooling groups and co-ops as I could find.  I was bright-eyed and optimistic and thought all of us homeschooling folk would get along.

Not quite the case.  I have met many amazing friends and wonderful families to journey down the homeschooling path with but I have also been shocked at the large amount of “dragon-throwing” moms out there.

If I listen to them I’m either too religious or not religious enough.  I either use too much curricula and am “stealing” my children’s childhoods, or we’re too lax with our play-based days.  I’m either adhering to the wrong educational philosophy or don’t know enough about the one we are following.

Don’t get me wrong, not all homeschooling play dates have women sitting on park benches picking at one another’s teaching styles.  It’s not like that at all.  It’s the occasional generalization thrown out and usually not directed at any one individual.  The kind of comment that at first makes you wonder if you heard them right and then stays around in your head all night.  Then it’s the in-your-face comments and links posted on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Maybe people feel the artificialness of the setting takes the sting out of their comments and therefore fling judgments with impunity; or maybe they just feel safer preaching from a cyber pulpit.  And this behavior isn’t just rearing its ugly head in homeschooling circles.

I’ve seen too many holier-than-thou comments veiled in a thin guise of “educating” other mothers, but it’s really mothers judging other mothers for not embarking on their path.  Moms judging moms who birth in hospitals or those who choose home births.  Moms who believe you’re sadly ignorant if you willingly choose a c-section.  Moms who think you’re a granola munching hippie if you choose to go all natural.  Moms judging other women for the length of time they breast feed.  Even flat out admitting they are disappointed in another woman’s decision on when to stop.  Moms being disgusted by women who choose to keep right on going with it.  Moms questioning another’s disciplining technique, and moms appalled at the lack of disciplining in others.  The snide comments passed on what someone feeds their kids while others object to someone else’s diet.  On and on…  It’s such a viscous cycle that I think ultimately stems from the dragons that already swirl around in every mom.

Dragons exist, after all, in the mind.  A good mother will always check herself and at times be filled with dragons of doubt.  That gnawing, gnashing doubt is evidence of the love harbored for their children.  We oftentimes worry and fuss and toss and turn at night because we care- because our children are our world.  You can’t decrease the dragons swimming around your own head and burning in your own belly by trying to fling them at someone else.  We are all battling our own dragons.  I don’t want to wrestle anyone else’s anymore.

And so I won’t.  And I hope you won’t either.  Question your decisions and actions if you feel the need – not because someone else is holding up a different map.

Look at your children.  Do they know they are unconditionally loved?  If so, then yes-

You are mom enough.

 Happy Mother’s Day to you.

And this stuff- well it adds up.  It was overrunning my house.  Books piled high on any available flat surface, in little stacks on the floor next to my bed, folders and manuals on the kitchen table, random resources collecting dust on my computer area- encroaching on our living space.

After some pleading with Howard he finally reorganized the entire garage to designate a wall to my homeschooling needs.

Now I have one area to safely and conveniently pile the ever growing crap collection.  :)

See that plastic dresser on the left?  The one with drawers full of math manipulatives?  I didn’t even know I had some of this stuff!  I would say I felt like a kid in a candy store but it was better than that.  I felt like a mom at her first homeschooling convention.

Then I have a small cabinet off to the right of the large shelves that I utilized to store all my “circle time” activities and things I use more often for Pre-K.

And of course, I needed a shelf for Mommy’s homeschooling goodies.  Laminator, paper cutter, folders, etc.  OH- and I was given an awesome button making kit.  I have no idea what I will do with it yet… But there are untapped possibilities there!

I should mention that a majority of the stuff stored in my garage is overflow at this point.  The general things that I use on a day-to-day basis stay in the house in my “original” homeschooling supply cabinet.  I really wish I had taken a “before” picture because up until now this tiny cabinet housed a good portion of the stuff that is now stored in the garage.  It was messy, unorganized, and actually rather dangerous.  I would have to open the doors very slowly in order to keep everything from spilling out onto me.  I spent more time LOOKING for things in there than I did in actually using them.

Those of you that are currently using All About Reading will recognize our Ziggy the Zebra puppet.  Having it accessible is a must!

It’s so refreshing to actually be able to see what I have and get to it easily.  Now I can finally write out that Curriculum post that I’ve been promising to get to.  I’ve had it listed on the drop down menu for awhile and it will be nice to finally share with you what we’ve been doing and what we’ll be working on next year.

So how about you?  Is your house slowly being consumed by a wealth of homeschooling materials?  Or have you managed to stay a step ahead of the tsunami?  How do you keep your supplies organized?

There’s a plethora of homeschooling art programs out there that have piqued my interest but sometimes throwing money at subject after subject gets a bit- well, pricey.  So I set about creating a way to use Hope’s CD as a spine (or basis) for a unit study on artists for pre-k and early elementary age students using free resources from the internet and our local library.  It ended up being a fun introduction for my girls to get to know 10 famous artists and their works.  I’ll list the materials and resources we used in the hopes that it will help someone else.

Things you’ll need:

• A copy of Picasso, That’s Who!.  (Scheduled to be released on May 22, 2012 but you can preview two songs here.)
• Art reference book (I picked up old edition Gardiner’s Art book at Goodwill but any collection will do)
• Picture books requested from your local library (I listed our selections below)
• Standard art supplies

Next, decide how many days you will focus on each artist.  We spent roughly three days on each artist.  Day 1 we would read one or two pictures books and look over the artist’s works of art in our art book.  Day 2 we would add in the corresponding You Tube videos and possibly reread the picture books.  Day 3 we would create some art inspired by the artist.  On every one of these days, as well as in between days and days thereafter, we would listen to the songs on Hope Harris’ CD.  There are ten exceptionally catchy songs on the CD that discuss specific artists and give facts about their artwork and their lives.

