AccidentalDesign, Lapbooking, TheHolidays, UnitStudies »

Welcome to the holidays around the Parker house!  It has begun!

I’m baking this year.  At least I’m trying to bake this year.  So far, I’ve tried my hand at cinnamon raisin bread:

pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, apple butter muffins, oh, and I might’ve had this shade of burnt at least a couple times too:

But we’re not talkin’ ’bout that.

I’m workin’ on gifts for my kiddos.

I’m workin’ on gifts for some of y’all’s kiddos!

We’re makin’ “Countdown to Christmas” chains.

We’re still fittin’ in Stars Wars lapbooks (yes, Maury, I have plans already to share as soon as I get it together!) unit studies on Thanksgiving, pre-school alphabet lapbooks, and all the normal excitement that comes with this time of year.

I’m also learning how to homestead.  Yes, I am!  My compost bin needs to be stirred around.  We’ve dried pumpkin seeds and appleseeds.  I have beans in the crockpot almost constantly.

I’m trying to start a shop.

We’ve had a bonfire with those boxes, a camp out in the front yard that ended with us sleeping inside (it’s cold out there, people!)

So, I tell you this to say, I may not be here as much as I’d like.  But don’t be discouraged.  I’ve finally figured out how to offer you a bold subscription to my site.  I still don’t really know how it all works (y’all just think I’m smart at this technology stuff) - but I do know if you click on the little picture of me at the very top of the site - the one that talks about “learnin’ young’ns” or the rotating pictures of everybody over there on the sidebar it will offer you a thingy (or, heck, that link right up there!) that will let you know when I post.  I think. Those of you who know more than me please leave me a comment explainin’ this a little better.  And those of you who don’t have a clue what I’m talkin’ about just keep doin’ what your doin’ and disreguard this whole paragraph.  Mom and Nana, just call me - I’ll talk y’all through it - I think you would love it!

And I’m cleaning my house one day at a time, shining my sink, and learning to FLY.  While you’re waiting on me to post (you know, because you have nothing better to do, right?!) you should try it too.  Flylady’s so cool!

I hope your holidays are as fun and filled as ours are!

UnitStudies »

about every other month week, i have a homeschooling freak out.  what am i doing?!  i need all the newest-coolest-most-expensive curriculum.  and then i talk to seasoned friends, i pray for peace and wisdom, and He hits me with inspiration.  i’m so thankful for those times.  yesterday was one of them.

years ago i taught a homeschooling art class.  i did crafts with the little ones; art history and intro to “real” media with the older ones.  in prepping for the class, i went online and looked up art history.  made a list of the “greats” and found google images to print off of their most famous works.  i then glued them to card stock and contact papered them.  in my folder i made a timeline and divided the artists accordingly.

 so, yesterday i decided my kiddos needed exposure to the real stuff.  i pulled out my van gogh card, let them hold it and look at it, talked about where he painted some of his most famous paintings, looked at the brush strokes, talked about oil paintings, and then i went to my trusty map and drew out an eiffel tower, secretly stuck it to paris, and then looked up the eiffel tower site online (awesome kid games, by the way).   we read madeline and looked for the eiffel tower in the pictures.  discussed their names and talked with terrible awesome french accents.  madeline led to a discussion of what scars were and what an appendix was.  we talked about surgery and all things medical.  we talked about why the other little girls were sad and wanted to have their own surgeries.  we talked about being thankful and not wanting what others have or appear to have. 

and we had a great school day.  and i felt good about what i’m doing again.   

UnitStudies »

we read about how very few colonists had glass windows in their houses and instead put animal skins or oiled paper over the windows.  why oiled paper?  we had to find out.  we taped regular paper to the window.  then put vegetable oil on another piece of paper and rubbed it all over.  we let it dry and then a few days later hung up the oiled paper next to the regular paper. 

can you tell which is plain and which is oiled?

UnitStudies »

yep, more crafts and more hands on learning!

we watched this native american rain dance video and then made our own by following this tutorial.  and then i dealt with rice being poured all over the house as my 3 year old and my 1 year old joined forces and destroyed them.  oh well.

UnitStudies »

while reading some more about native americans we learned about corn.  and then we went to the farmer’s market and bought some fresh local corn (still in the husks).  we talked about how they grow, then we cleaned them together and boiled them.  we saved the husks and went here to learn about how to make corn husk dolls.  and we ate our corn.  oh, my!  we’re never going back to frozen!!

UnitStudies »

we’ve been studying american history and yesterday we learned about indians and their homes.  we watched traditional dances (on youtube, of course!) and we looked at their traditional clothes.  the kiddos loved this part of our history.

my 3 little indian warriors - notice their war paint (aka my lipstick)

these are our different native american dwellings we made.  along with some totem poles, just for fun.  we also taped down a (very rough) outline of the U.S. and learned where each type of dwelling was indigenous to.  we made longhouses, teepees, a wigwam, a chickees, and a pueblo. 

Lapbooking, UnitStudies »

it’s not just for homeschoolers anymore. 

are your little ones fit throwing over homework? 

even if your kiddos go to real school you could do this to remember a school party, find a way to tame all those random worksheets your kids bring home, keep the fun stuff your preschooler is doing, or just add a little more fun during the summer or “off” days.

come over to the heart of the matter to see what has my kids asking for ”just a little more school work”.

UnitStudies »

this is a little of what we’ve been working on for the upcoming holiday.  we took a blank calendar and i’ve been putting our things we’re thankful for in the squares.  with the goal of filling it full and thanking our Father for them.  we also have talked about the settlers and the indians and the hard winter and the crops of the second year and that first feast.  we’ve colored pictures of a dinner and placed them on a table.  i’ve asked them to see what food groups they can identify at our own thanksgiving dinner coming up that resembles this dinner.  and we’ve talked about how all good gifts come from our Father.

UnitStudies »

daddy brought home a  visitor the other day.  so we watched him, touched him, looked up his name, diet, trivia, and habitat.  we studied science, looked at north america on a map, and then created art inspired by him.  and then bid him adieu with much sadness.  spontaneous learning combined with our set curriculum - what could be more fun?!  like chickadee i think homeschooling is as much for me!!