home-school-coach.com

A Spark Station letter – What is an onomatopoeia and using the mail to inspire

by Mary Ann on May 17, 2011

Children Love getting their own mail

Didn’t you just love getting a letter when you were a child. There is just something so exciting about getting a letter. It is doubly exciting now days because it happens so rarely! Getting a letter, a real “it has a stamp on it” letter makes you sit up and take notice of the contents.

When we want to inspire a child we can use a letter to share something that we love with them. Here is a letter about reading and writing that I sent to five year old Elizabeth.

Dear Lizzy,

Do you like words? Well I do. I like knowing what words mean and how to spell them. You are just learning to write and spell and I am so excited for you because reading and writing are so fun. Did you know that I am writing a book? Well I am. It is about going to school at home. I am very excited to write it and to have other people read it.

I learned a totally new word recently. Your Aunt Kate told me about it. She loves words too. It was onomatopoeia. Whew that is a big word. Onomatopoeia is pronounced like this on-uh-mat-uh-pee-uh. So what is an onomatopoeia? It is a word that sounds like what it describes. Some examples would be the buzz of a bee (Isn’t that the sound they actually make!) or the hiss of a snake (see that is the sound that a snake makes). Another would be the tinkle of a bell or the chickadee sound of a Chickadee. That is what a little Chickadee says, chickadee. Funny huh! Or what about tickle? Maybe you and your sisters can come up with some.

Words are really fun and I hope that you will let me know all the onomatopoeias that you can come up with. Keep reading. Keep writing and for goodness sakes write to me! : )

Love,

Grandma

Use mail to ignite a love of learning

When I first began sending the letters I wondered what the children thought about them. Let me share what happened with this one. My 20 year old daughter went to visit my married daughter for Spring break. When she arrived Lizzy, the five year old said, “I know what onomatopoeia means”. Then she gave a couple of examples. The seven year old proudly said “but I know how to spell it.” This conversation took place almost two months after I sent the original letter.

Help your children and grandchildren experience the love of learning. Don’t be afraid to challenge them. Onomatopoeia is a very big word for a five year old but she was so proud to know what it meant.

Possibly Related Posts:

{ 0 comments }

The Traveling Spark Station – Summer Learning Fun

by Mary Ann on May 16, 2011

Maggie, Ezril, Sybil, Oaklan, Jack

When I went to the library a few weeks ago I saw a stand with lots of books on summer. It was a treasure trove! So I checked out about 8 books and brought them home for the Traveling Spark Station.

Children LOVE to read about new things

The children loved reading the books. In fact, they usually pull those out first. See the list below. We talked all about what happens in the summer, what the weather is like, what we wear, and where we go. We learned that people sweat and dogs pant. A bit later in the day Jack said to me, “Whew, I am sweating grandma”, as he wiped his hand across his brow. We hadn’t even gone out side yet. : )

In the Traveling Spark Station we had lots of stuff for bubbles. There was a recipe for making your own, as well as the store bought kind. We blew bubbles with giant wands, tiny wands and battery operated bubble blowers. I had straws to blow bubbles in a pan of soapy water.

Summer is for creating

It was a windy day and the bubbles blew everywhere. We pretended to be bubbles and we blew everywhere.

I found some other wonderful bubble activity ideas which we didn’t have time for. See below.

After making bubbles we read another book which showed a picture of

Maggie loved the sparklers

fireworks. This was wonderful because in their families Master

Plan is a trip to Yellowstone Park. This year they are going to Yellowstone on their way to Laurel, MT for an absolutely unique and exciting fireworks event. That little town (where we used to live) grows from 10,000 to about 40,000 on the Fourth of July.

They have been talking about this Laurel/Yellowstone trip for a few months

Preparing for the Fourth of July because “It’s Summer”!

and the children are very excited. So we talked about the vacation. Then Jodie came out with some of last years fireworks and we lit sparklers. This part was great and unplanned.

We took a walk to the community gardens, just a few blocks away. We had a “summer”

picnic of water, dates, raisins and graham crackers. (I really do believe in keeping it simple!) We talked about the garden their family is going to plant and then watched a woman plant hers.

I had a wonderful summer craft, hand print suns, planned but we had so much fun on our walk that we just ran out of time so we did it a few days later.

There were so many other things that I had in The traveling Spark Station that we just never got to. I want to make sure that you have them and then you can stretch this topic over a few weeks. Also here are some summer fun ideas and activities for older learners.

1. Take a walk to the park; play on the equipment, feed the ducks. Go for a family bike ride. Go to the public swimming pool for a family outing. Be sure and take dad! Plan a camping trip or trip to the beach.

