Art Sites and Other Stuff

I just got an email with a link to a cool art site for kids: http://nmoe.org/gallery_art/index.html. I clicked the "Art Zone" link from the home page and just made my own collage online using the "collage machine." It was inspired. There are a bunch of other cool activities there too, although I kept having to install Adobe Shockwave Player stuff and was too annoyed to keep exploring. I blame this on my laptop, not the website.
I also found a great book at the library that is supposed to be about learning styles but is really more of a practical guide to using creative methods to get your kids engaged in school: The Big What Now Book of Learning Styes, by Carol Barnier. My plan is to write down a bunch of her ideas and use them on my kids...the first one I'm trying is like a scavenger hunt:
1. You make up a bunch of clues to direct your kids from place to place in the house. For example, the first clue might lead them to the washing machine, and then at the washing machine is another clue that leads them to the bathroom, etc. I made my clues rhyming poems in an attempt to make it a little more fun.
2. Once the kids get to the first spot, they find a list of review questions to answer or an activity to complete. When they finish it, they open the next clue and move on.
I'm also going to use her suggestion for teaching kids to tell time - have them lay on the floor in pairs and use their bodies (one is the minute hand, one is the hour hand), to create the times I give them. Isaac is pretty good with telling time, but Simon has no idea, and I saw it coming up in his Math book. 
Finally, in my quest to learn more about Charlotte Mason, I've decided I need to read her original writings. Fortunately, there is a site where you can read these translated into modern English - or even in paraphrase: http://www.amblesideonline.org/CM/toc.html. 
And now, to get ready for a full day of church stuff. We have church this morning, then we head back at 3 to set up for our annual meeting, which runs until 6 or 6:30. Maybe there will be some time for knitting and napping in between?

Nature Study

I am not an "outdoors person." I remember being a kid and my stepmom getting so disgusted because I could go the whole summer without getting any hint of a tan. Given a choice, I would rather sit inside with a book or some Barbies than play outside. What do you even play outside? I remember being shooed outside and having no idea what to do once I got there. I've gotten better as I've gotten older; I like to go on walks and runs (although I have to say, I'd just as soon be on a treadmill), I like the pool and the park in the summer, and I like to sit on a lawn chair in my backyard. But I hate bugs, I hate wind, I really hate being cold, and I'm a huge fan of climate control. There are windows in my house that have not been opened since I've lived here. But a big part of homeschooling, especially if you use the Charlotte Mason method, is to teach nature appreciation. I found a cool book from 1911 called Handbook of Nature Sutdy, and a blog that offers lessons to go along with the book. And here's a Squidoo page of stuff on Charlotte Mason nature study: http://www.squidoo.com/cmnaturestudy. And another one called "Nature Tales": http://www.squidoo.com/naturetales. Maybe this will help me change my ways?

Charlotte Mason

We've been using curriculum this year that is somewhat Charlotte Mason, meaning it focuses on reading real books (as opposed to textbooks), being in nature, drawing and art, and letting the kids pursue (to some degree) their own interests. I've been looking online at a couple of websites that focus on Charlotte Mason methods, and it makes me want to try a little harder to figure out how to be even more in line with her teaching style. One is a blog: http://www.momentswithmotherculture.blogspot.com/, and one is more of a normal website: http://charlottemasoneducation.com/. Both sites promote books on the Charlotte Mason method: A Charlotte Mason Companion, by Karen Andreola (blogger), and A Charlotte Mason Education, by Catherine Levison (normal website). One thing I have learned about my kids is that they LOVE to be read to. They love love love anything I read to them, especially if it's got a storyline. And, the more I read to them, the more interested I see them becoming in reading to each other and on their own. And what we read, they remember. If only I could teach them math by reading to them. Or can I...?