Homeschooler Savvy

Mud pies - follow up

The real title of this post could possibly use the "streakers defence"  or "it seemed like a good idea at the time".  Encouraging your kid to play in the mud.  So here's the down side in full visual force for you.  Here's the other downside I discovered today.  The normally unused screen door lock had to be used today, but it was jammed up with mud from above mentioned learning experience (muddy hands turning the knob to get in).  Consequently we stood for 5 minutes in the VERY cold wind attempting to jam the key into the lock, past the mud, now turned to a powder very simliar to cement....

Whiteboards to entice children to math

There's something very enticing about writing on white boards with dry erase pens. If you write out a math problem on a piece of paper, the kids will NEVER try to take the pencil out of your hand to show you they know the answer.  HOWEVER, if you have written the problem on a white board, and showed the enjoyment of wiping out an error with your finger (in tantalizing slow motion), they will literally BEG to have a go. 

The downside is, they are not going to have 100% of their mind on the equations, but I suspect this is true much of the time, without the distraction of dry erase marker magic.  You can make math with a white board even more fun (oh, boy!) by having two dry erase pens and racing them with on the math problems (remember mum or dad - you have already graduated, give the kid a break of 30-60 seconds headstart!)

We used white boards to learn cursive writing (see teaching handwriting the Montessori way) and it captured their imagination then too.  If you go to Home Depot or Lowes or equivalent hardware stores you can buy white board in 8 foot by 6 foot size and get them to cut it up.  You can take this home and attach it to your walls - buy sufficient dry erase pens, and watch and laugh as your young children boast to their friends "We can draw on our walls...".  Note: Occasional dagger looks from other parents as they visualize their little babies taking home the writing on wall concept to their own unprotected walls.............

Aussie Kim

Valentines Day Craft - Cinnamon Apple ornaments

This is a simple, slightly messy but very aromatic craft that you could use for a Valentines Day craft with your kids.   The smell is divine, all cinnamon and appley - and the feel of it is really gooey - just what kids love.  Basically you make a type of clay from apple sauce and mega amounts of ground cinnamon. 

Here's the receipe: 1 cup of applesauce to 3/4 of a cup of cinnamon.  Make a dough.  Too mushy -  add more cinnamon; too dry - add more applesauce.

When it gets the right consistency, you make shapes either with a cookie cutter, your fingers or for older kids a knife.  They take about 2-3 days to dry depending on thickness.  You could probably speed this process up by baking the shapes as if they were cookies.  If you make a hole in the shape you can add ribbons and hang the ornament.  Of course the shape of choice for Valentines Day will be .... the heart!  Originally, this craft was done by a friend of mine for our kids to make Christmas ornaments - so you can also store this idea away for that! 

Trust us, the kids will only try to eat this dough once, it is WAY too cinnamony for normal children to eat more than one taste.

We used a bowl to mix the ingredients in and wax paper to roll the dough out on wtih a rolling pin.  If you make a hole (about pencil size) about half an inch (1.5cm) in from the edge it should be strong enough to put a ribbon through to hang.   

 

If you feel like the ornament is too plain, you could always glue things onto it.  If you want the ornament to smell even more, allspice, nutmeg and cloves could be added.  Thanks to Bobbie for this craft! 

Wishing you an aromatic Valentines Day!

Mud Pies - what's the point?

With temperatures around the 75F mark (22C) for the middle of winter, we were not going to sit inside all day doing school.  OK, we were not going to sit inside very much at all - at least until the Severe Thunderstorm Warning (hail and 45mph winds) and the Tornado Warning went off.  At that stage, school inside looked like a good idea.  But until then, Mud Pies were the obvious activity of choice for outside.  Plenty of water from previous rains, large mud patch which the dogs had dug around a tree, and temperatures warm enough for light clothing and barefeet.

Mud Pies are a wonderful activity on many levels.  Those new to homeschooling with young kids should take note.  Mud Pie "work" strengthens the muscles in the fingers they write with and improves their dexterity. It allows for uninterupted (stay away from them!) play - this improves their ability to focus. 

