Feb. 23, 2009
Hank the Cowdog
Posted in Narrations
 Hank the CowdogNarration by Kelly, Age 8 There was a bloody crime. Hank went to investigate at the chicken house and there was a dead chicken on the floor with footprints in front of it. His dog partner said "Coyote tracks". But Hank said "They're Racoon tracks". Hank the cowdog a week later decided he didn't want to be a cowdog, but an outlaw. He met birds, turkeys and dead birds on the road. He had a rotten dead chicken head laying on his neck. The two birds asked "What is that laying down on your neck?" Hank replied, "It's a chicken head." He said, "You can have it if you bite the string off my neck." The bird's son was going to bite the string off but his dad said, "Step aside and await further orders." He bited his ear a bit and Hank said "Leave the ear where it is and bite off the string." |
Sep. 27, 2008
Alpaca Ranch
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Alpaca Ranch Today, we went to visit an alpaca ranch, Sweet Water Alpacas. This weekend is National Alpaca Open House. Alpacas are indigenous to the Andes as well. They are members of the camelid (camel) family, which also makes them related to llamas, which they resemble. They are somewhat skittish but also very curious. Alpacas like the company of one another and stay together. You must avoid sudden movements around them or they run off. However, being curious, they will come back up to you if you stay fairly still and move slowly. They have large eyes and are very cute. The females give birth to one baby called a cria, weighing between 12 and 20 pounds. Alpacas are raised for their fleece, which is very soft. There was a very nice lady, Joann, with a spinning wheel demonstrating how to card the fleece, spin it into yarn and weave it into fabric. Joanne told us that in olden times, everyone in the family helped with the carding, weaving, spinning and sewing. Typically, the small children did the carding, the father did the weaving on the loom, the mother sewed and the oldest unmarried daughter did the spinning; hence, the term spinster we still use today to refer to an unmarried woman. Alpaca fleece was available to feel. It is very soft an fluffy. There were also many items made of alpaca fleece: teddy bears, socks, sweaters, purses, and scarves. Thanks to Cecelia for the tour! Here are some photos:  Kierstyn, Connor, and Colin with Andrew  Some Alpacas (females and babies)  Rolling in the Dirt. Once one starts, the others follow!  Colin at the spinning wheel  Joanne showing us how to card the fleece  Joanne spinning the carded fleece into yarn, with the loom in the background  A view from Sweet Water Alpaca Ranch  Kelly and Colin with some alpacas  Some curious alpacas  A bird's nest the kids found while there. |
Sep. 27, 2008
Familia Maranatha
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Familia Maranatha We are studying world history this year so I am taking advantage of all things that pertain to world history and culture. Last night we went to a concert by Familia Maranatha. The Familia Maranatha consists of Mom, Dad, and three sons from Latin America. Mom Elvira is from Chile, Dad Victor is from Peru, son Marco was born in Venezuela, and sons Paulo and Carlo were born in Brazil. They are a Christian Folkloric Group and play music and instruments typical of the mountain ranges of the Andes. They spoke Spanish and had then translated. My Spanish is rusty and I understand more written than spoken! Even without understanding much, they were awesome! They are extremely talented and each play several instruments. They played several different wind instruments similar to flutes and pan flutes. The pan flutes (or pan pipes) they played are called zamponas. They played an instrument similar to a mandolin, called charangos. they also had some instrument that Elvira played that sounded like birds chirping. She also had a rain stick. One of the sons traded off both the flute instrument and the zampona at times. You can listen to one of their songs in the traditional Andes style Cantar De Los Parajos. For a more traditional American style, listen to Via Dolorosa. I guarantee you will be impressed! Here are some representative images of the instruments I found on the internet:
A Charango  A Zampona  Here is a photo of the poncho that the Familia Marantha wore:  |
Sep. 24, 2008
Mini Offices
Posted in Homeschooling
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On one of my homeschooling Yahoo Groups (can't recall which one) recently, someone mentioned mini offices. I had no idea what a mini office was so I Googled it. A mini office is like a study carrel, if you recall those from your school days. Here is a photo of one I made for my seventh grader:
 I find the mini offices useful in our homeschool for several reasons. The first is that it gives each child some privacy from his or siblings eyes as in "Mom, he's looking at me" or "Mom, he's making faces at me". I have a few highly distractable boys. I also figure that if they are staring off into space, they may as well be staring at educational stuff, like the Periodic Table. It also works well if you have more than one child taking the same spelling test, for example. Secondly, the mini office can come in quite handy, depending on what information you put on it. My first and second graders use it daily for the days of the week, the months, the number chart, the number line. I believe it is also teaching them to work more independently. They know where to find the information and don't have to ask Mom each time. Did I mention that it helps to keep my sanity with four children?
I used three legal sized manila files. You can also used use regular files and then you will have a choice of colors, or even designs. I like the legal sized because they are taller. It also means that I can put more information on them. I used rubber cement to glue the charts onto the folders and to glue the three folders together. When I finished assembling and gluing, I used clear contact paper to cover both sides of the mini office. Here are some close ups of the one for my seventh grader:
    These are some shots of the one for my younger boys:     Things I included for the seventh grader's mini office: The periodic table (with pictures)Things I Included for my first and second graders: Several phonics charts: vowels, word endings, blends, etc.Here are some great links to get started on mini-offices. These links will explain how to make a mini office and have lots of great things to put on them, mostly for younger children: Mrs. DryzalWebsites for charts I used for the older kids: Keith's Think Zone Some great colored math charts!Since many of the charts are full sized (8 1/2 x 11) I used Fine Print and printed some the charts either 2 or 4 up to a page to be the size I wanted. |
Sep. 18, 2008
My Daughter Won a Lego Contest!
Posted in Accolades
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The big excitement in our house today was when the mail came. My 14 year old daughter received a letter from Lego. And it had something in it. Hmmm. We had to wait for her to get out of the shower. She had recently entered the Lego Build-A-Dinosaur Challenge. When she opened the letter, it was to tell her that she won the contest. It came with a $100 Lego gift card! Her entry will be published in the November Lego Magazine. We aren't sure what place her entry came in but we know there were five winners and the prize was up to $100. Meanwhile, she is busy figuring what to get with her $100. Here are the photos: The Contest:
The Dinosaur: 
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