Summer is for water fun

2. Plant some seeds in your garden or in a pot for the window sill.

3. Here is asite where you can get quite a number of coloring pages, puzzles and mazes. You can talk about different things people do in the summer depending on where they live.

Summer if for smelling flowers

4. Talk about summer sun safety.

5. Want to get some writing in? Print off this fun summer paper and write to grandma or make a list of “to do’s” for an outing or trip. Put a number of pages in a binder and create a fun summer journal.

6. Add bubble bath to a plastic basin of water. Give the kids a hand-held whisk and let them whip up a bunch of bubbles! This is a great opportunity to clean all those kids toys that get so grungy. Give your kids a few old rags, a scrub brush and an old toothbrush. Let them clean away.

7. Find some bubble wrap and pop bubbles! Cut some round shapes out of the bubble wrap and paint one side, then make bubble prints on a piece of paper.

8. Make a bubbly bottle toy. Half fill a plastic bottle with water. Add some food coloring and a really good slug of liquid detergent. Paint some glue around the top of the bottle before screwing on the cap and leaving to dry. Now shake!

9. Interested in a bit of science? Try catching a bubble on a wet finger, and then on a dry finger. It should be much easier if your finger is wet. Why? Bubbles pop particularly easily when they are touched by something dry, because the dry object can take away some of the bubble’s water! A bubble is less likely to pop if it’s touched by something wet than by something dry.

Why won’t a “wet” nail pop a bubble?

10. What is a bubble and does it pop from the top or the bottom?

11. Did you know you can freeze a bubble and then pick it up and look at it more closely.

Summer is for sliding and blowing bubbles Sybil, Jack, Oaklan

12. Want to make colored bubbles that you can really see and that won’t stain?

13. Did you know there is somethig called an antibubble? It is the opposite of a bubble.

14. Did you know that in mathmatics, a minimal surface is a surface with a mean curvature of zero? A bubble is an excellent example of a minimal surface. Hmmmm I would definitely have to do some research on this!

15. Here are a couple of math worksheets to add to your Spark Station. Just remember, inspire not require.

http://homeschooling.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.bry-backmanor.org/actpag151.html

http://homeschooling.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.bry-backmanor.org/actpag154.html

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/summer/worksheets.htm

Summer is for playing school

16. Did you know that Bubbles can be effectively used to teach and explore a wide variety of concepts to even young children? Try flexibility, color formation, reflective or mirrored surfaces, concave and convex surfaces, transparency, a variety of shapes (circle, square, triangle, sphere, cube, tetrahedron, hexagon), elastic properties, and comparative sizing. Bubbles are useful in teaching concepts starting from 2 years old. Just Google any of these words to find out more.

17. Here is another great summer craft, a daffodil pin wheel.

A daffodil pinwheel – learn about wind!

18. Get some paint brishes and a container of water and “paint” pictures on the driveway. Put these supplies in your Spark Station.

19. Build a fort and sleep outside.

20. Make some summer fun food such as ants on a log, with celery, peanut butter and raisins. Now learn about ants. Find some and watch them. Talk about how their “family” is set up.

Have fun sharing the joys of summer with your family.

The books I used:

What Kind of Day Is It? A Hot Day by Lola Schaefer

Summer Fun by Jennifer Waters

Mama Is It Summer Yet by Nikki McClure

Summer by Tanya Thayer

I Am Extremely Absolutely Boiling by Lauren Child

The Nature and Science of Summer by Jane Burton and Kim Taylor

It’s Summer! by Linda Glaser

Come On, Rain! by Karen Hesse

Possibly Related Posts:

{ 0 comments }

Being Present: My Cure for a Busy Life

by Dionne Schetzel on May 13, 2011

The Schetzel’s

Why should the lord of the country

flit about like a fool?

If you let yourself be blown to and fro,

you lose touch with your root.

If you let restlessness move you,

you lose touch with who you are.

Lao-Tsu, Tao-te-Ching

Tristan, Tomas, Savannah Schetzel

Do you find yourself flitting about like a fool? Are you blown to and fro, losing touch with your root? Are you moved by restlessness, losing touch with who you are? The busy-ness of our lives can prevent us from being present. I was particularly drawn to Mary Ann’s Spark Station Mastery Course because for the past year, I have known that I need to develop the ability to be present. I needed a cure for my busy life. So I created a support group that includes a weekly conference call (more about this group in next week’s guest entry). This week’s phone call was very important to me in my quest to learn the ability to be present.

My oldest son was in a Shakespeare play this weekend, so our week has been filled with rehearsals and performances until late at night. There was not time to prepare for our Saturday morning conference call or to send out a reminder to the group. I didn’t have much hope that anyone would join me. In fact, I started hoping no one would join me so that I could go back to bed, or start getting ready for another busy day.