Ever seen a child in "The Flow"?  Watch one (from a distance) playing with mud or sand.  "The Flow" is when you go into a time warp, your mind is on your activity and is not cluttered up with running through the "to do" lists.  (Remember how that used to be?) 

If Mud Pies are made with friends, then this often helps them role play social situations ("Would you like some tea with that mud?").

What better introduction to pottery or other three dimensional media?  The science of Mud Pies, you learn that if you add dry dirt to wet mud, your creation becomes firmer (Chemistry).  

What happens if you throw a mud pie that is sloppy?  Is it easy to catch (Physics)? 

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.  There's more benefit in letting your kid play outside in the mud than just a quiet house.  But the main reason I think Mud Pies are a must as part of a childhood is simply because it is fun.

Almost forgot!  Mud is another VERY cheap art material....

Note: The boy version of Mud Pies is Mud Bombs.

Aussie Kim

Recipes for play dough and more - cheap art materials

In the unending search for cheap art materials variations in art media, I came across an amazing public list of recipes and here they are in full my dedicated readers!

Magic Crystal Paint

Bring two cups of water and two cups of Epsom salt to a boil. Stir. Let mixture cool. Add food coloring. Use paintbrush and paint on a white sheet of construction paper. When paint dries, colored crystals appear.

Jell-O Paint

For each desired color, mix 1/4 c. water, 3/4 c. glue, and a flavor of Jell-O. (Use enough Jell-O to achieve desired color) Paint a picture on construction paper. Allow paint 2 days to dry. Your picture will also have a wonderful scent and texture!

Shiny Paint

Mix 1 part white glue with 1 part tempera paint. Apply with a paintbrush. Picture will dry with a "wet" look.

Glitter Paint

Mix corn syrup, food coloring, and glitter. Paint on construction paper. Let dry for several days. Drawing will appear glittery and transparent.

Milk Paint

For a creamy "pastel" look, pour evaporated milk into containers. Add food coloring until desired color is reached. Use paintbrush to apply.

Egg Paint

This recipe is great to use on slick surfaces, like glass, aluminum foil, or freezer paper. Mix a little egg yolk, dry detergent, and food coloring. Paint will stick easily.

Salt Paint

For an "icy" touch to wintery pictures, mix 2 t. salt, 1 t. liquid starch, and a few drops tempera paint. Apply with paint brush.

Watercolor Cakes

Mix 1T. white vinegar and 1T. baking soda. Mixture will be fuzzy. When fizzing stops, add 1T. cornstarch and 1/2 t. corn syrup. Mixture will become thick and cakelike. Fill small plastic bottle lids adding some food coloring to each lid. Make colors as dark or

light as desired. You can use the watercolors right away, if desired. If they dry, simply wet the paintbrush thoroughly and swirl it in the lid.

Peanut Butter Dough

Mix 3 1/2 c. peanut butter, 4 c. powdered sugar, 3 1/2 c. corn syrup or honey, 4 c. powdered milk. (This dough is edible, so be sure hands are washed before mixing). Mold

and shape dough on waxed paper. Sculpt your creation and decorate with raisins or chocolate chips. Then eat them up! Dough can be stored in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Coffee Dough

Mix 1 c. flour, 1/2 c. salt, 1 c. used coffee grounds, and 1/2 c. cold coffee. Knead mixture on floured surface. After sculpting, allow creation to air dry. Store clay in a plastic bag.

Play Dough

Mix 1 c. flour, 1/2 c. salt, and 2 t. cream of tartar. Add 1 c. water, 1 t. vegetable oil, and food coloring. Cook in heavy skillet for about 3 minutes, stirring often. Knead dough until it becomes soft and smooth. Store dough in butter or icing tubs.

Salt & Flour Dough

Mix 2 parts salt and 1 part flour. Add water until mixture becomes doughy. Food coloring may be added to dough. This is a good recipe for beads. Shape the dough into a bead, making a hole through the center with a toothpick. Allow to air dry.

Putty

Mix 2 parts white Elmer's and 1 part liquid starch. Add food coloring if desired. Let mixture air dry. This putty bounces, stretches, and lifts pictures from newsprint. Store in an airtight container.

