Exploring Norway

We have been working our way through the countries that we will see when we visit Epcot during our upcoming trip to Disney World.  For our study of Norway we used some of the printables and activities from Enchanted Homeschooling Mom’s new curriculum- Journey Into the World of Folktales.

 Hailey colored the flag of Norway.

Next we read Three Billy Goats Gruff… but before we did that Hailey drew a prediction of what she thought the story would be about.  We watched several different versions of the story on Youtube.

 Hailey and Hunter both made a troll.

Hunter showing off his troll.

Hailey retold the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff.  First she drew a little backdrop on the white board, then she used her troll and the 3 billy goats to retell the story.

 We watched a video on BrainPOP about the Vikings, then Hailey and Hunter had fun making their own Viking ships.

Up next will be moving to North America and studying Canada as we continue learning about the countries.

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ARTistic Pursuits Review

A favorite things to do at our house has always been art.  I have always struggled with what to do for art though.  I can put together a cute craft or project, but usually it’s just for fun- which is great- but sometimes I want a bit more educational value to go along with the activity we are doing.  Fortunately, Hailey takes an art class at our homeschool co-op, so I know she is getting some good art instruction.  But, I wanted to do something for her at home too- an art curriculum that I could easily implement- so I was really excited at the opportunity to review Early Elementary K-3, Book 2: Stories of Artists and Their Art from ARTistic Pursuits.

Stories of Artists and Their Art is a part of a homeschool art curriculum from ARTistic Pursuits.  There are books in the curriculum that come before this one, but you can start with this book if you want to.  This book focuses on the lives of artists from within the 13th century to the 18th century. Some of the artists included in Stories of Artists and Their Art are Giotto, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Turner.  In Stories of Artists and Their Art, there are stories written about the artists, written perfectly for children to enjoy and understand, and then there are art activities that relate to the artist your child is learning about.  Stories of Artists and Their Art is paperback and has a comb binding, includes 36 lessons (85 pages) and is $47.95. This particular book is for kindergarten through 3rd grade, but there are other art curriculum products for other ages available at ARTistic Pursuits.   In addition to purchasing the book, you will also need to purchase art supplies to complete the projects in the book.   You can order supplies directly from ARTistic Pursuits or you can purchase them on your own.

So, what did we think of Stories of Artists and Their Art?

Here is a sampling of some of the lessons we did:

Lesson 1 was about Cimabue.  First we read about Cimabue, what it was like when he was born and how he became an artist.  Then Hailey completed the project that went along with the story.  She was encouraged to paint a picture of a building in our neighborhood.

She set up her painting area like the book recommended doing.  There are also tips offered in the book- for example it suggested using your paint brush to drop a couple drops of water into the water colors to soften up the paint before starting.  This was a super helpful tip and made painting with water colors even easier.

Hailey decided to paint a picture of our neighbor’s house- this is her completed picture.

The next lesson we did was also about Cimabue and how some craftsmen stamped patterns into a gold surface by making indentations into the gold.

We used gold colored paper to represent the real gold for this activity.  Hailey had to cut the paper into the shape she wanted and then glue it on the paper.

Hailey’s completed artwork.

In lesson 3 we learned about Giotto and how he used rocks to scratch pictures onto large flat stones when he was a child.  He later worked as an apprentice for Cimabue and became a master painter as well.

For the next activity, Hailey used oil pastels to carefully color a piece of cardstock.  She used lots of colors and made it look very pretty.  When she finished coloring it, she colored over the entire picture with a black oil pastel.  This whole process took several days, but she had a great time.

When she finished, she used a paperclip to scratch the black off and create a picture.  This part was a bit messy- but it is art after all 😉  She loved the project and is very proud of her artwork hanging in our classroom.

One other lesson we completed was also about Giotto and how he used to do fresco painting- which is when the paint is applied to wet plaster.

Hailey spread plaster onto a piece of cardboard.

Hailey drew a picture using pencil onto the plaster of what she wanted to paint.

Then she used water colors to paint her picture.

I made a plaster surface for Hunter too, because he likes to be included in what we do- so here he is painting his plaster.

ARTistic pursuits is very clearly laid out- a short and simple story about an artist, followed by a fun project for the child to complete.  It is very easy to use and the activities are simple while educational.

Here is what it boils down to for me:

Pros:
Hailey loved it!  She listened to the stories- they kept her attention and she loved the projects.
It’s not just a project for the sake of doing art- there is real educational value behind the lessons.
It is easily adaptable for a variety of ages.

Cons:
Some of the art supplies that are recommend are a bit pricey.  But, that is easily fixed by purchasing generic supplies rather than the suggested name brand materials.

Overall, I would recommend ARTistic Pursuits.  We really enjoyed this homeschool art curriculum, we both learned a lot, and I plan to continue using it.

Want to see more of ARTistic Pursuits?  You can also check them out on Facebook.

