Peacocks

OK, so this really was not a school project. We saw peacocks at the park the other day and well, we had to go to the library and get a couple of books on peacocks and read about them. No formal study, but just a bit of knowledge. I guess that is the life of a homeschooler, always trying to learn something new from just walking through life! Vincent's is on the left with the big black eyes.

Easter: Jesus' Donkey

Here was a cute craft we did for my Moms group for Easter. We told the story of Jesus riding in on a donkey that had never been ridden. And then we made this cute little donkey. The kids loved it.

12 Tribes of Israel

Here was a very cute project that we did to help us remember the 12 tribes of Israel. Each tribe is broken down by their mom.

Canopic Jars

As we are putting our Egyptian lapbook together I am revisiting some of the things we have learned over this year and thought we should do a few projects to remind us of what these things are. So here are the canopic jars the kids made. Raquel's is the darker picture. they did a great job. They are small. About the size of a quarter around and about 2 inches tall. I did not have enough clay to make an actual sized one. LOL!

What we see around us

Our art project today was to draw a picture of what is around you. I chose for Raquel to draw the backyard since this could be a bit easier for her. I let Vincent draw one too, but I told him he had to draw a picture of our Office/Schoolroom/Craft room. Here are the two pictures he drew. By the way...No help from me at all! For those of you who have been to our home...This is the wall with the window that looks out to the front yard. Pretty detailed?!?!?!

Well we learned about Samson and his hair today. So I thought it would be cute if he could make a Samson out of clay holding up a building. He did, but it turned out to look more like a car. Anyhow, it is what he wants it to be. Samson trying to hold a crumbling building after his hair was cut.

Egyptian Jewelry

These are the cutest things we made. The kids loved them. We took a picture of a typical neclace and colored it with bright colors. That night we made a typical Jewish/Egyptian dinner for our family while we wore our necklaces. Was a fun craft.

Paper Lanterns

Today we had fun learning how to manipulate paper. We made these really cute paper lanterns. Raquel's is purple, Vincent's is Red and mine is the brown one.

OK, I have to say this was one of my favorite projects. Paper flowers. The colored these flowers and leaves however they wanted to and then cut them out. i had to help Raquel a bit with the cutting on this one. Then they had to crease them to make them stand up off the page as well as arrange them in a pleasing arrangement. Great project and as you can see they turned out really cute!

Snowman Mints

What a fun project. Raquel, Vincent, Dad and Mom all sat down and made snowmen mints. As you can see we went a bit farther then just snowmen. And Anthony had to be funny and made a snowman who peed his name in the snow. Much too funny and fun!

Paper Crafting

These are so cute. Raquel made a family of cats with a little of her own special artistry on the rug the cats are sitting on. Vincent of course went all out and added food bowls with food in them and a owner to his dogs.

Christmas Gifts 2008

We are having a very slim Christmas this year so the kids are making all the gifts for our family. here are a couple of them.

Puppets

I had to do a review on a company called Puppet Tools. So to be able to see what puppets are all about we made several puppets for our homeschool. We have the lobster for math, Einstein for science, fox for English, beaver for spelling, cat for Raquel, Zebra for art. Both Vincent and Raquel love the puppets.

Clock Theme Study

So Vincent wanted to find out about clocks and how they work. Well, this was something I could not find a theme study already made out there in cyber space. Well, like any good homeschooling mom would do...I spent weeks looking, researching and finding all the information I could on clocks and then put it all together in a theme study. I really should sell it cause it is pretty good! Then we found this old clock of my moms and we tore it apart. We had so much fun on this theme study. Raquel joined in with us, but I really don't think she got much out of it. She was more interested in taking the clock apart.

Pharaoh Menes and the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt

Since we are on Egypt we learned about the first Pharaoh in Egypt. Pharaoh Menes. Now Vincent had the two crowns to unify Egypt too.

We are using Veritas Press Old Testament and Ancient Egypt.

Upper and Lower Egypt's Map

We are finally studying Egypt. Vincent has been looking so forward to doing this study. The first thing we need to learn is where Egypt is and the main place in Upper and Lower Egypt. These photos do not show the labels we ended up making for it. I have to admit...I made the Sphinx and Vincent made the pyramids.

We are using Veritas Press Old Testament and Ancient Egypt curriculum.

Tree of Life Art Project

This art project I think was a great one for Vincent. It continued the theme of shading, but allowed him to create a tree from the letter Y and he could only use yellow, red and blue to make his picture. Turned out pretty good if you ask me.

We are using Spears Art Studio K-8 Christian Art curriculum.

Noah's Ark

We learned all about Noah's Ark and how he was able to fit all those animals on the ark (babies in some cases) and then...we built an ark. OK I did the roof. Bad job!!!! But Vincent did the rest including the paint job. Never thought Noah would want a spotted roof for his ark!!!

We used Veritas Press Genesis through Joshua curriculum.

Pumpkim Full of Joy

I had to add Raquel's craft for Fall to this. Raquel's is the pumpkin that is stuffed and ties with jute. Vincent's pumpkin is full of bible verses that are all about joy. The whole thing was they both learned about shading and how it changes the look of your project.

We Used Spears Art Studio K-8 Art Curriculum.

Being an Example to Raquel

I have been thinking a lot about what example I have been setting for my younger sister.
Let me list a few things you need to watch to set a good example.

1. What you say... I can say a catchy phrase once, and she will pick it up. The family will be hearing it from her little mouth for months on end.

2. Your clothing... young minds can be incredibly influenced by the world. Look out your window while driving through the parking lot at the store and you will see what is influencing your younger siblings. Not very nice is it? Counter attack!

3. Watch your body actions... When your Mother tells you to wash the dishes it does not set a good example to roll your eyes, and mumble under your breath. They see that.

4. What you read, watch, and listen to. If your parents don't approve of something, don't do it!
That pretty much covers everything I think. I may be forgetting a few things.

My point is, by doing what is right you are not just making things easier for your parents, and everyone around you, but you are showing your younger siblings, that it's the cool thing to do. Hopefully, they will catch on!

Also something that would be really good would be to have a good relationship with your younger sibling! You won't get them to want to do something if they can't stand the sight of you! So if you have trouble getting along with younger, or even older siblings. I challenge you to go do something kind for them today. Speak nicely to them, and keep doing it even if they don't answer the same way. It may take awhile, but if you work at it, you will succeed!

Author: Unknown

The Olympics Lapbook

With the up and coming Olympics, I had to jump at the chance to find out how the Olympics came about. So I did the research. Yea right...I bought a theme study on the subject. Anyhow, both Vincent, Raquel and I learned a lot about how these games came about.

We used all sorts of information off the web. Enchanted Learning as well as Lapbooks.com.

Days of Creation

This was the start to learning the Bible. We started in Genesis with the Beginning. Both Vincent (on the left) and Raquel (on the right) enjoyed this project. Vincent drew his own pictures on each circle for each day of the creation while Raquel colored pictures I had printed out. Very cook and fun craft for remembering the creation.