Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Packing Party!

Hello Vintage Homeschool families!

(And anyone else who is interested in joining us!)

We have had Operation Christmas Child shoe box packing parties many times before. This year we are going to have a

SHOE BOX EXTRAVAGANZA!

WHEN: Friday, November 13, 6-8 pm

WHERE: Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz

Children's Ministry Building 

(Classrooms on the second floor)

This year we are making the event a DOUBLE blessing--not only will we be packing shoe boxes to bless kids around the world, but we will also be raising funding for children sponsored by Compassion International!

Here's how it will work:

Most years we all go shopping in advance and then bring what goodies we have found to the party and pack our shoe boxes together. This allows us to buy items in bulk and share the bounty with other packing families so we can buy at good prices but still have a variety of items in our boxes.

This year we're going to come to the party with empty shoe boxes--and full piggy banks! We're going to "shop" at tables hosted by kids!  All items for sale will be between 5 cents and 2 dollars. All the proceeds the kids raise at their tables will go toward Compassion International children.

By the end of the night, your shoe boxes should be mostly full, and for so much less than the usual cost of buying the items at a store!  And every penny you will have spent will go straight to help other children in need. It's win-win-win!  Then you will have the next week to get anything else your family wants in their shoe boxes and drop them off at one of the two local OCC collection sites.

We will also have a free card-making station and a station for wrapping and decorating shoe boxes!

Your children do not have to host a table--they can just come and participate in the fun! Just bring your shoe boxes and plenty of spare change and dollar bills!  (Please don't expect the kids to be able to break large bills at their tables. : )  Bring friends too!

**We've never done this before, so I have no idea how many people are going to show up. So if you know for sure your family would like to come to the party, would you please be so kind as to RSVP in the comments below?  Right now we have the "big room" in the upstairs of the Children's Ministry building reserved, but if we get a bigger crowd than that room can hold we might be able to use more rooms!  So please RSVP by this upcoming Monday night, November 9th.

(And if you are not sure now, but decide to come at the last minute, that's great too!  Come! : )


If your kid/family wants to get in on the fun of table hosting:

There will be three kinds of tables kids/families can host: selling tables, crafting tables, and treat tables. 

Selling Tables
Kids who want to host a selling table should think about what items people would want to put into a shoe box (what kids want to receive!) and then either make or buy items to sell.  Do they have crafting skills?  Some ideal things they could make for shoe boxes would be:
* washcloths (knit, or cut from larger (new) towels and hemmed, etc.)
* decorated pillowcases
* scarves (decorative or functional--t-shirt jersey, knit, etc.)
* tie-dyed items! 
* potholders
*  jewelry
*  hair bows
* pillowcase dresses
***Bags with handles so the children who receive their shoe boxes can easily carry them home. Sometimes the kids must walk for miles carrying them, often while also carrying a younger sibling!

But selling tables are not just for the crafty kids!  We would also love to have tables selling bulk goods.  Some ideal things they could procure for shoe boxes would be:
* toothbrushes
* toothpaste (please be sure the sell-by date is well into the year 2016!)
* soaps
* combs
* socks
* pencils
* erasers
* notepads
* gum
* candy (no chocolate or anything that might melt in transit. Your kids can assemble candies into little ziplock baggies--or, even more fun, have a "penny candy" store and buying kids can bag their own!)

Potential sellers:
1. You get to set your own prices. Just remember to keep your prices low so people can fill their shoe boxes!
2. All prices should be between 5 cents and 2 dollars.
3. Please visit the Operation Christmas Child shoe box packing list, so you can make sure that what you are selling is appropriate.


Crafting Tables
Any kids/families who want to host a craft table are also most welcome!  This is a really fun way to add to the party fun while helping families fill their shoe boxes.  You pick the craft and prepare it, and kids pay you to participate in the activity, which they complete at your table. Just please choose a craft that is easy, low mess, can be finished quickly, and would be appropriate to put in a shoe box. Some ideas for such crafts:
* yarn wreath ornaments
* washi tape crafts
* origami birds or "balloons"
* button & wire flower bouquets
* flower-ended ball-point pens
* yarn tassel angels
* stamping cards & envelopes
* easy jewelry
* paper-cutting crafts (snowflake ornaments, etc.)

Potential crafters:
1. Please remember to chose crafts that are quick, easy, and don't make a mess.
2. You provide all the things someone would need for the craft, and people will pay you when they make the craft.
3. Please visit the Operation Christmas Child shoe box packing list, so you can make sure that what you are crafting is appropriate.


Treat Tables
Kids who want to make snacks to sell to the people at the party are most welcome!  Cookies, brownies, whatever you think people would like to eat!   If anyone wants to make a lemonade stand (or even better, a hot cider stand!) that is fine too!

Potential treat vendors:
1. Finger food only please--nothing that requires utensils to serve.
2. Don't forget to provide your customers with napkins if your treat is a sticky one. : )
3. Gluten-free & "healthy" baked treats will likely be well received. : )

**Any child/family hosting a table:
1. Leave a comment here on this blog post to request table space.  Anyone who wants to use a table for any reason must RSVP to reserve table space in advance, so I can make sure we have enough tables for everyone. The deadline for table RSVP is Monday, November 9th. 
2. It is a good idea if you say in your comment what you are planing on selling or crafting, to avoid duplication.
3. I will set up a table for you to use (which you may be sharing). But you can bring decorations for it if you like!
4. Every table host should bring some kind of container for holding the Compassion money you earn. It can be a jar, a mug, a box--whatever works!--and should be labeled "Compassion Fund."  If your family is already sponsoring a Compassion child, then please do bring a picture of your child for your table! If your family does not have a Compassion child, that is fine!  Your kids get to choose if they want to put their earnings into children represented in the room, or if they want to give it to me to send to Compassion International.
5. Your child does not have to prepare a whole lot of product to sell. If they make 10 potholders--great!  Or five adorable beaded necklaces--great!  Or one plate of cookies--yum!  This is a very kid-friendly, low-pressure event. : )


If you are new to Operation Christmas Child shoe box packing, then I urge you to visit their website and read all about them. There are videos you can watch, and stories you can read about children whose lives were changed for the better because of receiving shoe boxes!

I also recommend you purchase your packing labels online through the OCC website: this will allow your family to track your boxes and see where in the world they ended up!

Did I forget anything? Any questions?  Please ask them in the comments below so everyone may benefit from the dialogue.

I'm very excited about this event, and know that it does not matter who shows up as long as they come with enthusiasm and big hearts. Big event or small, it's going to be fun. : )

Old School Christmas Party! Friday!

It's the annual Vintage Homeschool Christmas Party!

We'll keep it short and sweet. ; )

WHERE: The usual downstairs classrooms there in the Children's Ministry building at Vintage Faith. 

WHEN: This Friday, Dec. 19 from 12:00 noon - 1:30. 

WHAT TO BRING: a finger food snack to share, a wrapped "white elephant" gift for each of your children who want to participate in that game. 

If you have your own water bottles and travel plates, please do bring them!  And as always, you are welcome to bring a lunch for your family if that makes coming to the party any easier for your family needs. 

For the white elephant game: just choose (or have your kids choose) something you already have around the house to bring. Wrap it up, or put it in a paper sack--you can't do it wrong, and it's always fun!  Just be sure to bring one item for each kid in your family who wants to participate. 

And please feel free to invite friends!

Questions? Please leave them in the comments here, so that everyone may see the answers. : )

Hope to see you there!  If you get a chance to RSVP, please do either here or on facebook. We'll start the party activities right at 12:30. : )

lisa

Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Packing Party 2014--This Friday

Hello all!

It's time for the annual packing of the shoeboxes!

Where: the Downstairs right-hand classrooms in the Children's Bldg. at Vintage Faith
When: This upcoming Friday, Nov 7, from 11-1

Bring your own boxes to stuff, and bring goodies to share in the boxes!

If you are new to this event, or have questions about what can go in a box, please visit this link to the official Operation Christmas Child website.

I recommend paying for your shoebox shipment online, so you can track where your boxes go!

Is anyone willing to volunteer to deliver the boxes to our local drop-off location after the event? In this past this has been at Santa Cruz Bible Church. If we do not get a volunteer, then everyone will be responsible for dropping off their own boxes. If we do get a volunteer, then be sure to either pay for your box online or bring $7 per box to cover the shipping fees.

I do have a few extra shoeboxes in the homeschool closet there at church, which anyone may decorate and use for this event. Or you can stop and pick up the free boxes from the local drop-off place.

Any questions?  Ask here in the comments so everyone may benefit from the responses.

Scary Math Party--THIS Friday, Oct. 31

image from this blog, which looks like it could be a fun math read!

What:  Scary Math Party

Where: the Upstairs classroom, Children's Building, Vintage Faith Church

When:  This Friday, October 31, 11-2 pm

Come and have fun with your kids playing some math games and finding out math is not quite so scary after all.  

Let's make it a party!  So please bring a finger food item to share--something that can be served on napkins. But because of all the sugar our children are likely to be consuming that night (and the next day, and the next day. . . ), please consider bringing a non-sweet food to share. : )

We will have a Math Hall of Fame display, so if any of your kids want to participate in that, have them bring an example of their math prowess, and they can share it during circle time. 

We will also have a fun craft activity, but *only for those who RSVP by Weds night. This craft will also have a fee of $2 per child who wants to participate, since I'll be buying supplies for it. (We are going to make creatures from gourds, which the kids will then measure and weigh--and name, of course!)

So if you are coming to the party and would like to participate in the craft, please RSVP in the comments below. 

For those who might want to know--this is not a Halloween party, so I'm not encouraging kids to dress up, but if your kids want to just because they are excited about the day, then that is your call, Mom. : )

Old School Monday: Back to School 2014

Old School Monday Back to School Party!

When: This upcoming Monday, September 29 from 11:30 - 2:00.

Where:  Vintage Faith Church, first floor classrooms

Yes, most of us have been officially back in school for at about a month now, but it is never too late to celebrate the transition into a new school year! 

This gathering's theme is Show and Tell.  Your children are invited to bring something they have done or learned so far this school year, or they can share something special they did last summer.

As always, you can eat before you come, or bring your lunches to eat while we all catch up on how summers went and how school is going so far. : )  And please bring a finger-food snack for the group to share!

Invite your friends!

Anyone want to volunteer to lead a gym game afterwards? I'm thinking HORSE, or something that involves lots of running. : )  If you are inspired, just let us know in the comments!

Hope you are all having a great start to the school year, and I look forward to catching up.

lisa

Announcing the 2015 Author's Fair Book Project!

