Wood Working 101

This morning we went outside and cut some small cedar branches from a branch in our brush pile. We each took turns with the saw and our safety goggles. My intent was to cut some larger cedar rings to use for this proiect. But I couldn't find the big saw and there were a ton of mosquitos so we used some rough oak wood blocks that were cut with a chain saw. The kids were simply excited to use the saw.

It isn't obvious from this photo but the wood is very rough and bumpy. We sanded our rough and bumpy wood with several different grits or roughness of sandpaper. We sanded and sanded and sanded. We used 100 grit, 60 grit, and 220 grit. The kids talked about the roughness of the sandpaper, what it was made of, how to use it best, what happens when you look at the wood dust on your piece of wood and blow with out eye protection, how hard to push and how long it takes to make a piece of really rough wood smooth, what happens if you sand bark and many more questions and observations.... Very cool. We continued to sand...

Until our rough pieces of wood were smooth.

Then we oiled our wood using beeswax and orange oil.

Our sanded and oiled pieces of wood.

Old Mother Raincloud

This is our board for today. Although she can write all of her letters and is reading (a lot) she was still forming some of her letters from the bottom up instead of the more efficient top down. We read the Enki Education story Old Mother Rain Cloud - Rain Falls From Heaven. The idea is that the letters fall to Earth and bounce back up. Think of little r with a rumble and a roar, racing straight down to the ground and she hits it so hard she bounces back up. This idea works for most of the lower case letters. Annie really sunk into this lesson and her drawing.

Meet Rose Mary

Annie's first completed knitting project. She is so proud and this doll has been going everywhere with us lately. We didn't use a pattern. She simply knitted yellow until she had a long enough dress and then we added white (she learned how to change yarn). We ended up with a rectangle. She sewed the seams, formed the head, braided the hair, knotted the necklace, and sewed felt around her base so she stands. I helped with one eye and the mouth, sewing the hair on, and some of the seam work.

She was having a hard time naming her. I asked her what some of her favorite names were and she said she liked Rose but she liked Mary too. So, she decided to name her Rose Mary since her eyes are the color of Rosemary.

Annie - Sharing a Laugh

In line with Annie's trickster energy she wanted me to post her Fairy Movie again.
It is hard to believe this was 9 months ago. But as Annie and I were watching this morning I was impressed by her narration and humored by Emer's interruptions but the ending had us in hysterics. We watched it over and over. Annie wanted to share a laugh with everyone!

Click to see the Original Post

Click to just see the movie

Samples of Our Work

With everything that we learn, each story that we read, for every subject, we manipulate it artistically. Most of the time we draw, sometimes we paint, sometimes we sculpt, or sometimes we turn it into a play with our toys or puppets. Below are just a few things we've been working on.

Artistic interpretation and handwriting practice for Paddy Plus. I love how she drew Paddy with cherry juice dripping down his face.

Perfectly Proper Pronouns. The idea behind this story is to set the mood for putting others first in speech. This line can simply be recited if she says, for example, "me and Emer". A great way to correct her speech without humiliation.

Artistic manipulation of a Korean Fairy Tale, Peony Peak.

Annie's drawing of the "OOL/ULE" family.

Wait...is that an Ewok in Paris?