Leonardo Da Vinci

Tomorrow is art day, and this week we are studying Leonard Da Vinci. DJ is somewhat fascinated by Leonardo Da Vinci, so for the next five weeks I will be posting two videos, in a series of ten, for him, you, and anyone else to watch. They are from the History Channel, and are very good. In his art book there are actually three activities associated with Leonard Da Vinci, so each week he will do one. Tomorrow is also make up day for any work not completed during the week.

Lesson Plans For 10/24/10:

DJ:
Spelling Test: Chapter 2
Reading: The Story of Jamestown with book report
Art: Leonardi Da Vinci, reading, post test, videos and project
Cursive Writing
Proof Reading: WS
Blog Post: The 3 R's: Reduce, reuse, and recycle

Caitlin:
Reading: Hot Dog, Fat Cat, and one more of choice
Art: Draw Write Now Native Americans: Longhouses
Clock work, calendar work, skip counting, spelling

Butterfly Life Cycle, How To Draw A Butterfly

Next year Caitlin will be doing a butterfly lapbook, and she is quite excited. These videos below will help your child learn about the butterfly life cycle, and other information. The last video is a how to draw butterflies video. Both Caitlin, and DJ will be using this video to draw butterflies. It will be Caitlin's first time at attempting to draw from a video. If you want information on free lapbooks, I have a bunch in the archives, just do a search for lapbooks and they will come up. Have a great weekend, everyone.

My Thoughts On Purex 3 in 1 Laundry Soap

This is not a paid post. Not that I don't do them, I do, but they are clearly marked. A couple of weeks ago I visited a blog, that allowed me to sign up for a free sample of Purex 3 in 1 laundry soap. Well I didn't wait for the sample. I bought some on my next visit to Walmart. At my Walmart it was $5.94, for about a 24 loads. I think that is a very fair price considering you get soap, fabric softener, and static remover for your dryer, all in one nifty little pad. I must say I love them. I do not have a dryer, so the third step does not work for me. The soap is obviously the first. I make sure the whole pad is covered before putting in my laundry, so no fabric softener can get on them. I like the price, and the convenience of not having to watch for the rinse cycle. If I had one complaint it would be that it does not make enough soap bubbles for my liking, so I add just a little extra detergent, still saves me money. I will definitely continue to use them. One other laundry tidbit. I hate laundry, but what I hate more is stains on laundry. I thought to myself one day, self if Dawn original dish detergent takes grease off my dishes, will it take it off my laundry? Amazingly I find it does. I squirt one good sized squirt in the laundry water, before putting in clothes, that have heavy dirt, or stains, and poof they came out. I love it, and thank goodness my experiment did not eat my clothes or something. Now I am going out to get some much needed warmth, and sunshine. The new pool is up, and filled, though we can't use it for a few weeks. Sorry Anne, I had to put that in just for you.

Lesson Plans For 02-22-10:

DJ:
Reading: The Knight of the Gwan with summary
Writing: The cardinal fish
Language Arts: Root words
Math: Fractions, multiplication
Vocabulary
Cursive Writing
Art: Art Lesson on Color, adding highlights and shadows, video below
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20 week two

Caitlin:
Arts and Crafts: Put together her alphabet book
Reading: HOP Sam and the Mitt week 2
Site Words
Flash Cards
Math: Addition to five
Animal Book: Pet animals- cat
What happens next worksheet
Animal Identification: Two feet, four feet
Phonics: Ending sounds
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20

Superbowl, Living in Space, Solar System and Universe

Well the New Orleans Saints did it! They defeated the Colts, and are the new Superbowl Champs. Many congrats to them. It was a good game, the commercials stunk, and the first half was pretty near boring. The second half lit it up, and became a good game.

Last Tuesday DJ did a Science lesson where he had to pretend he was living on another planet, and sent an email home to Earth. Tomorrow we are expanding that with video one of a five parts called Living in Space. It is from the History channel, and I will share all five parts, over the coming weeks. There are two other videos covering the Solar System, and our Universe, also below. Include them in your lesson plans, or just for fun for your kids to enjoy. Be sure to check out the new learn to draw website I found.


