A Nest in the Rocks

Building a nest on the rocks of faith and family

homeschool

Book Club, Boys’ Edition: “The Lemonade Crime”

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The boys were really excited about this month’s book pick: 

I set up chairs on our carport to resemble – roughly – a courtroom.  When everyone was ready, we moved outside and took our places.  Our Honorable Judge called court to order, listened to the opening statements, and then swore in our first witness.

Book Club, Boys' Edition: The Lemonade Crime @ A Nest in the Rocks

After listening to the prosecution, the defense attorney stood up and gave a rousing defense on behalf of the Third Pig.  He was quite proud of himself!

Book Club, Boys' Edition: The Lemonade Crime @ A Nest in the Rocks

After closing arguments and some debate, the jury members declared the Third Little Pig to be innocent of murder. 

The mock trial was a lot of fun, and the boys are already asking to do it again.

I call that a success.

Want to put on your own mock trial?  Find everything you need here and here.

 

 

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NEW! Mock Trial Materials from A Nest in the Rocks

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I plan book club events months in advance.

That’s why I was thrown last month when the boys asked to dig into a book in a way I hadn’t planned.  Worse yet, I wasn’t sure exactly how to do what they asked, and I knew that figuring it out would require a lot of time and research.

Still, who wants to say ‘no’ to a bunch of boys asking to learn more?

Research I did, and our book club event ended up being really fun.  The boys all got into it, so much so that the girls’ group did a similar project.

What did they want to do?

They asked to hold a mock trial like the one in the book

A FREE Field Trip + Chocolate Unit

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Videri, a fair-trade and locally-owned chocolate factory in downtown Raleigh, NC, makes for a fantastic field trip.  The self-guided tour is a fun way to see the chocolate process in action, but if you’re not close enough to drop by on your own, I have great news!

FREE Field Trip + Unit Study @ A Nest in the Rocks

Gypsy Road is featuring our trip to Videri on their blog today – along with lots of resources for creating your own chocolate unit – and most of them are FREE!  Hop on over and check it out!

Of course, if you want more information about Videri, you can go here to read more about our trip.  The resources below are also some of our chocolate-y favorites.

 

Book Club, Girls’ Edition: “Stealing Magic”

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This week the girls took their turn at Stealing Magic, the second book in The Sixty-Eight Rooms series by Marianne Malone.

While the boys read this book last week, the girls took a very different approach to it.

Book Club Girls Edition Stealing Magic

After discussing the story, we moved right into painting.  Jack and Ruthie traveled to Paris in 1837 during one of their visits to the Sixty-Eight Rooms, and so we focused on Parisian culture during this meeting. 

Book Club, Girls' Edition: "Stealing Magic" @ A Nest in the Rocks

Each girl brought a canvas to the party.  We covered our kitchen table with a bright purple tablecloth and got to work.  We painted Eiffel Tower backlit with a sunset.  I loved listening to the girls compliment each other’s work throughout this process.  They also all chose to put their own unique spin on it.  Some went for heavy texture while others worked for smooth, realistic colors.  Their paintings turned out great!

Book Club, Girls' Edition: "Stealing Magic" @ A Nest in the Rocks

By the time we finished painting, everyone was hungry.  We broke out the crepe supplies and mixed up a batch of Creative Crepes.  Everyone chose to make two, and they all made their own.  These girls have skills – they flipped wonderful, thin, round crepes!

Book Club, Girls' Edition: "Stealing Magic" @ A Nest in the Rocks

It’s hard to top strawberries, chocolate, and whipped cream – and so that’s how we topped our crepes.

Book Club, Girls' Edition: "Stealing Magic" @ A Nest in the RocksAfterwards, we headed outside since the weather was pretty warm.  I showed the girls how to roll newspaper into short, medium, and long tubes, then asked them to build a kid-sized Eiffel Tower.  Although they rolled lots of tubes, they ran out of time before they were able to finish.  Judging from the huge amount of rolled newspaper still in my house, however, this project was a hit – and My Big Helper continues to plan new structures.

There are many opportunities for learning within the pages of Stealing Magic.    We tapped only one avenue of this – there’s so much more to explore.  Give Stealing Magic a try – it’s definitely worth the read.

What are your kids reading this month?

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Foreign Languages for Kids Review: January

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I continue to be amazed at my kids’ enthusiasm for Spanish after only a few months of using Foreign Languages for Kids.

We took a break from our traditional schoolwork throughout most of December, but that didn’t stop My Little Man from using his new Spanish vocabulary all month long.  We often heard him shouting, “Feliz Navidad!” or “Cucina rojo!” from the backseat of the car or in the shower (I have no idea why he shouts random things from there, but he always has).  His enthusiasm level for this new-to-him subject and the videos we’re using has remained at a constant high throughout the past few months.

Personally, I love that.  He’s learning, he’s using his new information, and he’s excited about it all.  What more can you ask for from an online curriculum?

