I guess you have noticed...

...that I am gradually taking our last year's holiday photos off of my main page, and putting them on my main blog as posts. I am dong this to eventually reduce the length of my main page.  It IS getting rather out of hand!  lol!

Also, my daughter is soon expecting her third child, and is having some complications (prayers, please!).  I am having to do 24 hour babysitting of my grandson and my 2 year old granddaughter, so I am not able to spend as much time planning new holiday projects or bulletin boards.

I must post something periodically to keep my blog active.   If I don't, it will automatically cease to exist.  I learned this the hard way with another blog I had.  I hadn't posted in a while, and when I finally went back to it, it was no where to be found! 

So, please bear with me.  Thanks so much! 

2012 St. Patrick's Day Jewelry / craft projects...

 My grandson wearing his claddagh (pronounced "clod-uh") bracelet.  The claddah is the Irish symbol for love, friendship, and loyalty.  The image was obtained from the internet, copied onto cardstock, and colored.  "With these hands I give you my heart, and I crown it with my love."

   

"Pinch - Free" Badge

 

(image obtained from the internet, copied onto cardstock, and laminated; two holes were punched to accommodate the safety pin latch; not recommended for children under 6 unless well-supervised by an adult.) 

(my grandson wearing his "Pinch - Free" Badge)

 

(an Irish "wise saying")

This craft was obtained from Easy Paper Crafts - Book 2 published by Christian Light Publications.
 

The Cartel - Corruption in Public Schools...

http://www.TheCartelMovie.com

2012 St. Patrick's Day Activities & Decorations...

 We learned some geographical facts about Ireland and located it on a globe.  We made an Irish flag and displayed it in our classroom alongside our Christian flag.

As you can see, our little mini-Dachshund, Sassy, must be part of everything we do.  If she is excluded, she is not happy at all! 

 Our St. Patrick's Day Bulletin Board and Holiday Tree. 

We learned the history of St. Patrick, the Christian symbolism of the shamrock, and a few Irish superstitions - the Blarney Stone , Leprechauns, and the Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow.

St. Patrick used the shamrock to illustrate the concept of the Trinity.

 

2012 St.Patrick's Day project (the Blarney Stone)...

We painted a large gravel (from our driveway) black, allowed it to dry, then painted on a green shamrock and outlined the shamrock with glitter glue.

We talked about the Irish folk tale of the blarney stone - that the person who kisses the blarney stone will receive the gift of "gab". 



2012 Presidents' Day Decorations / Bulletin Board / Crafts..

Images of Presidents Lincoln and Washington, as well as images of our currency having their likenesses were copied from internet sources.

 

Our Presidents' Day holiday tree.

 

George Washington's Powdered Wig.

(Glue cotton balls and a ribbon onto a baseball cap.  Wear cap backward.)

Abraham Lincoln's Top Hat

(Color the rim of both sides of a paper plate - black.  Cut away the center, leaving a ring.  Glue or tape two or more sheets of black construction paper together, end to end.  Make a tube and fit it into the ring.  Tape to secure.  Cut out a black circle and tape it to the top of the hat.)  

The kids aren't the only ones who are learning...

Such a true statement!   I graduated from a public high school on the Honors List.  I was one of a small group of students that had graduated with a G.P.A of  "A" (having an average grade score for the 4 year period as anywhere between 95 and 100%).

I felt like I had accomplished quite a feat.  I had no idea of  just how little academic knowledge I had actually acquired - until I began homeschooling my children.  I quickly realized that there was so much I had not learned while attending public school, and so, I took this opportunity to learn right alongside my kids.

Homeschooling has given ME (the parent/teacher) the opportunity to learn many new things.  My kids are all grown now, but my own education will continue as I help my daughter homeschool her children.

The Case for School Choice...

2013 Valentine's Day Bulletin Board & Craft Ideas...

This project teaches and/or reinforces number, color, and shape recognition; teaches the concept of an emotion: love; and enables the child to practice his small motor coordination as he/she helps to cut out the heart shapes.  You can fold each piece of colored paper in half and draw half of a heart shape on the fold.  When the child opens the folded shape that he has just cut away from the larger piece of paper, he/she sees both sides of the heart together making the complete heart.  This project also teaches symmetry (things that are the same on both sides, mirror images, similarity, matching) 

Below is a little book that we made teaching the concept of  sin and salvation through Jesus Christ.  We are now studying the letter "S".  

A great lesson/story for teaching love and compassion for people is the Biblical story of the Good Samaritan.   Below is something we did last year.  You can find free pictures to color on the internet.

2012  (first half of) February Bulletin Board Idea

and

(year-round) Holiday Tree decorations

 

"Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World"

 

Who says "holiday" trees are only for Christmas?

 

 

Tree Topper on left.  Decorations on right.

 

 How I attached the tree topper.

 

 

This picture frame is made of wood and comes unfinished, to be painted or colored with markers.  I think I purchased it from S&S Worldwide.

 

To Change Our Society...

"We're fools if we think that we're going to change our society if 90% of our children are being educated by the very system that's the problem."  - Gary DeMar.

"R r" is for Rocket ( lift-up book ) craft project...

Fold a piece of cardstock in half to make a tall, slim book approx. 11 and a half inches tall and 4 and half inches wide.  Copy a free coloring picture of a rocket from the internet, color, and glue to the front of the book.  Give your book a title.

On the inside of the book / card stock sheet, color the right half black (outer space).  Add star stickers or dabs of glitter glue, and a partial picture of the moon (to the top of the page). My moon picture was cut from a magazine.  If you prefer, you could copy a picture of the moon (to color) from the internet.  

Next, color half of another piece of cardstock black.  Cut the black section away from the whole page. Cut about 1/5 of the length off of the top of the black section.  Put glue on the back of the lower 1/4 of this piece and attach it to the bottom of the black, colored side of your book.  Add a partial picture of the earth to the bottom.  My earth picture was cut from a magazine.  If you prefer, you could copy a picture of the earth (to color) from the internet.  

Fold this black section in half toward you.  Then fold the upper half (also in half) away from you.  Attach a small picture of a rocket to the top fold with the tip of the rocket and the exhaust from the rocket extending slightly past the upper and lower edges.  

Unfold the loose, black section and color in some exhaust fumes ascending upwards from the earth to the rocket.  Add more star stickers or dabs of glitter glue.  On the left-hand side of the page/book, add some facts about rockets, the moon, the first man to walk on the moon, etc.  Add a "countdown to blast-off" if you'd like.  This would be a good way to bring numbers/math/counting backwards into your lesson.  After everything has dried well, fold down the rocket section, then unfold it back up to demonstrate how it travels to the moon.

Curriculum covered by this project:  Science,  Math,  Art,  History / Social Studies.  You could even add a Geography lesson by finding on a map and/or globe the location of the blast-off.

A fun way to do school!

I got this idea from the Teacher Resource Book entitled How to Make Books with Children, Volume 2  by: Joy Evans & Jo Ellen Moore.

Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World (bulletin board idea)

Red, Brown, Yellow, Black, and White

They are precious in His sight.

Jesus loves the Little Children of the World.

(adapted from the popular children's song)

Kindness...