Lesson Plans For Monday 02/08/10:

DJ:
Writing: You are going on vacation, leave directions for a caregiver to care for your pets.
Reading: Read chapters 7, and 8 of The Silver Skates, with summaries
Math: Equivalent fractions, expanded number reviews
Language Arts: Root Words, spelling
Art: Learn to draw, from pear shapes, new site I found here
Sign Language: Essentials video is in my archives
Vocabulary
Cursive Writing

Caitlin:
Printing Practice
Reading: HOP Kim Kangaroo
Arts and Crafts: Lion cutting craft
Math: Addition to ten
Animal Identification: Worksheet
Site Words
Flash Card Work
Animal Book: Desert animals
Sign Language: Essentials
Phonics: Worksheet

Lesson Plans For 02/09/10:

DJ:
Science: Living in Space part one, Solar system, and universe
Math: Equivalent fractions, subtraction, and addition review
Language Arts: Alphabetical order, root words
Sign Language: Essentials
Vocabulary
Cursive Writing

Caitlin:
Phonics: Worksheet
Reading: HOP Kim Kangaroo
Printing Practice
Math: Addition to ten
Beginning Graphs: Worksheet
Animal Book: Desert animals
Flash Card Work
Site Words
Sign Language: Essentials


Don't forget to visit my Barefoot Books store, and check out the award winning books for kids. I just got mine in, and I love them.

How To Draw Santa Claus

I do not usually do two posts in one day, but I completely forgot to post my lesson plans earlier. Tomorrow for art class DJ will be drawing Santa Claus. If you want to teach your child to draw, without the big expense, these videos are wonderful.

Lesson Plans For 12/14/09

DJ:
Sign Language: Alphabet there is a video in my archives
Art: Learn to draw Santa Claus
Writing: Read the short passage about wind, then write a story about wind.
Math: Multiplication, problem solving, and division
Language Arts: Writing a thank you letter, how to address an envelope, suffixes, fact and opinion
Cursive Writing
Help Caitlin write her letter to Santa
Crafts: Finish up handmade Christmas cards

Caitlin:
Reading: HOP The Fog
Site Words
Math: Adding to ten using coins
Arts and crafts: Bow tie wreath, color game
Beginning Sounds: Worksheet
Alphabet Book: Letter O
Printing Practice
Sign Language: Alphabet
Help DJ write her letter to Santa

Get Your Kids Drawing!

Do your kids love to draw? Mine do, they love it. With so many public schools doing away with art, or really offering very little art, in what little bit they do, your kids could be missing out on a wonderful skill. It really is not expensive either. I will be sharing some free ways for your child to learn to draw. My kids like to watch the free learn to draw videos on youtube. It helps them to actually see the way the artist holds the pencil, or places the paper, and the speed at which they draw. One of the videos they have not tried yet, is below. It is to draw Sonic the Hedgehog. If you read this blog often, you have seen several of these videos, and even some of the artwork they have done from them. Through some searching I have found some more websites, that offer free drawing lessons, be sure to check them out. The earlier you start your kids appreciating art, the longer they will learn to be creative, and use their imaginations. In kindegarten your child may be asked to draw a book report. What that means is your child is read a story, and then they draw a picture to explain the story. A very clever way of getting your kids to learn reading comprehension. Using arts, and crafts, is a great way for your young learner to master cutting, pasting, following directions, etc.

http://www.hitentertainment.com/artattack/menu_artattacks.html
http://artyfactory.com/sitebody/gallery1.htm
http://www.kidsturncentral.com/index.htm
http://www.first-school.ws/activities/crafts/animals/birds/turkeymaple.htm
http://www.alifetimeofcolor.com/main.taf?p=1
http://www.dltk-kids.com/


If I find more I will add them to the list, but these are an awesome start. This year, fourth grade, is the very first year I purchased an art book. I have been using the free resources, up until now.

Kids Art Lessons With Billy Bear

Art is a big part of our homeschool education, as some of you may have already read. I am always searching, and looking for new, and affordable, lesson plans on art. This site is completely free, and the lessons are good quality lessons, geared toward younger artists. You can print off the directions, or if you have a laptop, they can view the lesson why they draw. I love this new site, and I cant wait to have my kids give some of the lessons a try. Go to http://drawsketch.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=drawsketch&cdn=hobbies&tm=8&gps=337_705_1012_574&f=20&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.billybear4kids.com/Learn2Draw/Learn2Draw.html To view all the lessons available. If you know of any kids in public school, especially where funding has been cut, be sure to share these lessons with them too.