Footprints on the Fridge

Backyard Water Park: A Photoessay

Mudpie Masterpiece

Gabriel, our resident artist, takes mudpie creations to a whole new level.  This child's creative vision near gets boring.

Nature and Art: The Glory of Spring

With Spring full upon us here and the knowledge that in a few short weeks we will begin to complain about the heat, I am trying very hard to immerse us in as much nature study and outdoor time as possible.  Last month, inspiration struck and I decided on a whim to create a display about birds on the nature table.  Then, a picture book about John James Audubon caught my eye at the library and I decided to make him the artist of the month and tie our art study into out nature study.  It was a lovely and inspirational whim. It led us on a field trip to these gardens to gaze at the snowy egrets, and will culminate in a trip this zoo this weekend, where we will celebrate the ninth birthday of our very own artistically inclined nature lover.  Since this little rabbit trail began, he has been drawing birds with great detail and passion and declaring to everyone that he wants to be the next John James Audubon. 

Here is our John James Audubon Book List:

The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon

Into the Woods: John James Audubon Lives His Dream

Audubon: Painter of Birds in the Wild Frontier

For Picture Study:

John James Audubon: American Birds

There are plenty of great books for studying birds to add to your nature table.  I just pulled from our shelves and from the library shelf and left them there for the kids to peek through as they liked.

This little rabbit trail played itself out so nicely, that I have made my library requests and this month the nature table will be full with picture books about artist Georgia O'Keefe and nature books about wildflowers. 

Here is our Georgia O'Keeffe book list:

Through Georgia's Eyes

Georgia Rises: A day in the Life of Georgia O'Keeffe

My Name is Georgia

Georgia's Bones

For Picture Study:

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Collections

I hope we can enhance this study with a field trip to this lovely spot which will be lush with azalea blossoms and wisteria vine this month.  Again, flower study will be a random splash of books from our stash and the library's shelves. 

I hope you all are getting out and about into the world this spring.  Do let us know where spring's glory takes you!

Watercoloring the Seasons

 Magnolias in May by Mom

I love to watercolor with the kids.  Every time we make it happen, the results are beautiful and satisfying.  I used to be able to let the "art mood" just strike and when it did, I'd put everything aside and immerse us in the moment.  It happened regularly enough that art got its due attention in this house.  But with a growing group of children in this house, a wider variation in age ranges, and a baby on the way, I have found myself less and less able to let the art mood just strike when it will.  I think about it, then am reluctant to give up the chore time, or want to wait until little ones are napping and then am too tired myself, or open the supply cabinet and all my energy wanes at the thought of breaking everything out and then putting it all away again.

I'm disappointed in myself for feeling this way.  I've always been the mom to encourage creative exploration, no matter how messy.  I've always been willing to cast off the plan when the day demands we focus on beauty instead.  My family tends to have a lot of natural artistic ability and my kids show signs of the same tendencies.  I want them to express themselves artistically as much as possible.  Creativity is woven into much of our daily learning, with the focus we keep on main lesson book work, narration, and using lovely mediums to display what we are learning.  However, I  am recommiting myself to art for art's sake, as a way to connect with the beauty in the world around us and make a conscious effort to portray that beauty using the abilities God has given us. 

So I have planned a combined art and nature block for the next year in which we spend our Friday mornings watercoloring the seasons.  We'll focus on a particular subject each month, and each week vary the technique and colors we use to portray that topic.  My plan is to bind each child's work into a book of his own at the end of the year.  I think a placing this focus as part of our learning plans will help me stay more committed to it, and if the boys like it as I expect they will and come to expect it, they won't let me off the hook.  And even if we skip a week here and there, they'll still produce a nice body of work to display in the end.

Magnolias in May by Quinn, 10

Here are my monthly plans (I'm listing them beginning in August, because that's how our school year rotation is planned, but I hope to start before then):

August: Sand and Seashells

1. Wet on Wet: Brown, Pink, Yellow
2. Creating Texture with Splatters
3. Sketching Shells
4. Painting Shells and Sand Background

September: Apples

1. Wet on Wet: Reds and Greens
2. Developing Dimension, Roundness
3. Still Life Sketching, bowl of apples
4. Still Life Painting

October: Fall Leaves

1. Wet on Wet: Yellows, Oranges, Reds
2. Creating Detail: Leaf Veins and Stems
3. Sketching Leaves Close-Up
4. Painting Leaves

November: Pumpkins and Gourds

1. Wet on Wet: Orange
2. Focus on Defining Detail with One Color
3. Sketching the Pumpkin Pile
4. Painting the Pumpkin Pile

December: Conifers and Evergreens

1. Wet on Wet: Greens and Browns
2. Creating Linear Shapes, needles and branches
3. Sketching the Trees at the Tree Farm
4. Painting Christmas Trees

Magnolias in May by Gabriel, 8

January: Winter Landscapes

1. Wet on Wet: Whites, Grays, Light Blue
2. Creating Depth with a Horizon Line
3. Sketching the Woods in Winter
4. Painting the Woods in Winter

February: Night Sky

1. Wet on Wet: Black
2. Adding Elements Over a Background, stars and moon in the sky
3. Painting the Night Sky Background
4. Adding Stars and Moon

March: Birds and Feathers

1. Wet on Wet: Pastels
2. Realism:  Imitating Audubon
3. Birdwatching and Sketching
4. Painting a Bird

April: Grass and Insects

1. Wet on Wet: Greens and Yellows
2. Combining Sketching and Washes
3. Painting a Grass Background
4. Sketching and Painting Insects Over Background

May: Flowers

1. Wet on Wet: Bright Colors
2. Looking More Closely: Imitating O'Keefe
3. Sketching Detail of A Flower
4. Painting a Flower

Magnolia Tree by Brendan, 5

 

Little Bits of Beauty ~ Spring Nature

  The weather this week and a bathroom remodel project that left our homemaking and school routines in a shambles made finding and relishing our little bits of beauty a real necessity this week.  Luckily, our March nature basket contained just the thing to settle us down for a lovely morning and leave us with a sweet Spring reminder that is still making us smile.

We started Thursday morning with a nice stack of spring books to read, including this one from one of my favorite picture book collections.  We moved on to a little research about birds, their eggs, and their nests, then enjoyed a sweet craft and sweet lunch time snack.

I bought those four sweet bird statues for our nature display at the dollar store a while back.  We've already learned their names, a bit about each species, and the likelihood of spotting them in our neck of the woods.  It seemed natural for the boys to each choose one bird to make a nest for.  We researched together what their eggs would look like and then the boys set about filling the nests with some rafia and roving to make them a little more comfy.  They then painted their eggs, added them to the nest, and painted a baby bird as well.

Here are the finished products:

Brendan's cardinal and nest.

Quinn's goldfinch and nest.

  Evan's robin and nest.

Gabriel's blue jay and nest.  His brothers were really impressed with how realistic his looked.

At lunch,we enjoyed a little bird's nest treat for dessert--Little Debbie Star Crunch pressed in the middle holding a clutch of Cadbury Mini-Eggs:

This little bit of beauty in a drab week left us all smiles.

      

       

And our sweet Kolbe?  Napped through the whole thing!

A Fresh Perspective for the Learning Room

A few weeks ago, Elizabeth and I were both feeling the need to get re-inspired in our learning rooms.  We were thrilled with the history trails we had mapped out at Serendipity , and were both clicking along quite nicely through them.  But we had both been in survival mode for too long--she since her weeks on bed rest and Sarah's birth and I since the early stages of this pregnancy--and were ready for a fresh approach.  We were both ready to take the good we already had and enrich it with a bit of beauty, and make our learning environments full of productive activity for all the age ranges our families represent. 

We made a deal that I would come up with a plan for our Native American unit  at Serendipity that would give it the artsy, warm feel we were both missing and she would scour her Montessori resources and this awesome blog for ideas on making our learning rooms a little bit richer.  Of course, in our collaboration, the lines blurred and we both brainstormed and worked through both plans.  We e-mailed and talked and within a week, I was at Michael's, list in hand, gathering main lesson book and activity materials for a beautiful Native American unit and head full of ideas for engaging activities for my little ones.  I wanted to get started that afternoon.  However, I took one look at my house and saw that the disorder in which it lay would be a total drain to the creative feel I wanted to instill anew.  So for the past two days, I've left my boys to the joys of backyard bug hunting  and imaginative play while I picked up, moved around, dusted, and mopped all sorts of surfaces in my house.  Then I spent last evening readying the learning room.  I'm thrilled with the results and think the boys are too since they've been exploring baskets and gathering around the table since about 7:15 this morning.

My goal was to create a system where I could think through all the types of activities I wanted to offer my kids on a regular basis and streamline the planning and gathering of materials to a once-a-month planning block.  Elizabeth, inspired by this concept , explored a bit further and found this idea , which seemed a perfect fit for what I was trying to accomplish.  I could easily tweak it to suit my needs.  My other stipulation was that this had to be a use-what-you-have project as there was just no room in the budget for a new piece of furniture or a fresh batch of baskets.  Luckily, I had just the thing hanging out in the playroom that I could reclaim.  So yesterday, we brought this lovely piece down and got our baskets ready for filling:

The three baskets sitting on top are each of the school-aged boys' book baskets.  They contain their assignment planners and core subject books.  The baskets in the shelf contain materials for a wide variety of hands-on learning.  Of course, I was thrilled to find note cards and ribbon in the $1 bin at Michael's that just happened to match the darling file folders, binder and journal that recently replaced the plain Jane ones on my desk:

And here's the purpose of all those baskets--

Faith and Living the Liturgy:  Since today's feast of the Annunciation is the last we'll celebrate this month, that basket sits empty, waiting for its April refill, with activities to celebrate Holy Week, Easter, Mercy Sunday, and the feasts of Sts. Catherine of Siena and Louis de Montfort.  We'll also remind ourselves next month that we are still celebrating the Pauline year.