Well, there parents!  I know, I know.  This is the last official day of school for a lot of us. You are not at ALL interested in thinking about next year already, certainly not thinking almost one year ahead to the next Author's Fair, when we just recently had the last one!  Most of you have not even participated in the Author's Fair for the past two years, so why would I think you would be interested in thinking about it now?

Bear with me for a moment.

First of all, for those who did jump on into the fun and make a "Book of Months"--good for you!  I loved seeing them on display at the Author's Fair.  And a special shout-out to Emmy for her FIRST Author's Fair book!  You did such a great job!  Anyone who liked that project, but just could not pull it off this year--well, you can do it anytime you like, or not. The info will always be here on this site, if you want it. : )

Second of all, because not many families seem as interested in participating in the Author's Fair anymore, I was debating this Spring whether or not to just stop coming up with projects.  I understand completely that some of our kids might be getting too old to enjoy the group projects--totally fine!  If any of the parents of younger kids want to participate in a group project (which we could or could not work on together at Old School Mondays), just let me know and I will plan something if there is enough interest.

But otherwise, I think we will just do projects on our own--not books we make all together, but projects we can do our own way in our own time frame at home with our kids.  I was not sure I would purposefully create projects for Vintage Homeschool families anymore--since it seems like perhaps most of you are not that interested--but then just this week, my kids have stumbled upon a FABULOUS and fun idea for next year.  It's so flexible and has so much potential for engaging young author's in so many ways, so I just have to make it official.

So, ta-da!  Here is the official Vintage Homeschool book project for 2014:

Story Problems

I know, I know: that sounds like the opposite of fabulous and fun, if you dreaded story problems as much as I did in math class throughout my elementary years.  But WAIT--let me explain.

My eldest girl has gotten excited about writing a mystery that needs to be solved with math.

My second eldest is writing a very funny narrative that we started together, having to do with the cost of stamps and raising costs of stamps over long periods of time and the peaceful death of her parents.  (See--don't YOU want to read it?!)

My youngest girl is not yet into the idea, but we will start by using a basic story problem we find in a book and adding to it and adding to it until we get a good story out of it.   Then we can either be done, or she can decide to write another one completely from her imagination.

The titles of the stories will undoubtedly be exciting-sounding ones, like "Escape from The Castle of Doom: A Story Problem," or  "To the Moon and Back Again: A Story Problem," or "The Mystery of the Missing Millimeter: A Story Problem." 

(Don't those sound fun to read?  How much more fun would they be to write?!)

This project will be another one that you do at home with your kids--or they do independently.  It is perfect for any level or writer or mathematician.  It can use any math concepts your children are already familiar with.  And the story can be as long or as short as they want it to be!

There is only one requirement for the stories: they must show lots of math (completed math, not just throwing out math questions without answers).  Your kids may choose to keep it simple and straightforward in the math sections and how they further the story (ala Encyclopedia Brown) or they may get crazy and add as much math as they can squeeze into the narrative (ala "Math Curse").  The math can even function as characters in the story (ala "The Phantom Tollbooth")! 

You could use this project as a fun way to get your kids engaged with math over the summer, as they explore different math concepts and work out what elements they want in their stories.  Brainstorming could end up leading to the viewing of lots of fun youtube math videos (I recommend Vi Hart! Even if she is usually over my head--the kids get glimmers of ideas, and that's often enough to set them excited about a math concept and what they could do with it creatively.) 

And hey--you could use math stories from the library as inspiration  for a Summer Reading Project!   (Do it through somebody like Barnes & Nobel and you can even get free books for your kids' summer reading efforts!)  I'll start a math books list in a separate post, which anyone can contribute to. : )

For my kids, this is going to be a Summer Writing Project--with the goal being to have the book done by the end of summer.

A summer project that involves reading, writing, and creatively engaging with math?

Now you know why I had to tell you about it this week. : )

It's the Last Day of School Party!

YEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW!

I don't know about you, but I was pretty much done with school back about, oh, the last week of March. 

The good thing is that my "clocking out" produced some of the best schooling we've had all year.  So now I'm rejuvenated and after a couple weeks of summer break, we will be all gung-go to jump back into summer school. : )  No, really--one of my favorite things about homeschooling is that we do school in the summer so that we feel so great and still have momentum coming into the next new school year.  And then we can feel good taking breaks whenever we want or need them, not just arbitrarily when the calendar says we should take them.

I hope you are all ending the year as I am, content and already looking forward to more.  But still, I'm so glad this is the last official week of school. We love Ocean Grove, but a couple of months with lots of learning, but no learning records or samples to produce?  Ahhhh, now that's a vacation. ; )

So let's celebrate!

The Old School "Out of School" Party!

 

Where: Blue Ball Park

When: This Friday, May 23, 11-2

 

What to bring:  Bring picnic lunches for your family and something to share with the group.  Also, bring your picnic blankets, and bubble-blowing stuff (bubble solution, wands, etc)!  Yes, we are going to have a BUBBLE BASH at the end!  Complete with a bubble blowing contest! And prizes!

Have your kids come prepared to share one favorite school thing they did this past year (does not have to be a physical show & tell--a memory shared is fine), and to tell one thing they are excited about learning or doing this summer.

Here's how I'm breaking down the time together:

11:00 - 12:00    people arrive, eat, chat, kids play

12:00   we gather on our blankets for an outdoor circle time

12:30 ish  we break out some celebratory treats

1:00ish  we break out the bubbles and start making messes, and give the kids bubble gum and get them practicing their bubbles

When the time seems right, we line them up, measure the blows, and award prizes!

