One Clover, and a Bee

To make a prairie

it takes a clover and one bee,

One clover, and a bee,

And revery.

The revery alone will do,

If bees are few.

~Emily Dickinson

Framed

At the risk of boring you to death, I want to talk empty frames again. (If you don't remember the first conversations, visit here or here.) A new frame is hanging on my wall, freshly painted a glossy red. I mounted a metal clip on the nail so that I can change out the framed decor as often as I would like without multiple nail holes (and with very little effort). (I bought the metal clip in the office supply section at a local store. They are easy to come by.)

Once I started trying out ideas, I couldn't stop. As always, the possibilities are endless. I love that kind of decor!

First came the dust jacket of a child's picture book. (Dust jackets annoy me and would get thrown out anyway. I glued this one to a piece of cardboard so it would hang flat.) Just for the fun of it, I pulled a few things from around the house to add to the display. I'm thinking I need to redecorate the boys' bedroom!

Since this frame is in our front room, I thought I would see what I could do to make the display a smidge more sophisticated. No problem.

How about a cooking or kitchen theme? I took a piece of black card stock and used chalk to create the menu (which, sadly, does not reflect our dinner menus in any way). Try photocopying a page from a vintage cookbook.

Paper could be used a myriad of ways. Write favorite quotes or verses, for instance, or your happy list.

Enlarge photos and clip:

Display scrapbook pages you've completed:Sheet music. I copied one of Levi's favorite songs from his piano book onto natural colored card stock:



For a great resource, shop for calendars. I found a calendar with pictures of vintage travel posters for a dollar a couple years ago. Use pictures from your old calendars or buy calendars after the first of the year for bottom dollar. Fine art calendars would be especially attractive; rotate the picture every week or two for art study!
Game night, anyone? I grabbed my Scrabble board to see how it would look. Love it! Now I want a game room with a huge collage of frames and game boards. When we're ready to play, we just make our choice from the wall and unclip the board.
Vintage photos and memorabilia. Children's artwork. Maps. Nature sketches. Loose pages out of old books. It is addicting, I tell ya!

Intelligent and Creative Design

Art is man's nature; nature is God's art.

~Philip James Bailey

A Bird in Hand

Reading:

This picture book story of John James Audubon was nice, but the illustrations thrilled me to the core. Absolutely lovely.

(We printed this image to add to our circle time notebook.)

Watching:

and (gorgeous, gorgeous!):

We are attempting to sketch birds for our nature journal, but the preliminary stages aren't very attractive. It will take a lot of practice, though I realize I shouldn't expect Audubon quality from myself (never quite took to drawing or painting) and a six year old boy. Grin.

A Rose is a Rose

You are beautiful, but you are empty. One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you--the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered.

~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Question and Answer

Mrs. Q at Five in the Potter's Hand asked a couple questions in the comments that I thought I would answer in a post, in the event that anyone else might be interested in the answers.

Q. I was just curious, do you use Sonlight curriculum? Or do you just pull all of this wonderful educational material out from thin air...lol! If you do use Sonlight, what do you think of it? I am considering it for my boys next year because the focus is very much that of Charlotte Mason, but it has the needed structure that my boys most certainly will require!

A. I love pouring through the Sonlight catalog! They have excellent literature recommendations, and I have purchased many books from them. I don't use their full packages or go by their schedules, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Sonlight for those who would prefer to have the planning and structure taken care of. I do know that many people find their language arts to be a little on the weak side and supplement with their own phonics/grammar/writing/spelling programs.

I essentially create my own 'package' of curricula. The Well-Trained Mind is the closest model of education and curriculum recommendations that I follow. Susan Wise Bauer does an excellent job of making a do-it-yourself neo-classical education attainable for the average parent. I enjoy reading books on other homeschooling methods (particularly Charlotte Mason) and always feel free to add, change, and adapt ideas to fit our family. Soon I will post an updated list of resources and programs we are currently using.

I also enjoy finding 'extras' in the way of books, videos, and resources to supplement the curricula we use. Many of the music and art books I've reviewed or recommended are not part of our core schooling, but are read and enjoyed as part of life in our home and as a family.

Q. Do you worry about your children's education being accredited? You and I live in the same state, so I wondered what your take on it is.

A. The short answer is 'no.' I won't be worrying about accreditation until high school, at which point I probably won't worry about it either.

