Random interesting links

Here are a few links of interest.

Art -kinderart.com - a ton of art projects
History History Guide -A guide to learning and teaching history
Crafts- Coffee painting- what a great idea
Decorating ideas -A gentle makeover-  Really cute ideas for home decorating and a quilting project
Math- Mathematics Enhancement Programme a whole math curriculum available online- looks interesting
Science - Life Science, etc. for kids-
Enjoy!!!

To be continued

We've been somewhat under the weather here, hence not much writing has been happening.  Hopefully, we''ll be back in business soon.  Until then here is a nice song:)

War and Peace

This morning the sounds of battle to come were in the air,  as pajama clad generals set up their troops and organized their equipment.  For a moment there I though it will be a peaceful morning.  But as the saying goes, if you want peace prepare for war.  Before long there were wild shrieks coming from the direction of the living room.  It sounded like there was a different battle taking place, this one off the official battlefield.  Suddenly an incensed young gentleman materialized next to my bed, "Mommy, he says he won already and we didn't even get to have a war yet, I want to continue playing."  I couldn't get a word in edgewise as each side presented its grievances and asserted its rights,very loudly.  Eventually an unhappy ceasefire was brokered. I thought that  peace has been restored, but alas it was short lived indeed.  Next thing I knew, there was the incensed young warrior back again.  "What is it now?" I inquired casually.  "You gave him clean socks, but they are MY socks".  Round two.  So we were back to calming everyone down, finding lost socks,  organizing a fair sock exchange, inquiring what exactly happened to all those pairs of socks I just bought before Succos and why only one of each pair has ended up in the laundry while the other was still at large somewhere AWOL. Oy.  Finally an agreement was  reached, from now on Mommy would hold on to all clean socks and one could only be given a new clean pair when a complete dirty pair was turned in.  The terms of the agreement were deemed equitable by both sides.  Crisis averted.  A victory for diplomacy? I didn't have time to pat myself on the back.  The incensed one was back again.  "He has my yarmulka, I only let him have it for Rosh Chodesh, it's not Rosh Chodesh any more."  I couldn't argue with that point and so we were back on the battlefield, explaining what fair play was, how to treat and not to treat one's brother,  what language is and is not acceptable.  Again, after some time,  peace was restored.  They got dressed, ate breakfast and were off to school, still in one piece, still on amicable terms.   They fought, they made up and they moved on. It's true, they are still young but as parents  we have to teach them how to navigate the battlefield that life often is, how to fight a good fight and how to pick their battles, so they could emerge victorious in the end in the truest sense of the word.

The art of crafts

I've been randomly looking through my books looking for project ideas to do with the kids, so I picked up One-to-One by Gareth Lewis.  I happen to really like that book and its' sequel Unqualified Education.  Even though I disagree with the author's outlook on life and his take on some things , the books are full of great observations and practical advice on education in general  and  teaching many subjects and skills in particular.  So today I was reading the section on crafting and the author points out that  making things (he suggest that craft projects should be used to make useful things)  helps children put material things in proper context and helps them sort out in their mind what kind of things they like and what's important to them which in turn helps deflect the onslaught of consumerism.  I think it's an interesting idea.  It does look like making something gives a person a deeper  kind of satisfaction than buying something.  I wonder if the fact that the modern society has moved away from the mode where an average person  has to make things has to do with such overwhelming materialism sometimes?  But I digress.  I was looking at some really stunning paintings by a Norwegian artist I've never heard of until today, quite breathtaking really and it reminded me of something.  I suddenly found myself remembering my art class in college, many moons ago.  It was a beginning painting class and the professor, whose name escapes me right now, had an interesting technique for helping students to paint.   There were a few projects that semester.  The first one was to cut out some pictures from magazines and make a collage. Then using carbon paper he had us trace our collage onto  painting board and paint it from the picture.  The second project was to choose a painting we liked, again make a photocopy and trace that onto the painting surface and then paint by looking at the reproduction.  The third project was to do a self portrait from a photograph using the same technique as above.  It was really a brilliant approach because it freed the students from worrying about the quality of their drawing skills and allowed them to concentrate on painting itself.  I think the same technique could be used with children, especially those that tend to get stuck due to perfectionism or lack of skill and introduce them to the joy of painting .   It's a good and very hands-on way to introduce them to different artists or schools of art as well.  You can even tie this in with history.  But back to the mechanics.  These days you could just make a clear black and white photocopy if you want to avoid the tracing part even though tracing happens to be  good practice for hand-eye coordination and strengthening hand muscles for kids that need it.  But this is an art project so one should stick to art, I suppose and leave tracing for a different activity such as writing practice.  I really should be doing more painting, so maybe I'll do this project together with the kids:)

So how is the weather?

We are still experiencing a major heat wave.  The weather feels more like July rather than October.  But hopefully rain is on the way and the whole country is eagerly awaiting its arrival.  So weather has been on my mind.  I also noticed that yesterday the ever present ants have vanished from the scene suddenly.  So that got me thinking.  Meteorology is a very interesting subject with lots of educational possibilities.  Young children are naturally fascinated with different weather phenomena.  So teaching about climates and weather is a good introduction to the world of nature and the study of science.  Weather is something that lends itself to easy observation so there are plenty of things to do with kids.  So a parent can draw the child's attention to what's happening outside, to temperature, to precipitation or lack there of, the color of the sky and the cloud formations, the presence and the direction of the wind, to how different animals, insects and plants react to different atmospheric conditions, etc.  One can also talk about the seasons,  agriculture,  the difference of climates in various geographic locations, how people predicted and dealt with different types of weather in the past and  how it's done today, how to read weather maps and more.  So here are a few interesting links that could help you explore the subject.
wildwildweather.com - a website with a lot of great information about meteorology with lots of great links for more weather and science resources
Animal behavior and weather - very interesting
How to predict weather by observing nature
Some great weather projects to try

On the face of it

Here is an easy and versatile project that I've made by myself and with my kids. It's also a great gift idea. I was inspired by a project I once saw for making a personalized clock out of a frisbee and it gave me an idea, why not use a clock I already have and personalize it in some way?  Most clocks' faces, at least the cheap varieties', could be easily accessed by taking out a few screws in the back and then the sky and your imagination are the limit. You can use family photos to cover some of the numbers, or cover the numbers with hebrew letter to make a jewish clock, you can write anything you like on the clock face, use any pictures or stickers or anything at all that has some significance for the recipient. Here are two examples of the clocks we made. Enjoy! For some reason the pictures keep uploading sideways, I'll see if I can fix that, but until then it will still give you the general idea:)

Show me the wood

After yet another plastic toy bit the dust, I started thinking about wooden toys again, that is about making some myself. The truth be told, I've wanted to try my hand at woodworking for some years now. I think that making toys would also be good practice for those woodworking skills without it being too overwhelming. Commercially available wooden toys tend to be very nice but very expensive(such as these for example) even though if you would add up all the money spent on plastic toys over the years I would venture to say that it would make sense to maybe invest some money into buying a few good quality wooden toys that would last instead of the endless parade of plastic that doesn't. There is definitely something to be said for quality workmanship, for something that is made with love and care, for something that lasts. And it doesn't have to be too complicated, with some wood and some basic tools you can make some really neat things. So here is a link for some plans for making wooden toys. There seems to be a lot of creative potential here as well as educational one. I think the kids might really enjoy it as a project, now I just have to figure out the logistics.