Back to School already!? I guess they are planning ahead! Army Community Service is hosting a "Back to School" event on July 13th from 1:30-3:30. Free! Offers games and information from a variety of resource providers.
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We recently explored 3D shapes and shadows with Lil' Sis as part of her RightStart Mathematics Level A program. I wanted to share a quick glimpse into one of her lessons because it's an example of how this curriculum is hands-on and fun for my daughter. We did this lesson at night, after dinner (yay for homeschooling flexibility!) so that we could take advantage of it being darker and better for working with flashlights and shadows. She asked if she could stay up late in order to do more math... and we did! RightStart is completely comprehensive, in my opinion, as a math curriculum. It covers more than any other program we've tried so far, and does so very thoroughly. That said, it has also been a starting point for us to explore more about many of the math concepts presented. Somehow, we often find ourselves inspired to use what she's learned in many other creative ways beyond what is in the book. It's not that we need to do so, but that she wants to! She loves learning math, so we end up on little adventures and educational pretend play during or after a lesson. Sometimes it is simply more practice on a math concept, while other times it leads us into other subjects too! Let me just say that I don't consider myself to be a creative person... at least not more than average (and quite possibly less so). I don't plan ahead for these extra things in conjunction with a lesson. They just... happen. Easily. Often times, it's Lil' Sis that takes the lead. Other times, it's me, Big Sis, or in the case of the after-dinner math activity, even daddy! With the shapes lesson pictured here, we also explored and reviewed science, astronomy, and art as an easy, spontaneous extension of the lesson. How cool is that!? We started with a variety of activities using the 3D shape blocks. Noting things like roundness, edges, and grouping into categories. It is, by the way, really nice to have these in wooden form. It lends so much to the experience to have the weight and sturdiness. We then used the flashlight and studied the different possibilities of shadows that each shape made. Later, we took a moment to trace the shadows too. It was fun to watch Lil' Sis discover that the cone could have both a triangle and a circle shadow, while a cylinder made a circle and a rectangle. This discovery being made on her own is, I think, what will help her remember better and what makes this more fun than a lecture or video lesson about the topic. Lil' Sis made the observation that the sphere was like the moon. This is when daddy came over and spent some time showing both girls all about how the sun, moon, and earth interact with a nice astronomy lesson! ;-) After that, the girls wanted to see what type of pictures they could make using traced shadows of each shape, which allowed them to think even more about the traits and features of each one. They made a soda bottle and a farm house, adding details after using the shape-shadows as the outlines. Totally their idea, but I went with it, particularly because it tied in nicely with a recent art lesson we did about finding shapes in everyday objects.
Of course, the evening would not have been complete without adding in some tracing of the girls' profiles too! Lantern Floating Ceremony (Memorial Day - May 30th)A cultural experience and beautiful, memorable event for many. From the Facebook event page: "Every year on Memorial Day, thousands of people gather together at Magic Island at Ala Moana Beach Park to honor ancestors and loved ones who have passed away. More than 1,100 candle-lit lanterns are set afloat on the ocean, a traditional Buddhist rite originating in Japan. The ceremony also combines the local culture of hula with the Japanese Shomyo Choir and Taiko drums." https://www.facebook.com/events/193462797660619/ "Exploring Modular Origami" workshop (June 3rd)Check out this "Exploring Modular Origami" workshop, coming up on Friday June 3 from 10:30am-12pm! In Honolulu. Must pre-register. (See link below for details.) Cost: $20/person, $30/ for 2, if you sign up with a friend or family member. Adults accompanying children under the age of 8 can join the class for free so that they may learn the basic folds so that they can help their children at home. Open to all ages & no prior experience necessary, but the teacher strongly recommends that students be at least 5 years of age because it is a shared class environment and it is important that each folder can listen to and follow directions! https://cultivatingpossibilities.wordpress.com/2016/05/28/origami-workshop-at-moa-wellness/ FETCH Summer Program: Edible Garden Landscaping (5 weeks)The Energy House, UHM, is offering a 5-week workshop in edible "regions-of-the-world" garden design, art, construction and cooking, starting May 30th and ending July 1st. For young adults and teens, 13 years old and older. The program has a small fee: the full, 5-week program (9am-2pm each day, including full lunch) costs $200, or $8/day to cover food and materials. Attending on Mondays, only, would cost $40. . See the link below for more information and to download the flyer! . http://oahuhomeschoolmom.weebly.com/blog/fetch-summer-program-edible-garden-landscaping Seeds 4 TomorrowSeeds 4 Tomorrow is now accepting applications for the 2016 Summer Program for students in grades 7th-11th! They offer a hands-on educational summer program designed for Hawaii students with an interest in food production, conservation, science, engineering and more! Learn to be an "Agri-preneur" (agriculturalist + entrepreneur). This year's topics includes biofuels, coffee, and the wildly popular cacao--make your own chocolate from bean to bar. Students will meet friends from across the island and get real hands-on experience from experts in the field. Deadline to apply is June 27th. They are only taking 30 students this year so make sure you register as soon as possible if you are interested. Scholarships available. http://www.harc-hspa.com/seeds4tomorrow.html 2016 Ocean FestAnother fun and educational event coming up on Saturday, June 4th at Turtle Bay Resort! The 5th Annual World Ocean Day Event - Aloha na Makana 'Ike Kai (Knowing and Celebrating the Treasures of Our Ocean). 11am-4pm. See link for more info.
https://nsoec.wordpress.com/2016-ocean-fest-2/ Bishop Museum members, here's a fun, educational opportunity: Museum After Dark!
Explore all their galleries, have a picnic or purchase food from food trucks, and enjoy some time under the stars at the museum with your family. Plus, get a special preview of the Planet Shark exhibit, see the new planetarium exhibit, see a kid-friendly movie on the lawn, and more! RSVP by Wednesday, June 8th, by calling 808-847-8380 or email [email protected]. The Energy House, UHM, is offering a 5-week workshop in edible "regions-of-the-world" garden design, art, construction and cooking, starting May 30th and ending July 1st. For young adults and teens, 13 years old and older. The program has a small fee: the full, 5-week program (9am-2pm each day, including full lunch) costs $200, or $8/day to cover food and materials. Attending on Mondays, only, would cost $40. They'll be designing, building, decorating and cooking from one edible garden each week. Each week we focus on a different region of the world. They'd to have homeschoolers in our program, as they've been delighted with their self-direction and motivation skills. Participants can either attend every work day from 9-2:00, OR, community members can attend only the Monday "Design and Planning sessions" (9-2:00 each week). The Monday sessions include the following lectures/hands-on workshops related to that week's task of designing and building a region of the world garden. [See the attached, downloadable flyer for details.] Participants who attend the entire program will then work in teams for the remainder of the week (9a.m.-2p.m.) to design, build, decorate and eat from that region-of-the-world garden. They will learn the hands-on skills needed to produce such gardens, art products and meals, on their own. A group-produced meal is included each day. They will concentrate on these 5 regions of the world: South East Asia (week 1) Pacific Islands (week 2) India (week 3) West Africa (week 4) South America (week 5) Interested applicants can call (808) 956-2248 for further information. See the attached, downloadable flyer below. Further information is on their website: efetch.org
Note: This is NOT a sponsored post or ad. I am not affiliated or associated with this program. Please contact them directly with any questions. Farrington High School in Honolulu is offering a Summer Orchestra program! It is not limited to FHS students, so kids from other schools and homeschoolers may also sign up. Who: Students in Grades 9-12 & 1-8 for the 2016-17 School Year What: Beginning Orchestra; Learn to play a string instrument—Violin, Viola, Cello, or Bass; Instruments provided; No experience needed. When: June 6-July 14, 2016; Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday, Thursdays Where: Farrington High School Orchestra Room Why: Play for enjoyment; Develop music skills, enjoy music, enjoy more of life; Meet new friends; Play lots of different kinds of music; Play in an Orchestra. Requirements: $125 Registration Fee [Cash Only]; Purchase of the Orchestra Uniform ($22-$75); Regular Attendance. Free Lunch Included. Cash payments only. Registration deadline May 25. They will accept walk-ins on the first day of class, however. Please see/download the file below (titled "fhs_summer_school_flyer") for information and necessary documents, including a registration form.
