Make Your Own Family Chalice

Recently my congregation held a family event, a soup, salad and bread dinner that focused on the history of the chalice, and the symbolism
of the chalice.

If you visit the UUA website, and type in chalice history, you will find several good articles.

After you have shared the story and history with your family, create your own chalice by turning a clay pot upside down, and putting the
saucer on top. Some glitter glue and paint and you will have a beautiful family center piece for your table.

Back Again

After a very long break, I am back to blogging. What has kept me busy? Well, besides being active with the kids, I have been very involved with my church.

We are continuing to incorporate our religion in our daily lives through discussions, readings, and activities. Our church is hosting a Sources Supper, which will focus on the Chalice (the actual Sources Supper is geared for older children, and will take place later in the spring).
Each family will create their own chalice to take home. We also purchased the book Chalice, from the UUA bookstore.

Health, Safety, and Teaching Required Subjects

In NY State, we are required, as homeschoolers to teach health, safety, and the typical reading, writing, math, science, social studies. So far, I have found fitting the basics in, not only to be easy, but fun but health and safety on the other hand- well, lets just say, I have a love/dislike relationship with it.

Sure, I believe that we should be teaching our children about health and safety. In fact, I find it very important. My beef seems to be about finding good, factual information on drugs/alochol and sexuality. Thankfully, the UUA has a great program for the latter, and we will begin to use it this spring. (Our Whole Lives, OWL)

For the time being, I am focusing on germs, illness and body functions. My family is rather fond of The Magic School Bus series, so we will use it as a jumping off point to study about germs. I also found a few PBS resources useful, as well as a Dover publication.

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources/7766/preview/

http://yeeshallknow.com/science/MSB-GiantGerm.pdf

I found a lapbook, not sure how helpful it will be, as I only scrolled through it.

Explorers: A UU Perspecitve

As a UU family, we approach subjects such as the exploration of North America by Lewis and Clarke, tentatively. We try to see what truth we can find, we try to see both sides of the story, we try to see the bad and the good.

It gets frustrating seeing the glossed over accounts of history being retold, when there is more than one truth to be told.

As we move forward, what account of history will our current events shape?

Taking Time Off: Do You Follow the Public School Calendar?

Many of our local schools took time off in addition to Thursday and Friday this week and so did this family. Often times, when schools are off, we are in session. Homeschooling (yes, I prefer that spelling)offers us the opportunity to take time off when it makes sense for our family, which usually doesn't involve the major holidays but this Thanksgiving, I noticed that the kids were a little run down, so it seemed to make sense to take a few days off.

Was that a run on sentence?

I find that when I listen to the kids and follow their lead, we all tend to feel better, have less stress and less arguments. Of course, as a family of five, sometimes it isn't possible to go with what one child needs, when the other two need something else but taking mental health days, time to spend with family, or just a day to ourselves, really does make for a happier family.

Right now, on our day off, the kids are watching tv, browsing magazines, and eating breakfast. Later in the day they will help me start the dough for our Thanksgiving rolls. Sure, chores will still need to be done, and we need to pick up groceries, but we will take time to just relax.

Happy Thanksgiving

Building Community- Literally

Our blocks area took a mini-vacation back in the summer and then we got very involved in magnets, and science experiments but they have been missed, so out they come again.

The block area is a key part of children's developing sense of size, weight, space, structure, form, architecture, and exploration.

Blocks of varying sizes, shapes, and texture add to the child's building experience. We will add sticks to our block area.

I also plan to add letter/word blocks in the coming weeks.

If you put your blocks away to make room for other areas/play, consider bringing them back out. Your children will create, build and play all day.

New Ideas for UU families

Are you looking for new ideas and rituals for your homeschooling day? The UUA has printable materials on their website. UUA can be found with the link provided. From their, you can choose from sections, such as family, or meditations or various other links.

I was thrilled to find meditations and reflections that we can use as a blessing. I tried to either find ones that fit our current theme or the current season. Tonight, when we light our chalice, we will say our monthly blessing.

I also printed out the inserts from the UU magazine and added them to my planner by season.

As a UU family, you may feel like their aren't guidelines or resources available, but there really are so many from the UUA.

Check it out!

Being of Service

On Wednesday my girls helped make a pot of tater soup for the Occupy folks. We talked about the idea behind Occupy and why we were helping them. Then on Thursday we began working on our Family Fun basket for the UUCNC Arabian Nights Goods and Services auction.
We talked about how we can be of service to others, and help our community. Our next goal will be to collect goods for the local food pantry and Toys for Tots.

The girls also trick or treated for UNICEF.

This is how we create a Caring and Compassionate Home and Commuity.

