Thursday 28 November 2013

Circles, Colour, Contrast {Virtual Fridge}

I would like to apologize for these posts not being here for the last two weeks. Sir N and I have been nursing ourselves back to health. Although not 100 % we are much improved.

This Week

Our art was inspired by Vassily Kandinsky and we followed the tutorial in The Usborne ART Treasury on page 54. If you are wanting to start artist study but are not artistically inclined I highly recommend this book. We used crayons and water colour and explored contrasting and complimenting colour.

Featured This Week


Spirit's Seascape. - Water color, black sharpie and crayons from over at Nikki's Angels of Heart.


Your Turn

I invite you to take some photo's of your children's artistic pursuits put them in a post and link up with me I would love to come over and see the wonderful art your children have enjoyed doing.
Virtual Fridge Link Up

Blessings
Chareen


The Virtual Fridge a weekly art meme where we can hang our children's art on a virtual fridge. This meme was started by Jennifer over at A Glimpse of our Life who kindly invited three other bloggers to co-host this weekly meme.

Your hosts are




Tuesday 26 November 2013

Our Favorite Picture Book Read-Alouds


Over the years I have shared some of the treasures that are on my shelves and some of the ones discovered during my frequent trips to the library in my Tuesday's Treasures posts. 

Looking for our favourites was a little difficult as we have so many we like to revisit. Isn't  that what living books are all about ?  Here are 6 of our recent favourites and some we often go back to
A Boy, A Dog & A Frog

I love this little book so much.  The line drawings are so beautiful. It was written more than 25 years ago and holds it's character so well.  It's one of those books that will be around for year s to come. This is the tale of a little boy and his dog and the adventures they get up to when they spot a frog on their fishing adventure. Can they catch him with their net ? I don't know you will need to get this little book to find out.

Pages 32 pages ISBN 13: 9780803728806 ISBN 10: 0803728808
Author: Mercer Mayer


A Country Far Away 
This is another treasure discovered this year at the library. It's written by Nigel Gray about the lives of two children on opposite sides of the world and shows how similar we really are.  Each page is divided in two the top half illustrates the one child's world and the bottom the other with the words of the story which are applicable to both running through the center.

Pages:32  ISBN 10:0980876028  ISBN 13:9780980876024
Author: Nigel Gray    Illustrator: Philippe Dupasquier

 Katie and the Waterlily Pond
The Katie books are just beautiful books written and illustrated by James Mayhew.  In this book Katie discovers Five Monet Masterpieces on her magical journey.

Pages: 32 ISBN: 978-1-40830-464-8
Author  James Mayhew  Illustrator: James Mayhew




Hairy Maclary's Caterwaul Caper
For rhyme and rhythm nothing beats a Lynley Dodd book along with Hairy Maclary.  His antics will have you giggling with your children. Her illustrations are marvelously mischievous. The pictures and words combine to tell the story, each picture contains vital information contributing to the story and invites exploration by the reader
Pages 31  ISBN 9780140508734
Author: Lynley Dodd Illustrator: Lynley Dodd


Look-Alikes - The More you Look the More you See!
This book is amazing. Joan uses everyday objects in ingenious ways to create three dimensional scenes. There are hundreds of look alike items to find on each and every page.  This book is guaranteed to keep you busy for days trying to discover each items double use.

Pages 32    ISBN 13: 9780316713481 ISBN 10: 0316713481
Author: Joan Steiner 

  Three Cheers for Inventors! 
This is a picture book for older studnets. This year I discovere the author illustrator Marcia Williams. This book is written in a comic format. She has written a few  with Shakespears plays, Charles Dickens, Robin Hood, Noah's Ark and The Iliad and the Odyssey to name a few.  We have loved all her books so far.

Pages: 40 ISBN: 140630171X ISBN 13: 9781406301717
Author  Marcia Williams  Illustrator: Marcia Williams


What are your families favourite picture books ?  I would love to know :)


Blessings

Chareen

This post is part of the Homeschool Help series brought to you by a group of homeschool Mom's from around the globe.  Do not forget to visit and read their inspirational insight.


This week
 ---ooOoo---

Monday 25 November 2013

Our Favourites and the 2013 Blue Ribbon Awards

Wow it's the end of my first year on the Schoolhouse Review Crew.  It has been a steep learning curve but at the same time a most enjoyable adventure.   This year the crew had the wonderful opportunity of reviewing items for 86 companies.  Two weeks ago we were asked to vote and nominate our favourites in 38 Blue Ribbon nominations for 2013.  A total of 28 companies were awarded ribbons this year.

My personal top three items are



Sir N's Top 3 



The Crew voted too

    You can read what others on the crew are saying over at Announcing — The 2013 Blue Ribbon Awards! A total of 28 companies were awarded ribbons this year.

    What are some of the new curriculum things you have used and enjoyed this year ?
    Blessings
    Chareen

    Sunday 24 November 2013

    HSMJ Being sick is no fun ...

     In my life this week…
    It always amazes me how being really sick gives you a better appreciation for your health and well being.  At present Sir N and I are both really sick with the flu :(  So I'm afraid this weeks blogging and HSMJ took a back seat to DVD marathons and sleeping.  Together we have watched Season 4 of Mythbusters.  Had to get some school in right ? 


