April 30, 2009
Homeschool
Seeker
Volume #004
April 2009
In
this issue
- Introduction
- Sponsor ad
- Website updates
- Mini Lapbook
- Tip of the month
- Sponsor ad
- Homeschool Picture of the month
- Homeschool Question/Answer
- Wishlist
- Closing Comments
Introduction
Welcome to the
current issue of
The Homeschool Seeker.
I’d like to extend a welcome to all new subscribers.
Thanks for joining.
In this edition I will be discussing writing topics but
for the mini lapbook this month my daughter suggested
creating an art presentation. I’m not sure
how it will turn out but I’ll take the pictures and share
them with you.
I hope you enjoy this month's newsletter.
JulieD
Sponsor Ad
Website
Updates
There are several updates I want to let you know about.
First, I just added a new member to our Homeschool Place section
and I
want to encourage you to consider building a Homeschool place.
There are so many ways it can be used. One way is to use it for
developing writing skills or just for basic writing practice.
There is no pressure to submit but it is a great place to
share about your experiences homeschooling.
Homeschooling is such a great and positive thing, so
I encourage you to share that with the world via a Homeschool
Place. It is easy to do.
To check it out visit My Homeschool Place
My Homeschool Place
Also, I have kept the
Homeschool Journal
section updated.
We only have 20 days left for this school year.
Wow, that went fast!
Other additions to the site include sections for quick
review
of Ebay auctions for used Abeka books
at the
Used Homeschool Books
section.
And I am excited to announce we have a new Resources 4
Homeschoolers logo.
I would love to hear from you about anything you would
like to see added to the site
or if you have questions.
I will do my best to help you out if I can.
Feature
Mini Lapbook
This month's
feature mini lapbook:Art Here's how my daughter and I created this mini lapbook.
1. Gather supplies
Supplies you will need for this mini lapbook:
• 3 brown paper lunch bag
• hole punch
• yarn or string or other material to finish construction of lapbook
• markers, coloring crayons, pencils, pens
Optional Supplies:
• Stencils
• Art supplies
• stickers
• glitter
• glue
• scissors
2. Once you have all your supplies, fold the 3 paper
bags in 1/2 and hole punch the edges.
For more pictures on how this will look and basic
assembly you can visit
Mini Lapbooks
3. Begin by decorating cover.
Give the mini lapbook a title.
My daughter labeled hers “ART”
4. Choose concepts: This time I let her come up with some ideas.
She really wanted to do a “step-by-step” drawing of a dragon.
I wanted a little more substance. So we compromised with
the following ideas and concepts.
5. Delegate pages for each concept
Cover
Page 1 and 2: Supplies
Page 3 and 4: Composition
Page 5 and 6: Step by Step Drawing a Dragon
Page 7 and 8: Step by Step Drawing a Dragon
Page 9 and 10: Finishing Touches
Back Cover: Basic Drawing Shapes
6. Label pages
In reality, it is not really necessary to label every page.
If you want to label every page go right ahead and do so
If you don’t
want to label every page-don’t.
7. Add information
Other ideas: My daughter’s idea to create an art mini
lapbook took me by surprise.
Most of the mini lapbooks I think to create are meant to
focus on some particular set of facts or concepts I
want my children to study or know.
Her idea was to create a step by step, how to draw picture
but I wanted her to think about it and we came up with
the other ideas mentioned below.
Other ideas an Art mini lapbook could contain, include an artist overview
with a biography page, a sample image of artist’s work or a
picture of the artist and an attempt to copy the artist’s style
or technique page. Other arts such as modeling, paper crafts, painting,
needleworks etc. could containpages including supplies needed,
examples of finished products, technique explanations or could
even use the supplies from one type of art to demonstrate another.
An example of this would be to
use yarn from a knitting mini book to create
a picture using yarn and other crafting supplies.
8. Review information
For the art mini lapbook we created-review is probably
not the right word.
Instead of reviewing the pages I might consider having her create
an art challenge piece using 4 of the supplies she listed or
have her practice different types of shading or painting.
9. Add finishing details and final assembly
Since this is an art mini lapbook, I would want her
to really try and stretch her creativity in this step.
I might challenge her to think of 3 different ways of putting
this book together. So instead of using yarn to tie it together
we might end up with???
Other ideas:
Other ideas an Art mini lapbook could contain, include an artist overview
with a biography page, a sample image of artist’s work or a
picture of the artist and an attempt to copy the artist’s style
or technique page. Other arts such as modeling, paper crafts,
painting, needleworks etc. could containpages including supplies needed,
examples of finished products, technique explanations or could
even use the supplies from one type of art to demonstrate
another.
An example of this would be to use yarn from a knitting
mini book to create a picture using yarn
and other crafting supplies.
8. Review information
For the art mini lapbook we created-review is probably not the right word.
Instead of reviewing the pages I might consider having her create
an art challenge piece using 4 of the supplies she listed or
have her practice different types of shading or painting.
9. Add finishing details and final assembly
Since this is an art mini lapbook, I would want her
to really try and stretch her creativity in this step
.
I might challenge her to think of 3 different ways of putting
this book together. So instead of using yarn to tie it together
we might end up with???
