Fine Arts - local theatre groups

Homeschooling in the middle school years and into/through high school can be intimidating. Although we loved to craft and make things around our house, I struggled some with the idea of fine arts credits for high school. That is until my kids discovered a local children's theatre.

We calculated the time involved in production and figured they could earn 1/2 a credit in fine arts for each production. (our local theatre has 8 weeks of production and 2 weekends of performances)

Our middle daughter decided that acting was fun and on stage was definitely where she wanted to be. But neither of the other kids wanted anything to do with being on stage. One found her passion in tech. She started out operating a spotlight and worked her way up to operating equipment in the tech booth; she has even acted as the senior technical director for a few productions. The third child has a gift for all things crafty and found that she enjoys building things and painting sets with me. She has even helped with some sewing projects in the costume department.

It has been a wonderful experience to find something that my kids and I can do together, earns them school credit, and is fulfilling to each of us in our own way.

Tapestry of Grace

For our first 5 years of homeschooling we were eclectic. We tried a bit of this and a bit of that. The following year we would stick with components we liked for individual subjects, and then try something new for the rest. And then we found Tapestry of Grace (T.O.G.) when my oldest was entering 5th grade.

TOG follows a "classical education" approach. Elementary years are spent giving them information and exposing them to the learning concepts and the world around them. Middle school years (6-8) are spent "connecting the dots" of the facts and events that they learned in elementary. High school brings on more evaluation and contemplation about their own worldview and not only understanding their own thoughts and ideas, but also expressing them to others.

Year 1 Ancients - covers ancient civilizations such as Rome, Greece, Israel, and Egypt.
Year 2 Renaissance - goes over the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and the Reformation
Year 3 Early Modern - begins with the colonization of America and ends with the Civil War (covering world history, not just American)
Year 4 Modern- from WWI up to modern day.

The lesson plans come in 4 separate year plans. Each Year Plan contains all of the instructions that you will need to teach that time period for grades 1 through 12. This is nice because you only buy each Year Plan one time and it tells you what reading and reference books to purchase for each level. If you have multiple kids or just one working their way through, you do not have to purchase new lesson plans each year. Once you complete the cycle of years 1-4, you go back to Year 1 and the student has moved up a level. This allows them to build on the basic knowledge that they got the first time around.

Negatives (in my opinion)

1. Seems totally overwhelming at first glance (took me 3 years of looking at it to think I could do it)
2. No "shopping list" of books. Many of the books can be sorted by level and subject on Bookshelf Central, but it is not an all inclusive list. If you want a complete list of books you need to buy, you need to go through the Year Plan week by week and make your own.
3. Cannot "cut and paste" from the Reading Assignment page on to a separate page in order to make a weekly assignment sheet. 
4. No way to search through all 36 weeks at the same time when you are looking for something like what weeks is a particular book used?

Positives

1. Multiple age children all cover the same topics at the same time. (different levels may focus on different aspects, but all are studying the same time period at their own level).
2. More books, projects, and activities than you need to do - each parent chooses what they want to cover and what they can skip over. TOG refers to it as a "buffet" where you can make choices.
3. Teacher Notes - I do not have to read everything each of my children is reading. The Teacher Notes summarizes everything for me and guides me through a discussion with the middle school and high school students.
4. I like not having to buy a whole new curriculum every year. Once I have purchased all 4 of the Year Plans, I only need to buy the next level of student books. (I put my money into buying middle school and high school books because I wouldn't use the elementary ones again. But my youngest used the books purchased for the older kids our first time through). 
5. ALL of the planning is covered for me. History, literature, writing, worldviews, fine arts, and even high school government and philosophy all revolve around the core history reading. When you study ancient civilizations you also learn about where the Bible came from, literature like the Odyssey, and you write about topics relating with the reading assignments. It all connects and reinforces the historical concepts.
6. Extras like Map Aids and Evaluations also reduce the amount of work I have to do on my own. Having written a preschool curriculum, I really appreciate the time that went in to creating these materials as well as the time and effort that it saves me as a teacher when I would be reinventing the wheel. 
7. Forum - online place to meet with others also using the curriculum and share ideas, ask questions, and get answers.

 Overall, I LOVE Tapestry of Grace and will use it until my youngest graduates from high school. If you would like to see more, you can check them out at Tapestry of Grace

Outsourcing Classes

As my children approached high school years I began to think about things like higher math, fine arts, and science. Could I continue to teach all subjects to all children? Just short of a nervous breakdown, my answer was loud and clear. "No, I could not."