Note: This is NOT a sponsored post or ad. I am not affiliated or associated with this program. Please contact them directly with any questions. Here's a nice chance for military and their dependents to enjoy Sea Life Park admission free of charge! (NOTE: I am not affiliated or associated with Sea Life Park, the USO, or this event in any way. Please contact them directly with any questions.) (The following is from Tenessa at Ace International Hawaii.) "Is your family unable to travel this summer due to work and commitments at home on Oahu, but you still want to educate your keiki about the fascinating cultures around the world? Then you might be the perfect candidate to join the hosting fun this summer for three weeks on Oahu: July 30- August 20, 2016! Experience another part of the world right from the comfort of your own home. Invite a student from France ages 13-17 into your home and have fun connecting and learning about where your student is from. Hosting is a great way for your family to experience and discover another culture. Each Host Family will receive $400 for hosting 1 student or $700 for hosting two students to help towards the cost of food and gas. Our team takes students on 8 activities during their stay and we have a fun welcome and farewell party planned for all families and students involved. This is a great way to get involved in your community locally and internationally. Contact me about becoming a Host Family Today 808-740-1990 [email protected] Check out our website at www.AceInternationalHawaii.com for full details! Facebook Event Link:https://www.facebook.com/events/1566901713638292/ " NOTE: I (the author of this blog post) am not associated of affiliated in any way with this opportunity or Ace International Hawaii. I'm simply passing along this information, in case it is of interest to my readers. Please be sure to do your own due diligence and research prior to getting involved and be sure to contact the organization directly with any questions.
If you've hosted an exchange student in the past with this organization, I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments below! Feel free to share!
About ARTistic Pursuits Inc. & Early Elementary K-3 Book One
ARTistic Pursuits Inc. is a company that has often been recommended to us by other families. They offer homeschool art programs for preschool through high school, through a variety of general art books that guide students in using various art mediums, as well as texts that focus on sculpture technique too! The projects throughout the books provide the child with a chance to learn about art (history, appreciation, famous examples, etc.), increase their observational skills and art awareness, be exposed to art technique and terminology, and then use what they've learned to express themselves by creating their own projects and masterpieces.
The book that we've been using so far, Early Elementary K-3 Book One, includes projects involving drawing, painting, paper art, and clay. The book is divided into three primary sections: What Artists Do, What Artists See, and Where We Find Art, wherein they expose a student to how artists approach art and some types of subjects they might use, teaching elements of art and basic technique, giving them experience in handling different art materials, and looking to art from ancient times through the Middle Ages as inspiration for the included projects, while giving the student a chance to use different art media.
The lessons themselves are short and simple. They usually start with a brief discussion of the topic, idea, or technique to be learned - or in the case of the art history, then some quick historical points of interest. Then there is a real life, professional, or famous example of art, accompanied by a few questions to help guide the child's attention to the aspect being taught and helping them increase their observation and thinking skills. They usually also include a picture of another child's art, which I think brings the project to a realistic level for kids, making it something achievable and giving more examples to get inspiration from. Finally, the project is clearly presented using directions and sometimes reminders of what to focus on. Each project page has a little box near the top that lists all the necessary materials for the lesson, but there is also a page near the beginning of the book that lists all art supplies and additional items needed for the entire course. There was also a lesson midway through the book in which the child prepares to have an art show and a page explaining how to plan an opening art show (as simple or elaborate as desired) and "frame" their artwork they've been creating so far (using construction paper mattes, for example). Our Experience
ARTistic Pursuits Inc. actually made homeschool art instruction achievable for my family and me. It is simple and easy to incorporate the lessons into our day, but not boring. It has us doing things we otherwise probably wouldn't have done, but nothing I feel is too overwhelming to make time for. It has variety yet structure, providing clear guidance and instruction but still always seems open-ended enough that my kids felt the freedom to be creative and never that they are just replicating someone else's design. The lessons are short enough that I can fit them into our weekly schedule and feel good that I am giving my kids an art experience. Art now has the place in our homeschool life that we wanted it to have, and that it deserves! And I must say I'm thrilled this doesn't cost nearly as much as recurring art classes did, yet we are getting many of the same benefits!
