This world we live in

Sometimes I get on "teaching art" kicks. With school starting back up in a matter of weeks, I'm on one of those educational artistic benders.

 When I got to the information about how much water covers our earth, I almost couldn't bring myself to paint it.
So much water. So little to drink. So many people in need. So much drought in the US right now, too. Even cities in Arkansas are having to ration water. This drought is rivaling the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Consider that and get prepared, if you haven't already.

Most of the world is made of water....but it's just not drinkable water...

Class Mascots

I would like to introduce our class pets/ mascots, Spike and Lizzie, our new bearded dragons.

As well as being a great experience for the kids, it's been an endless source of entertainment for our two kitties, who spend most of the day now, watching their "cat TV" aka lizard cage.

Bearded dragons are friendly, docile creatures. They are easy to care for, cheap to feed, clean & non-smelly. Plus, we bought them from friends, for an amazing price. All in all, a very good little investment for the coming school years!

10 Ways to Vary Your Nature Journal Layouts

My kids and I love to nature-journal, but get tired of doing the same layouts and ideas over and over. Here are some of the ways we like to mix it up a little!

1. Explore your shapes. Experiment right in your nature journal.

Don't worry about perfection, just start sketching.

I had only pink and red pens with me, so that's what I used.

2. Study anatomy

A morning glory is just as amazing and beautiful on the inside.

3. Go close CLOSE up. Examine the details.
Use a zoom lens, and draw what you see.

4. Journal it up.

Mix your observations with your art.

What did you see and where? What are the weather conditions?

How do you feel? How is this special to you? What are your plans?

Record the moment.

(There is a great observational checklist here)

5. Don't forget your own backyard.

Here, my 1st grader sketches a daylily that he planted himself.

Front and center, he knew exactly what he wanted on his page.

There are no excuses for not drawing.

If you have dirt and grass, then you have something to illustrate.

6. Don't forget the bugs.

7. Add elements. Press flowers, leaves, clovers, etc.

8. Try a day-by-day, or hour-by-hour format of what you see.
{and around this point, my images are going crazy, getting out of place, because Blogger and my browser are refusing to play nice. Bear with me, and take deep breaths, like I am, if you start to feel lightheaded.}

9. Offer a "Guest Page."

Grab a friend or family member, and swap journals for half an hour, when you're down by the creek. You end up with their unique style as a part of your book, and you give the gift of your own artwork at the same time.

10. Do a Theme Page

For example, "Birds" or "Leaves."

Nature Notebooking

With the weather being so amazing lately, we've been spending more and more "free time" doing Nature Notebooking, which is basically just a hands-on, intense science study. We pick an item, study/observe it, measure/weigh, notice coloring and other characteristics, and then draw and write about it.

(Bonus: With "free time," I'm teaching science, math, art, writing, and more, all in one "lesson"...and they don't even know it's extra learning! bwaaahaaa)

My Oldest Boy, the nature lover, chose a leaf that was growing through our back fence. He sketched the top, and did a mighty fine job, then flipped it over and found this:
See those tiny eggs? The entire leaf is 10cm. These are itty bitty eggs.
We looked at closely as the naked eye can....

....and then transferred them to the microscope. Oh, how I wish I could take photos through the microscope!! It is SO very neat.

From what we read in the Handbook of Nature Study, and online, we're guessing that these are butterfly eggs, that will darken as they get near their hatch date. They're currently residing in our butterfly house.

If you have any idea what they could be, please let me know.

I'm eagerly anticipating birds' nests and eggs in the trees behind our fence. We've been hearing mockingbirds and robins, and have seen quite a few little sparrows, too.

This may be my favorite March ever. We've had very few storms, and some record warmth, which is just *perfect* in my book!

Art that Teaches, Lifting the Bleh

No, I still haven't gotten my camera back. Or shipped it off.
Why?
Well, why send it off until I have the money to get it fixed, right? That's how we poor folks stay outta debt. You don't have it, you don't spend it.
So, my Mom has been letting me borrow her little Powershot. :) Thanks!
I'm throwing some things out there, trying to get my groove back. Drawin' a little here and there because I know it helps my funk, even if I don't feel the effects right away.

This past weekend I suddenly felt the irresistible urge to paint, which is a wonderful sign for me. Our family's lingering sickness is finally lifting. My S.A.D. coupled with my parents' divorce issues...I feel those emotional burdens lifting.

I want to paint again! (insert fantastical music here and a rainbow forming or something)

We're planning for spring...our animals studies, our garden plans. All of that feels good to me. I even ordered some neat seeds with unique names, and I'm aching to get going on all of that.

Good things, good things. It's a colorless post, but I feel very bright and light inside, and want to get back to the daily happiness and enjoyment of it all.

(Still working on keeping my sarcastic inner voice at bay, though. Heh. Life would be easier without the idiots, no? Okay, okay.)

Blog Purpose (and a post about spiders!)

Hey y'all, you're still with me, right? I've been commentless, but I skip and jump on because, after all, I'm doing this primarily for ME. You know my memory, right? I need to record these things. And I feel compelled to ...encourage? Inspire? Prompt you to enjoy things and have fun. Yeah, all of those things. So I'm hoping someone somewhere can take a little away from here with a smile or an idea.
Which brings me to the purpose of this here blog. It's always been kind-of an online journal/scrapbook...and occasionally a bit of a diary. My time is even busier these days, though, and I'm trying to use my minutes purposefully. I spend a lot of time on the computer in the evening as it is, getting ideas and plans, writing things up for the school week. And I've decided that I'm going to use this space for more of a craft/art sharing spot than anything else. I know, I know, that's pretty much what I do already. And I blog field trip ideas, etc, but my personal writing has become less commonplace. I have things to say, but feel more compelled to share what we DO. The irony is not lost on me. I'm writing paragraphs about how I'll be writing less. Yeah. {ahem} So. Welcome to our hands-on learning, art, craft, activity homeschool site.
If you want to keep up, feel free to follow on facebook (still under the former name of Sun-Kissed Scholars) using the tab on the right. Or follow our ideas and activities on Pinterest (again, on the right hand side.) There are a lot of art/activity/homeschool blogs out there. I'm just one person, doing what works for us, trying to balance life, spend time on the most important things, hoping it might help or inspire another!

Now, on to the spiders....!


The kids had an impromptu science lesson the other day on how spiders make webs. These pictures were taken in our front yard, of an argiope, or yellow and black garden spider.

Did you know...
"Spiders produce silk from their spinneret glands located at the tip of their abdomen. Each gland produces a thread for a special purpose – for example a trailed safety line, sticky silk for trapping prey or fine silk for wrapping it. Spiders use different gland types to produce different silks, and some spiders are capable of producing up to 8 different silks during their lifetime."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_web

This spider fought another one to the death. The boys were enthralled.

Even if you don't care for spiders, you have to admit, the colors are beautiful!

University of Arkansas Discovery Zone

We visited the University of Arkansas Discovery Zone last week to learn about nanotechnology.

The place is small (and very hard to spot!) but packed full of wonderful interactive displays! The exhibits change every few months, so I plan to go back fairly soon.

Below, my "mad scientist"!

And my itty scientist!

I think it was way over the little ones' heads, but they still enjoyed the activities!