No-Cook Dough

Mix 2 c. flour, 1 c. salt, water, food coloring, and 2 T.oil. (You may leave out the oil if you want your art to harden)

Colored Glue

Add food coloring to white glue. Mix well. Use this mixture to outline parts of your drawing or in place of some paint.

Papier-Mache'

Mix together 1 box Knox gelatin , 3 ounces white glue, and 2 ounces water until smooth. Wet tissue paper or paper towel strips thoroughly with mixture. Place strips

over your mold until you have covered it as thickly as you want. Or... Mix equal parts of liquid starch and cold water. Dip newspaper strips in mixture and apply.

If I had another kid to start all over with...

here is what I would use for a child who had just started to read, - in public schools this is traditionally around grade 1.

1. Reading: Sonlight Curriculum books "I Can Read It!" books This is a good place to start if you think your kids need more practice reading three letter words.  It is repetitive and funny for the kids, (read: painful for the parents) and they seem to love it.  Once they are through these books, they are ready for the Pathway Readers.

2. Reading: Pathway readers are by far the best next stage for kids that can read three letter words that I have seen.  (Imagine stories about kids who do not watch TV or play electronic games!) Just work through the books with the kids at THEIR speed. This means not making them sit there for longer than they can manage.  This may also mean in the beginning not doing more than 10 minutes a day - trust your instincts about how far the child WANTS to go.

3. Reading: "Explode the code" books 1,2,3.  These match perfectly with the "I Can Read It" books. One or two pages per day is plenty.

4. Reading/Vocabulary/History/Geography: Listening to good books, it is hard to go past the selection that Sonlight Curriculum provides for Grade 1 books for you to read to your child.  I only had trouble keeping their attention with "The Child's History of the World". At this age I suggest if it doesn't hold their attention, become a dramatic reader or move on to something else.  Geography puzzles are useful (USA and WORLD puzzles).  Geography games are fantastic.  You don't really need a curriculum for this stuff, just lots of great age appropriate books and games.

5. Math: "Singapore Math" If you started them off with Singapore Math for kindergarden or Montessori Math, then they just slide right on into the grade 1 math books.  The pages are still very kid friendly, and word problems are an integral part of the books.  If you didn't start them with Singapore Math, get them to take a placement test and if they can manage it, I would start them on this math curriculum.  I initially supplemented my math with a lot of Montessori Materials - these materials are amazing for simplifying the explanation of any mathematical concepts. We would play with these materials too.  I highly recommend the materials (beads and cards) which help explain the decimal system (counting in 10s). 

6. Science: daily nature walks, or weekly visits to zoos, arboretums and parks.  Introduce nature journaling if possible (keep it fun), collect fallen leaves and insects.  Learn how to press flowers and leaves, and go buy some insect pins and some Styrofoam and learn how to pin insects.  Get some great science books and just browse them.  Sonlight curriculum has some great picture books for this level and the next.  I would buy some of those "Why is the sky blue" type question and answer books, and use it regularly.  Explain the use of binoculars, look at the stars and moon with them.  Schedule a weekly or daily time for this (great for a "break" activity).

7. Art: Unlimited access to paper, pens, crayons and stickers; frequent supervised fun with paint, glitter, glue etc.  ONLY observational comments or reflective statements, eg. "I see you made the moon green!" OR "It looks like you put a lot of work into those clouds!" OR "What do you like the best?".  Don't turn them into praise junkies when it comes to art!  Pencil work helps strengthen their fingers for handwriting skills - the more the better.  CORRECT their pencil holding EARLY, or it will be a lot tougher later.

8. Practical Life Skills - as described by the Montessori Method- includes kid sized broom, mop, bucket, (they LOVE to help at this age, just accept any offers of help - no criticism!); spooning beans, rice (fine motor control, handwriting skills), etc etc. (See the post below for recommended books on this).

This is what worked best for me at that age for the essentials! Try and make sure that school at this age is FUN, relaxing and interesting. Remember you are laying the groundwork for the rest of your communal homeschooling life! 

We would be interested in hearing other "If I could do it over for my new reader or 1st grader".

Aussie Kim