    In our home school this week…
    • We concentrated on Maths.
    • Together we began reading Macbethwhich is part of the Young Readers Shakespeare serries.  We are both very impressed and Sir N has been begging me to read more or read before we do school writing which a sure sign of a living book!
    Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
    Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
    • We attended Kelly Sports but nothing else due to illness.  :p
    My favourite thing this week was…
    Source
    Questions/thoughts I have…
    • What will you be doing to celebrate Advent this year ?
    • I found a new laundry powder and am excited about!  Have you hear of or used Euca Laundry products ?
    Things I’m working on…
    • Stalking my email in box ... Yes I got an invite to be on the Schoolhouse Review Crew for 2014!  Looking forward to another year of living and learning with the crew.
    • Carnival of Homeschooling {Edition # 412}
    • Homeschool Burnout
    • Getting better.  Gosh we've been really sick this week 
    • We had our annual planning meeting for CHEF homeschool.  Feels so good to have the new year planned.  We are even planning our very FIRST homeschool Camp!  Can't wait.
    In Bloggy world I’m reading…
    I’m cooking…
    • I was radically and outrageously blessed this week.  Paul bought me a Thermomix.  What's your favourite recipe to use with a Thermomix ?
    On Pinterest I found...
    A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

    Watch A Teenager Bring His Class To Tears Just By Saying A Few Words


    Blessings

    Chareen

    Homegrown Learners

    Photo collages made with: Photoscape a FREE photo editor

    Wednesday 20 November 2013

    Carnival of Homeschooling {Edition # 412}


    Welcome to the 412th edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling where home school families share their homeschool wisdom with us from all over the world via their blogs.

    Carnival of Homeschooling was started by the Cate Family over at Why Homeschool and has been a tremendous source of home school support and information.

    This Week . . .

    Ben and Me
    Marcy from over at Ben and Me shares E is for Everyday Epistles. . You too can become a walking epistle! Memorize the entire book of Philippians in 28 weeks!


    A Slice of Homeschool Pie
    How We Use Stuffed Animals In Our Homeschool over at A Slice of Homeschool Pie. Read about how this family use stuffed animal toys to create a happy learning environment in their day to day school activities.  Yes Mom plays too :)



     3rd and 4th Grade Grammar and Spelling---How We Do It for Free! Susan from over at Homeschooling Hearts & Minds explains how she is doing 3rd and 4th grade language arts for free, the philosophy behind it, and links to free resources so others can follow a similar path.



     Lisa Marie from over at The Canadian Homeschooler is sharing some thoughts on Bullying Awareness Week. A full list of resources and information for you can be found here.


    Cristi from over at Through the Calm and Through the Storm is sharing This Year's Favorite Crew Review Items. Christi has a show and tell of their families top ten products and why they are still using them.



    52 Homeschool Tips for Every Homeschooler – #27 Use Bath Time as Learning Time Tawnee is doing a series on Homeschool Tips for Every Homeschooler over at Adventures in Homeschooling and todays tips covers Bath time learning.


    Crystal shares all about her families Our Sugar Cube Castle! Homeschool Fun! over at Crystal Starr Blog. See the process and adventures to be had building a Sugar Cube Castle.




    Homeschooling and the What If game by Janine Cate over at Why Homeschool. She shares because we, as homeschoolers, have a nearly endless supply of educational options, it can be very hard to be satisfied with our choices.


    Annie Kate from over at Tea time with Annie Kate shares Delight-Directed Learning, Part 1: Pitfalls We have been learning in a delight-directed way for over a decade and a half, and we've been fallen into some common pitfalls. Once you know what they are, you can more easily avoid them.


    Barbara from over at Barbara Frank online shares some thoughts this week One response to the question, "How many hours a day do you homeschool your kids?" in her post  How Many Hours?


    Highhill Homeschool
    Julie from over at Highhill Education shares some great resources for a Rome Unit Study - Government and Military. Please join us each week as we continue to learn about Ancient Rome through books, videos and activities. At Highhill Education we believe kids learn best when they are having fun. We do lots of entertaining and education activities which support this philosophy.

    Knowing what the Bill of Rights guarantees us and fighting to not let those rights be taken away will keep our country strong. Do your children know what those rights represent? Chris from over at Homeschool vs Public School is working his way through the Bill of Rights with a short post each day covering a different aspect. This week he shares on Bill of Rights 7th, 8th,9th &10th Amendments. 


    Sarah over at Mustard Seed Mommy shares An Introduction to Tot School this week. This post is an intro on how Mustard Seed Mommy's family has introduced tot school into their day to day life.


    Katherine from over at No Fighting, No Biting shares some thoughts on children learn at their own paceand what to do with extra-curricular activities when a child is in multiple grades?


    Suzie's Home Education Ideas

    Suzie from over at Suzie's Home Education Ideas shares about the different learning activities her son has been doing to learn about fractions. 10+ ways to play with Fractions contains links to FREE printable resources to help your children learn fractions.




    Kate from over at The Alternative Family introduces us to …The ‘Grow-Learn-Go’ Series   a free book for your Kindle.



    Photobucket

    Bernadette over at the Barefoot Hippie Girl shares some thoughts on What to Do When You Run Out of Fuel 



    Navigating By Joy

     Lucinda from over at Navigating By Joy shares some great resources on Hands-On Russian History

     


    Thank you for visiting the carnival this week may you be as encouraged as I have been reading what has been shared.

    Blessings

    Chareen 

    Next weeks Carnival will be hosted at Petticoat Government
    --oOo--

    For Future editions of Carnival of Homeschooling
    Email submissions to: CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.com
    When: by 6:00 PM (PST) on the Monday evening of the week. It is greatly appreciated when the submissions come in earlier.
    What: Please send the following information
    Title of Post
    URL of Post
    Name of Blog
    URL of Blog
    Brief summary of the post
    Brief introduction of yourself
    (With "carnival" or "submission" in the subject field of the email.)