So I began to look at what we could outsource (classes away from home). Not having a large budget, we needed to get creative.

Here are some of the things we discovered:

Math
1. Teach what you can at home using parents or other family members as the teacher.
2. Consider programs taught by video or online
3. If you cannot find someone within the family to teach, consider bartering (trade them weekly cookies or meals, cleaning, babysitting, etc.).
4. If free classes are not possible, search around your area for existing classes. This might be through a co-op, a homeschool store, or even another homeschooling family willing to teach classes for a reduced fee.

Science
1.  We personally did not do formal science classes until middle school (6th grade). Elementary years were spent in nature studies and science experiments. (Did you know that you can grow vegetables that you can eat? Did you know that cooking is a "food science" or that you can explode a zipper baggie with vinegar and baking soda? I wonder why...??? Science).
2. If you live in a well populated area, chances are that there are other homeschoolers looking for the same class. See if you can co-teach or trade classes. I have known people who traded teaching with other families to save them both some money. If you need science, what can you teach? Do you know a second language? Do you enjoy the messy craft projects that other moms might not want to do?
3. Search around to see if there is a co-op or class taught locally. Many co-ops offer classes with qualified teachers in higher math and science.

Fine Arts
1. You can do online learning with programs like Meet the Masters. http://www.meetthemasters.com/
2. Co-op with friends to do art and/or music classes together. It is always more fun with friends.
3. Check around for a local children's theater. My kids earn 1/2 credit in Fine Arts on their transcripts for each production they are in. 2 productions a year and they have a full credit. Whether actor/actress or working in the technical area of lights or sound, they get the full experience of what it takes to put on a live production.

Appreciation Gifts - Teacher Gifts

Appreciation Gifts (teachers, group leaders, etc.)

Over the years I have done appreciation gifts for groups of all sizes. From a crafting group of 5 to Sunday School leaders in children's ministry numbering over 100. The projects you pick are often determined by how many of them you need to make. Here are some ideas to get those creative juices flowing...

Desk Set/Journal Set

Brown cover notebook from Target - stamped with SU Little Pieces

Pen from Dollar Tree - take off the end and insert stamped paper around ink stick

Paper weight from Oriental Trading Company - stamped with SU Big Pieces

Get Well Bucket

Bug catcher container and net from Dollar Tree

Ladybug made from circle punches and wiggly eyes.

Filled with: tissues, tea, pain reliever, soup packet and small word search book from Dollar Tree.

Clipboard, Cards and Paperweight

Card is layered strips of scrapbooking paper.

Clipboard is from Dollar Tree with scrapbooking paper adhered with a Xyron

Pen (on clipboard) has matching paper wrapped around ink stick.

Paperweight from Oriental Trading Company has coordinating rubber stamp, stamped and

colored, and attached to the paperweight by running through a Xyron face down.

Chocolate "Lollypops"

Simply melt colored chocolates and pour in to candy molds and add sticks.

If presenting to individuals, you would want to cover them with small baggies or plastic and tie with ribbons.

I Spy Bottle

For this Disney theme bottle I purchased "Jibbitz" (decorations you plug into Croc type shoes) from ebay.

I scanned and printed  2 copies of each Jibbitz that I put into the bottle. Each image was punched out with a circle punch and glued back to back with matching image using a Xyron.

Short pieces of ribbon were attached to the punched images with a brad.

Images were then threaded on to a large key ring from an office supply store.

Using 2 of each Jibbitz, I cut off the shanks and glued them back to back with E6000 glue.

Put Jibbitz into clean, clear color, sports drink or water bottle and fill almost to the top with birdseed.

Glue on the lid so contents cannot be dumped.

Set picture ring over the bottle cap to act as the key for what to look for.

Note: We have done this on road trips where we got a small token from each stop and had an I Spy bottle for the trip. Great as a rememberance, or to keep in the car when someone needs a quiet activity

Custom Hand Soap Dispenser

Remove all labels from any clear soap dispenser (Undo or Goo Gone work well).

Lay the bottle down on top of an overhead transparency sheet and trace the outline. 

Cut out the transparency slightly smaller than the bottle.

Stamp image or print (before cutting - using a laser printer) and color if desired.

Note: The Texas flag colored above used Stazon ink. The black was fine, the red and blue wore off within a few days.

Remove the pump handle/lid, roll up the transparency and insert into bottle.

The transparency will unfold itself. Put the lid back on.

Folder Book

Made from pocket folders folded in fourths (fold each outside edge towards the center

 and fold the center crease backwards)

Cover front and back of each section with scrapbooking paper.