Organization: Lesson Plan Ideas by Topic

This summer I pulled out the resources the girls had chosen to research this school year and organized them by topic into binders. This was my attempt at getting better organized and it has worked for the most part.

Here is the process:
Using web and book resources, I looked up the topics and made copies of the materials that I thought would be interesting.

I then put them in plastic sleeves and placed them in a binder.

I then picked up 12 baskets that I used to organize resources like books, toys, and related materials and labeled the baskets by topic.

...
If you have read this blog over the last year, you know that I prefer a Montessori/emergent curriculum/play based approach to learning, so it may seem odd that I have all these materials organized by topic. I agree, at first it felt odd, but after working with this approach for three months, I can honestly say, it is still based in the above while keeping Mommy sane. We still pull materials as the girls ask questions, but having some POSSIBLE topics in the wings, saves us lots of time.

I know I have mentioned this before, but it is worth repeating, I also utilize the KWL approach with the girls in the spring so that I can begin searching for materials. I simply ask them what they would like to learn in the coming year.

K- what KNOW about a topic
W- what you WANT to learn about a topic
L- what have you Learned about a topic

Sometimes we use all the resources I have pulled, sometimes we only use a few and still other times, we discard a topic because it really isn't working for us at the moment. The great advantage to having the resources set aside, is that we can always come back to them later.

UU Parenting: Celebrating the Mysteries and Wonders of Life

As a parent who is a Unitarian Universalist, I celebrate the mysteries and wonders of life. One of the mysteries to me is the weather. Sure, science can explain it, but when snow shows up on your door step before October is even over, you must recognize the mystery of it.

I am sure you will shocked to know that we WNY/Buffalo people, did not receive snow this weekend but we did get a heavy frost.

As homeschoolers, I am sure you have stopped to gaze at the moon, not the size, color and shape but I imagine what really makes you smile is the shine. The moon shines. It glows, it fills me with awe.

This week we are learning about magnetism, and it has filled my children with many questions (many of which they don't need or want answered), and created in them the sense of wonder of the unknown- what don't we know about magnets.

Pinterest: Super fun waste of time!

Good Morning fellow bloggers! Several weeks ago I signed up for Pinterest, if you're not hip to this website, you really must give it a peek.

It is a site that works much like your home bulletin board, people post pictures, projects, ideas and information to the site and you can then create your own board dedicated to specific interests. It is a electronic bulletin board and oh so addictive.

If you are looking for new ideas for your curriculum, check it out!

If you want to see my boards, you can find me by typing aeress or if you happen to know my first and last name, I am searchable that way- I have a new board for UU activities and ideas, but don't have much pinned there as of yet.

History of the United States:Pennsylvania

We are very fortunate, my husband is attending a conference and we are tagging along, which will allow us to explore the state of Pennsylvania. Often times, when we study the United States, we are looking at the history that is often missing fhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifrom texts, books and websites. We then begin looking at the history that we are familiar with, and moving onto new information. We do our best to see the whole picture, looking at beliefs, facts, information and sources.

I often struggle with the notion of true/false, right/wrong, fact/fiction when it comes to history. As a UU, I feel our religion helps us to see history in a different context, we try to see the "whole picture" as I mentioned earlier. Though there are some drawbacks, it takes time and energy to search out this information, and while we may do our best to search for truth and meaning, we are human and we will make mistakes.

So, on our adventure, we will document the history of Pennsylvania from various view points. Our first stop is this website Explore Pa.com.

New Materials, Ideas that are Montessori Inspired

Recently, I took over as the RE Director for my church. My first goal was to create several Montessori themed trays for the children to use during the nursery time. This month, the children explored trays with seashells, animals, and other sea life related items.

Tray 1. Transfer of Materials using Tweezers
The children moved small shells from the ice cube trays onto a silver tray using tweezers.

Tray 2. Seashell Sorting by Size
Small, medium, and large sea shells were placed in a basket. A small laminated mat with the words, small, medium and large. The children could sort the shells by size.

Tray 3. Ocean Animals
Whales, sharks, sea stars and other ocean related animals for the children to explore.

Tray 4. Pictures of Ocean Animals with Labels
This tray had two baskets. One which held pictures of ocean animals and the other held the names of the animals. The children matched the names to the picture.

These ideas could be easily replicated at home. The animal cards can be purchased through science suppliers or Montessori suppliers. The seashells were picked up during a recent trip to the beach. If you don't have shells, ask friends and family if they have any they would be willing to share.

Not Back to School for this UU Family

While others kids are already back to school, and in our area, the kids return this week, we will celebrate Not Back To School by doing some winter baking. We have been back to school since July but our activity schedule doesn't kick in until next week, as the kids return to dance.

