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.    

REEL Kids Adventures Series

I really love books.  And I really like to own them in our own library, which is probably the death of me.  Anyhow, my oldest daughter (age 9) recently picked up a set of books that I was holding onto until I thought she was ready (though she could have read them earlier).  It is a set of 10 books, which can be read independently - called "Reel Kids."  I personally know the author - Dave Gustaveson.  He has been serving in YWAM for a long time, and he's incredible!  These books are full of culture, adventure & challenges along the way.  The 3 kids in the story actually travel to different countries in need of Jesus, and video-tape the culture.  Its a wonderful blend of God's faithfulness & power in the middle of adventure!  Anyhow, I highly recommend these books if you have $ to invest in them.  YWAM Publishing is selling each set for $19.99 right now (5 books, each set), and you can probably find them cheaper on Amazon. 

 

Here are some handy links if you want:

Reel Kids (books 1-5)

Reel Kids (books 6-10)

YWAM Publishing

 Amazon link to Reel Kids

The Abbey art show--final details!

Allrighty, folks!  We are in our last week before the art pieces are due at the Abbey.  So now is the time for me to share with you all the last bits of information you will need before the show.  I asked Philip, the assistant to the Abbey art director, a bunch of questions, and here is what I learned:

 

Dropping off your art:

They will start installing the art when the Abbey closes at 8:00 p.m.  next Wednesday, March 27.  This means you need to bring the art to the Abbey before 8 on that day.  Anytime that afternoon or early evening should be fine--I will make sure the Abbey workers that day know the pieces are coming, so they can direct you where to leave them.  Unfortunately, there is not a space to secure all of the art before the day of the installation.  I do not responsibility for your children's masterpieces, but I will be glad to work out necessary arrangements with families who might be out of town for Spring Break.

 

 

How you can help with the installation:

I have heard from one family offering carpentry services with the installation.  Great!  May I suggest  you either show up right before 8 the night of the installation ready to offer your services, or email Philip in advance at phillip at lincolnstreetstudios dot com.  Thanks!

 

 

How to label your child's art:

Please make one placard for each piece of art you submit.  The placard should be on white cardstock cut to 3 x 5 inches.  The information you should include on the placard, in this order:

1.  Name of piece

2.  by Child or children's name(s), age ____

3.  Medium used for the piece (for example, watercolor or paper mosaic)

 

Please print out these cards (i.e. please do not handwrite), using any font you desire as long as it is approx. 18 pt. boldface.  Please center the information on the card. 

 

When you drop off your art piece, please make sure the placard is safely taped to the back (but in a way that will not harm the front of the placard, as these will be hung by your child's art).  

 

 

The art show Opening!

The Opening will be held Saturday, April 6th there at the Abbey, from 4-6.  Please invite your family and friends to come and celebrate our children's artistic achievements! 

 

 

How you can help with the art Opening:

I have also heard from two parents offering to bring desserts to the opening.  Yes, let's make it a party!  Let's make it a dessert/snack potluck, and everyone who can, please bring a finger food to share.  Let's try to avoid messy things like chips, please, as the Abbey will be hosting their monthly Open-Mic Night at 7, and we don't want to cause extra work for the Abbey staff.  So I'm thinking veggies and dip, cut up fruit, and of course finger-lickin' desserts like brownies and cookies!  

 

Is there anyone who can help provide napkins?  Small paper plates?  (Please, no plastic.)  Please leave a comment below and let me know.  Thanks!

 

For drinks, we will rely upon the fabulous offering of the Abbey, who is being so generous to host us  We can show our thanks through our patronage. : )

 

 

The show will run:

The show will be up for the month of April!  

 

 

Any more questions?

Please do not email me if you have questions, but instead leave them as a comment to this post. This way everyone may benefit from the answers.

 

 

One last thing:

I just want to remind everyone that this show does have three required elements:

1) the overall theme of "New Life"

2) the construction theme of layers

3) the mounting of each piece, using the black matte board specified in the earlier post.  This board is found at Palace Arts, and comes in pre-cut sizes over in the framing department.  It is black with white core.  There is also black with white core matte board in the do-it-your-self section to the back left corner of the store.  Just make sure it is black with the white core.  It is not foam board, but like heavy paper stock.

I look forward to seeing everyone's creations!

 

 

 

Abbey art show--time for committments

work by Emma Johnson, found here

Alrighty everyone!   I have been posting this information on the SantaCruz homeschooling yahoo group, on homecruzers, and on the WIOC fb page!  But for those of you who come here for your information, let me make sure you have everything you need to participate. 

It is time for me to get formal committments from any of you who are interested in participating in the Abbey art show. So if you have read the previous blog post and can commit to the three elements of the show, please email me or leave a comment to this post by this upcoming MONDAY, to tell me how many pieces your family will be submitting.  

At this point we have a "waitlist" for the show, so as you give me the total number of pieces your family will be submitting, please limit the pieces to one per child. Your family may also submit one additional piece, if your children would like to make one collaborative piece. I would love to give those waitlisted kids a spot in the show, and I'm sure you feel the same.

Thanks so much, and please tell your children I am eagerly awaiting the time when I will get to see their creations!

work by Charles Clary, found here

Easter Art show at the Abbey--Homeschool kid art!

image found here

I don't think I can adequately express how excited I am about this.

I have been talking with Cheryle Isaacson since last Fall about the possibility of an art show at the Abbey for homeschool families/kids, and just yesterday we wrangled out the details.

We will have the Big Wall for the show--that's the premiere show space you can see in the photo above!

If we need to, we can overflow into the bathroom hallway (which is also a great space, and the pieces there get more close-up viewing, so it's all win-win).