Attach pens to the front if it will be used for field trips, vacations, or journaling.

Possible uses:

• Field trip - fill each pocket with paper strips for taking notes
• Scrapbook - fill each pocket with graduated lengths of cardstock for pictures/journaling
• Class gift to teacher - put pictures and signatures or text on cardstock strips to fit into pockets
• Vacation folder (before) - use in car for games like tic-tac-toe, complete the dots, list of states to cross off for found license plates, maps, or plain paper for score cards or journaling
• Vacation folder (after) - cardstock strips to glue on pictures, tickets, bulletins or whatever they brought home from the trip as well as journaling about what they saw or did.

St. Patrick's Day

Rainbow licorice and gold coins in long cellophane treat bags.

Black "pot" is folded cardstock and cut out leaving fold on the bottom so both sides of bag are covered.

Text done on computer and cut to fit the black pot.

Insert cellophane bag into pot, staple (top of bag, bottom of pot) and put label over the staples.

Santa-tizer

Hand sanitizer bottles from the Dollar Tree.

Cut red cardstock to wrap around the bottle, trim with white scallop strip at the bottom.

Cut black strip (belt) to fit around the bottle and use a slot punch and silver paper to make a buckle.

Tags were made with scrap cardstock and trim, hole punched and attached with black hair bands.

Christmas crafts and Activities

We intentionally begin our school year 3-4 weeks earlier than most in the fall so that we can take off pretty much the whole month of December and enjoy the Christmas season together. 

#1 - Service countdown

One of the first things we do is to fill up our Service Countdown with ideas. This year we had 4 weeks in December in which to share the Christmas spirit. We had never really scheduled acts of kindness before, so we started off slow. We got 4 small envelopes, 12 small cards of paper (that fit into the envelopes) and a piece of ribbon to hang them on. My girls and I sat down and came up with 4 activities that we could do together that would build up our family, 4 ideas to fix up or improve things around our house and 4 ideas for serving others in the community. By no means do we limit our acts of kindness to just those 4 community activities, but it was a place to start and brought our minds to serving others. We put 1 idea from each category into each envelope, labeled the envelopes with the weekly breakdowns for weeks 1-4 and hung them up in the living room. Each Sunday afternoon in December we open an envelope with our Advent reading and decide when to do each of the activities in the envelope during the upcoming week. 

Some ideas to get you thinking:

For the family:

Game night

Spa time (manicures, pedicures, facials - serving each other or just doing it together)

Movie night with popcorn and snacks

Formal dinner night

Picnic in the living room

Family drive or walk around the park

For the house/home:

Clean up the yard

Paint a room

Shampoo some carpet

Clean the windows

Clean out the fireplace

Clean out old toys/clothes and donate ones that can still be used by others

For the community:

Donate to a Salvation Army red kettle bell ringer (or pick a few and spread the love)

Bless a bell ringer with a Starbucks or McDonald's gift card so they can warm up

Leave an extra big tip when you go out to eat

Leave goodies in your mailbox for your mail carrier or by your trash cans for the truck drivers

Take goodies to the local fire department or police station

#2 Crafts

We are a crafting family and enjoy spending time making things together. Here are a few of the things we have created this year.

Apple Cinnamon Ornaments

Equal parts applesauce and ground cinnamon (we get both at the dollar store).

Mix them until they form a ball. Roll it out and use cookie cutters to cut shapes.

Lay the ornaments on wax paper and poke a hole with a toothpick for the string to go through.

Each morning for the next week or so, turn the ornaments over so they dry completely.

When dry, use white fabric paint (in a little bottle with fine tip spout) to put on the "frosting" and string with a piece of ribbon or paper clip. The scent will last for years.

Advent calendar (countdown to Christmas)

Metal pizza pan

12x12 piece of patterned paper

23 bottle caps (or other "ornaments" for the tree)

Tree shape on green paper with numbers 24-1 printed on it (1 at the top)

24 images or pictures for the "ornaments"

24 magnets for the "ornaments"

2-3' of ribbon for hanging

Way to punch holes around the edge (optional - I used a Cropodile)

Cut the patterned paper to fit inside the pizza pan. Use adhesive to secure.

Cut out the green paper tree to go in the center of the pan. Use adhesive to secure.

Punch holes around the edge of the pizza pan for the ribbon to weave in and out. Tie both ends at the top in a bow leaving 4-7" of space above the pan for hanging.

Cut images to fit inside the bottlecaps and secure each image into a cap.

Glue magnets to the back of each bottlecap.

