Frugal Dish Mat

I saw my first dish mat on Jimmie’s Collage last year and filed away the idea …

When my bath towels became so worn that I had to replace them, I thought of frugal ways to re-use them.

I remembered Jimmie’s dish mats and thought that this would be an easy-sewing project for my children.

Pop over here for the tutorial or to my Projects page for other sewing, crafts, and creative projects.

Blessings,

You are Qualified to Homeschool!

Moms,

you do not need a degree,

teacher’s training

or special workshops

to equip you to teach your child.

God has equipped you.

He placed wonderful nurturing instincts in you.

He poured mother’s-love into your heart.

He gave you sight of every unique, special thing in your child.

He inspired you to prayerfully and graciously watch over His plan for your child.

What school teacher has this for your child?

Where can any training qualify you with these skills?

What curriculum package provides this?

What helps a new homeschool mom?

• A supportive partner.  He does not have to actually teach, but should be aware and involved in the homeschooling.  My hubby is our “principal” and has the say on serious discipline issues and assists me when I am ‘drowning’, stressed, afraid or unsure.
• A mentor. An older Christian mother (who may or may not have also homeschooled) can give amazing advice and counsel.  Make yourself vulnerable and accountable to her and keep in regular contact.
• Good homeschool books. I often find the most wonderful inspiration and excellent heart-to-heart counsel from great books.  Visit my book list to see my recommendations.
• A support group or co-op.  Join other homeschool moms and listen to their stories and advice.  You’ll quickly discover that your journey is much like theirs and they may have a few good tips and tricks to help you with problems or issues.
• Websites & blogs. I have found so much help on the internet!  I have learnt about and been inspired in many of my Charlotte Mason principles and approaches though the blogs and websites.   Check out my link lists on my sidebar.
• Curriculum forums.  If you purchase a formal curriculum, you are invited to join their forum.  You can find excellent and very practical help there.  I regularly visited the Sonlight forum in my first year of homeschooling.  I remember crying out for help on a specific issue and 2 parents wrote the most reassuring advice that same hour and saved my quaking heart!
• Tutors.  For moms who fear teaching high school maths or any other technical or difficult subject, I advise a tutor.  It is good for a child to be accountable to a third-party.  High school subjects are sometimes challenging.  To avoid tears, tantrums, and trauma to the relationship, find a university student, a private teacher or another parent in the co-op to take the terror out of a subject.
• Swap and share. Sometimes a co-op can save an entire subject!  Science experiments, nature study outings, physical exercise and training, art, second languages, music, drama and singing are all subjects other moms may assist.  You don’t have to do it all.  Invite the ‘arty’ mom to teach your kids art and crafts and offer to teach your strong subject. If there is no homeschool family or group available, seek out the local town groups for a short course.

Most moms worry and fret about high school, graduation on the outcomes 10 or more years away.  Fears about teaching maths, science and high school subjects often keeps moms from relishing and enjoying pre-school and primary school years with their children.

It is sad.

All those wonderful young, innocent children sent off to school for years of systems, social pressure and stress because mom was afraid of teaching reading or maths.

But it can be done.

I encourage you to find help along the way if you need it, but homeschool your children because you can.

I have met amazing moms and dads who have done a fantastic job educating their children at home.

They are available, involved and connected.

Usually they have good books, some have great curriculums, but most just explore and discover learning situations with their children.

What has helped you along your homeschool journey?  What qualified you to teach your children?  Please share your experiences and views in the comments.

Blessings,

Serviette Modge Podge Project

My daughter and I used some paint, a serviette and Modge Podge to decorate some new wooden items for in my kitchen.

It was simple and quick ~ she completed the whole project in an afternoon.

Pop over to my Project page or click here for the tutorial!

Blessings,

Pollock Paintings

We have looked at Jackson Pollock’s art over the past few weeks and I thought we would have loads of fun with Pollock-inspired “action painting” of our own, but it did not happen.

Well, not on the floor, or on paper, or on a canvas.  Not with actual paint.

