Western Week Wrap Up

Johnny Cakes, Panning for Gold, Camping, its all part of a week studying cowboys and the Wild West.  The kids favorite part of the week was the camp-out they did via the comfort of the living room.  Their dad made the ultimate fort out of every linen we own, even rearranged the furniture to accommodate them.  They told stories, and giggled and found it hard to get to sleep in the new and very fun 'tent'.

Here are a few highlights to our week.

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to our cowboy/wilwest theme this week, we continued our art study by reading about Cubism. Specifically Pablo Picasso, the kids love this part of our day.  We enjoyed looking over this book, (isbn 0-397-32224-0) Pablo Picasso Art for Children by Ernest Raboff.  And this book

  

Our art project this week was creating collages.  One morning after our art lesson, I sent the kids on a hunt for "art" supplies of the paper variety, they came back with wrapping paper, magazines, gift tissue, construction paper, newspapers, you name it.... I set scissors, glue and one piece of art paper in front of each child and left with one instruction - "think like picasso, there is no right or wrong, just enjoy"

about 20 minutes later I hear the first :I am finished, and about an hour and a half later I finally heard the last I am finished.... here is the process:

 

and here are the results:

 

now look closely, this is my oldest girls collage, the one who took over an hour and a half to complete the project... do you see it, do you see her.... (look closely)

 

ok - i outlined it as she traced her fingers over her paper to show me... by golly, she got it... she really got it!

 

now scroll back up - you will see her walking her dog. it was there all along, she planned it, thought it, created it, enjoyed it... be still my heart!

---along with this study this week we are continuing our nature studies, and we ventured to a local arboretum.  I have posted a link before to simple kidsand last weeks challenge was to begin NAMING NATURE.  And Mariah from Playful Learning shared her experience and great ideas on how she is doing this with her kids.  She made a checklist and a laminated set of cards for identifying - go check it out... along the lines of what she did we are creating these cards to adhere within our nature journals.

 

 

 

 

The description cards are for the most part in their writing - for the purpose of this post, I typed the info that they have recorded since I hadn't scanned in their pages.  I love reading their descriptions, like my 7 yr old girls description of a rose "so pretty and pink and soft" as compared to her older brothers description of the same rose "light pink, prickly stems".  Some of my favorite moments came when we were following along with this post at simplekids.  When I had the children stop and look and close their eyes and listen, I had them sit along the path and sketch a flower or leaf.  All 4 of them participated, including my 4 year old (note to self: scan his rose drawing).

Here are a few of those moments:

 

 

  

We benefited from being at an arboretum where everything has a name stake.  But if you are on the look out for materials to help your family name the sights around your neighborhood, take a look at these sources.

abnative plants

mr smarty plants 

garden web 

    

       

Now then, just one more thing, if you haven't seen me show you this book before, go get it now. I started to quote a few things from it, but there are so many things I have noted from what I have read and reread. page 65 In reference to a woman buying an SUV and refusing to purchase the rear in-dash television monitors "The salesman's jaw dropped when I said I didn't want a backseat television monitor for my daughter, " she told me. "He almost refused to let me leave the dealership until he could understand why." Rear-seat and in dash "multimedia entertainment products, " as they are called, are quickly becoming the hottest add-on since rear-view mirror fuzzy dice.  The target market: parents who will pay premium for a little backseat peace...The children can watch Sesame Street or play Grand Theft Auto on their PlayStation without bothering the driver. Why do so many Americans say they want their children to watch less TV, yet continue to expand opportunities for them to watch it?  More important, why do so many people no longer consider the physical world worth watching?" 

Do you remember long drives where you marveled at the sights around you, I certainly do.. I remember letting my imagination go into the places we traveled and become a part of a story in the fields woods, farms, or towns we traveled past from Colorado to West Virgina...from Florida to Arkansas... I am rather glad to be reminded of this right now....

There is so much to learn as a parent and our summer venture is so eye opening to me. Tomorrow's Sundays this Summer will let you see what our plans are for the upcoming week.  And will include my weekly finds...It's gonna be great! And my summer camps are about to get underway, stay tuned for weekly lesson plans for hosting camps covering everything from science experiments to etiquette, from knitting to knot tying.