Chef Savannah

But one wonderful friend did join me and as we began to talk, we got to the heart of what she wants her homeschool to be like. We discussed ideas of how to arrange her schedule and how to make learning time sacred, not allowing the urgent to take the place of the important. And we concluded, again, that being present is really the answer to most of our relationship problems.

For me, the conference call was an illustration of the myth vs. the reality of being present. I was hoping to avoid the call because I thought it would take more energy from my already depleted stores. I felt unprepared for it. I didn’t think anyone else would be there, so why bother? And there were so many pressures on my mind to worry about…who had time for it?! But when I actually did the call, I found myself energized and inspired by the conversation and the connection I made with my friend and the epiphanies we were having. It is the same for me in my relationships with my children.

Tomas playing Don John in a Japanese version of Much Ado About Nothing

In the past, I have believed the myth that giving of myself to my children will drain me of the little energy I have. I am often tired when they seem to be most energetic. I don’t feel prepared with something amazing to inspire them. I don’t think they will respond to my efforts, so why bother? And I have so many worries to focus on, who has time to be present?! (Said tongue-in-cheek) It leads to a vicious cycle of me pulling away, them reaching out more desperately for me, and my responding with even more protective withdrawal. Or sometimes I give in grudgingly and half-heartedly. Both of these responses on my part leave my children feeling unloved and empty.

Sir Tristan skiing with the Knights

But when I take the time to be present with my children, just like during my conference call, our bonds of love grow stronger, they are filled and I am energized! There is no need to protect myself from being drained of energy because when I am present I receive more than I give. My being unprepared is less important than my being present. They don’t care as much about having some amazing craft or activity planned for them as they do about having an amazing mom who is there with them in that very moment. When I am present, my worries fade away, my burdens feel lighter. And when I am present with my children, they always respond positively! Being present helps me in building strong relationships with them.

Flitting about like a fool, being blown to and fro are symptoms of our busy, modern lives. When I take the time to be still and be present, I look into the eyes of my children and receive their love. For me, it is a sure cure for the busy-ness of daily life.

Dionne Schetzel is the mother of two boys, 14 and 11, and a girl, 8. Even though she has been homeschooling for 8 years, she feels like she is finally learning how to homeschool by implementing TJ Ed principles. She is the founder of Shining Light Commonwealth, a scholar phase, once weekly school in the Salt Lake Valley. She loves to spend her time studying classics, writing, and watching and scoring baseball games.

Possibly Related Posts:

{ 1 comment }

Putting down emotional weight

by Mary Ann on May 12, 2011

What counts is how long you hold it!

A young lady confidently walked around the room while explaining stress management to an audience. With a raised glass of water everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, ‘half empty or half full?’ Well she fooled them all. “How heavy is this glass of water?”, she inquired with a smile.

The answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

The young woman replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

Emotional weight gets heavier and heavier.

That’s the way it is with emotional weight. Emotional weight is what we generate when we have things that we know we should do that we put off. Emotional weight is created when we are not in integrity with ourselves. Let me give you an example.

I have been feeling a lot of emotional weight of late. I have had some things that I have committed to myself to do but they take skills that I feel I don’t have. They require me to learn some new things. I am intimidated. Maybe I will fail and have to start again. So even though I have committed to do them I have put them off, over and over again.

Like the glass of water the burden of that emotional weight just got heavier and heavier. So, what could I do to manage this emotional weight? Move forward, even if it is only baby steps.

I have since made myself start, move forward. It hasn’t been as hard as I thought. In fact some of it has even been enjoyable. I have

Putting down emotional weight feels really, really good!

enjoyed a fair amount of success. I haven’t done a perfect job but I am getting better. I feel happy with myself.

This is where many of you are with your Spark Station. You take a webinar, attend a workshop or lecture or buy the Course all with good intentions. Then the information sits waiting for you to move forward.

Some of you have even gone so far as to choose a space for your Spark Station and maybe you have even cleaned it out.

Then because it is new, you feel inadequate, you worry if you can do it, it seems too hard, you can’t seem to make the time, maybe you’ll fail……you carry the burden of the emotional weight of not starting or moving forward.

I encourage you to put that emotional weight down. Just begin. You can’t really fail, although you might have to make some adjustments. You can find time even if it is only in 10 minute blocks. I assure you that the relief you will feel from starting is wonderful. There will be a sense of satisfaction.

So if you have listened to a class revisit your notes and move forward. If you have purchased the Course listen to a lesson or even part of a lesson. If you have chosen a Spark Station space put something in it. Just start, move forward.

Possibly Related Posts:

{ 0 comments }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →