The Clock Project

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Can I just say I hate school projects? I love crafting, when there's no pressure.  I even like doing projects that are built into homeschool curriculum, where we have the luxury of working on them at a leisurely pace.  But there's nothing like a kid saying "I have a school project that's due this week, and I haven't started it! I don't know what to do!" Lucky for Celia that I usually happen to have random craft items around the house.  One time, it was construction paper and pom poms, another time it was a shoebox and glitter glue.   Thanks to the blog, I've even had internet memberships like Graphic Stock and Picmonkey that have saved a project or two.  Last Monday, she said, "Don't forget I have that Spanish clock project due Thursday."

Don't forget?? Did you even tell me in the first place?  I vaguely remember her saying this year's big project was the "Clock Project," but I don't remember anything about it actually being assigned.  I mean, I'm big on kids doing their own project with as little help as possible (mine always need some sort of guidance/focusing - stupid ADHD), but since she has neither a car nor an Amazon account, there needs to be at least some degree of parental involvement -- at least in the supply procurement phase.   Luke did the "Clock Project" a few years ago, and it was a two-weekend process.

He figured a clock has 12 hours, and a year has 12 months. He looked up 12 holidays - one for each month - held in various Spanish-speaking countries around the world. It was a great project, but a lot of planning and work. It involved planning, a trip to both a hardware store and the craft store, and lots of hours cutting and gluing and waiting for things to dry.  And suddenly, she needed something in three days?

I sent her back to the internet to come up with an idea...any idea.  I wasn't taking her to the craft store without a plan.  At first, she wanted to take her project from last year, learning to play Malagueña by Sarasate, and run with that.  She couldn't come up with anything that interested her, so I started googling.  I found that one of Sarasate's piece was called Zapateado, which was meant to emulate the rhythms of flamenco dancing.  I suggested something with that, and she was off to the races.  She decided to dress one of her dolls as a flamenco dancer, and discuss different styles of Spanish dancing.  Now we just needed to come up with a costume.

I think I've mentioned a few times how much I love Pinterest.  We started looking for patterns for doll dresses -- something that could be made easily but still had the flavor of the flamenco.  We actually found a pattern, and I dug through my box of fabrics to find material to make both a dress and a mantilla.  We found some coordinating fabric, but it wasn't really doing it for us.  Celia kept searching, and found a doll skirt made out of a sock.  EUREKA!!  If we pulled the sock up higher, it could be a dress bodice.

Another search, and we found a perfect dress to emulate.

Source

I dug back through the fabric bin, and found a remnant of bright red material -- if memory serves, it's cast off from a pirate costume from when one of the big boys were preschoolers. (Ok, so I may have a slight tendency toward pack-rat-ism, but it totally paid off, so it's all good, right?) Celia ran off in search of a black sock and a doll.  At this point, I was willing to sacrifice a pair to avoid a trip out, but she managed to find one in the "Can't Find My Mate" bin, so it was all good.

We cut off the toe of the sock and shimmied American Girl of the Year Saige into it.  (Saige was the chosen one because she had the longest hair of all of Celia's dolls.) It was a little short, but we only needed a bodice, so worked. We started wrapping the red fabric around the doll, pinning and tucking. The first plan was to figure out how long the layers needed to be, unwrap the doll, and sew a skirt. However, once we were done, we decided not to mess with it -- it looked good the way it was.  We added a few more pins for security, and moved on to the most important part of any dress - accessories!

To complete the project, it needed to include a clock with moveable hands, and the words ¿Qué hora es?  We headed back to search for inspiration.  Celia discovered that the Sevillanas, another Spanish folk dance style, used castanets. Aha!  While a doll-sized castanet wouldn't hold a clock that could be seen more than twelve inches away, a construction paper-sized one could be.  She took some poetic (choreographic?) license, and made a set of large castanets, and attached the clock to them.