Seasons and Nature:  Today we'll finish up our last March nature activity with a Spring Scavenger hunt in the backyard and a learning block and tea time focused on bird's nests and egg identification.   The materials for all the days activities have been loaded into the basket.

Thinking Challenges: This basket will be loaded with materials to complete the challenge ideas from this great blog .  In addition, there will be a few writing prompts and some math drill ideas.  This basket is mainly for the older boys use.

Unit Study and Main Lesson Book Supplies:  This basket is being filled for our Native American main lesson books and activities from More Than Moccasins .  Right now it contains new sketch books and fresh colored pencils, as well as D is for Drum, which will serve as the spine of our unit.  We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our copy of More than Moccasins so we can add the supplies for those activities as well.

Little Ones Unit Study Activities:  This basket contains activities for the little ones that tie in to whatever we are studying.  Right now, there is a small basket full of Native American, Wild West and horse figures for play and a bag full of feathers, beads, leather scraps and other items for the little guys to make Modge Podge Native American collages while the older boys are working main lesson book pages.

 

Basic Skills Work:  The initial tag I penned for this basket was titled "Kindergarten Work."  Its primary purpose was to hold hands-on activities for Brendan, my current kindergartner.  However, I wanted to make sure Gabriel also had some access to those manipulatives to reinforce his core subject work and I knew he would bristle at his work being in the kindergarten basket, thus the name change.  Current activities in this basket include an alphabet matching activity:

A fine motor and sorting activity in which a collection of stamps is placed in the individual compartments of an embroidery floss tray using tweezers.  Once this practice is mastered, the stamps can be placed according to style--flags in one row, flowers in another, etc...An older child can sort by price, using coins to match the amount, or create patterns.  It tried to brainstorm three or four extensions for each activity so it would hold interest over the course of a month.  I'm sure it'll take some testing and tweaking to get it just right.

 

Lastly, there is an activity to reinforce the mathematical concept of number bonds.  This small box contains some number cards and beans.  The bottom of the box is divided in half with a paint pen.  A number card is placed in the top half of the box and the beans are divided into two groups that add up to that number.  The goal is to make as many combinations as possible. 

 

Little Ones Creative Exploration Basket:  This basket will contain basic preschool fun.  Right now, it is stocked with a tray for clay play, molds and cutters, and some leftover Valentine toothpick flags for sticking.  As you can see, the little guys are enjoying it:

 

Little Ones Helping Hands Basket:  This is my own take on Montessori practical life skills and other habit and life skills I would like the younger crowd to work on.  Right now this basket is stuffed with a bunch of cloth diapers for our wee one.  They can be stuffed with inserts, folded, and snapped for motor skill activity.  It also provides a way for my little ones to bond with and share in the joy of expecting their new baby brother.  When the diapers lose their appeal, their are Easter shirts to be buttoned, dress shoes to be tied, and pool bags to be zipped, and sandals to be buckled--all hinting at important events in the coming month.

 

Little Ones Work Trays:  This basket includes some specific Montessori activities that can be adapted across a variety of my kids ages.  I am adapting from Barbara Curtis' books , Montessori for Everyone and the blog linked earlier, as well as the wealth of ideas in this archive .  The first activity in the basket now involves placing gem stones into each square made by the pegs of our geoboard.  Little ones can later be encouraged to line the gems up by color, to count gems, and make simple patterns and form shapes.  Older kids can make more complex patterns and even try pictures.  You could also set up a multiplication problem and encourage them to map it out this way.

The other activity in this basket involves using a spoon to plant "seeds" (small wooden balls) in small terra cotta pots, then using a scoop to bury them (in grains of rice).  Later, I'll add a handful of grains that are dyed green to represent weeds, which can be plucked from the pots with tweezers.  Other extensions include placing stickers on the seeds and pots so it becomes a matching task, inviting the child to see how many seeds will fit in a pot without spilling, and flipping the pots over to play "find the seed".  The skills learned this month will be used with real wild flower seeds and soil next month.

The last little change in the room was that I set up this small corner table with slate boards and chalk, wipe erase board and markers for a focus on letter formation this month.  In the little drawer is our wooden US map puzzle, which is a great activity for the younger crowd while the olders are doing map work in their main lesson book for this unit.  I hope to rotate the focus of this area a few months at a time.