Although we intended to resume school this week, we did so slowly due to a lingering cold that’s infected part of our family.  We’ve taken it easy and concentrated on keeping everyone warm and hydrated. I’m excited to pick back up where we left off with our Spanish videos on Tuesday, however, and I can’t wait to see what we’ll learn about next.

Thank you, Foreign Languages for Kids, for making our Spanish adventure so exciting!

Want to give Foreign Languages for Kids a try?  Click on the banner below to find out how!

 

Book Club, Boys’ Edition: “Stealing Magic”

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I was really excited about this month’s book pick.  I love when the kids love a particular book enough to request the next in the series, and that’s how we ended up reading Stealing Magic.  The second in The Sixty-Eight Rooms series by Marianne Malone, this story continues Ruthie and Jack’s adventures in this famous museum exhibit.

We started out by summarizing and discussing the story, and this one is ripe for great discussion.  We talked about heroes, idols, and what happens when those people fall off pedestals.  We talked about what trustworthy means and how we can tell who is.  Lastly, we talked about what the Bible has to say about the goodness of people and who He finds to be trustworthy.

Deep stuff, right?

Book Club, Boys' Edition: "Stealing Magic"

 Then we got our hands dirty.  We headed to the kitchen and made crepes since one of the places Ruthie and Jack visited through the Rooms was Paris in 1837.  We mixed up the crepe batter together and the boys cleaned and capped strawberries.  Each kid made his own crepe and topped it with his choice of fresh strawberries, chocolate ganache, and whipped cream.

Book Club, Boys' Edition: "Stealing Magic"

The boys made small crepes, but apparently they had big flavor – every boy had seconds (also made himself).

Book Club, Boys' Edition: "Stealing Magic"

Sticking with the Parisian theme, I challenged the boys to build the Eiffel Tower – out of mini marshmallows and spaghetti noodles.  They were pretty excited about this, and each team tackled the challenge a different way.  Some tried to stay very true to the shape of the Tower, while others just attempted to build structures.  It was fun to watch the excitement on the boys’ faces, and I love seeing how their spatial skills came into play with this activity.

Stealing Magic is a great book, and in the end the boys requested the third one in in the series, so we’ll be tackling that one soon.  In the meantime, come back next week to find out how the girls interacted with this same book!

 

Our Christmas Family Date 2015

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Every year our family takes a day just before Christmas to spend together.  We never do the exact same thing twice, but we do enjoy lights, decorations, and a meal out together.  This year we decided to go further afield than ever before and head to Charlotte – a city the kids had never visited.

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Our trip to Charlotte was prompted by our Big Helper’s love for American Girl.  This company recently opened a store in a big mall just south of Charlotte, and we hadn’t made it there yet.  While we didn’t plan to do any major shopping, we thought she’d love checking out the store, restaurant, and the wide variety of products available.

She did.  We spent about three hours wandering through the store, dreaming about what it must be like to play with such fancy toys.

In the end, our Big Helper picked out a cute new outfit for her Julie doll, complete with boots in the same style as her own, and then we headed out.

Our Christmas Family Date 2015 @ A Nest in the Rocks

We stopped at a nearby train station and purchased tickets for a ride into the city.  The kids had never ridden on a Subway or Metro before, and they were quite excited by the experience.  I found it interesting the way that the train started out far above ground at our station, but then went up and down as we traveled.  Fortunately, unlike in some bigger cities, the train felt very safe and wasn’t crowded.

Our Christmas Family Date 2015 @ A Nest in the Rocks

The kids were excited to see tall buildings as soon as we arrived, but I enjoyed the Christmas decorations even more.  This was my first visit to this city during the Christmas season, and the many parks were all decorated beautifully.

Our Christmas Family Date 2015 @ A Nest in the Rocks

Having snacked our way through lunch because of our lengthy American Girl stay, we soon headed to Ri Ra for dinner, an old Irish pub.  We’ve loved our visits to Tir na nog in Raleigh and were sad to hear of their closing, so we were hoping for another authentic Irish experience.  Our Big Helper ordered shepherd’s pie, and we were all happy to help her finish this huge portion.  Their food was excellent and the atmosphere fun.  It made for a great meal out.

Our Christmas Family Date 2015 @ A Nest in the RocksBack on the street, we headed out to look at more lights.  It was so foggy that many of the tallest buildings were hidden from view at the top.

Our Christmas Family Date 2015 @ A Nest in the Rocks

We had hoped to visit a few museums, but we got there just as they were closing.  We hadn’t expected to hang out in the AG store for so long!  Nevertheless, there were beautiful decorations just outside all of them.

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While I would never want to live in a city, they can be really fun to visit for a short while.  We thoroughly enjoyed this chance to see lights and decorations on a scale that doesn’t exist in our small town. 