Then we can all hang out/chat until whenever!


I would love it if a few kitchen-crafty moms would volunteer to bring some goodies!  We need some gluten free ones, and some other.  Anyone?  (Most of you know I am writing this while recuperating from some gross sickness, so I am NOT volunteering.  A cooler with popsicles works fine too! ; )

And would anyone volunteer to buy some really good bubble-gum? I'm talking Bubble Yum or Hubba Bubba or any of the kinds used by bubble blowing experts.  (Hey, I'm a Glee gum girl myself, but we need the bad stuff for this--in the name of science and Old School memories! ; )

If you can bring any of these things, please say so in the comments below!  Thanks so much!

I hope all of you can come, so we can celebrate together.  Questions or comments? Please ask below so everyone may benefit from the dialogue.  

Book Week Pt 1: The FINAL Book of Months post

OK, so it is technically a school week. But mentally I'm finishing Spring Break!  So in our house we are having a relaxing week, with a theme: Book Week. 

The first part of Book Week is trying to finish up our Book of Months projects. Each of my girls is making one. The books may end up in the heirloom category--certainly for the amount of time the girls are spending on each highly detailed page of illustration!  Even though we started this project about 16 months ago, the girls are FAR from being done. I'd say they are only 1/3 of the way through their illustrations, with even less of the writing done.  This is with the project getting at least 30 minutes of work almost every school week since!  I am so glad my girls are engaging with the project so fully, and that they are making such meaningful illustrations--but I refuse to let the project go on another year!  Esp. because they have grown as people and artists over the course of the time we have worked on the project, so that they have started being dissatisfied with the drawings they made earlier and have then discarded them and started over.  A fine artistic choice, but one that could well lead to this becoming a perpetual book project!  So, forcing my children to labor over their drawings for hours at a time is the first goal of Book Week.

(Perhaps it is appropriate that we just finished learning about illuminated manuscripts and the monks that made them--the children can at least be thankful they have a warm room to work in, they don't have to grind up their own coloring agents, and they are allowed to speak while working. Heck, they can even suck on some Easter candy while they work. Whatever will keep them happily working on it!)

I hope those of you who are also working on a Book of Months project will have success motivating your kiddos to complete it in time!  Don't forget--if they have it finished by next Monday they can come show it off at our Old School Monday gathering!  That might be helpful incentive for some of you. : )

Originally I said I would provide materials for those who wanted to have a "book binding" party on Monday. But Shelley was the only one interested--and Shelley, you are WAY more crafty than I am (judging by what I've seen on facebook of your first year homeschooling ; ) so I will not plan on us "binding" as a group--instead, I'll just tell you how we are doing ours, and then you can run with that idea or do whatever else you think suits your project.

There's basically one super easy way I have been putting together books for our Vintage Homeschool projects:

--go to an arts supply store like Palace Arts and look at their selection of art paper pads (the various kinds intended for different mediums, with different weights and textures).  Choose the paper texture and weight that you like, keeping in mind a heavier paper will make a sturdier back page to glue your child's artwork onto.

--Affix the artwork onto the pages as you and your child see fit. *Just be sure to leave a good left-hand margin for the binding.

--Use a heavy-duty hole punch to make holes in each page.  You can make as few or many as you like (or have hand-strength for). If you want a lot of holes, then you could make a pretty "lace-up" or "sewn" binding with yarn or ribbon.  If your finished book pages will be vertical, I would recommend at least four connection spots.  If the finished book pages will be read horizontals, three or even two holes might suffice, depending upon where they are placed.

--You can use metal clips from Palace to hold the book pages together, as we have done in the past for our group book projects--this will make a very loose book, great for holding open on a lap.  Or you can use ribbon or yarn and just tie bows--just don't tie them too tightly or the book pages will have difficulty turning easily.

There you have it!  

Finally, you have two ways to get your book to the Author's Fair:

--Give it to me on Monday at our gathering

--Take it to the Author's Fair and deliver to the Ocean Grove Table (usually to the right of the center fountain, if you were coming in the main front mall doors).

I can't wait to see what your kids contribute to the Author's Fair, either one of our group projects or something they have done on their own!

The Author's Fair 2014

The Old School Mondays kids have a long standing tradition of collaborative book writing--and the books we have made together and presented at the annual Author's Fair have been some of my kids' favorite projects!

This year we have two book projects going on, for anyone who would like to jump in and participate:  The Book of Months, and the "What Is It?" Book of Nature Riddles.  It is not too late for you and your kids to do either or both!

The Book of Months features your family traditions and rhythms over the course of one year. All you need is one illustration and one page of description for each month. As always, you modify the project as needed to fit your child's abilities, so there can be as much or as little writing and parental involvement as necessary.  Click on this link to read all the details for this project.

The Book of Nature Riddles is one page front and back; the front presents the riddle, and the back has the illustration and words that reveal the answer.  Click here to read all the details for this project. This project involves more parental guidance up front--but the process can be fun, and once they get the hang of it they might very well want to keep writing more!

(I recommend when you click on each project link that you read the posts from oldest to newest, so you can follow the logical progression more easily.)

If you would like to participate in the Book of Months, just jump on in to the fun!  All the info you need to make it happen is already up on the blog, except for the details about how to bind it, but that will come. You have more than 3 weeks for the project, and unless your children are uber-detailed and slightly obsessive illustrators (like mine are), that is plenty of time.  You are invited to bring your completed books to our April 28 Old School Monday gathering for show & tell!