I don't know how many pieces we will be generating--that is one of my first goals now, to have families commit to the number of pieces they plan to put in the show.  Families may either submit one collaborate piece, or individual children in the family may submit their own pieces.  So if you know for sure you want to participate, and know how many pieces you want to commit to, please email me at blesseday at gmail dot com.  I am inviting first you Vintage Homeschool families and the parents on the santacruzhomeschooling yahoo group, because you are the parents who have shared excitement with me about a show like this. : )  If I think there is still room, then I will open the show up to homecruzers on facebook. 

*If you commit to the show, you are also committing to adhering to the thematic and display guidelines of the show, so please read the rest of the information carefully and be sure you understand the three required elements.

We have three elements to the show that should not only create visual cohesion, and provoke thought, but hopefully will also result in richer art:

--The subject theme of the show is "New Life."  Each young artist may interpret this as he/she likes!

--The constructural theme is "layers."  This means that each piece of art should be made with the idea of "layers," but again, each artist may interpret that to suit which ever medium s/he will be using. 

Some of you families are really into art and have lot of experience with different mediums--to you, I say, take the layers theme to whatever you think is its most fun and beautiful extreme. Some of you families are still pretty much in crayons and markers mode--while those can be absolutely fine mediums for this art project, I highly recommend you think about how you can take what your kids already know and take it one step further.  For example, layering watercolor over crayon.  If you want to be inspired, or need ideas, I would recommend image searches on the web.  Just now I googled "childrens art projects layers" and saw some really neat pieces and projects. 

Some examples of how this constructural theme might be interpreted:

Scratch-away art

Layered punch-art mosaic

three-dimensional pop-up paper cuttings

Matisse-inspired paper and crayon mosaic

printmaking, with more than one layer of prints

layered paper arts

visual layers within a painting

horizontal triptych

photograph of layers (scroll down post to "Layers" art photograph)

Now, please realize I posted these as examples of layered art, not as examples of pieces that go along with the theme of "New Life."  The creative marriage of the two themes will be up to your artists!  Also, please keep in mind your children's pieces will still need to be overall two-dimensional, since they will be wall-mounted.  In fact, that brings us to the third unifying element of the show:

--Each fnished piece must be mounted with black matte board. This last element will really give visual cohesion to the overall collection, and should also really make each piece "pop."  The specific matte board you will need can be found at Palace Arts--it is black on top with a white core.  Please visit the store before starting your project to see the matte board so you know what is available to you.  For example, there is at least one size of pre-cut board you could use, but then you would need to make sure your art was the right size to fit its window. 

The final pieces may be either undermounted, through the cut window (like you would see in a picture frame), or may be top mounted.  You can choose which ever "framing" is most appropriate for your child's finished work.  The overall visible matte border should be approximately 3-4 inches in depth, but of course you should tweak that depending upon what is most suitable for your child's piece.

We do not have specific size constraints for the pieces--as long as they are matted per the above directions, whatever size of work your child creates is fine.

Also, because this will be child-generated art, I don't think I need to specify that whatever they make should be suitable for all-ages public viewing.  But just in case--there you have it. ; )

The completed, appropriately matted pieces must be brought to the Abbey no later than 8:00 on Wednesday, March 27.  That night the Abbey art director will install the show!  They might also appreciate a few parent helpers with the installation--I'll share details about that when we get closer to that event.

 
If you have any questions, please leave them here in the comments on this post, so everyone may benefit from the dialogue.

found here

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.

Another Excellent Book of Months Example

When I made the post the other day about books your family might want to read to get ideas for our 2014 Book of Months writing project, I forgot to share one of our favorites:

The poetry in this book is wonderful, and while you can find it in many editions, the one illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman is our favorite.  Her watercolor and ink drawings are beautiful, and really draw the reader into to the "feel" of each particular month, as much as Updike's words.

Just a taste:

(click on the image to embiggen)

 

The facing November page, illustrating the "beauty of the bone."

I highly recommend this book for your family's bookshelves!

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 

Inspiration for The Book of Months project

I'll tell you how this project got started:  my own Meredith decided about a week before the Author's Fair last year that since her older sister had two books to enter, she would like to write another book to enter as well.  And the child labored for that whole week on detailed pencil drawings and pages of text--all her own "book of months" inspired by this family favorite:

A Time To Keep, by Tasha Tudor

Well, she barely got it done in time for the Author's Fair--no, really, I was sitting there after the fair had started on the mall floor with my back against some shop windows trying to shove her pages (some done vertically and  some horizontally of course, and with text on  both sides) into the clear plastic pages of a photo album our dear ES Terry had brainstormed as the solution to her binding dilemma.  But she had put so much thought into it, and it was such a sweet idea, that I decided we would "do it right" for the next author's fair.  And decided each girl could do her own.  And then though, hey while we are at it, maybe the other Vintage Homeschool kids would like to join in the fun!  

It really is a fun way to record not only the passing of time and the rhythm of a year, but also your own kids lives at this stage.  I have a feeling if you and your kids do a really good job, you will end up with a book you want to hold on to and bring out year after year. 

Here are some other books of months that you and your kids might enjoy reading while getting into the mood for this project:

Over and Over, by Charlotte Zolotow

We love this first one--gentle story about a little girl remembering with her mother what happens in a year's time.

This series has a book for each month, although I have not read them.

Ok, this last one won't be all that helpful with the project.  But I loved this book when I was a kid! ; )

If you know of other books that are similar in vein that you could recommend as creative thinking fodder for this assignment, please leave the titles in the comments.