I ordered some new books for the kids about being UU. I realized I had very little in the way of resources to help with giving the kids the sense that our faith is what grounds us as family. The UUA had lots of inexpensive books and resources. Once the books are in my hands, I will give a brief description and what activities we will use to go along with the books.

I hope your summer was full of fun, sun and friends! I am ready for fall and all that comes with it- apples, falling leaves and cooler weather.

Blessed be!

Monday Morning Material: Painting with Corn Syrup and Other Fun Mediums

Good Monday! This week we will continue our learning with some fun paint mediums.

Corn Syrup painting is pretty easy, you just add a bit of food color to a few http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giftablespoons of corn syrup and paint on paper. I recommend velum or something like it for painting. Max paper might also work. The paint if dry with a shiny surface.

Natural Dye Painting-
The kids will experiment with natural dyes like beets, blueberry and either fruits/vegetables to make a base dye for painting. We will crush the fruit/herb/veggies and then add a little bit if water and cornstarch to make a finger paint.

Milk Paint

Glitter Paint- Mix glitter into paint and brush onto surface

Try something new with the kids and see how it works, all kids love to paint, so give it a try.

Exchange Everday Article

Every few days I take a moment to read through my Exchange Everyday email articles, and this one arrived today.

Your Image of the Child
July 21, 2011

Service is the rent that you pay for room on this earth.
-Shirley Chisholm
Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the Reggio Emilia approach, focused attention on the images teachers have of the children in their care. In his Exchange article, "Your Image of the Child: Where Teaching Begins," which is included in the new digital Exchange Essential, "Inspiring Practices - Part 1," he observed...

"There are hundreds of different images of the child. Each one of you has inside yourself an image of the child that directs you as you begin to relate to a child. This theory within you pushes you to behave in certain ways; it orients you as you talk to the child, listen to the child, observe the child. It is very difficult for you to act contrary to this internal image. For example, if your image is that boys and girls are very different from one anot her, you will behave differently in your interactions with each of them.

"The environment you construct around you and the children also reflects this image you have about the child. There's a difference between the environment that you are able to build based on a preconceived image of the child and the environment that you can build that is based on the child you see in front of you — the relationship you build with the child, the games you play. An environment that grows out of your relationship with the child is unique and fluid."

Electric Company

Hey Guys and Gals you might want to check out the new Electric Company if you are reviewing reading skills, my kids have really enjoyed the show. We also printed out the teacher manual, and worksheets for further review, it is a nice way to stay cool on this hot day.

If you have netflix instant it is available. You can also watch the show on pbs, if you get pbs.

Electric Company Episode Descriptions

If you google Electric Company PBS you will find the parent and teacher guides.

Montessori Ideas: Stamping Spelling

So, to get out of the house for a bit and also search for a few new books, I decided to take a trip to our local Salvation Army. I picked up books as usual, a basket for those books and after eye balling a box of alphabet stamps, I purchased them.
I can see the kids, who already love stamping, creating words with the stamps.

One of the activities we try and cover 2-3 days a week is spelling. We don't do the write it ten times way of spelling, mainly we practice spelling outloud, writing on a chalkboard and working through words they want to spell. Our new stamps will also allow us to create captions for comics, birthday and holidays cards, not to mention spelling fun.

I also found book ends with a cork board end- these will be used for our push pin spiral cards. These cards are like walking the spiral or a hand labrynth, the kids will push the pins into the cork, moving around the sprial. An added bonus- if they are stuck on learning a new word, have them repeat the word as they walk, or move around the spiral. You gotta love the brain-body connection.

Tuesday Food Day- Homemade Bread, Raspberries

We are getting back into the swing of things, and today, after lessons were done we made bread. It is baking as I type, and I can't wait to slice into it. Two loaves of white. Yummy!

In the next few weeks, we will learn about the science of food. It should be a tasty exploration.

Currently in our garden we are enjoying raspberries.

This is why I love homeschooling year round, we get to learn within the growing season. The girls have watched as the raspberries ripened, what "everbearing" fruit is, and why ants can be helpful to the berries.

What are learning about?

UU Parenting Resources

I came across some great resources at our church, one of which, was a list of suggested resources for families. I haven't personally read these, so please be aware that while these look promising, you may want to see if you can borrow any of these from your church or local library.

UU resource suggestions for families
The Intentional Family: How to Build Family Ties in Our Modern World
Doherty, Williamhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

The War Against Parents
Hewlett, Sylvia Ann and Cornel West

Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting
Kabat-Zinn, Myla and Jon

Small Wonder
Fitzpatrick, Jean Grasso

**The Parent Trilogy:Three Programs for UU Parents and Other Adults
Morriss, Makanah and David MacPherson, Roberta and Chris Nelson**
This may be very useful, and I plan to either borrow this or purchase it.