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[Moonbeam]

Just like the title states. My first offering is along the vein of "creative" homeschooling.

The kiddos are a tad youngish to get into any "serious" art study. So what I did was purchase the Metropolitan Museum of Arts 2015 desk calendar (Amazon has it listed for $16 plus shipping and check your local Costco to see if they still offer it). The cards are about 6x7 inches and sit in a clear, acrylic holder. From the cover,

"A desktop gallery of beautifully reproduced masterpieces selected from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Titan's Venus and Adonis. A luminous alabaster sculpture of Georgia O' Keeffe by Gaston Lachaise. Emanuel Leutze's iconic Washington Crossing the Delaware. Plus textiles, photography, musical instruments, jewelry, furniture and more."

The cards list the artist (and his country and DOB and DOD); the subject (ie, if it's person, who that person was and their DOB and DOD); the name of the artwork; the medium of the artwork; and who donated the piece to the museum and when. A lot of paths of interest to pursue!

I am not using the desk calendar on a daily basis. Instead, we leave the artwork displayed for a 1-2 weeks - even longer, and we casually talk about it here and there. I have them tell me what they think and how they feel when they look at it. I ask them to tell me what they like and don't like it about it. I ask them to tell me why they think the artist painted the subject the way that they did and why they think the artist used the colors, etc. they did. I ask them how they would paint something similar - what colors would they use, how would they have someone pose - things like that. We also look up the subject's biography/significance.

The desktop calendar is a really lovely piece and I am enjoying the artwork immensely, as well as the ensuing discussions with the kiddos. This is most definitely an investment I would recommend as it's not something you would throw away when the year (2015) is completed. It's also something I imagine we would bring out again and again as they grow in their imaginations, and their responses to the questions will no doubt change.

[Lonewolf72]

This sounds like a neat way to introduce art to the munchkins. I like the idea .

[Moonbeam]

To change things up a bit, I created some Star Wars (episodes 1-6) copywork for the kiddos. If you're interested I will be happy to email it to you!

[FDD]

Here is an idea for some seat work

[DiabloLoco]

Here is an idea for some seat work

I wish that my schoolwork looked like that!

[Moonbeam]

For our nature study we're studying the atmosphere. I found some pretty neat videos on YouTube that was super kid-friendly (and interesting for the adults, too) and wanted to share.

A Journey Through the Atmosphere - Pilots break through the troposphere! (A journey through the layers of the atmosphere from the 2007 BBC documentary Earth the Biography. Including the longest free fall ever. Posted in 2010). Video Length 7:32:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CerJbZ-dm0

Air pressure experiment using a hard boiled egg and bottle. Video length 3:05:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28TIyWdfxxc

Air pressure experiment using a balloon and a bottle. Video length: 2:37:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CXd2h5O8OU

[Moonbeam]

To encourage nature study I revamped our entryway and it didn't cost a lot of money. It's still a work in progress and this was triggered by my desire to display the kids rock collection. Unfortunately the pic doesn't do it justice as the makeover really came out beautiful.

On the left is a wire basket to display the pine cones the kids find. Above that is a printer's tray I got off eBay for less than $50, including shipping, to display their rocks. The white shelves hold some bigger shells and rocks, and geo's, etc. On the far right is a fisherman's basket I picked up at a local antique store for $5 to hold the really groovy sticks we find. On the beach theme wood plaque I glued shells that we found at some Florida beaches and attached some photos from our trip. My BFF sent me the starfish and sand dollar. On the bookshelf is a wood chunk from a tree my DH had to cut down; the kids played on/with that tree. Scattered about are photos related to the outdoors: pumpkin picking, snowman building, smelling flowers and our trips to national parks. On the bottom shelf is a basket that holds magnifying glasses, binoculars, and bug catchers. I also added nature craft books, field guides and various nature study books.

Hope this encourages someone else to collect and display their nature finds!