Straight Line Forms: A Recap

There are three different kinds of Straight Lines!

Here are a few Form Drawing lessons I like to do after the initial traditional introduction to the straight line and curve on the first day of first grade.

Form Drawing allows children to just focus on the correct orientation of the lines to one another, without worry about the additional extra step of sound-symbol correspondence that comes into play with writing Capital Letters.

In the first year of my Grade 1 Ruzuku course, I had a participant tell me mid-year that she had skipped Form Drawing in August & September because she thought it was important to "just get into the content." And then when the children in her group struggled with forming their letters, she realized that FD wasn't optional and extra. It was essential! And she went back and did it.

There are many Form Drawing books and lots of different ways to combine these straight lines. I like Living Lines: Form Drawing Inspiration for Steiner-Waldorf Teachers by Henrik Thaulow and workbooks 1-3 by Angela Lord.

Creative Form Drawing Workbook 1

Creative Form Drawing Workbook 2

Creative Form Drawing Workbook 3

The Three Billy Goats Gruff
retold by Paul Galdone

the upright line

story image: bridge

from Beginning with Form Drawing by Live Education!

Journey to Cahokia: A Boy's Visit to the Great Mound City
by Albert Lorenz

the resting line

story image: earthen mounds

from Creative Form Drawing Workbook 1 by Angela Lord

Another way to experience the resting line could be through forest bathing. Try lying on the ground in nature with your child, staying perfectly straight and being very still. You are still forming a straight line with your body... but how different it feels from the upright gesture of the queen and king!

How Thunder and Lightning Came to Be: A Choctaw Tale
retold by Beatrice O. Harrell

the leaping line

story image: lightning

diagonal lines show action

sparks fly from his heels as Melatha races after the eggs!

I have had students really struggle with the orientation of a diagonal line -- who truly couldn't figure out how to draw it -- so it is worth giving this one its own time. It is very fun to act out being a Leaping Line with your body! Again, you are working with straightness but what a very different feeling compared to the quiet steadiness of the upright and resting lines.

I also like the Tissue Paper Collage lessons in Teaching Art with Books Kids Love: Art Elements, Appreciation, and Design with Award-Winning Books by Darcie Clark Frohardt. We do these as our Form Drawing exercises for the Leaping Line.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Play with Plants

As part of our Three Sisters Garden project, we've also done some fun experiments with growing plants. The children were amazed when I showed them how to regrow celery from scraps. I also highly recommend Millicent Selsam's Play with Plants if you're looking for growing acivities. Yesterday we started a sweet potato vine and today we are going to regrow lentils!

These activities go well with Gardener's Match: A Fruit and Vegetable Memory Game, which the older children played yesterday.

the artwork is beautiful

but turn over either the Poison Ivy or the Stinging Nettle card
and you lose your next turn!

The younger children started the Play Garden, a lovely work which Cody made for his previous school and is sharing with us. Over the next six weeks mysterious changes will happen in the three plant beds of the Play Garden, as the things they put in yesterday will "grow." Cody made all of the pieces needed for three stages in the life of garlic, sweet potato, Swiss chard, green beans, and watermelon. Plus weeds that will have to be taken out (with a very satisfying rrrrrrip of the velcro).

All of the children are working together for one last plant activity, "Make a Plant Grow Down Instead of Up" from p.49 of The Curious Kid's Science Book by Asia Citro. Make sure you have fast-germinating seeds for this experiment! I recommend okra, sunflowers, or mung beans.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Notes on "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate"

Our chapter book read aloud for May is The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly. It has been great fun for the children to hear what life was like for an 11 year old girl in Texas in the year 1899! Here are some "extras" I recommend if you're reading this book and want to add a bit more info.

Chapter 1 - "The Origin of Species"

1890s in women's fashion - a primer
pictures and explanations of the clothing terms

The Tree of Life: A Book Depicting the Life of Charles Darwin
by Peter Sís

it would be nice to also have a copy of The Origin of Species

Chapter 2 - "The Measure of the Morning"

Karl, Get Out of the Garden! Carolus Linnaeus and the Naming of Everything
by Anita Sanchez

Bird Egg Feather Nest
by MaryJo Koch
hummingbird nest illustration (actual size) in first section, "Bird"

Chapter 3 - "The Possum Wars"

Chapter 4 - "Viola"

Chapter 5 - "Distillations"

book box

How to turn an old book into a secret book box
I would love to do this with the kids!

kerosene lamp (show picture)

Chapter 6 - "Music Lessons"

listen to some rags by Scott Joplin
"The Entertainer" and "The Maple Leaf Rag"

gramophone (show picture)

buttonhook (show picture)

