Dawn K Homeschool

Nathan has been inspired to copy illustrations from Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You which can be bought  here .  He has been practicing with his Prismacolor pencils and blender.

Nathan has been inspired by a story, "Babes in Toyland" from John's childhood book, Walt Disney's Fantasyland  from the pictured four-book collection . Using pencil, a black Sharpie and oil pastels, he has created the following four drawings.

So, we've been studying Impressionism starting with Claude Monet (remember, my Impressionist Artists Study can be downloaded here ). After reading several books and watching a few videos about him and his art, I decided today was a good hands-on day.  Ben and I tend to enjoy crafty things in our free time, but I don't schedule enough of this artistic time into the school day. Today was an exception.  We followed an art project from pp. 50-51 of  The Usborne Art Treasury . We all had so much fun.  I just love projects with tissue paper!  We also used  Modge Podge Sparkle  to give it a shimmery effect  Sure, Monet didn't create art with tissue paper and glue, but that's okay. :) Ben's  Nathan's  Mine PS.  Thanks to  http://satorismiles.com/  for blogging about this project.  It inspired us!

The  Impressionists Sticker Book by Usborne  is a must-have for student studying Impressionist art and artists. We started using ours today, and both the boys enjoyed them.  We are currently reading the information on pages pertaining to the movement as a whole, but when we study each artist more in-depth, we will place the appropriate stickers. First, we read  The Impressionists (Usborne Young Reading: Series Three)  which is simply a fabulous introduction to the time period, the art movement and those who made it happen.  The following artists are introduced within the context of a wonderfully-woven story: Pissarro, Cassatt, Degas, Morisot, Monet, Renoir and Sisley. The sticker book provides an interactive and visually appealing response to the book. There are coordinating Impressionist Paintings Activity Cards   which will be released in June 2012.  I previewed them on the Usborne website, and they look like a great product.  Each card con...

Quickly, I'd like to share some books we read or began reading today. History First, we read our third book in the "Adventures in Colonial America" series, Seventh & Walnut   and I just loved it! It was so much fun to read aloud, and it was so informative yet enjoyable.  The entire story is told from the perspective of the city's night watchman or town crier. Art Appreciation -- Impressionism Continuing with out introduction to Impressionism, I read  Charlotte in Paris  which is set up like a series of diary entries complete with watercolor paintings and scrapbook memorabilia.  Many French words are introduced along with French culture. Literature Read Aloud I am delighted we began  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang  -- the original book by Ian Fleming.  We only read one chapter (I'll read more tonight at bedtime), but so far, we are thrilled with it.  As is customary with books made into films, it is already astonishingly different!  Now, I d...

So, we started school again yesterday.  Phew!  What a year this is going to be.  I think it is taking so much more time because I added in new programs (including  Latin for Children  and  IEW -- Student Writing Intensive ). So far, the Latin program is leaving me dazed and confused.  It just seems like so much is thrown into the first chapter. The boys adore Andrew Pudewa.  Seriously, they would ditch me in a heartbeat in favor of him as their teacher. He IS refreshingly humorous and empathetic. We are continuing with the following since they work: Saxon Math (using the older textbooks) Rod and Staff English (omitting the writing exercises) Daily Grams (I love this program!) Megawords for Spelling (I love this approach!) Currently, we are using  A Child's Introduction to Poetry: Listen While You Learn About the Magic Words That Have Moved Mountains, Won Battles, and Made Us Laugh and Cry  twice a week for poetry study.  We've ...