Art Class - Grid Line Drawing

This year in art class we are working on our drawing technique.  We are also going to learn shading, blending, motion, and shadows.  I am trying to blend artists in with the techniques we will be working on.  There will be some fun projects thrown in along the way!!

This week, we worked on grid drawing.  Or the use of grids to break down more complicated drawing.  I chose to also introduce the kiddos to Pop Art, particularly the works of Andy Warhol.

In prep for this lesson, I printed two works of Andy Warhol's art pieces for the different age groups.  We had kids in the class from pre-k through ages 13/14.  So a wide age group and skill level.  I printed in both color and black/white (to save on printer ink).  A black/white copy was printed for each student.  On those copies, using a ruler I drew grids.  The colored prints I laid a couple among the student levels so they could see that Pop Art doesn't have the typical color.  (As you can see my ink was already getting low.)

At class, using a laptop (we meet in a local coffee shop), we looked up and discussed what Pop Art was and then looked at examples of Andy Warhol's artwork.  We discussed how the colors Pop out at you.  How everyday objects that are laying around the house can really become works of art.  And you are only limited in colors by your own imagination.

So then it was down to business.  I talked with the kids about what the numbers on their drawing pencils meant and they chose pencils.  Next we drew grid lines on pages in their sketchbooks, and it was time to get down to drawing.

The benefit of grid line drawing is to allow your eyes to focus on just one section at a time in order to get the full detail drawn.  (I really tried to pick an easy project for them to draw though...don't want frustration.)  ALWAYS draw your grid lines though in a lighter pencil.  So lower number pencils are best for this and harder leads.  You don't want your lines smearing as you move your arm across them.

 Some of the kids found it helpful to number and letter their grids to keep track of where they were.

The Mickey was a little tough for the younger kids.  But they had fun trying to draw Mickey Mouse.  I missed pics of their artwork.

Here is Joey and Lydia's finished work:

Lydia didn't didn't hold back on color.

 Joey got a little frustrated.  His attention span allows him for short periods (and it was a bad day).  But the nice thing about grid drawing, he can easily find where to pic back up.

This project helps with control and looking at detail.  It works with shorter attention spans.

Next art class we will be working on shading!

The Presidential Game Review

Understanding our Presidential election process can be difficult for adults to understand at times, but even harder for kids.  I love getting the blank stares from Joey while trying learn about Elections.

The Presidential Game was developed to make learning about the Election process more fun for children.

Created for kids Ages 11 and up, The Presidential Game ($35.00) was developed to really bring the process of understanding the importance of Electoral Votes to life for visual learners.  The object of the game is to campaign and win the Presidential election.  You must collect at least 270 electoral votes during the course of the game, the team that does wins.

Included in the game are 80 Political cards (which contain rewards and penalties for the teams), 40 write your own political cards, 150 Red Vote chips, 150 Blue Vote chips, 1 paper score pad and access to a Electoral WebMap "Calculator".

You have need 2 teams to be either the Republicans or Democrats.  You could have several people on each team to participate.  The WebMap Calculator can provide even more visual help for those who need to see the votes won.

During the last election, Joey tracked the Electoral votes the entire evening.  He understood that the Electoral votes were needed to win the election, not just the popular vote.

I was very excited to be given the opportunity to review The Presidential Game.  All of our kids do better learning visually whether it be through movies, games or just actual experience.  Since none of our kids will be running for President anytime soon, The Presidential Game would be the next best thing.

Our experience though playing, was not what I expected.  Joey and Brayden both meet the age recommendation, but they really struggled playing.  At first I thought it was because it was a new game.  They both got severely frustrated.  So we stepped back and put it away to try again.  I pulled it out again a few days later, and they still struggled trying to follow the steps.  Needless to say, my visual learners were still having trouble.

I absolutely love the concept of The Presidential Game.  The ability to show kids about campaigning, fundraising and even present them with various political situations that candidates face during campaigns, in a game format....is an educational gem.

So I have not given up by any means on playing this game with the boys.  Instead, we'll continue working with short game rounds.  I do see this game as adjustable for kids that have special needs and still be able to teach them the true objective of The Presidential Game.  We will continue to use The Presidential Game so that by next Election time, the kids will have a better grasp about campaigning and the election process.

Several members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew were given the opportunity to try out The Presidential Game.  Please take some time to see how this game worked with their families.

A Family Favorite....Inside Out Chicken Fajitas

Our family has a yummy new favorite.  It's fun and easy to make, and there is something in this meal that everyone likes.