After that, we headed back to the train station and back to our car.  We debated about possibilities at this point, but in the end IKEA won out.  The kids had never been, had heard exciting things about it, and so we went there to admire furniture and examine the creativity that went into such unusual designs.  The kids came home with all sorts of new ideas for how to build things, and we liked seeing them so enthused about something that was new to them.

Christmas Family Date Day 2015 was a long one, but it was great.  Exploring new places and seeing new things is always exciting, but when everything is covered in tinsel and lights it’s even better. 

What are some of your family holiday traditions?

 

 

Book Club, Boys’ Edition: “The Map Trap”

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This month’s book has my son studying his atlas and planning for a cross-country trip.

Why?

We read The Map Trap by Andrew Clements.  It’s about a boy who adores maps and is being blackmailed by someone after making all sorts of really creative ones.

Of course, we had to do that.

Book Club, Boys' Edition: The Map Trap @ A Nest in the Rocks

After summarizing and discussing the book at length, we dove right in – with human body maps.  We talked about caricatures and the boys drew themselves with either enlarged heads or torsos.  Then they filled in that space with pictures – with either the things they think about or the foods they like to eat.  Although drawing is not always their favorite activity, they were excited to create a new kind of map and got busy drawing right away.

Of course, they were even more excited to go geocaching like Alton from The Map Trap.

Each boy brought six pieces of swag that represented himself.  We talked about signatures and labels and they marked each piece of their swag with their mark.  Then we talked about bike safety and broke up into pairs.

The boys put on their helmets and packed their swag into bags and pockets and headed outside.

Book Club, Boys' Edition: The Map Trap @ A Nest in the Rocks

Earlier that day, I hid 6 bags containing simple swag items around our neighborhood.  I also made maps of the neighborhood and overlaid a grid on top.  Since we did not have enough GPS units for each group, we needed another way to simulate a geocaching activity, and this was it.  I gave each team of boys a set of coordinates to mimic the latitude and longitude of a regular geocache target, and then each team examined a map to figure out where that was.  They headed to their specific target to search for the swag bags. 

Each bag was labeled with another set of coordinates.  When the boys found a bag, they swapped out their swag for the swag inside and then memorized the new coordinates.  They studied the map to find the new coordinates and took off again.

Book Club, Boys' Edition: The Map Trap @ A Nest in the Rocks

The boys loved this activity!  They chased down caches for two hours – until they had found every single one.  They worked well together in their teams and were generous with their swag.  It was a super fun book, and there are many learning activities available to accompany it.

They’re also interested in reading more of Andrew Clements’ work.  We’ll definitely be trying out more of them.

What are your kids reading this month?

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Spanish Success with FLFK + a SALE!

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We’ve been using Foreign Language for Kids for our Spanish curriculum since the beginning of the school year.  We watch the videos during breakfast, and a few weeks ago we received print curriculum, stickers, and games in the mail.

The kids haven’t stopped asking to play with those new materials since.

My Little Man still shouts along with certain repetitive parts of the videos.  He loves them as much as ever – but both kids are enthralled with the games.  They love the idea that we can ‘play’ for school, even though we do lots of unusual things in the name of education.

Spanish Success with FLFK @ A Nest in the Rocks

They love it so much that when the day gets crazy, they’re excited to ‘play Spanish’ after bath time.  Just before bedtime.  In their PJs.

Spanish Success with FLFK @ A Nest in the Rocks

Does it work? 

YES. 

The kids continue to randomly mix in their new Spanish words with their English ones.

They get excited when they hear Spanish being spoken in public.

They’re remembering their vocabulary words, they’re playing the games successfully, and they’re happy about all of it.

That’s success to me.

Best of all, Foreign Languages for Kids is running a huge 40% off sale right now!  This Spanish program is so much fun and only takes about 5 minutes out of your day! Offer ends on Nov. 30th! Don’t forget to share with a friend!  Use code TOSbeginner to get your discount.

How do you teach foreign languages?

 

 

NEW See the Light Art Special

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Christmas Special - 10% off all SEE THE LIGHT products + FREE SHIPPING in U.S.A. - Offer Expires 12-15-2015

We LOVE See the Light products, and so I’m super excited to share this with you.  See the Light is running a special now – all the way through mid-December!  For this limited time only, STL is giving you 10% off all products + free shipping in the USA with the code CHRISTMAS.

STL specials rarely encompass all of their products, which makes this really exciting.  I’m going to be combing the pages, deciding which products we need to add to our collection.

See the Light products are clearly explained.  They provide multiple types of art instruction and levels of difficulty for a range of ages and abilities.  One of my favorite aspects is the Christian lessons.  Pat Knepley, master artist, provides a clear and concise devotional related to each Art Class lesson, and many of the other projects feature Christian scenes or stories.  I love the way that this company combines faith and art.

If you’re in the market for art instruction, give See the Light a try. 

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