serendipitous journey Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 (edited) This is for Button, who as you can see from the sig is 6 and in first grade. But he's decidedly, well, tardy in the arts-and-crafts area. It turns out that early K-level projects are just his speed (I've discovered from trying online projects). Any open-and-go suggestions, or curriculums/programs/etc. you like that make it easy for the mama? I want him to have fun, move along to grade-level in this area so we can do stuff from his curricula next year, and maybe learn a skill or two a la Charlotte Mason. Any ideas that address even one of these goals would be appreciated! Edited September 20, 2011 by serendipitous journey more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grover Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Would the Kumon crafts books fit the need? They're mostly cut and paste type things which we enjoy. I also signed DS up for the head of the class (.com) and customized a curricula to just have art, music, science and a few other fun bits just so we would actually do them - he watches the little video then we do the craft. I'm hopeless at coming up with ides otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairyMom Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 We love Oak Meadow crafts. That's what got us interested in them three years ago. This Syllabus is full of activities and lifecrafts for each age/skill level. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted September 21, 2011 Author Share Posted September 21, 2011 thanks for the ideas ... I've used some Kumon, and wanted something more artsy; but I'll try the site and look for craft options. fairymom: would you just get the Oak Meadow Arts and Crafts book? We have reading, math, writing, etc going already and I don't want to switch those out since they're working well ... thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Honestly it can't get any easier than the Abeka art and craft books. Everything is in the book, and it's all preprinted, formated, etc. You literally just rip out the page, cut and do what it says, and you have a marvelous project. I'm doing the 2nd grade book with my ds, because that just happened to be the level I picked up inexpensively at a sale. If you want to go K5 or 1st, I think you'll be fine. In an alternate direction, you could let him color Dover coloring books of art and do picture study of interesting art pieces that go with whatever you're studying (geography, history, whatever). I don't know if you know this, but you can google art, right-click to save the picture as a jpeg, then upload it on walgreens or whatever and print. It means you can make a print super-duper cheap. One year we had a lovely time simply studying the pictures and loading them into a little photo album. It had space to the side to write, so we would record the artist, title, and dates. It was just enough without being too much, very memorable. Not everyone is into making art. My dd has always been crazy for art, hands-on stuff, etc. It's finally slowing down a bit, but not really. Now it's just transfering to more mature things like cooking. (Tonight she stayed up late making these really involved stuffed pockets for tomorrow's dinner.) So if he isn't drawn to art, I wouldn't necessarily feel compelled to bend over backward making a lot happen. I think it's more interesting to pick a few media and explore. My dd loved, loved, loved Sculpey at that age. Nuts, she still does. It's inherently interesting to work with, and it's really good for their finger and hand strength. So is that coloring in the Dover books btw. So you can take something he already likes, get the art in, and do him a bit of good at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairyMom Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 fairymom: would you just get the Oak Meadow Arts and Crafts book? We have reading, math, writing, etc going already and I don't want to switch those out since they're working well ... thanks! No, not really. Most of the great science (nature walk) type of ideas, as well as the handicrafts, are in the Syllabus. That's how we originally found Oak Meadow and thought we would use it only for the crafts/nature study. ;) You could use these books, which we have and love: Festivals Family & Food, All Year Round for seasonal crafts and baking, Crafts Through The Year, or Sharing Nature with Children. I'm a Charlotte Mason/Waldorf mix. I love the idea of Charlotte Mason, getting small children outdoors, observing nature, meaningful handicrafts, that kind of thing; but I couldn't figure out a way to schedule it myself. Handbook Of Nature Study blog is a great resource also. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swainsonshawk Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 FairyMom, Thanks for the great recommendations for books! I have always been attracted to Oak Meadow, but I don't know how I'd do it with so many kiddo's to teach! At least I have new books to read now! Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swainsonshawk Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 This is for Button, who as you can see from the sig is 6 and in first grade. But he's decidedly, well, tardy in the arts-and-crafts area. It turns out that early K-level projects are just his speed (I've discovered from trying online projects). Any open-and-go suggestions, or curriculums/programs/etc. you like that make it easy for the mama? I want him to have fun, move along to grade-level in this area so we can do stuff from his curricula next year, and maybe learn a skill or two a la Charlotte Mason. Any ideas that address even one of these goals would be appreciated! This probably isn't what you want to hear, but if I were you, I would get a craft book (like scribble art) and a big plastic box. Pick 10-15 crafts you are going to do and then buy/collect the supplies and put them in the box. Voila! Open and go arts and crafts program! (This is what I've done for my little kids' science this year--it's going swimmingly!) Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycc Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I am actually pulling things from my old version of Living Learning Books. Level one Science. I think a lot of worksheets are great for the toddler/preschool stage to color and talk about. I also love to little mini snacks we can make from it. Also I think a website called First school is awesome with ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prose Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 This is awesome! I was just going to post a very similar question. Thanks gals. Any easy science suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 The American Chemical Society has a number of wonderful books for that age. Skyscrapers and Soda Pop, that sort of thing. Two-page spread with interesting characters and then an activity. Very easy to implement. Also the Let's Read and Find Out series, which is probably available at your library. And Vicki Cobb has a number of great elementary science topic books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycc Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 This is such an awesome preschool science book ...love it love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted September 23, 2011 Author Share Posted September 23, 2011 The American Chemical Society has a number of wonderful books for that age. Skyscrapers and Soda Pop, that sort of thing. Two-page spread with interesting characters and then an activity. Very easy to implement. Also the Let's Read and Find Out series, which is probably available at your library. And Vicki Cobb has a number of great elementary science topic books. :lol::lol::lol: I just posted a question RE science help! this would be two-for-one ... thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JulieS Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 At walmart in the school supply section (write beside the kindergarten writing tablets) was a book by MEAD called "Snip It". It was on sale for $2.97 and it has about 20 projects in it. The first pages are making collages by cutting out colored paper (included in the book) and applying it to self-adhesive parts of the page. The next part is cut/glue/color pages using different shapes to make pictures. My little girl loves it because it is something she can do independently without me having to tell her what to do (and I love it for the same reason). You can look it up on amazon to see the book - but it was much cheaper at walmart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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