If you would like to participate in the Book of Nature Riddles, please RSVP in the comments below, and I will then plan on us having a "book binding" activity for our April 28 Old School Monday (the Monday before the Author's Fair).  (I can also plan book binding for the Book of Months, if that is helpful--RSVP for that if you desire.)

Questions? Please ask them in the comments below so all may benefit from the discussion.

Old School Monday St. Patrick's Day party!

Hello fellow moms!

Next Monday, March 17 is our next Old School Monday gathering. Normally we try to meet the last Monday of each month, but with St. Patrick's Day on a Monday, I could not resist the opportunity.  We are learning about the Christian saints here at home, and how perfect that now at Old School Monday we have talked about St. Nicolas, St. Valentine, and now will get to learn about St. Patrick!

So as usual, the gathering will be from noon until 2:30, there in the first floor right-hand classrooms.

--We will have circle time and read a story about St. Patrick. (Anyone have a favorite version of this story you want to bring and share?  Just let me know in the comments! I don't always have to be the one who does this part of the gathering.)

--I would love to have a craft or quick and easy science project for the kids to do--anyone have ideas?  If so, let me know!

--If your kids are working on the Book of Months project, please bring pages to share!

--And let's make this a green party!  Please bring a green food item to share. 

--As always, you are welcome to bring lunch for your family, or to eat before you come--whichever is easiest for your family!  But would you please remember to bring plates, napkins & cups for your family.  We're striving to make our gatherings as waste-free as possible. : )  Thank you!

The Old School Valentine's Party!

Image found here

What: Our Annual Valentine's Day Party
When: This Friday, February 14, 2014
            Noon until 2:30
Where: Vintage Faith Church, Children's Ministry Building,
            Upstairs and to the right.*

We will be sharing a little circle time, learning about the real Saint Valentine, decorating cookies, passing out valentines, and generally sharing love and laughter!

What to bring: 

--Valentines to hand out to the children who want to participate in the valentine exchange.  So that we all know how many valentines to have our kids make, please RSVP for this event.  Please tell us the names of your kids who will be sharing in the valentine exchange either in the comments to this post or to the facebook thread Ali started for this event. 

--Whatever containers your kids want to use to receive their valentines.  Decorate a pail, turn a shoebox into a mailbox, bring a pretty box, whatever you and your kids want.  Ali is bringing some bags that kids can decorate if someone comes without one.

--This is a party, to please bring a snack to share!  And I say, the more "Old School" Valentine's Day Party food the better! (Great time to share with your kids your favorite memories of the parties and treats you enjoyed most in your own childhood. ; )

--As always, you are welcome to bring lunch for your family, or to eat before you come--whichever is easiest for your family!  But would you please remember to bring plates, napkins & cups for your family.  We're striving to make our gatherings as waste-free as possible. : )  Thank you!

How you can help:

--Ali is going to be hosting a cookie decorating table for the kids old enough to participate!  She is going to be bringing gluten-free sugar cookies ready to be decorated.  We need two moms to volunteer to bring frosting and regular sugar cookies to be decorated. If you can help out with this and make the vision a reality, please say so in the comments here or send Ali a message on facebook. Thanks!

--I so appreciate you moms who usually officiate the picking up and clean up while I'm running around yelling at kids guiding fun and learning.  If we do the cookie decorating, we may have a little more need for moms to step up and help make sure the rooms we use are un-stickied and de-crumbed.  Thank you in advance! 

Our Valentine's parties have traditionally been good times to  invite friends, so please do!  Just please have them RSVP too. : )  Oh, and if you can come on time please do, as we will start the fun right away!  See you Friday!


Just a note of encouragement:

There is NO wrong way to participate in the Valentine exchange at our Old School Valentine's Day party on Friday.  Your kids can hand-make little cards (esp. if it gets you motivated to let them do messy art, or try out something you have been meaning to do).  And you realize writing on cards can count as their handwriting/printing/spelling for the day! ; )  Or you can go purchase ready-made cards from the store.  Or if you don't even have time for your kids to write their names what feels like a bazillion times, just bring some little Valentine treats (a bag of kisses, for example) and your kids can stick those in people's "mailboxes."  My own Evan is making paper "rockets" to pass out. (picture a paper airplane, except made by a five year old who has no idea what he is doing.)  It's all going to be fun and good!


*Because the Vintage Moms Meet Up happens on Fridays in the downstairs rooms we usually use, we will have all our Friday gatherings this Spring in the upstairs classrooms.  : )

Old School Mondays--TOMORROW and the rest of the semester!

Ok, Vintage Homeschool Moms, time to get out your calendars:

Here are the tentative dates for Old School Mondays and other Vintage Homeschool Days!

TOMORROW, January 27: our first Old School Monday for 2014! We have some fun things planned, including sharing time--so please encourage your child/ren to bring something to show or tell that they are learning here at the start of 2014. 

Friday, Feb. 14: our annual Valentine's Day party

Monday, Feb 24: Old School Monday

Monday, March 17: Old School Monday/St. Patrick's Day party

Friday, April 11: Old School Timeline Day

Monday, April 28: Old School Monday

Friday, May 23: End of School party

Unless we specify on special events, all of these gatherings will take place in the usual rooms there at Vintage Faith (downstairs in the Children's Ministry building) from 12-2:30. 