A ladies' fan also appeared to be a common accessory.  While we couldn't find any reference to it being traditional to a specific dance, it became necessary for our bailarina, if only to hold the required labeling.  Dad got in on the action here. Not trusting Mom with power tools (probably wise considering the damage I can do with a hand-held screwdriver),  he patiently drilled holes in craft sticks while Celia printed and colored this template onto card stock.  (No, it's not traditionally Spanish, but it had the right spirit and size.)  Some tape and some clear hair elastics, and Celia's dancer was nearly ready.

You can see in the picture above that Saige is a hot mess.  Celia combed her hair out, and braided and rolled it into a side chignon.  We secured it with a pair of Lilla Rose U-Pins.  To keep some of the gypsy flavor of the flamenco, Saige's earrings were swapped for a pair of gold hoops.  Finally, the pictures of dancers we found showed the ladies wearing either matching or black heels. Despite a wardrobe that I thought could rival a Kardashian, black shoes apparently weren't among the racks of her dolls' armoire.  At the last minute, Celia found some gold sandals that actually coordinated nicely with the fan, earrings, and hair pins. Perfect!

¿Qué hora es?  It's time for a nap!  (And to tidy up the fabric bin for the next ransacking!)


©2012- 2016 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com

Home School in the Woods: Ancient Greece (A Homeschool Review Crew Review)

Jude's favorite subject has been American history.  Before he could read well, he used to love watching a particular animated history video series, and it was wonderful to see him develop a love of learning history.   Damien has had a lot of exposure to American history over the past few summers. I have always enjoyed history, and have come to see it from a new perspective since I began homeschooling.  The roots of the American story can be found all the way back in the lives of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, and when we were given the opportunity to work with HISTORY Through the Ages Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Greece from Home School in the Woods, I thought it would be a great opportunity to delve into the past and study this ancient civilization.

Home School in the Woods combines hands-on activities with narrative text and therefore suits multiple learning styles.  The program is both Mac and PC compatible, and available in both CD and digital download formats (we received the digital version).  The program's core combines text reading, and notebooking/lapbooking elements, creative writing, dramatized audio recordings, and recipes based on traditional foods to create a unique program.   The base program contains 25 lessons, called "stops," that can be completed in as little as one day (I'd recommend this only for older students) or over the course of three to five days (we averaged about 30 minutes, three times a week).  It also includes an extensive list of supplemental resources (related books, videos, etc.) that can be added to the program. The Ancient Greece program is intended for students in grades 3 through 8, but it could easily be a quarter or semester program for a high schooler (see below).

So...now that you know about the program, I'll answer the question of "How did it work for your family?"

The short answer: It didn't, because the things that make it sound so great actually made it really, really overwhelming for Jude and Damien.

The long answer:

First, the printing.  We have used programs from Home School in the Woods in the past, and I admit that we didn't follow printing directions precisely.  There is a lot of single page printing, paper switching, etc. involved, and it's tedious.  When Luke worked on their Time Travelers series, I handed him the CDs and said "Go to town!" and he did.  He tended to print things out all at once, and then just adjust along the way.  I decided I was going to follow the printing directions exactly.

Unless you happen to have reams of cardstock on hand (we ultimately used one ream of brightly colored and one of a natural/cream color), binders, file folders, etc. this project can get pricey fast.  The program itself retails for $33.95 (download), but supplies can quickly double the cost.  It's also nearly 300 pages of printing, per student.  I initially planned to have Jude (grade 4) work on this, but of course, Damien (grade 2) decided he wanted to be in on the action as well.  That's a lot of paper and ink.  (For two students, we would have used even more if we had printed everything at once, rather than a few lessons at a time.  If we had completed the entire project, it would have taken us into a second ream of each, so don't count on two students sharing a single package).  It's also a lot of "print one page, switch papers, print the next, switch again."  Setting up the boys' binders took an afternoon of focused effort on printing, cutting/hole punching, laminating, assembling...