I have no problems conforming to Oregon's laws regarding homeschooling. We'll be notifying the district of our 'intent to homeschool' prior to each child turning 7. We'll be doing standardized testing in the required years. Other than that, all record keeping will be done for my personal purposes.

If, for any reason and at any time, we choose to enroll our children in a public or private school, the school shouldn't have any problems testing to place the child in the appropriate grade. High school might prove to be a smidge trickier, although I have no idea what the state of things might be in 6-8 years when we get to that point. I have a feeling that the increasing popularity of homeschooling will lessen the red tape and hoops somewhat.

We will evaluate whether we want to homeschool for the duration of high school and go from there. For us, homeschooling through high school will likely include online classes, tutors, and/or college classes for some subjects. The Well-Trained Mind provides detailed instructions on how to create a high school transcript. Most colleges accept homeschool transcripts along with a portfolio.


And a question from Susan at From the Narrows:

Q. I am thinking about using Right Start math for the first time with my last girl, a 6 1/2 yr old. She is a reluctant learner, busy and active and highly tactile/kinesthetic. I am thinking this might be the best way to go with her. Can you give me anymore feedback?

A. RightStart has been a terrific choice for Levi, and so far Luke has been enjoying the lessons along with us. The lessons are completely laid out for the parent who is unsure of teaching math. Level A is a great way to start off with a 4 or 5 year old. Level B can be used with an older child without first using Level A. I appreciate the fact that a child needs very little writing skill to begin Level A.

RightStart Math is a very hands-on and visual program. It includes many simple games and manipulatives (making it worth the investment). I think it helps a child to truly understand numbers as more than a symbol on a page. Using wooden popsicle sticks as tally marks, the child begins to create numbers in groups of fives. The abacus is an excellent tool, helping the child see numbers in groups of fives and tens. Levi particularly enjoys the games and asks to play them over and over. Because the lessons are not worksheet oriented, we often 'do math' on the living room floor. This 'sits well' with Levi who doesn't care to keep his bum in a seat. I don't care if he is standing on his head, as long as he learns the concepts.

My son is very interactive and needs one-on-one time to learn the concepts, which works well with RightStart, as it is very teacher intensive. This might not work so well for a parent who is stretched thin teaching multiple children at different levels or for children who prefer to do independent work in a workbook.

Each lesson lists the supplies needed (either items included in the package or simple things from around the house), includes a warm-up, and the lesson itself is described in detail for the parent. I have found the books (A and B) easy to follow for the most part.

I can't compare RightStart Math along side another program since I only have experience with this one, but I can say that I am completely happy with our math curriculum choice. I can watch my son grasp the math concepts, and I am seeing simple math in new ways! I would highly suggest downloading the Level B Sampler and reading how the program was developed, general thoughts on teaching mathematics, and sample lessons.

Thanks, Hubby!

It pays to have a computer savvy husband. I woke up this morning to a note on my screen with an arrow pointing to my layers palette. Russ took over my computer remotely, found my layers palette (which was hidden before), and left me a sweet note. What would I do without him?

So, apparently my problem was that my layers palette was hidden. Anonymous commenter says to press F7 to show the palette. I'll have to remember that.

Now that I can actually find the desat red layer, I can finally experiment. Susan, thank you so much for the instructions on adding color back into the image! I'm looking forward to trying it out on various photos. This is for you:

Super Fun Happy:
Desat Red at 65%:
Desat Red at 33%:
Ah, I feel so much better! The kids will probably get cold cereal for three meals today, but...

Photoshop Actions

I think I'm in love.


Straight out of camera (SOOC):
'Super Fun Happy' Photoshop Action from Totally Rad Actions (and, boy, am I feeling Super Fun Happy!):
'Vintage' Photoshop Action from Pioneer Woman:

Canvas of Happiness

If you can believe it, I've actually been getting to a handful of creative projects around the house. Nothing big, nothing much new, but I'm sharing them with you anyway. Grin.

The raw materials (we're starting with the canvas today):

The canvas on the left was used a few years ago in Levi's room. It has since been abused by children with various pens. It was crying out to be rescued. I thought maybe I could help with a coat of green paint. I tried craft paint first. The pen leaked through, so I resorted to spray paint. Luckily I had some on hand. Infinitely improved.