We have some other fun events still in the planning, but I will discuss this with you all tomorrow and then later here on the blog.  For all these events, I'll be sure to post any info you need to know in advance (usually about a week before).  Be sure to subscribe by email to the blog so you don't miss out on information!

I hope to see you all tomorrow! 

Operation Christmas Child Shoebox/Birthday Party!

child in Bosnia who just received a shoebox--from the Operation Christmas Child facebook page

Hello Vintage Homeschool Moms,

Hope everyone is getting plenty of opportunities to enjoy this beautiful fall weather with your sweet families! In the last Old School email, Lisa mentioned that we might consider having an Operation Christmas Child (OCC) Shoebox filling party. Our family  would love to host a small scale OCC party and invite you all to Hidden Beach Park on Friday, November 8th, around 11:30ish. Our family will provide the boxes and take them to one of the designated drop off locations for mailing, *unless* your family would prefer to take your own box(es) home & deliver/mail at your own convenience. That is great, too!

Lastly, I would like to mention that two years ago we were honored to be able to host a small OCC Shoebox packing party on my son Jack's birthday, and we look forward to hosting again this year. Like last time, Jack has requested we bake his favorite mini cupcakes to pass out to all his homeschooling friends. While there will be sweets offered, I will also have some healthy snacks to share as well. And again, this OCC party is my son's wish to help fill some boxes for some precious kids, so please only bring gifts for OCC:)

And just a friendly btw--if you are having a rough morning (hmmm, this happens a lot at our house on Friday mornings!!) or if you do not have time to bring something for a shoebox that day, PLEASE please just bring yourself and your kids!

We hope you can join us!

Sarah

The Author's Fair wrap-up

Well, you could hear the crickets chirping in here after my last post about the Author's Fair!

I understand.  It was a busy Spring for most of us, and many of you intended to participate but then when the time came to do it you felt like you could not do one more thing.  I get that--I felt that way this Spring too!

So this year our group book ended up being a two-family collaboration.  And guess what?  It still turned out adorable, and was a big hit at the fair!  Read what my E.S. Terry sent me in an email after the fair, which another E.S. had sent to her:

The other E.S.'s family wrote:

We all went to the Authors' Fair yesterday, and the kids were quite excited that people had read their works and left comments.  We looked at some of the other books, and one was a book of riddles ending with "Who am I?"  The kids have been busy writing their own riddles last night and this morning!  M's I wrote into a tracing program, so I printed his riddles out with 'conventional spelling' : ) and we decided to use those for his copywork. 

Thank you for encouraging the kids to take part in the authors' fair!  Nothing else has come close to giving them the inspiration to write - both before and after the fair!

 

Now how cool is that?  Our book was inspiring other kids to go home and think and write!

 

This fun anecdote was just what I needed to confirm in my mind what I already thought we would do for next year's group project:  build the riddle book!  This means that we have TWO projects going on for the Author's Fair of 2014, and you have ALL the information you need right now, a year in advance, to be working on them! 

 

--The "What Is It?"  Book of Nature Riddles  (formerly called "Our Big Backyard") group project, where each child/family can submit one or more pages.

 

--The "Book of Months" family writing project.  You parents are the bosses of this project, but I have provided suggestions and guidelines, and we can have a party where we come together and share these the month before the Author's Fair if you like. 

 

So I encourage you interested families to start working on your Book of Months now, so your kids have plenty of time to really get into it if they want and you don't run up against the deadline next year and be frustrated.  It would be a great summer project!  But as always, these are just things you can do or not, depending upon what your kids needs and interests are. 

 

I have updated the labels for these two book projects so you can just click on the label "Book of Months" and it will take you to all those posts, etc.  : )

 

 

 

Author's Fair THIS Saturday--Final Details Here!

Last Monday we had our Old School Monday "book binding" party, where you and your kids could assemble their poems onto the book pages and be done.  Judging by the number of families who showed up, I am guessing this has been a very full season for most of you, as it has been for us, and either you decided not to participate in the group book project or you ran out of time to get your family's pages done before the party.  Either way, it's ok.  If you have not finished (or started!) your pages for our group book this year, but wish you had, you still have time.  Yes, it is down to the wire--the Author's Fair is this upcoming Saturday, May 4--but the pages are easy to do and I'll show you here how you can finish and still have them in our book at the fair, if you still wanted to participate. 

In the last post, I gave you the details for formatting and printing your riddle--but I am amending instructions because I found our poems looked best with approx. 20 point font boldface.  So that's a slightly larger font size than I said before.  If you use the smaller font size, no big deal.  But if you see this before you print out, great.

Also, minor detail that does not affect your work but which I wanted you to know:  my girls and I decided to change the title of the book.  We found in our riddle generating that while our riddles were celebrating the natural world, they were ending up all being very broad and not quite meeting the idea behind the title "Our Big Backyard."  So we are changing the title of the book to "What Is It?  A Book of Nature Riddles."  So as long as your child's riddle is about something in nature, it will work perfectly.

If you still want your kids to participate in the book project:

--Bring your child's riddle printed out and the riddle answer printed out on a separate page to the Ocean Grove table at the Author's fair no later than 10:00 a.m. 

(If you have multiple children making riddles, their answers can go on the same page, with plenty of spacing in between--you will be cutting them out, as you will see below.)

--Bring glue sticks.  You can assemble your child's page there at the fair and add it to our book.  I will have all the other supplies you will need to finish your page.  Please do not bring regular glue--it will not dry in time.  Tape might also work.