I will keep a running list of the artists and link to them as we go along.

1. Jackson Pollock
2. Pablo Picasso
3. David Hockney
4. Grandma Moses
5. Alexander Calder
6. Georgia O’Keeffe
7. Paul Klee
8. Romare Bearden
9. Henri Matisse
10. Claude Monet

________________________________________________________________

 Jackson Pollock 

“On the floor I am more at ease. I feel nearer, more part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting.”

Picture Books:

You Tube Videos:

This video clip was taken from a 1950′s documentary.  The quality isn’t great but you can hear (slightly monotonous) quotes from Pollock about his unique style of art.

This following video held my girls’ attention better than the previous one.  No talking- just music and scenes of action art in the works.  The only downside to this video is that it shows a few still images of Pollock at the opening but the remainder of the clip shows scenes from the 2000 movie starring Ed Harris.

Art Activity:

Head outside on a beautiful day.  Throw a large tarp or garbage bag on the grass, place a large canvas or sheet of easel paper in the middle, and equip your children with an assortment of tools (paintbrushes, utensils, sticks)  and let your children splatter, drizzle, drip, and flick paint (WASHABLE!) to their heart’s content.  (If needed, you can turn this into an indoor activity by lining the bottom of a shoe box with paper, squirting in a few drops of colorful paint, and allow your kids to roll marbles back and forth.)

And as with all the art activities, be sure to blare the artist’s song from your CD for further inspiration.

 _______________________________________________________________

Next up?  Picasso, that’s who!

Yes, the Super Moon does seem to get over-hyped but that doesn’t mean we don’t mark the occasion.  Here’s our pics from last year.

This year Howard had to work late, so we had a moon party over at Nanny and Grandpa’s house.

Homeschooling friends beware- New resource about to be shared that you’re going to want to get.  

I was given the opportunity to review a new children’s music CD by the artist Hope Harris.  I wasn’t familiar with this artist at first but was immediately intrigued by this teaser-

“The album takes kids and families through a tuneful celebration of 19^th and 20^th century visual artists, offering musical mini-lessons in art appreciation and encouraging listeners to pick up a brush or a crayon and try creating art!”

Be still my homeschooling heart!  Or more accurately, my homeschooling-heart-who-suffers-pangs-of-guilt-because-art-constantly-get-pushed-to-the-backburner.  I didn’t want to get too excited.  Maybe it wouldn’t be what I was thinking… but from that little snippet of information I automatically connected it to the Beethoven’s Wig series by Richard Perlmutter.  You may recalled I reviewed his series of entertaining and educational songs about classical composers earlier this year.  It sparked a huge interest in classical music in myself and my girls and gave us a spine for a unit study on composers. (FYI- I will be posting my lesson plan for that unit study soon!  So many posts … so little time.)

Could Hope Harris’ CD do for art what Beethoven’s Wig did for classical music?  Can it teach us facts about artists and their work?  Can it do so and still be entertaining?

YES, YES, and YES!  Hope Harris’ CD is a musical art appreciation course for young children that’s guaranteed to get their toes tapping and artistic juices flowing.  How can anyone hear “A-C-T-I-O-N Jackson” and not want to fling paint upon a canvas?!  (Check out Hope Harris’ site to preview her Pollock and Picasso song here.)

Here are the artists covered on this CD.

1. Jackson Pollock
2. Pablo Picasso
3. David Hockney
4. Grandma Moses
5. Alexander Calder
6. Georgia O’Keeffe
7. Paul Klee
8. Romare Bearden
9. Henri Matisse
10. Claude Monet

The songs are not just educational but very catchy.  On occasion, I’ve been known to belt out a verse or two without any prompting; and I now know more about these artists than I ever did before.  (Admittedly, that wasn’t very hard since art was never really my thing.)  But maybe that shows the power of this CD all the more because it did get me interested-

-So interested in fact that I decided to utilize this CD and create an impromptu unit study with it.  We could spend time on each artist, focus on the song, discuss the lyrics and history behind it, get some corresponding books from the library, add in some related online videos, and end the week with our own art activity inspired by the artist.  And then, after we complete all ten artists we can tie everything together with a trip to the local art museum where we can discuss works of art and the techniques we recognize.  (And I imagine I don’t need to clarify which CD we’ll be listening to on the car-ride there…)

And- I’ll chart our progress with you!  I’ll post about our time with each artist and list the resources and websites we utilize in the hopes of motivating you to get artsy with your kids.  Keep your eye out for my first artist post next week.

I warned you that you’d want to get this CD, didn’t I?  The bad news is that the CD is not set to be released until May 22, 2012.  But, the good news is that one lucky reader will WIN Picasso, That’s Who, and so can you!

Oh I just LOVE giveaways!!  Enter the Rafflecopter widget below and enter for your chance to win.  Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Unabashed plea-  I hope (fervently) that Miss Harris continues to create more songs about artists and sculptors from different periods of time.  How I would love to acquire a set and be able to playfully and joyfully introduce artists like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Rodin, Dali . . . oh! the possibilities!