Expedition Earth- Germany

We are moving along in our Expedition Earth study.  We only have a few countries left before we head to Disney World and “visit” the countries in Epcot that we have learned about while doing Expedition Earth.

This week we learned all about Germany.

Hailey colored the flag.

We learned about and looked at pictures of the many castles in Germany.  Then Hailey built her own castle.

Hailey ate a pretzel.

She read about Germany.

A definite favorite activity was eating some Nutella.

We wrapped up the week with a German meal.  I made bratwurst, potato pancakes and sauerkraut.  The sauerkraut was not a hit hahaha, but we liked everything else.

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Poppins Book Nook- Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

The theme this month for Poppins Book Nook was “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles!”

We have had a super busy and crazy month with lots of sickness thrown in the mix.  So, we ran out of time to do anything new for this topic.  But, I decided to share some of the activities we have done from one of our favorite books.

We used “The Polar Express” by Chris Van Allsburg back in December to do a bunch of fun activities.  I hope you don’t mind me sharing Christmas related activities in April 🙂  Hopefully you can just pin these ideas and use them at Christmas time.

Of course, we read the book- actually we listened to the CD of the book.  Then we had a great time making some Polar Express trains.

Hunter made a train using different shapes.  He also sprinkled glitter on his paper.  While that was not exactly planned (ha!) it looked like falling snow.

Hunter’s finished train.

Hailey used oil pastels to draw a train.

She colored it in using Christmas colors.

Hailey’s finished train.  She also sprinkled glitter on her paper to look like snow.  She didn’t use glue, she just sprinkled it on and it looks great.

To finish off our Polar Express theme we had a party at the end of the week.

I used painter’s tape to make a railroad track on the floor.  We used some cardboard boxes from some of my online shopping to build a train.

Hunter and Hailey sitting in the train.

Hunter and Hailey made some snow globes.  (Of course, they had to wear their pajamas for a Polar Express party.)

Hailey decided to make her snowman look like Olaf from Frozen.  They turned out cute.

Then they made a little graham cracker train.

It only lasted a few minutes before they started eating it 🙂

Then it was movie time!  Hunter and Hailey took their seats in our train.

I punched their tickets

They also had little jingle bells, which we could all hear 😉

Then I passed out hot chocolate and popcorn while they watched the movie.  It was a super fun day!

Poppins Book Nook Giveaway! Every month the Poppins Book Nook group will be offering readers a chance to win a brand new storybook or product that ties in with our theme for the month. This month one lucky entrant will win a Fort Magic Kit!  With Fort Magic you can bring all of the planes, trains, automobiles, and anything else your child can think of from your storybooks to life to interact with, play with, and make reading fun. The possibilities are only limited by your child’s imagination. Jump into a world of books today with Fort Magic! You can read a review of Fort Magic HERE.

The winner must reside within the United States. This giveaway is brought to you by the company Enchanted Homeschooling Mom who is owner and founder of the Poppins Book Nook, in partnership with the Fort Magic. By entering this giveaway you are also acknowledging that you have read and agree to all of the Rafflecopter terms & conditions as well as Enchanted Homeschooling Mom’s disclosures found here {http://enchantedhomeschoolingmom.org/disclosures/}.  Just enter the Rafflecopter below to win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway
  Do you have a fun activity to share?  Link up below:

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Check out the other co-hosts for Poppins Book Nook:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ 3 Dinosaurs ~ To the Moon and Back ~ Planet Smarty Pants ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ Growing in God’s Grace ~ Chestnut Grove Academy ~ Learning and Growing the Piwi Way ~ The Usual Mayhem~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Monsters Ed Homeschool Academy ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Teach Beside Me ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ Kathy’s Cluttered Mind ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Our Crafts N Things ~ Hopkins Homeschool ~ ABC Creative Learning ~ Joy Focused Learning ~ P is for Preschooler ~ Laugh and Learn ~ A Mommy’s Adventures ~ Inspiring 2 New Hampshire Children ~ World for Learning ~ Ever After in the Woods ~ Golden Grasses ~ Our Simple Kinda Life ~ A glimpse of our life ~ Journey to Excellence ~ Happy Little Homemaker ~ Little Homeschool Blessings ~ Simplicity Breeds Happiness ~ Raventhreads ~ Water on the Floor ~ Learning Fundamentals ~ Tots and Me ~ As We Walk Along The Road ~ Stir the Wonder ~ For This Season ~ Where Imagination Grows ~ Lextin Academy ~ The Canadian Homeschooler ~ School Time Snippets ~ Peakle Pie ~ Mom’s Heart ~ A Moment in our World ~ Every Bed of Roses ~ Finchnwren ~ At Home Where Life Happens ~ Suncoast Momma ~ The Library Adventure ~ Embracing Destiny ~ Day by Day in our World ~ Our Homeschool Studio ~ A “Peace” of Mind ~ Thou Shall Not Whine ~ SAHM I am ~ eLeMeNo-P Kids ~ Simple Living Mama