Chapter 7 - "Harry Gets a Girlfriend"

calling card (look at business card)

coming-out party

gig (show picture)

Chapter 8 - "Microscopy"

trilobite fossil

International Wildlife Encyclopedia, Third Edition
volume 5, pages 631-633, "Cuttlefish"

walking across the room with a book on your head

microscope (one with a mirror instead of a light)
slides, coverslips, pond water, sunshine

Chapter 9 - "Petey"

The Secret Life of the Woolly Bear Caterpillar
by Laurence Pringle

Chapter 10 - "Lula Stirs Up Trouble (But Doesn't Mean To)"

Chapter 11 - "Knitting Lessons"

a set of four or five double-pointed needles

A First Book of Knitting for Children
by Bonnie Gosse and Jill Allerton
photograph on page 150

oilskin (look at ocean bottle)

short hoe (show picture)

Chapter 12 - "A Scientific Study"

sun parasol

the children want to know a lot more about cameras in 1899 and glass plates, magnesium flashes, and darkroom chemistry

Civil War Era Glass Plate Photography Demonstration - Rob Gibson
YouTube - C-SPAN
photograph indoors (18 second exposure)

Civil War Photography: Battlefield Live
YouTube - American Battlefield Trust
photograph outdoors (2 second exposure)
this video is excellent

The Chemistry of Light 14 - Magnesium Flash Powder
YouTube - Royal Society of Chemistry
how bright was the magnesium flash?

Taking photos the old-school way | Wet plate photography
Youtube - The Straits Times
a modern photographer offering people an old-fashioned experience

Photography: Wet Collodion Negative Process
YouTube - Royal Collection Trust
more specifics on the chemicals and chemical reations used (making a glass plate negative)

Photography: Salted Paper Print Process
YouTube - Royal Collection Trust
more specific on the chemicals and chemical reactions used (making a paper print)

No Old Maps Actually Say 'Here Be Dragons' - But an ancient globe does.
The Atlantic - Dec 12, 2013

desk blotter

Chapter 13 - "A Scientific Correspondence"

SWI brainstorm of words in the < work > family

put word sums in Mini Matrix-Maker

Chapter 14 - "The Short Hoe"

A Beetle Is Shy
by Dianna Hutts Aston
boll weevil illustration

cotton boll

Chapter 15 - "A Sea of Cotton"

Chapter 16 - "The Telephone Comes"

Chapter 17 - "Home Economies"

Chapter 18 - "Cooking Lessons"

Chapter 19 - "A Distillery Success of Sorts"

Chapter 20 - "The Big Birthday"

Chapter 21 - "The Reproductive Imperative"

Chapter 22 - "Thanksgiving"

Chapter 23 - "The Fentress Fair"

Chapter 24 - "Harry Woos Again"

Chapter 25 - "Christmas Eve"

Chapter 26 - "Word Comes"

Chapter 27 - "New Year's Eve"

Chapter 28 - "1900"

For more on understanding life at the turn of the last century, I also really like The American Girls Handy Book: How to Amuse Yourself and Others and The American Boys Handy Book: What to Do and How to Do It.

It must have been very exciting for Jacqueline Kelly to receive a Newbery Honor for her first novel! There's a sequel -- The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate -- but I have not yet read it. If you have, let me know what you think.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Art History 2024-2025

I can't believe it's almost time for the Donut Art Show! We have had a blast learning about eight artists this school year (Art History 2023-2024) and I'm ready to pick next year's list. They are in order of the year they were born.

Sep Sonia Delaunay
1885 - 1979

Oct Marc Chagall
1887 - 1985

Nov Joseph Cornell
1903 - 1972

Mr. Cornell's Dream Boxes
by Jeanette Winter

The Good-Night Blessing Book by Nancy Willard

Snapshots from the Wedding by Gary Soto

These Shadow Boxes Are Striking. The Story of Their Origin Is, Too.
The New York Times - Jan 24, 2018

Dec Arshile Gorky
1904 - 1948

Jan Romare Bearden
1911 - 1988

Feb Tove Jansson
1914 - 2001

Mar Leonora Carrington
1917 - 2011

Apr Friedensreich Hundertwasser
1928 - 2000

May Banksy
1974? -

Banksy Grafittied Walls and Wasn't Sorry
by Fausto Gilberti

I will use resources from Lotus at Art History Kids, as well as picture books that I have on hand. I'm excited about next year!

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Art History - Marianthe Loucataris

In my Art History 2023-2024 blog post, I decided May would be Marianthe Loucataris. Here are some resources and my planning notes:

Marianthe Loucataris
1970 -

also

If Water Could Speak: Virtual Artist in Residence with Marianthe Loucataris
YouTube video

https://www.when-water-speaks.com

https://www.northmidlands.org.au/ebb-and-flow

https://mariantheloucataris.com

https://www.what-are-we.com/situate-my-self.html

https://www.improvising-with-the-other-than-human.com/troll-talk.html

---

week of May 6

Thu

introduce Marianthe Loucataris

explain her biography and choice to identify herself as a cripple

do Breath Art Patterns activity
colored pencils, paper, audio clip of gentle rain

Sat

read interview with Marianthe Loucataris

consider how we can create a piece of art inspired by her for our Donut Art Show

Donut Art Show planning

welcome sign on back door, list of artists on chalkboard, Donut Art Show book on small table

Piet Mondrian - laundry room, card table over rabbit cage, display on wall

Louise Bourgeois - library

Corita Kent - entryway - tree on half wall, info on file cabinets

Yves Klein - living room - card table in front of cubbies, display his work on cubbies

Faith Ringgold - living room - both end tables, picture window, Harlem Renaissance book display on long sofa

Zaha Hadid - living room - coffee table

Andy Goldsworthy - dining room - ice ring on buffet, display of his work on chalkboard

Marianthe Loucataris - dining room table, audio equipment setup on corner desk

reception in kitchen!

week of May 13

week of May 20

week of May 27

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Fun with Educational Games

We have a massive collection of educational board games, and they are perfect for when a child finishes work and looks up at the clock and there's 5 or 10 or 15 minutes until the next thing (snack, lunch, end of day routines).

I always ask them to think about what would be a good use of their time (handwork, SSR, cursive practice, flashcards, playing an educational game, tidying their space, etc.)

This morning when I woke up, Bella Luna Toys had sent out a new promotional email and there I saw a butterfly wing memory game from Laurence King Publishing. And I thought, wait, Laurence King Publishing has a new memory game? So I went to Amazon and searched Laurence King and guess what happened? There are a LOT of items that I didn't know about!

Here's a list of the ones we have -- and I think they are fantastic -- and the ones that have newly joined my wishlist:

Memory Games

Gardener's Match: A Fruit and Vegetable Memory Game - purchased
(this morning... I couldn't resist)

Who Pooped? - animal/scat - own
(we also have the matching puzzle)

Match These Bones - dinosaur/skeleton - own

Match a Track - animal/track - own

Match a Pair of Birds - male/female - own

Match a Leaf - tree/leaf - own

Find My Behind: An Animal Memory Game - wishlist

Match a Track Near You - wishlist

Pick a Flower - flower/uses & meanings - wishlist

Butterfly Wings - top/underside - wishlist

Bingo

Endangered Animals - own

Australia's Deadly Animals - own

Dog - own

Bug - own

Monkeys and Other Primates - own

Ocean - own

Bird - own

Tree - wishlist

Playing Cards

Ocean - wishlist

Art History

The Marina Abramović Method: Instruction Cards to Reboot Your Life - wishlist

We have educational games all over the house (pro tip: a linen closet has nice deep shelves and is perfect to repurpose for board games)! There's a board game closet in the upstairs hallway with games that the children can pick from at any time. I also have games that I only pull out when they go with specific main lesson block topics. Math & Science games in the Math & Science room. Language Arts, History, and Geography games in the Library.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Ten Queens: Portraits of Women of Power

On my screen-free Fridays I like to shelve books and reorganize my library. Last week I redid 921 (biography) and put the books in categories instead of having names in alphabetical order (which jumbles people up significantly).

My categories are Age of Exploration, Music & Dance, Writers, Inventors, Mathematicians & Scientists, World Leaders, and Other Biographies.

While I was looking at each book to decide what that person was famous for, I came across a book which had been donated and which I had never read. It's Ten Queens: Portraits of Women of Power by Mildon Meltzer. Amazing!

For me, physically writing things down is how I remember them (I take copious notes during workshops and conferences), and so I immediately wanted to make a blog post listing these women. That way, when I go to teach about one of them, I'll remember that they are in this book!

Esther, 5th century BCE

Cleopatra, 69-30 BCE

Boudicca, circa 28-62 CE

Zenobia, 3rd century CE

Eleanor of Aquitaine, 1122-1204 CE

Isabel of Spain, 1451-1504 CE

Elizabeth I, 1533-1603 CE

Christina of Sweden, 1626-1689 CE

Maria Theresa, 1717-1780 CE

Catherine the Great, 1729-1796 CE

I have biographies of most of these women in other resources, which would present an interesting opportunity to compare and contrast.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!