Story Time with a 3 Year Old {Mister G}

Mister G, age 3

Today, B asked G to tell her a story when they were in her room.  What follows is his creation.  I'm going to point out a few things that I think G used as inspiration.

 A Popsicle earring (Berry I think!)

 A gem earring (Hidden treasure)

Berry's Gem

Once upon a time, Berry the Popsicle was riding his bike to town.  Berry was yellow, purple, light pink and dark pink and was wearing a penguin costume.  He went to town and there was a gem buried in a bowl.  He found lots of bowls and dug through them until he found the gem.

The End.

Not bad for a 3 year old.  I can't wait to hear what he thinks of next!

Sculpture Technique, Construct from Artistic Pursuits Inc. Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.}


Our family loves creating new things so when we were given the opportunity to try out Sculpture Technique, Construct from Artistic Pursuits Inc. we were on board right away!  You may remember our review last year of ARTistic Pursuits  Volume 1 {spoiler = we enjoyed it}.

Our spiral bound book

This program is all about making things with your hands!  This book is geared toward upper elementary to high school students, ages 11-18.  It helps teach the concepts of construction methods in papermaking, papier-mâché, cardboard and wire.  Students are asked to select and create projects that are relevant and interesting to them, which makes it very enjoyable!

Materials List/Art Supplies for each unit

Our book is divided into 4 main units:  creating form in papermaking, creating planes in cardboard, creating motion with papier-mâché, and creating volume with wire.  There is a supply list near the beginning of the book that lets you know what materials you will need for each unit.  At the end of each unit, there is an evaluation for the student to reflect on all they've accomplished.  This is such a great addition.

Creating a sculpture from homemade paper.

Paper Making!  One of the first things we did with this program was to make our own paper.  This was so fun.  David made paper as a kid but no one else in our family had any experience making paper before this book.  We started off with strips of newspaper and various scraps of construction paper that all basically made various shades of greys.  We made a few other colors as well for fun - rose, yellow, green, etc.  One of the most important items you will need for making your own paper is a papermaking dip handmold kit.  You will definitely want this!  It makes the process a million times easier.

To make our own paper we first had to prepare the paper pulp.  This is done by soaking your paper scraps in water and then blending them using a blender.

 Above you can see our newspaper scraps and water.

After first round of blending.  We had to blend it even more than this.

After your pulp is made, you will pour it into your dishpan.  The thickness of your paper will be determined by the ratio of your pulp to water in your dishpan.  The more pulp, the thicker the sheets will be.  

Our handmold dip kit

Using your handmold dip kit, you can now pull a sheet of paper out of your dishpan.

Pulling out a sheet of paper

You can see all the pulp!  Tilt your frame to help get excess water off your paper.

After removing the deck frame and adding the cover screen over the paper pulp, you will use a sponge to absorb water out of the paper.

After removing the deck

 After adding the cover screen we used a sponge to help get excess water out of our paper.

 We ended up using towels and an iron to help our paper dry faster.

 Slowly ironing our paper.  Make sure to follow directions carefully if you choose to do this step.

 A finished sheet of paper!

The various colors of paper we created.

Paper Sculpture Directions

Once we made our paper, we created an elephant.  First, we drew our image on white copy paper.  Then, we cut out the pieces.  We traced our pieces onto various shades of grey paper that we made and cut them out.  We added tabs onto the pieces so that we could glue them down with a slight 3D effect.

Our elephant

Our elephant pieces

Assembling our elephant

Our finished elephant project.  We glued it onto a piece of yellow paper that we made as well.

Next, we wanted to create a sculpture with wire!  It is recommended to start with a fish because the simple form allows you to learn how to handle the wire and create connections.

I purchased 16 gauge aluminum wire for this project.  We had everything else on hand.

Directions for creating a wire fish sculpture.

 A made her fish outline out of wire first.

 Then she embellished her fish with beads and extra wire.

 A's finished fish wire sculpture!

I really like that in this program students learn the processes involved in using a variety of materials!  They truly become a creator and sculptor by implementing the methods described in this book.  There are still so many projects for us to complete with our book.  I am really looking forward to the section on creating 3-D forms using corrugated board and cardboard.  We have all the supplies to do this next.  If you are looking for a hands-on art program that focuses on construction and sculpting, we would highly recommend this one.  It doesn't disappoint.  I also want to note that this can be a credit Sculpture course for high school depending on the amount of time spent on this course and your state requirements.  I am planning on using this as a credit for A!

I also want to share with you that Brenda from Artistic Pursuits Inc. has been working hard to create FREE online video lessons for beginning drawing students.  I hope you will check them out.  There are also new online courses for their K-3 Level Books that you can check out here as well.

 I love this owl drawing that E created independently using one of the free online video lessons mentioned above.  Isn't she cute?

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of Artistic Pursuits Inc. including some of their other books.

You can engage with Artistic Pursuits Inc. on social media @:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Timberdoodle's 2020 Read Across The USA Summer Reading Challenge

I am so excited to share with you Timberdoodle's 2020 Summer Reading Challenge - Read Across the USA and win prizes along the way!  You and your children will learn about the great diversity of climates, cultures and heritage experiences across the 50 states.

The Challenge:  Read books set in at least 20 different states this summer.  Every family that finishes their 20+ books will receive 200 reward points (the equivalent of a $10 Timberdoodle gift certificate).  You could use this to get the USA ScrunchMap, Doodle the USA or anything you choose 😉.  One grand prize winner will receive a $100 Timberdoodle gift certificate.

You can find out more about the details here.  I hope you will join us this summer for this challenge.  Our family suggested several book titles for this challenge and my kids are excited to begin.  There's an awesome Reading Challenge Bundle that goes along with this challenge that you may want to check out.  Happy Reading!

Note:  You need to send in your completed list no later than September 7, 2020.

PreK Math Starter Kit from Page a Day Math Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.  This post contains affiliate links.}


You know how much I enjoy math so I was stoked to start the PreK Math Starter Kit from Page a Day Math with G (3.5).  This kit is geared for ages 3-5 so he is on the younger side.  These kits are available in both physical books and digital products.  We received the physical kit!

Our PreK Math Starter Kit

G with his Math program.

 PreK Math Starter Kit Books 1-10

This incremental PreK Math program encourages children using the playful Math Squad.  It focuses on 3 main areas:  learning the proper way to write numbers through tracing, mastering counting, and gives an introductory to addition.

The Math Squad consists of 5 dog superheroes - Mo, Zo, Bo, Jo and Flo!

I love the adorable Math Squad and I love how they each speak for a career option in Math - Rocket Scientist, Doctor, Engineer, Mechanic and Designer.

G meeting the Math Squad!

Another thing to note is the smaller book size.  This is great because it makes it easier for little hands to handle and manipulate them.

As previously mentioned our kit includes 10 books.  Each book contains 14 days of math practice (one sheet front and back for each day) with 450 math exercises.  Book 1 focuses on adding the number 1 to each number (0-10), while book 2 focuses on adding the number 2 to each number (0-10), book 3 focuses on adding the number 3 and so on and so on.  Each day is geared to take ~ 5 - 15 minutes or less but it truly depends on your student.  G takes a bit longer but that's because he is on the younger side and he needs to work on his writing skills.  I love that the tracing prompts in this program continue to help G build up his fine-motor skills and I'm enjoying watching his writing improve bit by bit.

I love G's concentration.

This program doesn't use traditional dotted lines for tracing but rather a unique tracing track.  Students are guided where to start by a small dot at the top of each number.  There are small arrows next to the dot that guide students where to go next in properly forming their numbers.

A closer look at the tracing tracks and arrows.

You can also see that often times answers are included in the problems to help students have less stress while learning.  There are always two problems with open answers to be filled in with each new fact learned.  I really appreciate this as G is only 3.

G coloring his first star.

After completing a worksheet, students get to color in a daily achievement star.  If they are working on Day 1 of a book, they will color in one star.  If they are working on Day 8 of a book, they will color in eight stars and so on.

A close-up of G's star!

G's 1st completed page from Book 1

At the end of each book, there is a book certificate featuring the Math Squad that celebrates their book completion!

Fun Book Certificates to encourage kids.

G really likes the Math Squad jokes found on the back of each book.  It is just another fun way to keep him engaged.

Joke from Book 9

Each kit comes with bonus downloads and they are pretty fabulous!  We have flashcards, assessments, progress tracker, handwriting books, and a coloring counting joke book (my personal favorite).  These resources are available to use as needed.

Above you can see a peek at the digital flashcards.  I haven't downloaded and printed them yet but I plan to.

And here is a peek at a handwriting page.

Above is a picture that G colored from the coloring counting joke book.  He did such a good job!

We haven't made it super far into this program as G is really needing to take it slow with his age and lack of handwriting skills but I am so excited with what we have completed so far.  G enjoys it and likes to "practice his numbers".  I'm really looking forward to completing all of our books in the Fall with him.

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of Page a Day Math's PreK Math Starter Kit as well as reviews on their Addition Starter Kit, Subtraction Starter Kit, Multiplication Starter Kit, and Division Starter Kit as well.

You can engage with Page a Day Math on social media @:

Facebook
Pinterest
Instagram
YouTube