I'm not opposed to investing time in a program, but after two hours of just printing and sorting, I was going cross-eyed.  This is definitely not a grab-and-go curriculum.  There is incredible attention to organization and detail (a pro for the program) that consumed more time than was practical for our family.  Even I was saying, "Are we done yet?"

Second, the text was really hard for the boys.  I decided that I didn't mind Damien hanging out/following along with us -- I figured he'd learn what he could absorb, but it wasn't a big deal if he only got half of what he was presented with. I expected it to be too much for him.  Jude is reading close to grade level, so I felt being the "low middle" of the grade level, Jude would be challenged but not overpowered.  However, as much as he was excited to learn about the Ancient Greeks, he really struggled when it was time to learn.  The program is designed for students as young as 3rd grade, but he'd have to be an extremely advanced 3rd grader for this to be successful.   Using an online text leveler, I found the text averaged above an 8th-grade reading level -- well beyond his 4th to 5th-grade reading level.

 The lessons became more of a cut-and-paste "busy project" than learning about who and where you were adding to the maps and timeline.   I spent so much time saying, "Slow down, read that first!" and re-reading passages when it was clear what I had said sailed right over their heads.  I think it had so much information that it was too much to retain.  The strength of the text is a reason why I think this program could be used with older students.  This passage is written beyond a grammar school level.  (At a lesson a day, the 25 stops would take about five weeks, or just shy of a single quarter term.  With the addition of a literature component (biographies, Greek myths, etc.),  it would easily fill a semester with an in-depth study.  Home School in the Woods is also planning an Ancient Rome program, with an anticipated release date in 2018.  These, combined with their Middle Ages/Renaissance programs, could create a credit worthy World History program.)

Finally, this was a really difficult program for me to wrap my head around.  While the files for each section were well organized -- one folder for the binder/lapbook PDFs, one for the text, one with the audio stories, etc. -- it didn't have a whole lot of "flow" to it.

There was a Master Itinerary, but each day, I felt like I was always searching for the right page, the right file.  While the directions have you print out the entire timeline and pages to fill it in at the beginning, every day was a hunt for "What page? What pocket is it in?"  There were a few pages that were half cut apart and inadvertently got swept into the recycle bin with all of the cutaway scraps.  Completing that lesson meant stopping, finding the correct page, and then printing yet again.

Each day had a notebook activity and a lapbook activity.  It seemed like we spent ten minutes learning and forty cutting and gluing.  We've enjoyed lapbooking in the past, but they were very simple books - a bit of paper folding, fill it in, and glue it down.  We had no choice but to cut/paste pre-printed information - there simply wasn't enough space to copy.

I felt like a broken record, repeating, "Slow down, read that first!"  Not copying also kept them from making that read-and-written connection.


Although it did not work for us, I do feel this there is good quality in the content of this program. It just was "too much program" for our family.  This was a lot more intricate and fussy than our past lap books, and the reading content too packed.  I've learned that the KISS principle -- Keep It Simple, Silly -- definitely applies when you're working with short attention spans, limited fine motor skills, and trying to juggle multiple students simultaneously.   HISTORY Through the Ages Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Greece is a program that I think would be better suited to older students who have more patience.

To learn more about the programs that the Crew reviewed (Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, The Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation), check out Home School in the Woods on social media, or click the banner below:

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©2012- 2016 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com

It's finally the first day of spring (training)!

Our family will mark the year with four seasons, but we follow a slightly different calendar.  We celebrate Spring Training, Baseball, World Series, and Waiting for Spring Training.  Last spring, when I told Luke had to write a research paper on any American pop culture topic.  After touring the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and Graceland, I thought he'd choose music styles.  Nope -- he chose Baseball.

And what is a Coast-to-Coast tour of America without a ball game?  It took us a few batters to remember that while we were still rooting for the team in red and white, they were the Cardinals.  (Celia let out a few "Let's go, Phillies!!" out of habit.)