Beaded candy canes

Red and white beads

Red or white pipe cleaner (chenille stem)

Put on one bead and bend the end of the pipe cleaner up to keep the bead from falling off. Let children alternate red and white beads until they reach the other end of the pipe cleaner. Bend the end to keep the beads from falling off and bend the whole thing into a candy cane.

Melted Snowman Ornament

Glass or plastic ornaments (must be able to remove the hanging part at the top)

Salt

5 peppercorns

Orange polymer clay

Optional - tag with string

Make small orange cones from polymer clay (make sure they are small enough to fit inside the ornament opening). Bake to harden.

Remove the top of the ornament ball. 

Using a funnel if you have one, fill ornament 1/4 - 1/3 full of salt.

Drop in one nose and 5 peppercorns.

Replace the top and add tag if you'd like.

Santa-tizer (hand sanitizer)

Bottle of hand sanitizer

Red paper (as tall as the bottle and long enough to wrap all the way around)

White paper 1" wide and long enough to wrap all the way around the bottle)

Black paper 1" wide and long enough to wrap all the way around the bottle)

Silver or gray paper 2" square (for the belt buckle)

Tag: white and black paper, pen for writing, and string for attaching (I used a black pony-tail holder)

Paper punch with decorate edge for bottom trim of coat

Paper punch for buckle - slot punch and corner rounder

Paper glue (we used Zip Dry)

Use border punch to punch scallop or other edging on white strip of paper. 

Attach white strip to the back of the red piece cut to fit around the bottle.

Cut out buckle with 2 slots and rounded corners; trim to size you want.

Thread the black strip through the slots and attach the belt and buckle to the red coat.

Wrap the completed coat around the bottle and secure in place with strong paper glue (we tried several adhesives and even red line tape did not hold. Secure in place with tight rubber bands until dry)

White that is drying, you can cut a tag shape from white paper, back with black if you'd like, write "Santa-tizer" on the tag and attach to the bottle with ribbon, string, or a pony-tail holder. 

Kids eating healthy

Every parent knows kids need good nutrition to properly grow their bodies as well as their minds. Good foods help them do better at home and at school. But if you have children like mine, getting those healthy foods in to the kids is not as easy as it sounds. Given the choice, my kids will take the store bought (high sugar and low nutrition) cookies over something that looks like one of mom's healthy "treats."

So figuring out how to get more nutrition in to them has become a new hobby. We are by no means a "totally health conscious family" - but we are trying to make some changes for the better.  Here are some tips and ideas that I have recently discovered that are helping us make better choices:

1. Don't buy the junk food in the first place. If it's not in the house, it's not an option. Kids (or parents) cannot be tempted to eat what isn't there. (I am a coupon shopper, this may be more difficult for those looking to save money on "cheap" snacks - just keep in mind, those highly processed foods that have coupons save you money on the purchase price, but your kids may be getting exactly the nutrition that you pay for and that could cost you more long term)

2. Portion size. Most Americans do not realize what a "serving" should be. Just because it is in a single container, doesn't  mean we need to eat the whole package. Look at the label. Teach your kids to look at the label.  My kids were shocked to find out that the nutrition information (fat, sugar, carbs, calories...) were all based on a set amount. Those calories come from 15 potato chips, not the entire bag. There may be 2 servings in that can of soda or juice. When they ask for a snack they now understand they get "one serving" of whatever food it is they are asking for.

3. Have healthy snack options easily available. Make it just as easy to grab a healthy snack as it was to grab a bag of chips or candy.
        -Have individual portion size snacks available in the pantry and the fridge.
        -Pre-cut apple slices and put them in small containers covered with pineapple juice and water. They
          will not turn brown and they stay crisp for up to a week (we found straight pineapple juice affected
          the taste too much).
        -Make your own muffins and breads (with healthy ingredients) instead of buying donuts or high
          fat/sugar muffins. You can individually package them just as easy. And freeze them in Tupperware
          type containers. Just let them thaw on the counter or microwave for 10 seconds.
        -Make fruit smoothies and freeze them in popsicle molds (even paper cups and a craft still will do)

Frozen tropical fruit mix from Walmart, frozen strawberries, frozen blueberries, frozen bananas, about 1 cup of Pom Juice (and a hand full of spinach, but I'm not telling the kids:)

4. Help the budget by buying on sale. You can take advantage of the summer fruit deals and freeze them for later. It is usually easiest to clean the fruit, remove seeds, and basically make them ready to eat and then "flash freeze" them. Basically that means spreading them out on a tray and freezing them individually and then, after they are frozen, put them into a freezer bag or container. That way when you want just a few blueberries, you can take out a few without having to defrost the whole block.

