Dawn K Homeschool

Thank you, Ellen, for your fabulous website.  Seriously, you NEED to check out  this fantastic website because it has some of the most innovative projects for all subjects.  It is perfect for traditional teachers and home educators. Today, John was home from work due to the rain, so he joined the boys in a wax resist watercolor map of Japan project.  The boys were able to learn more about Japan's geography while learning a new art technique.  To download the files for this project, click here . Ben's Nathan's John's

We have been reading The Master Puppeteer by Katherine Patterson .  Amazon's product review reads: Who is the man called Sabura, the mysterious bandit who robs the rich and helps the poor? And what is his connection with Yoshida, the harsh and ill- tempered master of feudal Japan's most famous puppet theater? Young Jiro, an apprentice to Yosida, is determined to find out, even at risk to his own life. Meanwhile, Jiro devotes himself to learning puppetry. Kinshi, the puppet master's son, tutors him. When his sheltered life at the theater is shattered by mobs of hungry, rioting peasants, Jiro becomes aware of responsibilities greater that his craft. As he schemes to help his friend Kinshi and to find his own parent, Jiro stumbles onto a dangerous and powerful secret.... We are enjoying the book, though I must confess some of the theatre scenes are a little drawn-out. I think the book could be just as effective if the scene detail were more limited. This project from the webs...

Homeschool isn't the same as school

It was difficult getting an in-focus photo of the babies as the mama was always nearby and we had to stand on a ladder to see into the box.

John took the boys to south-west Virginia and West Virginia this summer.  This gave me some time alone to finish preparing for the upcoming school year (and chill out).  Some of the places they visited were:  The Natural Bridge and Wax Museum , the Mill Mountain Star , the the Virginia Museum of Transportation , the Mill Mountain Zoo , the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine , and the New River Gorge Bridge .

After reading the book Hokusai: The Man Who Painted a Mountain , the boys and I watercolored some black and white line drawings of "Pagoda of Zojoj" created in 1857 by Hiroshige.  We tried to paint one of Hokusai's, but we all messed up, so we chose this one instead. Other books worth reading are: One Day in Japan with Hokusai  (I just ordered this one from Amazon) The Old Man Mad about Drawing: A Tale of Hokusai  (This is a longer chapter book.) See which one your local library has.  You can find this and other drawings to color or paint here . Here are our completed projects. Mine Nathan's Ben's 

** photos taken by John and me.

I just wanted to brag on our budding photographer -- Nathan, age 10. :)

I just realized I never posted a slide show of our flower gardens this year -- so, here goes!  BTW: My husband is the fabulous photographer in almost all of our photos .  Let's hear it for John and his skill. :)  I'll post a slide show of our bird pictures sometime soon.  We also love birds! As you can see, we start with spring and end with autumn.

During our study of Japan, we have been reading about and practicing the art of origami.  Here are some books we have read: The Origami Master Yoko's Paper Cranes Fold Me a Poem Spread Your Wings and Fly: An Origami Fold-and-Tell Story For practicing origami, I have found  this website to be the mose useful.  It has the easiest origami I could find.  I also bought these  easy origami that have folding lines and eyes printed on them.  You can buy them and various origami paper at your local A. C. Moore and Michaels. The book  is a wonderful book for teaching origami. The ABC's of Origami: Paper Folding for Children

A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home We all enjoyed this book about a mouse named Celeste.  It was really more of an introduction to John James Audubon and his teenage assistant Joseph Mason. The afterword includes fascinating information about both artists and their techniques (which would be considered animal cruelty these days, so please be aware that these methods are mentioned in the book). Here  is a study guide for the book. For more about Audubon, see here .  For other fabulous resources about him including coloring pages and other recommended literature for children, click here .

Taken at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens.  We visited my brother and his family (thus the photos of my niece and nephew).

As you know, we have been studying Japan -- specifically during the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868).  We read the following books about haiku. One Leaf Rides the Wind by Celeste D. Mannis The Cuckoo's Haiku and Other Birding Poems by Michael J. Rosen What is the Moon? Japanese Haiku Sequence by Ruby Lytle Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein Grass Sandals: The Travels of Basho by Dawnine Spivak (About a poet in the 17th century, Basho, who traveled through Japan) Includes several haiku and beautiful art work. See here  for more information about him. Cool Melons -- Turn to Frogs: The Life and Poems of Issa (Another poet in the 18th century who traveled and wrote Haiku. Today and Today -- Haiku by Issa In the Eyes of the Cat: Japanese Poetry for All Seasons by Demi Though not exclusively haiku, we also read Fold Me a Poem by Kristine O'Connell George .  Afterward, the boys made some of  these  simple origami.  A teacher's guide to accompany the ...

We spent the day listening to Japanese music and making arts and crafts reflecting Japanese culture.  We have been studying the Shogun period of Japan, and today was a fun day to reinforce what we have been learning. While making these projects, we listened to  Traditional Japanese Koto Music .  While I would like to say it was enjoyable, I must admit it made me feel stressed, but we finished seven of the tracks. The first project we made were paper lanterns.  I found the directions here .  I found the same origami paper at both Michaels and A. C. Moore; it was considerably cheaper at Michaels ($2.49 vs $3.99). We then made these wooden frames with the same pack of origami paper.  Directions can be found here .  The boys picked out their stickers at A. C. Moore.  The origami elephant you see next to the frame is from this pack  which both Michaels and A. C. Moore carry. Finally, we read the book A Carp for Kimiko  and made paper carp ki...

Poster number 5 (chosen by http://www.random.org/ ) Please email me your address, and I will ship this out to you.