We couldn't wait for "Waiting for Spring Training" to be over to celebrate baseball.  We toured Yankee Stadium over Thanksgiving Weekend to get our baseball fix.

It was cold, but we were content. We could wait a little longer for the Phillies.

Today is the first day of Spring Training -- it's Pitchers and Catchers Day! It's not quite the traditional  "Charge Theme," but Jude chose a pretty good piano piece to practice today: Baseball Days.

Damien's ready to root for the home team, too.  Even if I'm being a meanie and making him do his math first.  Math is important -- how else are you going to be able to figure out a pitcher's ERA, or how many more home runs until your favorite player is the all-time leader?

 Happy Spring (Training) to our friends!  Go Phillies!


©2012- 2016 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com

If you give a kid a math problem...

Food allergies take over your life. We're currently working on a new review -- a unit on Money from Math Mammoth.  As we started, I felt Damien was far enough in his usual curriculum (Math U See Beta) to tackle it, but today I discovered he was a little short on subtraction skills when he realized he couldn't subtract five from one, but knew that 55 was less than 71.  Today's crash course: borrowing.

This problem needed only "single" borrowing.  When Jude was learning to borrow, I tried to explain it sixteen ways to Sunday until I finally hit on something concrete that was important to him -- food.  I went with that example first this time and explained borrowing by saying "I asked you to give me five cookies, but you only have one.  You need to borrow some from somebody else so you can give me five.  You can go to Jude and say, 'Hey, do you have any extra cookies I can borrow?'  Here, the five borrows from the seven..."  Damien got it right away.

A page later, he was trying to subtract 78 cents from a dollar - or 100 cents.  He couldn't borrow from the tens place, because that had a zero.  Back to the cookie analogy: Damien needed to give me cookies, but had none. He tries to borrow from Jude, but HE has none. Jude has to borrow from Matthew, then give Damien some of what was borrowed.  I could only laugh at Damien's response: "I kinda get it, but you can't eat his kind, you're allergic. Shouldn't Jude to borrow from Dad since you have the same allergies? "

Point, Damien.

He then pointed out he didn't have any cookies to lend me to start with -- could we make his kind of cookies?  Well played, kid.   We searched and found a recipe from Blissful Basil that looked re-workable.  The lesson of the day?  If you give a kid a math problem, he's probably going to want a cookie to go with it.

Oatmeal Sunbutter Cookies

1 cup Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter)
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract*
1 cup oat flour**
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup coconut milk + 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice***

Ingredient notes:

*Since vanilla extract isn't on our safe list, we used 2 tsp. of 896 Aged Gold Rum.  It's aged in oak barrels, so it gives it a vanilla undertone, extracts alcohol-soluble flavors, and adds moisture.

**If you don't have oat flour in your pantry, pulse 1 cup quick-cook oats in a blender or food processor until flour-y.

***Either option tastes fine, but do not omit unless you are planning to eat them all immediately.  The dough needs to be slightly acidic so that the sunflower seed butter doesn't react with any unused backing soda, or else the cookies may turn green if kept overnight.  They're perfectly safe to eat, but it can be a little disconcerting.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F.

Cream together the sunflower seed butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy - about 3-4 minutes with a stand or hand mixer.

Add in vanilla extract and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, and salt.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mix. Mix on low until combined, then add milk.  Continue mixing until the liquid has been absorbed.

Portion dough onto cookie sheets in about 1 tablespoon drops.  (We used a small (#40) ice cream disher.) If you use a spoon, roll the dough into balls.

Slightly flatten the tops with a fork, if desired, to get the traditional "criss-cross" pattern like on a peanut butter cookie.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until edges are slightly browned.

Somebody wanted to make sure none of the cookies got "borrowed" before he had a chance to eat them.

Cool on cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes so the structure can set.  (If you move them too quickly, they will fall apart.) Transfer to a cooling rack until completely cool.

Store lightly covered (if you have any that aren't eaten!).

©2012- 2016 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com