A star is born

Constellations are always such a wonderful theme, since it combines Earth and Space Science with mythology and imagination!! If we add to it a bit of art and a bit of music, then it is an awesome theme for integrating different bits and pieces of knowledge and experiences into a beautiful whole.

We started out with some basic printables of the traditional constellations from this website. It also has a free printable with a short explanation of the history behind the main constellations.

Art, History and Science:

We also made some constellation cards:

After studying them for a while, we made our own constellation cards. 

All you need is 3 by 5” white cards, and 2 ½” by 4 1/2 “ blue construction paper rectangles.

Pick a constellation. 

Mark with a pencil in the blue paper where the stars would be. With a puncher, punch out the blue paper in the places marked, and glue onto the white cards. You may trace the lines joining the starts with a white pencil. Prepare labels if desired.

Drawing your favorite constellation story.

Together with your child (children) draw your favorite story. You can incorporate some writing into it.

Music and history:

Listen together to “Constellations” by Jonathan Peters (more about it in this site).

You can even download a free teachers guide for this CD  here

Free audio book: How the Grinch stole Christmas

I don't know how long this offer will last, but I downloaded it today and the kids had a blast :). This is an audio book from Audible.com : How the Grinch Stole Christmas for Free and no membership is required.

Details here:

Blank maps

This website has tons of blank maps, which are a wonderful tool for history/geography/biblical lessons!! I have been using it a lot with our "Story of the world" curriculum.

Blank maps from around the world: (http://d-maps.com)

Advent calendar and family readings

This is our very simple family Advent Calendar. 

 

Every day we light a candle in our Advent wreath and read a new verse or two from the Messianic Prophesies and reflect on preparing for the coming of Jesus. During the last two weeks of Advent we will be reading The Annunciation, Visitation and Birth of Christ texts.

Here are the texts we are using:

Prophecy of the Light ( Isaiah 9:1)
Prophesy of the Names (Isaiah 9:6)
Prophesy of the Mother (Isaiah 7:14)
Prophesy of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
Prophecy of the Star and the Scepter (Numbers 24:17) 
Prophecy of the Valleys and Mountains (Isaiah 40:3-5) 
Prophecy of the Shoot of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1-3) 
Prophecy of the Peaceable Kingdom (Isaiah 11:6-9) 
 
Annunciation: Luke 1: 26-38
Visitation: Luke 1: 39-49, 56
Birth of Christ: Luke 2: 1-20

During the 12 days of Christmas:

Adoration of the Magi:(Matthew 2: 1-12)
Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2: 22-33, 36-39)
Flight to Egypt : Matthew 2: 13-15, 19-23 

We keep it very simple with the little ones, but we enjoy many beautiful moments :) They love marking off the days and the whole sense of hopeful anticipation. We end with a song and with the snuffing of the candle(s) - an all time favourite :)

 
    

 

Opera for everyone

I just wanted to share this wonderful free material for the study (and enjoyment) of four classical operas.

Opera was always a part of my family, and I still remember my first time at the theatre to enjoy "La Traviata"... Here are the Instructions on how to install it in your computer

Carmen

The Barber of Seville

La Traviata

Madama Butterfly

Enjoy!!!

Art extension for metal insets

A while ago we purchase some metal insets at discount prices, and after using them following the Montessori album pages, we started experimenting a bit with them in our art classes.

So what follows is an activity that combines the metal insets with a little play of straight lines vs curved lines in order to create a 3D optical illusion. (This can also be associated with a discussion/lesson on the science behind optical illusion.) For even more examples of this phenomenon you can see here and here and here ...

So the first step is to choose a metal inset (or any other shape that can be traced on paper) and place it on a white piece of paper. Trace around.

With a ruler trace horizontal parallel lines on the page, excluding the shape you have just traced. This gives the child quite a bit of practice with the ruler, too :)

Now the tricky part: using the points of contact of the lines with the edge of the figure as a starting and finishing point, trace an arch joining these two points. Again, it does not have to be perfect, but this first line is going to be the guide for all the other curves inside the figure, so you can actually help the child by tracing a couple and explaining that we still need to keep them parallel.

Once all the lines are traced, you are ready to colour. I made my children create their own color pattern, but it can also be just random. They can get creative there.

After all the stripes are fill in with colour, you can enjoy the effect!

This is very simple, but quite rewarding, even as an introduction to the concepts of perspective and any type of "applied" optical illusion in art and architecture.

Paper paper paper

Many Montessori materials, at least here in the US, include 3D realistic depictions of objects of interest going from famous buildings and landmarks to means of transport to wildlife. It is a bit challenging (not to mention expensive or prohibitive) to reproduce that at home, but I have found this website has a nice alternative: print your own 3D (scaled!) models and build them at home. All you need is a color printer, some paper and a pair of scissors and glue. OK, and lots of patience, but it is really a great project to "illustrate" any lesson.

Here is the link: 3D paper models

Check out some examples:

 

We are currently working on this one: