Ted Harrison Art

I have decided to resume our study of artists.  We started a project on Ted Harrison mostly because he’s originally from England but his art is all about the Yukon in Canada; a nice joining of cultures, like our family. 

Lady P loves art so she always enjoys learning about artists and mimicking their work. We watched a YouTube video that took her through the process. I paused it so she could catch up and then resumed.  

We have also started a new routine of writing a daily scripture every morning with the date. I copy the scripture in yellow for cheeky girl to copy and Lady P writes it herself.  We help her find the scripture in the Bible then she copies it out. She feels grown up because she’s finding it in the Bible.  Also, we help her to read it and discuss it. She draws a picture to help her understanding of the text. This incorporates a lot of different skills and topics. Art, bible study, reading, writing and maths (finding scriptures requires her to understand number order). 

Unfortunately, both girls have a severe case of chicken pox so our homeschooling may include many films this week depending on how they feel! We’ve just acquired a massive supply of Barbie films which I find tedious but they love! 

Sewing P

Lady P has been asking to sew for a while now so I finally decided to teach her a bit on the sewing machine.  I helped her cut out fabric to make a pillow then she sewed the sides herself and turned the fabric right side out.  She stuffed her pillow then hand sewed the opening closed.  She was so proud of herself and always sleeps with her little pillow. 

The next week, we made a little dress for her doll.  Because it was so small, she hand sewed the sides and I helped her with the fiddly bits.  I think I have a creative little girl!  She loves creating! 

Beach, O’Keeffe and Other Things…

The last few days have been extremely busy!  On Sunday nights, I create a plan for the week.  I have found that this has worked the best for our routine.  Then, I try to cover most of it throughout the week.  Some things happen on different days than the plan but it doesn’t matter.

On Monday we went to the park again and Lady P went on the BMX track with her bike.  Nobody was there so it was great.  I ended up running around with her so I guess it was a work out for me! Bonus!

As usual, she did her maths and English work, we read, did crafts and played in the garden.  She also goes to swimming lessons.
On Tuesday, we had a ridiculously long and busy day!  The kids went to the beach with daddy while I was at work.  They created beach art and attempted to write ‘at words in the sand.  Lady P couldn’t understand that she had to hold the stick different from a pencil so she kept getting frustrated.
Later she had gymnastics and did work in between all our comings and goings.  

Today we were looking after our little friend again. Lady P did an amazing water colour of a Georgia O’Keeffe close-up of a flower. 

She is loving all things art related! She also did her reading lesson and maths lesson and we continued reading the BFG.  Phew! I’m exhausted!

Post bundle

I’m very behind in my posts so I’m going to just post the pictures of the last few weeks of our home ed days! 

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
   

What did we do?

The first week I’m self-employed and home with my children has been incredibly busy but so worth it!  The kids have thrived and been really interested in learning!  I sent Cheeky Girl to nursery Monday and Tuesday but she wanted to stay home today.  I think she’s torn between going to nursery and being home!  She enjoys nursery but hates being the only one gone! 

Well I kept her home and she was wonderful!  I made sure I spent some 1-to-1 time with her and she wasn’t as challenging as she normally is! Three year olds are tough little dictators! 

So here is our week so far in pictures! 

 At the play place.  

Building her bead stair then practicing her teen numbers.

  Studying her sight words, learning about Henri Matisse and doing her own paper cut-out picture.  

Doing some extension work for the pink tower and brown stair, practicing numbers and counting by putting together a puzzle.

 Learning about Abigail and David in the Bible, practicing matching numbers to items and doing addition and subtraction problems.   

I discovered little Man is addicted to puzzles! He wants to take the pieces out and attempts to put them back.

 All this plus swimming, gymnastics, park visits, and seeing friends! It’s been a good first official week! 

Today

My husband and kids have all been ill the past few weeks and I’ve got it now!  I’m missing the new  Star Wars tonight because I get horrible coughing fits at inopportune moments! 

I was getting antsy and wanted to do some schooling today, even though I’m sick as a dog! We started with painting.  The girls painted trees with black tempera paint and when they dry, they will colour in the white spaces with oil pastels.

  Next, they made flowers using watery paint and blowing it with straws.  They love painting.  

After this, we did some number work.  Lady P did some adding and sorting in her workbooks and Cheeky Girl did some Montessori activities.  I’m quite impressed with her actually!  She knows more than I thought! She’s obviously been listening when I teach Lady P!  She can probably do algebra! 

  Later we are reading Hansel and Gretal and making a gingerbread house from scratch…our first one!  The collapse might be great!!!

Toucan Box- Quality Time. Delivered.

  

I ordered a free Toucan Box  promotional petite craft box for Lady P and I was a bit judgmental at first.  I thought it wasn’t very inspiring but was pleasantly surprised at how much my girls enjoyed the project.  They had to create an old pirate map and a parrot.  The small pack included everything I needed (including a teabag to make the map look old) and we did our project!  

Afterwards, Lady P wanted to continue with the fun so we made hooks for our hands (an extension activity it recommends) and I hid treasure in the house for them to find! It was a nice little project!  I’d continue to get them but I’m still deciding if I want to spend the money each month! 

   

 

Just Another Day

Today we started our day cleaning the house (the girls helped) then we went to a singing group for S (it was for Lady P too but she was the oldest there).

S loves singing and dancing. She is obsessed with Music Man (which she calls Pia Pia piano) and Wind the Bobbin. The singing group was perfect for her and on Fridays while Lady P is in nursery, I’m taking her to a 45 minute session, called Jo Jingles, which S will love!

Artist Week: Jackson Pollock

We went to our homeschooling group today and it was artist week.  We had to study an artist and then bring in the work we had done!  A fellow friend and homeschooling mum told me about Jackson Pollock and explained that he was an easy artist for young children to mimic.  So that’s who we looked at!

Jackson Pollock doing a splatter painting.

Colour Mixing Activity

Another wonderful activity that engages many children is the Montessori Colour Mixing Activity.