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

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon : book review

This is one of my favorite books that I have read this year. There is just the right balance between fantasy, magic and adventure. The main character is a little girl named Minli, who goes to find the Old Man in the Moon, to see if he can change her family's fortune. She meets many magical creatures along the way.  The story also includes a lot about Chinese culture and old folk tales.  I love the colorful artwork that goes with almost every chapter. The author really entices you to read more and finish the book. If you are looking for an exciting book to read, I encourage you to read this one.

By Asia, age 11

The Life of Fred

I cannot believe I forgot to mention these books in my list of fun and potentially inspiring math story books:  The Life of Fred: "Math As Serious As It Needs to Be."  The first title in the series is "Apples."  We borrowed it from a friend once and thought it was really engaging and definitely stimulating.  Some people use these books for their math curriculum, but I think they are best as "fun math" for days when I want to introduce a new concept, or get the kids interacting with ideas more independently, or just to have a break from "regular" math and do something different and fun. 

Alas, the library does not appear to have any of them, and I believe we can no longer use Ocean Grove funds to purchase these books. : (  But ask your ES if there are any at the resource center.

Or, if any of you Vintage homeschool parents have any Life of Fred books and don't mind sharing, please let us know in the comments below!

I found a site that allows you to download a preview of many of the Life of Fred books.  Here's the download link to the "Apples" book (let's see if that works--not sure if I can link to a pdf).

Here is the link to all of the previews.

Fun Summer Math Reading

So after starting that last post about our book project for the 2015 Author's Fair, I did some research, and found that our local library seems to have quite a good selection of funny and creative easy-reader and picture books to inspire our young authors. Here are some I found:

Conned Again, Watson! Cautionary Tales of Logic, Math, and Probability

Minnie's Diner

The Great Divide

Divide and Ride

Grandfather Tang's Story

The Warlord's Puzzle

Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar

Math Curse

Inch by Inch

The Wishing Club: A Story About Fractions

Lemonade for Sale

The Doorbell Rang

17 Kings and 42 Elephants

One Grain of Rice

Arthur's Funny Money

Measuring Penny

The library also has a lot of these well-rated "Sir Cumference" books--I'll definitely be checking some out!

I've read this one before--and it is a fun read: Spaghetti and Meatballs for All

Some of the books available at the library may not tell math stories, per se, but sound like really good additions (ha!) to a summer reading math unit:

Mathematicians Are People Too

G is for Googol

Millions to Measure

The Boy Who Loved Math

The library also has many of the Encyclopedia Brown books, which do not specifically deal with math but still require logical thinking for solving their mysteries--plenty of good inspiration there for the kids' own math mystery writing.

Then I have a few books here at home that anyone may borrow:

100 Pounds of Popcorn

The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat

Math Talk

Once Upon a Company


If you have any math tales of your own to recommend, please share the titles in the comments!

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.  

Old School Monday, Next Week!

Hello everyone!

It's our April Old School Monday, and we have a very fun theme for our gathering:

It's the Old School Monday Show & Tell Day!

 When: Monday, April 28, noon-2:30 p.m.

 Where: the usual downstairs classrooms there at Vintage Faith Church

Your children are each invited to bring one remotely educational thing to share with the rest of us.  It could be a musical piece they want to play, or something they have made, or a new skill they have acquired.  (Would prefer we not show off new toys or favorite objects, if we can--unless they have historical value!) Moms, this can also be a great time to encourage your kids to wrap up a project or assignment--for some of our kids getting to share to the group might be good incentive!

And Moms, you too are invited to bring something to share!  Last month Ali brought some great historical books to show--this time, in keeping with "book week," let's each bring one book that we really like. It can be educational, or just a good piece of writing!

We will definitely have story time too!  If any of you would like to read a story aloud to the group, just let me know!  Otherwise, I will cry my way through something good, I am sure. ; )

Questions or comments?  Please leave them in the comments section to this post, so that all may benefit.

Book Week Pt 2

Just for fun, I thought I would share with you all the second, and even more fun, part of our Book Week: reading, reading, reading!

We do not own many pieces of furniture (understandable in a house our size!) but we have two big cherry bookcases we bought when we first got married.  One faces the front door, and holds more "school-y" books.  (I'll have to show you in another post.) This one faces the living room, and holds mostly fiction, with some non-fiction picture books mixed in. 

Eldest girl asked a month ago if we could spend Spring Break reading through the bottom two shelves of this bookshelf--the favorite picture books she doesn't really get much chance to read anymore, but which still give so much pleasure.  I thought that was a great goal! 

These are the two shelves we are reading through this week--most of our picture book collection.

 

This is starting at the right of the top shelf, which has picture books geared to a slightly older child (or the taller books that don't fit on the bottom shelf). Normally I enjoy keeping the shelves somewhat organized first by genre, then by author, with size variables accounted for--I know, I know--but with the crazy reading going on this week, they are currently a happy, disheveled mess.

Favorite titles from this first pic:

Homeplace

The Biggest Bear

The Scrambled States of America

Small Beauties

A Child's Calendar

This version of Snow White

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Lion

Yes, I am such a book nerd that I am going to show you ALL the books. Some of them are special friends, which is why I'm introducing you by name.

The Tale of Three Trees

The Fourteen Bears Summer and Winter

The Long and Dangerous Journey

Moses

A Time to Keep

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch

Of course if you no longer have kids in this stage of life, you will be glazing over at this point. But if you love books, or memories of when your kids were young, or if you just want to snoop at my bookshelves just like you would if you came over sometime, here you go!

The Velveteen Rabbit (I'm not sure my edition is the best out there--so many versions of this story have gorgeous illustrations!--so I didn't link it)

This version of Little Red Riding Hood. I'm a fan of this author's work, and have quite a few on the shelf  by her.

This edition of Beauty and the Beast (alas, out of print and highly collectible--sounds like the affordable paperback is a shortened version)

The Maggie B

A Fairy Went a Marketing

Hiding over against the bookshelf wall to the right are the fragile antique books my mother has passed down to us from her own childhood. I keep them tucked away behind Stuart Little just so little hands don't grab them automatically. Out of sight, out of mind. ; )

The Kitchen Knight

The Water Hole

Now we get to the bottom shelf, with the books geared more for the earlier readers, and the books shorted in height.

George and Martha: The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends

This version of Mother Goose

Tuesday

The Giant Jam Sandwich

The Adventures of Mole & Troll

The Little House

Cookies: Bite-Sized Lessons

Norman the Doorman

Mama, Do You Love Me?

The Marble Cake Cat

As you can probably guess, a lot of these books are from my childhood.  : )

The Frog and Toad Treasury

Let's Look at the Jungle

The Fire Cat

The Best Loved Doll

Bears in the Night

The last books on the shelf to the right are not in the picture because they are large and have to lay on their sides--mainly Smiley's collection of Richard Scarry books. Those are favorites of mine just because they occupy him for good lengths of time while I'm helping his sisters with school. : )

Child of Faerie, Child of Earth

The Hat

Eloise Wilkins Treasury


Some of these books made me smile just reading the titles.  : )  I am only specifically mentioning my favorite favorite of those on the shelves.  But all the books on the shelves have to meet at least two out of my four criteria for what is worth the precious in-house real estate:

* The story has to be well-written.
* There should be something the child learns from the story, or it should broaden the child's mind, or ignite imagination in some specific way.  In other words, it has a greater meaning beyond the story itself.
* The illustrations should be exemplary.
* Or the book should be especially nostalgic for me, or someone special gave it to us.
* Bonus points if it makes me smile or cry every time I read it.