--In the past we have met at the Ocean Grove table and then given the kids a chance to present their book all together at the Author's Chair.  If we do so this year, we will be meeting at 10:40 a.m., with the goal of presenting the book at 11:00.  Those of you who want your kids to present the book at the Author's Chair, please RSVP to this post by leaving a comment.  If no one is interested, I'd like to know so I don't hang around the mall unnecessarily.  : )  If no one RSVP's, we will just pass on that this year.  

Questions or comments otherwise?  Please leave them in the comments too, so everyone may benefit from the answers.


Finally, here are my girls' pages, as examples of what the final pages will look like (click on the images to see them bigger):

The front side of each child's page will have the riddle, bordered with colored construction paper.  Notice the poem is offset to the right, to allow for the holes we will add to complete the "binding."

The back side of each child's page will have the answer and illustration. 

So as you read the book, each riddle's answer is revealed as you turn the page.

My girls had fun with these!  They used the online "riddle generator" interactive I linked earlier just as a brainstorming tool, and then came up with their own riddle styles.   You own child's riddle can be as elaborate or simple as you and he/she wants.

Special thanks to Kathy Oak and Lucy Hiatt, who generously donated some of their Ocean Grove funds to help purchase the papers needed for the Old School book projects last year and this year.  Thank you ladies so much!

Book "binding" party--NEXT Monday!

Ok, after a whirlwind Spring, culminating in the Abbey art show and STAR testing, I took a much needed mental Spring Break.  Only to realize, yesterday, that in doing so I neglected giving you all the final details about our Author's Fair book project this year, "Our Big Backyard." 

But I have a feeling most of you are like me, and are just now starting the project anyway. ; )  So if you have not started working on the project with your kids yet, it is not too late!  But, um, you'd better jump on it now, since we are scheduled to have our binding party NEXT Monday at the April Old School Monday gathering.  That gives you four days--so time to get busy! ; )

And please remember--this is meant to be a fun thing, not a huge hassle, so please keep that in mind as you help your kids with their pages.  The art may not be amazing (hey, that's what the Abbey art show was for) and the riddles may or may not make much sense.  ; )  But it's an opportunity for our kids to stretch their thinking, be creative, engage with words and ideas, and make art! 

If you have not already read the first posts about this year's project, please start here and here. 

Once you have read those, you know our theme and our writing style.  Now let's talk details of art and format:

The ART
--The art can be in any two-dimensional style and medium your child chooses!  I'm not going to direct my kids in a specific medium, but just encourage them to get out the markers and colored pencils.  For our family, this is not the time to try to get all fancy. 

--Your child's art must be made on a roughly 8" x 8" square.



The TEXT
--Please print out your child's riddle on a regular 8 1/2" x 11" piece of white typing paper. 

--The text should be centered.

--The text should be approximately 16-18 pt. font (whatever fits and looks good).

--Your child is welcome to choose the color and font style, but please use boldface.

--The answer to the riddle should be printed out exactly the same font style and size and boldface, but on a separate piece of the same kind of paper.

(If you have several children submitting pages, you are welcome to print their answers on one page, as long as you leave lots of room in between them, as we will be cutting them out on Monday when we assemble the books.)


Does this all make sense?  Am I forgetting something important?  If you have questions, please leave them in the comments to this post, so everyone may benefit from the answers. 

So, see you Monday, April 22 from 11-2 in the usual Vintage classrooms!  *And bring your supplies!  We will be using scissors, glue/gluesticks, and maybe pencils and markers.    

More on Book Project 2013: Our Big Backyard Writing

Ok, everybody.  I shared a few weeks back about our topic for this year's Author's Fair book project, Our Big Backyard.  Now I'm excited to tell you that I have settled on the writing style for the book--riddles! 

So each child/family who would like to participate in the project will come up with a topic--like redwoods, or sea stars, or the Sierra Nevadas, or constellations, whatever they are interested in or whatever you are already learning about as a family--and then they will write a riddle "poem" to accompany it. 

Best of all, I found a great interactive online that will help in the riddle-writing process! 

ReadWriteThink riddle interactive

Write your riddles using the interactive, and you will be set!

More details on the size of the art and how you should format your writing for the book will come in later posts. : )

Questions?  Please leave them here in the comments so that everyone may benefit from the discussion.

Old School Valentine's Party! YOU are needed!

Hello Vintage Homeschool Moms!

So, after our last gathering, many of you told me how much your kids enjoy the annual Valentine's Day party.  So, yes let's do it!  I have reserved the room for Friday, Feb 15 from 12:00 to 2:30, as we discussed last time. 

BUT I am really suffering from allergies this year, ladies, and am feeling pretty stretched thin.  I just don't know if I have the reserves to plan and execute another party so soon after the last one.  SO this is the chance for some of you other moms to step in!  Does anyone want to plan and lead the party?  Or do several of you want to take turns leading certain parts of the party?  Please, everyone, jump in with your excellent ideas and leave them in the comments below, so others know your intentions and ideas. : )

In the past we have had Valentines-ish party food, a reading of a book something about love, and some kind of craft or activity.  (Often some kind of holder for valentine's day cards.)  And then we have the traditional passing out of the valentines at some point near the end. : ) 

I look forward to hearing whatever you come up with!

