Posted by Cindy on December 5, 2008
We are having SO much fun with this book! A little break from the regular math schedule has turned out to include such exciting math and science that my kids are actually asking to do more. 
Here are some photos from one of this week’s investigations….
Cylinder structures – Using various sized cardboard tubes and homemade paper cylinders, the kids had to estimate and find out how many books each cylinder would hold. Their estimations and actual results were kept on a data sheet provided in the book. We then went on to talk about why cylinders are so strong, why certain heights might be better than others and where in creation and the man-made world we find the use of cylinders.
I’ve also recently discovered a wonderful blog called Think! that offers weekly math/science/art related challenges for children. To go along with the math investigations, I gave the kids this challenge. Using only 12 straws, 12″ of tape and a pair of scissors, they had to create a structure that would hold an egg at least 1″ off the ground. No tape was allowed to adhere the structure to the surface or the egg to the structure. Fun!
Caleb’s structure.
Mahayla’s structure.
Today, math was in the form of a cookie baking day in preparation for our annual cookie baking and exchange party at my mom’s house tomorrow. I’ll probably post pictures and few recipes soon. Have a wonderful weekend!
Posted by Cindy on December 3, 2008
These turned out so cute, and they were fairly easy for a beginning to intermediate sewing project.
- Draw the shape onto a piece of felt, making it about 1/4″ bigger than you’d like the finished product to be.
- Double the felt and cut out the front and back pieces at the same time.
- Decide which sides will face outward. Go ahead and sew any buttons, beads or other small pieces onto each piece.
- Place the fronts together so that you can only see the “wrong” sides.
- Sew a straight stitch all the way around the felt, leaving about a 1/4″ seam. BE SURE TO LEAVE 1″-1 1/2″ OPEN SO YOU CAN TURN THE ORNAMENT INSIDE OUT.
- After turning the ornament inside out, fill it with popcorn sized pieces of batting until it’s as fluffy as you desire.
- Sew up the opening with a simple straight stitch.
The kids chose to add a little piece of embroidery thread afterward as a hook, but I sewed a ribbon hook into mine (bell) as I stiched around the edges. My hook is much stronger and more attractive.
Posted by Cindy on December 1, 2008
Thanks to the ladies at the CM Artist Study group, I’ve found a wonderful site for various nativity scenes that we’ll use for art study this month.
Each week, we’ll observe ALL of the paintings noticing different things each time like:
- which ones capture the reverence best, or the joy best, etc
- who is consistently in each painting and why
- what style pleases them most
- what style pleases them least
Since we’re working on a daily scrapbook page to go along with the Names of Jesus unit and we’re frequently crafting this month, I doubt we’ll do any additional art besides the picture study.
Our composer of the month is – who else – George Frederick Handel. And we’ll be listening to – what else -the “Messiah”.
The biography will come mostly from Classics for Kids, and I may choose an activity or two from Cindy Downes free unit.
As for the “Messiah”, here is a nice explanation of the musical story. We own the “Messiah” on CD, but you can listen to parts of it online here.