My kids, ages 6 & 8, are loving this program, look forward to it, and ask to do another art lesson (or two, or three...) everyday. I think the lessons are pretty basic for my 3rd (soon-to-be-4th) grader - Big Sis - and she could use even more advanced instruction in art technique, but I've had both girls working together through this book and am glad that Big Sis is getting the refresher and reinforcing foundational ideas and skills. I imagine that she will continue to benefit as we move into the other available ARTistic Pursuits books and levels, where I hope she will be more challenged. Until then, she is having a lot of fun and being quite creative... both of which are precious benefits that we cherish in our homeschooling.
Both girls have enjoyed the variety of art projects included in the book and they've been spending a lot of time immersed in creative projects. This is especially easy for us to do now that we've finished some other subjects for their current grade level and are preparing to move on to the next grade soon. I think ARTistic Pursuits Inc. would be a fun summer subject, in addition to incorporating it year round!
One paper crafting project they did had a goal of identifying shapes in what they observe around them. They used construction paper, cut out a background, then added large shapes, smaller ones, and then drew on a few little details. Both girls decided to represent a sun setting behind a mountain. Big Sis showed the different colors of the sunset, a hut, and ducks in a pond, while Lil sis has a tree, houses, and a bird in the sky. Another project they enjoyed was working with clay. They created a koala, and monkey, a pot with an engraving along the outside, a palm tree, and more. This project took a few days because they first formed the clay and then allowed it to dry before painting it. They learned a lot about how clay was used in the past and the different ways they could use it to create art. This was one of their favorite lessons in the book. Their ultimate favorite art medium to use thus far has been oil pastels. Big Sis has had limited exposure to them in the past, but it was a new adventure for Lil' Sis (who loved their bold, bright colors). Perhaps because we live in Hawai'i, the lesson that involved choosing an underwater subject or sea creature particularly caught their attention and interest. We have several books about the ocean and marine life. Upon hearing the lesson, they ran over to the bookshelf and began digging through the books to find inspiration for this fun project. Added bonus: during all this self-guided research, they learned even more about a variety of animals, plants, and coral in the sea! One of the great things about ARTistic Pursuits Inc., for our family, has been that it has drawn them into seeing even more beauty in the world around them and learning more about about the subject of their artistic designs. (Such as was the case with another lesson that involved drawing a picture where people work, with suggestions to visit the site of a community worker... cue the fire station field trip!)
It has been said before that the best homeschool curriculum is the one you will use (and the child enjoys, of course). I've found this to be particularly true with subjects like art, music, or many electives. If it is too hard to figure out, not a good fit for a child's learning style, is too complicated or has too many parts, requires excessive prep, or involves massive amounts of time - especially the parent's time, it might end up only being partly used or even just sitting on a shelf collecting dust. On the other hand, if a program is easy to use and enjoyable for both parent and child, it is more likely you'll stick with it and get the full benefit it was designed to provide. This was the case for us with ARTistic Pursuits Inc.
Final Thoughts
Both girls have shown improvements in how they think about art and gained experience with different media along the way. Based on our use of this product so far, I would recommend the ARTistic Pursuits Inc. books to others (in fact, I just did so today when chatting with a friend). If you're looking for complex and detailed instruction, the Early Elementary K-3 Book One might not be suitable. But if you have a young child that hasn't had a lot of formal art education and you're looking for an introduction to art and gentle guided instructional, yet creative program, then this could be a great option!
If you'd like to see what other families think about ARTistic Pursuits Inc., Early Elementary K-3 Book One OR the other levels/books available (including the upper grades and sculpture too!), simply click on the banner below to find more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew! Or you can visit them at their website and on Facebook to find out more about the company and what they have to offer!
There is a league for high school boys to continue playing baseball at the high school level. It is American Legion Baseball. You can get more info at legion.org/baseball . They are starting their season already! They have 19 and under, 17 and under, and 15 and under divisions. If you are interested in playing, contact them directly to inquire.
This is a good heads up for the future; your kiddo can continue to play baseball into high school. Yay! You can also get more information, closer to home, at americanlegionhawaii.org. |
AuthorI'm a homeschooling mom of three, enjoying our time in Hawaii and hoping to share some of that experience with you, including ideas, reviews, resources, and information. Archives
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