I have a loathing for pointless stories and silliness for silliness's sake.  I abhor twaddle.  It makes me so sad when an excellent story is printed with lame, uninspired artwork.  Yes, I'm a book snob.  But that does not mean I'm too picky--there are some books I love that have very silly elements (The Giant Jam Sandwich is a prime example)  but there is something about them that is clever and whimsical too. And condition does not bother me either, as long as pages are not falling out (and I can't just tape them back in) or the book is molding--what's inside the book is way more important than the outside. Often, the best books are no longer in print, so I am perfectly willing to put up with ragged old books if need be! 

There are a lot more excellent books on our shelves I'm not specifically mentioning because they are considered childhood classics (like Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, and Where the Wild Things Are, and Madeline's Rescue.)  I just wanted to share with you some of the titles that you might not be familiar with. 

I also have a LOT more books in bins under the house. Most of them are more educational in nature, so have been separated and stored according to subject.  But there are also just a lot of good books that were not *quite* worth the in-house shelf space, but which I can't quite part with.  And a bin of broken books that require serious mending, but which I am sorry to part with (or can't replace). And a box of books to take to add to our little homeschool library we are starting for all of you. And a box of books to eventually give away. Ahem.

Have I mentioned that I love good books?

Happy Reading everyone!

(And if you have a favorite favorite picture book you want to recommend, please share it in the comments!)

Or, even more fun, share pics of YOUR bookshelves!

(If anyone likes this post, I will work my way through the rest of the books too. : )

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.

It's the Old School Timeline Party--This Friday!

Becky and I are co-hosting this event, and we are excited.  Ever since last semester we have wanted to have a day where we would all get together and make a giant timeline in the gym--a fun visual experience to help all our kids get a better feel for where the events and people they have been studying fall in relationship with one another. 

What: The Old School Timeline Party

Where: upstairs classrooms, Children's Ministry Bldg., Vintage Faith Church

When: This Friday, April 11, noon-2:30.

We will meet up in the upstairs right-hand classrooms again for the first part, until most everyone has arrived. We will have circle time and do just a little sharing.  But most of the event we will spend in the gym--not goofing off this time, but presenting!

Each child who wants to should pick a person your family has learned about so far this year--or that the child can research in the next few days--and write a brief, first person narrative report that explains who the Important Person is, where and when he/she lived, and why he/she is important to history.

*This is not a hard assignment--you parents can take this idea and run with it to the extent you want to this week, making it fit your child's interest and abilities and your school schedule for the week.  It may remind some of you of our first Author's Fair project--as it should since we are using the same template as a starting point!  So this week, just have your children gather a few facts about this Important Person in History:


MY NAME IS:

IT IS THE YEAR: (choose a date important to this person's role in history)

I LIVE: (give the location(s) important to this person's role in history)

I AM: (here is where you briefly tell the person's role, or job, or what was going on around him/her at this place/time in history, and/or what he/she was doing about it)

I AM AFFECTING HISTORY BY:

ONE THING YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME IS:

ONE THING I WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW IS: (talk with your kids about the beliefs and values of this person in relation to their role in history. Choose either a direct quotation of this person, or help your child summarize a belief or value that has come through in your studies.


Older kids can write more--that is up to you, parents, but every Important Person at least need to have accurate dates and places recorded.  When we all get together on Friday we will give an opportunity for each child to present his/her Important Person, and then we will figure out on the timeline we make where the person belongs.

*Any child who wants to participate is encouraged to do so!  Siblings can work on the same topic and present their findings together, or they can work individually on separate topics--you decide what works best for your family.

*Any child who wants to dress up as his or her Important Person is welcome to! 



This event is not a food party, so no need to bring any food items to share.  But 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!

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!

NO Old School Monday this Monday, Feb. 24

Hi Everyone!

In my last post giving dates for events, I said we would have Old School Monday on Feb. 24.  We are CANCELLING this event and doing something different instead--an Old School Field Day, to be held the following Friday.  Details of that will be posted probably on the facebook group that goes along with this blog.  If you are a local friend and want to come, but are not part of the facebook group, then just leave a comment and we will get you the info you need!