Inside Out Chicken Fajitas

2-3 pounds chicken breast (cut up into bite size pieces)
1-2 green/yellow/red peppers (more if you like more peppers..I would go 4 then.  You can use any color you like)
1 pound fresh or canned mushrooms (whatever you have on hand)
4 TBS coconut oil
3 tsp garam masala spice (or a combination of cumin/corriander that you make up)
1 tsp paprika
1 small can of diced green chilies
3-4 pounds of cooked potatoes
sour cream
shredded cheese
1 avocado mashed with lime juice

Saute up the chicken chunks with 2 TBS of the coconut oil.  In another skillet, saute up the peppers, mushrooms in the remaining coconut oil.  Add the spices to the chicken while cooking.

While the chicken is cooking, mash your potatoes and add the can of diced green chilies.  You can prepare the potatoes however your family normally enjoys mashed potatoes.  Some use milk and butter.  (Our family is usually 5 pounds.)

When chicken is cooked, roughly 12-15 minutes.  Served the peppers and chicken over the mashed potatoes.  Add whatever toppings you would like.  Joe likes shredded cheese, sour cream and avocado.  I like avocado.  The girls like avocado and sour cream.  Joey likes plain with just chicken and potatoes (I leave off the green peppers.)  Brayden likes just potatoes..

Super yummy and dinner is done quick.  You could serve rice instead of potatoes also.

Enjoy....now I am hungry!!

What We are Up to This Week - Week 17

Well Fall has arrived in our home.  Fall is a time of beautiful warm colors, sweatshirts and pumpkin everything!!!  It also means sports are returning into our schedule and homeschool group activities are in full swing after their summer break.

This week is in exception.  We have a ton to do.  This weeks activities include:

• Art Class
• Piano
• Soccer
• Bowling
• Ballet
• LEGO Builders - a new activity for our group
• Speech therapy
• Co-op
• Minecraft class
• Magic Tree House Class......

Too much in each day.  But here is the schoolwork we are going to try and accomplish...

Caty will be working on her regular math, counting and measuring.  Learning about the names of our oceans and reviewing continents.  We will be reading a bit about the continent of Asia.  We will also be starting to read about Cambodia (our country for World Travelers next week).  This week's letter is K.  She'll continue using her BOB app on her iPad and we'll be reading the first books together.  I am not pushing this much, since we are still reviewing letters.  In Science we'll be talking about the seasons of our planet and doing an art project to go with this.

Lydia is continuing with Life of Fred.  She is really enjoying this math book.  She'll also be starting to learn about Cambodia.  In Magic Tree House class we will be learning about life in the villages.  She is continuing to use Reading Kingdom and is reading several early readers almost completely independently.  I think her confidence is building, but still concerned about her reading delay.  In Science we will be finishing up learning about the brain with a couple visual activities for her.  (She is definitely a visual learner.)  Typical spelling words this week.  And of course she is working on Spanish instead of French right now.  She is really enjoying learning some Spanish.  It's a slow go with some of her speech issues, but we are making progress.  For History, we are going to look at some current events and how to sort news stories for important information.

Joey will continue with his Money math and we will be including budgeting this week in his "economics".  In Science he will be learning about Snakes.  History he is continuing his work with the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World in his Minecraft class.  This week he will study more on the Colieseum, Hanging Gardens, Temple of Artemis, and Statue of Zeus.  His book this week continues to be Stuart Little.  Only requiring a chapter a day.  Joey will also work on an internet Scavenger Hunt about Cambodia to go with World Travelers Club.  And last but not least, we will continue our work on the History of Halloween Essay.  As I am typing this, I am configuring his Dragon Speak software on his laptop to help him work on "writing" projects.  He cannot write well at all, and this frustrates him.  With the help of this software he will be able to catch up to his grade level in multiple subjects.  He can speak the answers to essay questions, comprehension material, etc. using Dragon Speak.  I am super excited about how this will help him.

Brayden will be taking his test over the French and Indian War this week.  He may start early Revolutionary War.  In Math, he's working on multiplication.  Science he will continue working on energy, including how humans use energy.  There is a quiz at the end of the week also.  He is working on his American Geography also.  Brayden will only read Spongebob books currently, but at least he will read!!  Baby steps...lol.  In Grammar, he is working on punctuation and capitalization.  Language Arts he is working on how to summarize.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Homeschool Mothers Journal - Week 16

In my life this week.....

It was crazy, busy as usual.  Spent the whole week juggling lessons, kids, tasks that needed completed.  You all know how it is.  Having some issues with my finger still.  There is a knot of some type "growing" where the scar tissue is probably working at repairing itself inside.  That makes typing a bit more difficult, as well as many other tasks that I keep bumping through.