lisa

And now the Vintage Homeschool Kids' Book Project 2013: Our Big Backyard

If you read the last posts, you know we are starting the annual book project for 2014 a little early.  But that does not mean we are not doing a project for this year!  No, so many of you told me how much you and your kids enjoy this annual tradition of making a collaborative project and presenting it at the Author's Fair in May that I got up the gumption to do it again. ; ) (Seriously, though--thanks ladies for your encouragement. It is nice to know you are not just joining in the book projects because you feel like you would be a bad friend if you didn't, or because you would feel guilty or something.  No one ever has to participate, but I'm glad to know those of you who do actually are glad to do so. : )

So here's the project for this year, to be completed in Feb and March and presented at the Author's Fair in May:

Our Big Backyard

The theme of this book will be God's grand creation.  The world is our classroom!  And it is also our big backyard, so your child can write about anything at all in nature--with one caveat:  the child must be able to engage with that thing with his or her senses.  So, this means your child probably should not choose to write about the Sahara desert. . . but of course he could write about Death Valley if he's been there recently and can remember it well.  And exotic animals like Golden Lion Tamarins would not be the best topic. . . unless your family gets to observe them at a zoo.  The best topics will be those that your children can experience as fully as possible, with as many of their senses as possible--tide pools, or banana slugs, or erosion, or mushrooms, or Salinas valley farms, or babies, or weather. . . you have so much room here to be creative with your topic, and choose a subject that fits your child's interests and experiences and your family's recent homeschool studies.  

You can choose something you want to learn about with your kids for this project, or you can piggy-back this project with something you are already studying.  Make the project fit with whatever works for your family and your homeschool schedule.  

This year we will not do the art all together, so you and your child can decide what medium best suits his/her topic. 

I'll write more on the specifics of the project later--this was just the heads up to get you all thinking about possible topics for your child's page.  

But in the meantime, here are the important deadlines for the project, so you can figure those into your planning:

April 22, noon - 2:30: All pages complete, bring to Old School Monday gathering for binding party

May 4 : Author's Fair at Capitola Mall 

Our Vintage Homeschool FAMILY Book Project 2014--A Book of Months

Some of you remember that I was brewing up a book project for the annual Author's Fair that could be completed by families or individual kids, but would not be a collective project as we have done in the past.  Well, I have finally figured out how we can do it and make it logical, easy, a great learning exercise for the kids, and potentially a great keepsake!  (Even a great Christmas present for a family member!)

Our project is a Book of Months.  The idea is for your child/children to capture the rhythm of a year in your family.  Each month will have one page describing what your family traditionally does in that month, with one page of illustration (or your child can make more than one page for eventful months--that part is completely up to them/you).  Some things that could be included are holidays, birthdays or other annual family celebrations, typical weather, favorite activities for that season, whatever you and your child(ren) think best captures your year.

Since we are just now starting the new year, and have completed our first month, this is the perfect time to begin this project.  So anyone interested can make a time in the next week or so to talk about January and what they did as a family that month, what is special about that month, etc.  Then have your children write/draw about it while the memories and sensory elements are fresh.  Then at the end of each month, look back and do the pages for that past month.  If we all do a little at a time, the project should not really impact our other schooling, and the kids will have time to get as involved with the writing/illustration as they would like.  Ideally, the project itself will end up being part of the rhythm of this year! 

Of course this project does not have to be done so systematically.  There is absolutely no reason why you can't just do it whenever you remember, when you have room in your school schedule, etc.  I could even see someone doing this project in two weeks--completing one month every day.  So I am just setting out the project the way it could most organically be done, and those of you who want to participate can do the pages and art however/whenever you see fit.

My gift to you will be a reminder here on this blog at the beginning of each new month to look back on the past month and write about it while the memories are fresh. : )  The final goal will be for all the books to be completed this same time next year, and we will have a binding party at one of our Vintage Homeschool gatherings! 

Since each family will be doing this project on their own, but we hope to show them all together at the Author's Fair in May of 2014, there will be certain simple parameters we will use to give overall cohesion to the project. 

--Each child's writing and illustrations should be completed on 8 1/2 x 11 inch white typing paper. 

--Only use one side of each piece of paper.

--The text and its illustration will be on separate pieces of paper.

--I strongly urge you to figure out in advance if your child(ren) wants to have the pages horizontal or vertical--we have learned already from experience with this project the sadness that occurs when some illustrations are one way and some are the other!  Your author(s) can choose which they want--either is completely fine for this project, as long as their whole book is done the same way.

--The text will be typed out in black ink (unless of course your child believes there is a need for colored text).  You can choose the font, but the size should be 14 pt (as long as that fits well on your page--of course you can change it if you think the text length warrants it).

--The text for each page will be centered on the page (both L to R and top to bottom).

--The style of illustration used is entirely up to you and your child as well.  You could even practice different mediums on different pages, if you choose; however, I would recommend you choose one style and use it for the entire book, to keep the months having the same visual "weight."  So if your child chooses watercolor, encourage them to use watercolor throughout the book.

--You may choose to make the book as a family and have different children do different aspects of the project, or each child may do his/her own book.  This too is up to you and your children.

--Be sure to have a safe place to store this project over the year, so the pages are not bent and damaged.  Our family started this project about 8 months ago, and some of the pages that the kids were storing themselves have been creased, a little wrinkled. . . not really a big deal, but if this ends up being a beautiful "keeper" book, then in the long run they may be sorry.

Remember, you should not worry about binding the book--we will do that all together next March or April.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments below.  I hope you are as excited about this project as I am!

Happy Writing, all!