: )

lisa

Valentine's Day Memories

Yesterday was so fun - thanks Lisa and Ali and everyone who helped pull off such a memorable endeavor. The kids had a blast and I THINK we got all the sprinkles out of the carpet ;). This party has become a cherished tradition in our family and I'm so grateful my girls got to share in it again. Here's a little video Claire made (with help from Katie and Hannah Frank and some very eager participants).  Turn up your volume to hear as much of the spoken words as possible...

The Valentine's Day Party Roster--Updated Thurs, 7:07 p.m.

Here are the names of all the kids who will be participating in the Valentine exchange at the party on Friday.  As I get more RSVPs I will update this list, so you can check back tomorrow morning to make sure you have all you want to bring.

Also, please remember that there is no legalism around this party--no right way or wrong way to participate!  So if you can't manage to get each of your children to make valentines for each of the children coming--get creative!  Maybe you can divvy up the list among your kids, or have your girls make them for the girls and your boys make them for the boys.  Or do what we are doing for valentines:  my kids have painted large pieces of paper using red, pink, orange & green sparkly paint. Then they are using fancy-edge scissors to cut out hearts. The older girls can write the names of the recipients, but the younger kids can just write their own names.  Or just draw a smiley face!

With this many kids coming, I am not worried about the kids having enough special things in their "mailboxes." If each of the kids participating at least brings something for most of the other kids, it will all work out fine. : )


1. Landon
2. Koji
3. Hana

4. Asia
5. Eden
6. Sydney

7. Sophia
8. David
9. Malakai

10. Shiloh
11. Cruz

12. Bella
13. Hannah
14. Abbie
15. Elisabeth
16. Joshua

17. Amelia (maybe)
18. Macy (maybe)
19. June (maybe)

20. Katie
21. Claire

22. Carson
23. Olivia
24. Spencer

25. Sarah
26. Rebecca

27. Luke
28. Magnolia

29. Hazel
30. Charlotte

31. Gwynneth
32. Meredith
33. Bronwyn
34. Evan

35. Hannah
36. Jack
37. Luke

38. Tegan

39. Lillie

Please tell me if I have missed someone from the comments or facebook!  Otherwise, I will add new names as they come in today. : )

Favorite Films: Winged Migration

After talking with Lucy the other day, I decided we need to start a new section on this blog, for favorite movies.

This is a documentary that was released in 2001, and so many of you probably have not heard of it.  It is one of our family's favorite movies, and the kids are completely mesmerized by it.  It's all just gorgeous filming of birds migrating.  That sounds really boring, but it is the opposite.  It would be a great movie to watch with the kids if you were learning about birds, seasons, or geography.

I found this official site that gives a trailer, and other potentially interesting and informative links.

I am sure you can get the movie through Netflix if you have their DVD plan, but I saw it is also available for download through Amazon Prime.  Hold on--EVEN BETTER: the library has it! 


If any of you Vintage Homeschool Moms want to make your own film reviews here on the blog, please feel free!  Some of you are "authors" so you can just make a post.  If you are not an "author" then please email me with your text and I'll post it for 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.  : )

Prepositions List and Song

Hi friends! It was so fun to see some of you today at Old School Monday. Thank you, Lisa, for such a creative, memorable, FUN grammar lesson! I've never seen a cow do so many things to a box, or prepositions and articles make so many kids smile. I felt bad that we'd been in such a rush this morning and I hadn't realized the list of prepositions I handed out wasn't the one that went along with our song. So I am going to post our revised list here, below this video of Katie and Claire singing it a couple of years ago. It's not a perfect run-through . . . but maybe your kiddos will have fun looking for the little mistakes, and even be inspired to create their own video. Of course they can manipulate the list to fit any tune they like - that's part of the fun. Share your videos if you make them! We'd love to see. Thanks, all of you, for being part of our lives and our homeschooling journey.

about
above
across
after


against
along
around
before

at
behind
below
beneath

beside
between
during
except

by
down
for
from
in
inside

into
near
of
off
on
outside

past
over
out
through
throughout

to
toward
under
until

up
with
without!

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!