Tip of
the Month
Writing Tip of the
Month: The "Take Away"
I had the wonderful opportunity to be able to watch a movie with our
Youth Group. The movie was 7 Pounds starring Will Smith. I’ll try
not to discuss the movie but what came out of that movie was
an idea about improving writing. It is what I call the “Take away”.
If when you are evaluating your child’s writing pieces, you find they seem
to lack substance, you might gently ask them about what
they wanted their reader’s to discover from their writing.
Ask them to evaluate how effectively they think they
conveyed their “take away” message.
You can read more about this on the Homeschool Journal 2 page
Just a short note from me about SBI-this is what I use to build
my website for homeschoolers. SBI helps you create more than
just a website. They offer tools and keep giving you
more with advice and helpful information and products
(often included in price.) Now for those who are thinking that
this is too much to take on or overwhelming they now offer
E-learning classes for SBI.
Sponsor ad
*************
*************
Homeschool
Picture of the Month
Bee on a Weigela taken by a Laudo Homeschool Student
- J. Durr
Super Pic., J. Durr!
Note: J. Durr also contributed the top newsletter picture
of a blooming Dogwood tree near a pond. Thanks J. Durr!
This image has so much homeschool potential…where to begin.
Science: Name that bee, What is that flower?
Scientific names please.
Photography/Art: Nice composition and what an accomplishment
–catching a snapshot of a bee
History: Research the importance of bees in different cultures
Computer Skills: Crop and enhance the photo
Writing: What beautiful poetry can be written about a bee on a
Weigela?
I love the way that sounds surely there is a poem or a story
waiting to be told about a bee and a flower.
If you would like to send a picture to be considered
for use in The Homeschool Seeker there are several
places on the website where you can submit the image.
However, the best place to submit an image for the newsletter would be at
Kid's Create
Just please add title HOMESCHOOL SEEKER PICTURE so
that I know it is not a Kid's creation submission.
Thanks.
Homeschool
Question/Answer
Question:Are there any simple ways to help improve my child’s writing?
br>
Answer:I don’t know about simple but perhaps I can give you some
things to try.
One thing that always seems to be a problem when writing
is the organization of ideas into a logical sequence.
Often students struggle with just figuring out what to write, grammar,
spelling and when they finally get the “required” amount
written they lose momentum.
The best way I have found to minimize organization problems in
writing
is to have the student create an outline.
A very basic outline is acceptable
but it should include at least 3 words per sentence.
Another problem which is helped by using an outline technique is
the paragraph development. In every paragraph, there is a topic
sentence and a concluding or transition sentence. In between
those two sentences are the supporting sentences.
Homeschool
Wishlist
I really want
to make this a newsletter
you enjoy reading. So if you have ideas,
comments
or suggestions please visit
Closing
Comments
I hope you
enjoyed this issue of
The Homeschool Seeker.
Until next time, happy
homeschooling!
JulieD
April 2009
- Introduction
- Sponsor ad
- Website updates
- Mini Lapbook
- Tip of the month
- Sponsor ad
- Homeschool Picture of the month
- Homeschool Question/Answer
- Wishlist
- Closing Comments
Introduction
The Homeschool Seeker.
I’d like to extend a welcome to all new subscribers.
Thanks for joining.
In this edition I will be discussing writing topics but
for the mini lapbook this month my daughter suggested
creating an art presentation. I’m not sure
how it will turn out but I’ll take the pictures and share
them with you.
I hope you enjoy this month's newsletter.
JulieD
Sponsor Ad
Website Updates
First, I just added a new member to our Homeschool Place section
and I want to encourage you to consider building a Homeschool place.
There are so many ways it can be used. One way is to use it for
developing writing skills or just for basic writing practice.
There is no pressure to submit but it is a great place to
share about your experiences homeschooling.
Homeschooling is such a great and positive thing, so
I encourage you to share that with the world via a Homeschool
Place. It is easy to do.
To check it out visit My Homeschool Place
My Homeschool Place
Also, I have kept the
Homeschool Journal
section updated.
We only have 20 days left for this school year.
Wow, that went fast!
Other additions to the site include sections for quick
review
of Ebay auctions for used Abeka books
at the
Used Homeschool Books
section.
And I am excited to announce we have a new Resources 4
Homeschoolers logo.
like to see added to the site
or if you have questions.
I will do my best to help you out if I can.
Feature Mini Lapbook
Here's how my daughter and I created this mini lapbook.
1. Gather supplies
Supplies you will need for this mini lapbook:
• 3 brown paper lunch bag
• hole punch
• yarn or string or other material to finish construction of lapbook
• markers, coloring crayons, pencils, pens
Optional Supplies:
• Stencils
• Art supplies
• stickers
• glitter
• glue
• scissors
2. Once you have all your supplies, fold the 3 paper
bags in 1/2 and hole punch the edges.
For more pictures on how this will look and basic
assembly you can visit
Mini Lapbooks
3. Begin by decorating cover.
Give the mini lapbook a title.
My daughter labeled hers “ART”
She really wanted to do a “step-by-step” drawing of a dragon.
I wanted a little more substance. So we compromised with
the following ideas and concepts.
5. Delegate pages for each concept
Cover
Page 1 and 2: Supplies
6. Label pages
In reality, it is not really necessary to label every page.
If you want to label every page go right ahead and do so
If you don’t
want to label every page-don’t.
7. Add information
Other ideas: My daughter’s idea to create an art mini
lapbook took me by surprise.
Most of the mini lapbooks I think to create are meant to
focus on some particular set of facts or concepts I
want my children to study or know.
Her idea was to create a step by step, how to draw picture
but I wanted her to think about it and we came up with
the other ideas mentioned below.
Other ideas an Art mini lapbook could contain, include an artist overview
with a biography page, a sample image of artist’s work or a
picture of the artist and an attempt to copy the artist’s style
or technique page. Other arts such as modeling, paper crafts, painting,
needleworks etc. could containpages including supplies needed,
examples of finished products, technique explanations or could
even use the supplies from one type of art to demonstrate another.
An example of this would be to
use yarn from a knitting mini book to create
a picture using yarn and other crafting supplies.
8. Review information
For the art mini lapbook we created-review is probably
not the right word.
Instead of reviewing the pages I might consider having her create
an art challenge piece using 4 of the supplies she listed or
have her practice different types of shading or painting.
9. Add finishing details and final assembly
Since this is an art mini lapbook, I would want her
to really try and stretch her creativity in this step.
I might challenge her to think of 3 different ways of putting
this book together. So instead of using yarn to tie it together
we might end up with???
Other ideas:
Other ideas an Art mini lapbook could contain, include an artist overview
with a biography page, a sample image of artist’s work or a
picture of the artist and an attempt to copy the artist’s style
or technique page. Other arts such as modeling, paper crafts,
painting, needleworks etc. could containpages including supplies needed,
examples of finished products, technique explanations or could
even use the supplies from one type of art to demonstrate
another.
An example of this would be to use yarn from a knitting
mini book to create a picture using yarn
and other crafting supplies.
8. Review information
For the art mini lapbook we created-review is probably not the right word.
Instead of reviewing the pages I might consider having her create
an art challenge piece using 4 of the supplies she listed or
have her practice different types of shading or painting.
9. Add finishing details and final assembly
Since this is an art mini lapbook, I would want her
to really try and stretch her creativity in this step
.
I might challenge her to think of 3 different ways of putting
this book together. So instead of using yarn to tie it together
we might end up with???
Tip of the Month
I had the wonderful opportunity to be able to watch a movie with our
Youth Group. The movie was 7 Pounds starring Will Smith. I’ll try
not to discuss the movie but what came out of that movie was
an idea about improving writing. It is what I call the “Take away”.
If when you are evaluating your child’s writing pieces, you find they seem
to lack substance, you might gently ask them about what
they wanted their reader’s to discover from their writing.
Ask them to evaluate how effectively they think they
conveyed their “take away” message.
You can read more about this on the Homeschool Journal 2 page
Just a short note from me about SBI-this is what I use to build
my website for homeschoolers. SBI helps you create more than
just a website. They offer tools and keep giving you
more with advice and helpful information and products
(often included in price.) Now for those who are thinking that
this is too much to take on or overwhelming they now offer
E-learning classes for SBI.
Sponsor ad
*************
*************
Homeschool Picture of the Month
Bee on a Weigela taken by a Laudo Homeschool Student
- J. Durr
Super Pic., J. Durr!
Note: J. Durr also contributed the top newsletter picture
of a blooming Dogwood tree near a pond. Thanks J. Durr!
This image has so much homeschool potential…where to begin.
Science: Name that bee, What is that flower?
Scientific names please.
Photography/Art: Nice composition and what an accomplishment
–catching a snapshot of a bee
History: Research the importance of bees in different cultures
Computer Skills: Crop and enhance the photo
Writing: What beautiful poetry can be written about a bee on a
Weigela?
I love the way that sounds surely there is a poem or a story
waiting to be told about a bee and a flower.
If you would like to send a picture to be considered
for use in The Homeschool Seeker there are several
places on the website where you can submit the image.
However, the best place to submit an image for the newsletter would be at
Kid's Create
Just please add title HOMESCHOOL SEEKER PICTURE so
that I know it is not a Kid's creation submission.
Thanks.
Homeschool Question/Answer
br>
Answer:I don’t know about simple but perhaps I can give you some
things to try.
One thing that always seems to be a problem when writing
is the organization of ideas into a logical sequence.
Often students struggle with just figuring out what to write, grammar,
spelling and when they finally get the “required” amount
written they lose momentum.
The best way I have found to minimize organization problems in
writing
is to have the student create an outline.
A very basic outline is acceptable
but it should include at least 3 words per sentence.
Another problem which is helped by using an outline technique is
the paragraph development. In every paragraph, there is a topic
sentence and a concluding or transition sentence. In between
those two sentences are the supporting sentences.
Homeschool Wishlist
you enjoy reading. So if you have ideas, comments
or suggestions please visit
Closing Comments
The Homeschool Seeker.
Until next time, happy homeschooling!
JulieD