 

Well, there it is, a renewed, refreshed, enriched learning environment that I hope will keep us inspired in the weeks until we welcome our wee one, and give us the motivation to jump back in after he arrives.  I hope you too are finding a fresh outlook for learning this spring!

 

 

Little Bits of Beauty ~ Valentine's Weekend Edition

I am deeply committed to improving in my skill as a homemaker and in enjoying the satisfaction and creative outlet the domestic arts provide.  However, I must admit, that my state in life slows my progress in this area down to baby steps.  Every day is a lesson in humility as I accomplish less than I desire and then watch a good portion of what I have accomplished unravel.  I find great inspiration in home-y country magazines and blogs, but they can also make me frustrated because half of the beautiful things I see there just won't work in my home.  Not now, anyway.  Of the half that are do-able, I might find time, energy, and budget money for a rare few.  Occasionally, I'm ashamed to say, I that might make me sulky.

But most days, I am reminded by the simple joys and pleasures of my family life that the beauty is in the details.  It is an art to recognize the opportunity to make one moment of each day a little lovelier with a creative touch.  It is satisfying to find  one small item at the bargain store that will bring not only order but beauty to some small aspect of your family's life.  Homemaking is about making the little things count...the tea cups that adorn the table are lovely even if the laundry pile isn't.  The single antique copy of Shakespeare's complete works is a nice touch even if it isn't accompanied by a whole shelf full of such beauties.  And the simple pleasures of joyful days are the blessings that MAKE a HOME--that is the goal of homemaking, is it not?

And so I have decided that every so often I'll spend some time intentionally recognizing the little bits of beauty I have been able to bring to our home, instead of lamenting all the lovely things I don't have, haven't done, or have lost to little fingers and horse play.  It'll inspire me to keep working at the art of domesticity, and I'll have a record so that in those details, traditions can born, comforts can be recreated, memories can be ingrained on the hearts of those I love and live to serve.  In those little bits of beauty, I hope to be reminded of my true pursuit, a home where hearts and minds are touched by the beauty in the details, the blessings of the ordinary, the hand of the Creator at work, the depth and detail with which the Heavenly Provider knows the desires of their hearts. 

Bits of Valentine's Beauty:

The latest addition to my apron collection from Boojiboo.  You must get yourself one of these delicious treats.  The choices are endless, quality amazing, and service flawless.  

 A new valance for the window over my kitchen sink.  It's a set of kitchen towels I scooped up at Tuesday Morning this week for $3.00!  They're just draped over a tension rod.

The boys and I made these origami heart baskets on Friday afternoon, and then I sent them outside to pick fresh camelias from the bush in our yard to fill them with.  They adorned the pegs of our kitchen shelves for the weekend and were just adorable.  Please excuse the smudgy pics...toddler fingers and camera lenses don't mix!

  

I made bigger versions of the same paper hearts to fill with Valentine's treats.  They hung from the chandelier over the table at breakfast.  (HT:  Charlotte)

Here's the whole table, and the little loves I did it all for:

 And that afternoon, we made (and munched) a tray full of those Valentine's Buttons  everyone  has been  enjoying so much: 

   

It was a lovely weekend, and there was so much to enjoy in the details! 

Cave Art from Cave Boys

Today we finally got around to the "A is for Art" lesson from Serendipity.  The hurricanes have us way behind in our Fine Arts plans, but we've managed to get to a good bit of poetry and music, it was just art that I couldn't quite pull together.

Anyway, today we learned about cave art and spent a good bit of time taking the virtual tour of Lascaux and then went outside to create a bit of cave art ourselves.  We crumpled up the paper so it would have some texture to it, like cave walls, and hung from the backyard fence, so it would be like painting on a wall.  We gathered up items to paint with, like sticks, rocks, and leaves, and crushed oil pastels with a rock to make paint.

Note the caveman-like dress code was in fashion for the day long before we began the art lesson.

And the finished products on display in the learning room:

Patriotic Punched Tin Craft

We had a down day today.  Quinn is sick, Gabe had a dentist appointment and Greg needed my help with some things.  But Gabriel and I did manage to squeze in a fun craft I had planned for President's Day.  We made "punched tin" designs with a folk art feel and Americana theme.  They came out so cute that I think I'll put them in frames and find a spot for them.

I sketched out a simple design on plain white paper.

Then we glued aluminum foil to a cardboard backing using a glue stick.  We placed or design on top, taped them down, and used a ball point pen to punch holes all the way arond the design.  We removed the design page and had our punched tin plaque.  We rubbed them with a bit of red paint to complete the look.

This was a fun, simple craft that the kids could do with almost no help from me and the end result was worth keeping.  Give it a try.

Hi Ho! Hi Ho!

It's off to work they go! The gnomes are back to mining some math fun over at Serendipidity and this time, the littlest members of the family are invited to play along.   Go see what happens when Elizabeth figures out how to make the swirl of ideas running around in my head make sense!