5. Get the kids involved. I have one of "those kids". You know, the ones who would live on chicken nuggets and pizza. She has not eaten a vegetable voluntarily since the day she was born. But when we planted a garden (lettuce, spinach, green beans and peas), I started to discover the pea pods (shells) surrounding the garden when I went out to water. My picky eater was eating peas! She wasn't thrilled about the lettuce or green beans, but by golly she ate the peas. Next winter we will plant several:). This kid hates oatmeal and bananas. But this morning she offered to make banana muffins. Well, my recipe has bananas of course, but also oatmeal. She made the muffins, ate the muffins, AND said she liked them. Get kids involved in the growing and preparing of healthy foods and just maybe they'll actually like the end product.

6. Taste test - often. Repeated exposure will often help kids develop a liking. For years my picky eater wouldn't touch broccoli without gagging on it. Not dramatic, just a reflex, she's done it on any soft food since she was a baby. Then I realized, I was only giving it to her cooked. So I cut it raw. She was NOT happy with the texture of the florets either. Then a stroke of brilliance hit me, it's broccoli from top to bottom. So what if I strip the hard part off the stem and slice the inside of the stem like chips. It worked. She liked it. And she didn't choke on it. So now when I steam broccoli for everyone else, I peel the stems and 2 of my kids eat broccoli chips. Another mom suggested to me to take kids to a natural market and let them pick out things to taste. Or pick out a fruit like oranges and get several different kinds. By accident, this is how we discovered our love for Asian Pears. They have the sweetness of pears, but are crispy (not mushy for already identified picky eater).

7. Sneak in healthy foods where you can.
     -Pureed sweet potato or spinach in spaghetti sauce (use baby food if you don't have good blender)
     -Use applesauce instead of oil in baked goods (play with amounts, but I've used just applesauce in
       some recipes and they come out just fine)
     -Mix pancake batter in the blender and put in bananas or if you want pink ones, add strawberries
     -Offer grated zucchini as a salad mix in

I asked my homeschool group for ideas and here are some links for additional ideas and recipes
Deceptively Delicious
  I hear that the chocolate chip cookies (with garbonzo beans) are great and kid approved!
Green Smoothie Girl
Sneaky Chef

Completing projects

Sometimes big projects can be overwhelming for little ones. My statement of "clean your room" is totally a doable project for the born organized 15-year-old. She could handle the job, mostly on her own from the time she was 4. But for my more creatively thinking kids, that is an overwhelming request that will most likely deteriorate into tears and frustration within the first half hour. That is, if they don't get distracted and just start playing with something instead.

My solution has been to break down the job into smaller steps and then when possible, give them a visual to track their process.

In the example of cleaning their room, I might cut out a construction paper triangle and cut layers (like the old Food Pyramid idea). Put one area of their room on each section with "vacuum" being the very top triangle. Scatter the pieces on the table in the living room, out of the project area, and child finds the largest piece. It might say "make your bed" or "clean off the top and the floor under your desk." When that job is done, the child comes back to the table and finds the next piece up on the pyramid. Completing each job piece by piece gives some organization to the process and helps to guide a child who might not be able to get through the process on their own without getting distracted. For added incentive or structure, you can set a timer for 10-15 minutes. If the job is done before the timer goes off, the kid gets to play until it does. The job is still completed in the time frame you set forth, they are encouraged to stay focused for a short period of time, and they also get the mental breaks they may need to get it done.

We also use this sort of system with our younger kids when it comes to school work. Starting her day with a list of subjects to get through is overwhelming. She doesn't always have the same subjects every day either. But she is much more willing to stay focused and work if there is light at the end of the tunnel and she knows there is an end to it. So we use something like this...

All of the subjects she will work on were written on die cuts from the dollar store and backed with a small piece of magnetic strip so that they stick to the fridge. I got a magnetic pocket from a sale on school supply sales somewhere years ago. By adding a clipart basket to the front of the pocket, I've created a "done" basket. Each day I put the subjects that are on her assignment sheet on the fridge. Since I work with this child one on one while my older students complete their own work, I know what the actual assignments are. When we finish an activity or reading assignment she puts the correct apple into the basket. When all the apples are in the basket, she'd done for the day. 

You could also use this system for chores. Put each item to be done on a piece of paper or clipart image and  as the jobs are completed they are put into a basket or moved from one side of a chart to the other. Personally I like things like this on the fridge. It is out in the open and I can see someone's progress without having to interrupt and ask them what they're doing, what they've finished, or what they still need to do.