Now that I had a solid base coat, I returned to the craft paints, choosing various greens and a few accent colors:

I wanted the colors to go on somewhat streaky for artistic effect.
Once the greens had dried, I added the tiniest bit of red, brown, and black for a distressed look.

This is what I ended up with:

Years ago I sat through a creative writing class which was almost entirely a waste of time. Sadly, but not entirely surprising considering the fact that I am list-obsessive, my favorite assignment was to make a random list of things that make me happy. No writers block there. My list was constantly being added to, I kept it after graduating, and it has continued to grow.

In the master bedroom at our previous house, I took the list to a new level and painted a selection on a wall. The whole wall. It was fabulous.

I wanted to use a list of happy words in our new home, but thought I would make it a little less obtrusive. A canvas would be perfect. I grabbed a piece of paper and jotted down a few ideas.

A ruler and pencil helped mark the canvas and keep my lines relatively straight and even. I winged it, choosing words and phrases as I went along. I've used black paint before, but I wanted something easier. A big black felt pen worked very nicely.

The finished product is far from perfect. It is personal.

A large canvas painted in this way holds many possibilities. A happy list can be vague and universal or specific and personal. You can choose to be artistic or sincere (though one doesn't preclude the other). You could paint a favorite quote or themed words such as foreign cities, favorite foods (great kitchen decor), 'welcome' in numerous languages, names of family members, or favorite books or authors (great library decor).

Remember that canvases can be repainted when you tire of them, making an affordable decorating or craft project! An oversized canvas is a handy way to adorn a large wall on a not-so-large budget.

Boy Dad

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass." "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We're raising boys." ~Harmon Killebrew

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. ~Clarence Budington Kelland

Happy Father's Day to the best Dad our boys could have!

Inspiration for Education

An incredible weekend is now behind me. I spent two days with my sister, Holly. We headed up to the Washington homeschool convention, chatting non-stop. We listened to over 8 hours of lectures and didn't want it to end.

We met Susan Wise Bauer and listened to her speak on The Joy of Classical Education, Great Books: History as Literature, Classical Education, Grades 5-8, and Preparing for College Admissions (which is obviously not immediately pending in my world, but we were content to listen to her speak on any subject she might choose). We were reminded exactly why she inspired us on our homeschooling journeys in the first place. The woman is brilliant, and her enthusiasm, contagious.

We met Andrew Pudewa and spoke with him a few times over the course of the two days. His lectures, The Four Deadly Errors of Teaching Writing, Teaching Boys & Other Children Who Would Rather Make Forts, The Essence of Teaching, and Nurturing Confident Communicators (an extension of this article at Memoria Press), were fabulous. Pudewa is quite possibly the most engaging, entertaining, and inspiring speaker to whom I have listened. He is also a tremendous pleasure in one-on-one conversation. His lectures are available for download. I would highly recommend them! Holly and I had tears in our eyes (and sore stomachs) from laughter, in addition to receiving information which we will be digesting for some time to come.

At the end of Saturday, we made time to meet Jim Weiss. We both have spent hours listening to his voice on a great number of his audio CDs. It was strange to have his voice come out of a body rather than a CD player.

Many attendees of homeschool conferences spend their time in the exhibit hall, perusing books and curricula, looking for next year's resources and possibly the next best thing. Holly and I feel very comfortable with the resources we've chosen, and there was very little to tempt us. We couldn't walk away with empty hands, however, and were thrilled to purchase Andrew Pudewa's Developing Linguistic Patterns Through Poetry Memorization (Book and CD). As it was already on my wish list, I didn't succumb to the impulse purchase. I have to be honest and admit that I have added a great deal from Institute for Excellence in Writing to my 'want' list.
At Susan Wise Bauer's booth (Peace Hill Press), I came to the wonderful realization that I already owned almost every book that she and her mother have available. The only title missing would be Writing With Ease. It isn't yet available for purchase and must remain on my wish list for a little while longer.

A similar experience occurred at Greathall Productions where I was hard-pressed to find a Jim Weiss story CD I had not already purchased. Not to be defeated, I found three to add to my collection: Sherlock Holmes for Children, Mystery! Mystery!, and Beric the Briton (9 hours of G.A. Henty's historical novel).

I am thankful that my husband offered to take a day off and happily take charge of the boys while I was gone. It appears that they had a fabulous time without me around. I was ecstatic to find the house in decent condition when I returned. Thanks, Russ!!