Not every art appreciation lesson ends with an art activity.

We viewed “action art” such as the dart-throwing at paint-filled balloons scene in the Princess Dairies DVD

and were stunned and amazed at Amy Shackelton’s Extraordinary Brush-less Paintings  at mymodernmet.co. Be sure to make time to view her video!

Finally, for fun, my kiddies entered jacksonpollock.org paint world and played mess-less-splashy-drippy-multi-layered digital art.

Sterile?

No!

Stunning!

Here they suddenly realized that it is not

simple or easy

to splash paint until it looks like an art work.

There are aspects like

colour,

balance,

texture,

depth,

and movement.

And they each found that their Pollock art felt “right” at a certain point.

Yes, it is deceptively simple,

but still

art.

How have you enjoyed Jackson Pollock’s art?  Please feel free to share your post links or suggestions here in the comments.

Blessings,

Celebrate Bunting

My youngest daughter celebrated her 10th birthday recently.

I created some bunting for her party.

These simple triangle flags gave a festive air as well as these lettered

Celebrate Bunting Flags

Pop over to my Projects page for my simple tutorials!

Blessings,

Sketch Tuesday ~ Bends

“Sketch something that bends”

and this what we came up with ~

Have you discovered the joy of Sketch Tuesday?

Simple topics

Kids can do it!

Easy participation

Take time to sketch together

Calming, creative, no competition

Happy, confident artists

Blessings,

Water Cycle Wonders

Another fun, yet educational hands-on activity we did recently was

a water cycle

Taking our cue from references we read about in our living history book, we looked at how rain forms and falls to form rivers and flow into the sea.

We made our own “rain“~

Here’s how ~

1. Take a large glass bowl and pour some water in it.
2. Place an empty smaller glass bowl inside the big bowl.
3. Cover the bowls with plastic cling wrap.
4. Place a pebble in the center so that the cling wrap dips down slightly.
5. Place the bowls in the sunshine and leave for several hours.
6. Observe the water condense and form droplet on the inside of the plastic cling wrap.
7. When large enough, the droplets fall into the smaller bowl = rain!

A fast demonstration of how water vapor condenses ~

1. Hold a glass with a towel carefully over steam coming out of a boiling kettle spout.
2. Observe water droplets forming inside the glass.  These droplets join and drip down and out off the glass.
3. Parental note: Steam burns and this must be done by an adult or with careful supervision.

I created water cycle notebook pages with:

• clear labeled diagram of the water cycle
• circle table with labels and some pictures to cut and match

Here’s your free download~

Water Cycle Notebook Pages

Blessings,

Sketch Tuesday Blossoms

Sketch Tuesday’s past theme was ~

… Blossoms …

We enjoyed …

pure

art

love!

Blessings,

Inspiring Words

Here is your free download ~ Always tell the truth

May these words inspire.

Blessings,

Hands-on Knots

Young children love hands-on activities!

I am re-using our Footprints on our Land curriculum with my 9-year old.

This is a fabulous,

literature-rich,

discover-history-through living-books,

read-aloud-cuddled-together-on-a-couch curriculum.

Every here and there in our stories, we delve off to investigate interesting topics.

Today we learnt,

along with the hero of our story,

a young stowaway,

how to do sailor knots.

With the help of my hubby who was once in the navy, oupa, a seasoned and experienced fisherman, and some printouts from the internet, we sat learning and tying knots.

We used a nylon rope to practice first because the knots were big and clear.  Then we practiced the knots with stiff sisal rope. And finally, made samples for our notebook page using wool.

We discussed how the knots could be best used in our everyday lives.

It was fun and practical!

References and related links:

• “Knots and Ropework”, Microsoft (R) Encarta (R) 97b Encyclopedia (c) 1993-1996
• 7 Websites That Help You Learn How To Tie The Perfect Knot (makeuseof.com)
• App of the Day: Knot Guide (ziggytek.com)

Have you taught your children any fun/ practical hands-on skills?  Feel free to share with us in the comments.

Blessings,