Our fitness challenge is almost over and I have raised muscle mass and lowered my fat percentage also.  I haven't officially lost any weight, but my muscle is increasing.  So whatever I am losing is turning to muscle, which is what I wanted to accomplish when I started the challenge.

In our homeschool this week....

Well I thought we were going to be in Virginia when I planned lessons, so I only wrote up lessons for a few days for the girls.  The boys I tried to leave some independent work for.  But then we didn't need to make the trip, so I kind of winged it with the girls for days that I didn't have planned.  They actually accomplished a lot, and all the kids finished their lessons for the week.  That task though was not without threats of shutting off their internet.

The kids started playing a game that a friend had told us about.  Brayden, Caty and Lydia are all obsessed with it.  Well Brayden and Caty are obsessed with it, but Lydia is enjoying it also.  Lydia isn't "obsessed" with the computer like the others are.

Lydia learned more about the Mayans.  She did really well this week on spelling and her reading/phonics sheets.  In Science we talked about the brain and what parts control what we do.  She is loving Life of Fred, and begs to do multiple chapters everyday.  She also started working on her sewing again.

Caty worked on the Letter J and we practiced for one of her Daisy petals and worked on trying to memorize the continents of the world.   We worked on number recognition also, as well as some harder shapes. She has been loving playing a game that a friend recommended called Animal Jam.  She really likes it.  She also had speech therapy and piano, which she enjoyed.

Joey is loving his Minecraft on the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World.  He is working on money in Math.  He is reading Stuart Little right now.

Brayden is doing well on Time 4 Learning.  He worked on vocab units this week and also French and Indian War.  In Science he was learning about Energy.

Homeschool tips to share......

I used to throw weekly papers in a box and mark it.  Holy cow....I ended up with several unorganized boxes of projects and papers.  Now I have large 3 ring binders that I add their completed work to each week.  It's all in a neat binder and will make showing our work to the assessor so much easier!

Places we're going and people we're seeing.....

Piano lessons....the gym.....soccer practice......bowling......visiting with a friend recovering from surgery....pottery painting.....it was a busy week :)

My favorite thing this week.....

Not sure I had a favorite moment yet...still waiting.  But we had a lot of little memories made.

My kiddos favorite thing.....

Joey's was his Minecraft class.  Lydia's was getting to use her Hello Kitty sewing machine again.  Brayden and Lydia was grateful for mommy forgetting how long they were playing on their computers.

Things I am working on.....

My hubby and I are working on some Minecraft curriculum.  It's a work in progress.  We'll release more info when we can.

I am canning applesauce and apple butter.   Yummy!!  I am doing little bits as I can.

I'm cooking.....

Some old favorites.....chicken and dumplings, meatloaf, etc.

I'm reading.....

I'm grateful.....

I again am very grateful for my hubby and putting up with my Type A personality.  He helps me with the kiddos and I am very grateful for his tech knowledge!!!

I rewarded my kids this week....

They all earned memberships to Animal Jam.  The new online game they are loving.  They keep up on their chores and do the tasks they need to complete, they keep their paid accounts.  They get three strikes from fighting with me about doing what they need to...they lose their paid memberships.  We'll see how this works out.

Something I am eyeing....



We are desperately needing a new laptop, so the shopping has begun.  Now if the old budget will allow us to get one...lol.

Some pictures from our week.....

Lydia working on her Spanish.  Watch for our review this week on Flip Flop Spanish.

 Working on her stitching control.

 Chubby was exhausted learning about the Middle Ages during Lydia's Magic Tree House Class on Monday.

 We made gluten/dairy/soy/corn/egg- free apple pie...yummy!!!

 I started trying to sew American Girl Doll clothes...still working on the same nightgown.  Not enough hours in the day.

Nermal did not help me sew.  Kept batting at the needle and thread.

 Lydia started bowling this week.  She had so much fun and met some new friends.

 Brayden even shocked us that he went bowling too!!!

 Joey is bowling also.  Special Olympics in our county is so wonderful.  The kids have a wide variety of sports opportunities to choose from.

 Lydia working on her Mayan writing.  She learned about their drawings as their writing.  She was telling a story of the cats knocking over our magazine stack.  She used charcoal and chalk pastels to do the drawing.

 Soccer started this week.  Lydia was super excited!!

 I treated myself to a new shirt for the Susan Korman 5K I'll be doing with some friends next Saturday.

 Caty working on her Letter J work.....

 The girls finished the week by painting their pottery that they made a couple weeks ago.  Still another week before we can bring them home.

Hope everyone had a wonderful week!  Linking up with other moms at So You Can Call Yourself a Homeschooler.