If you are visiting a national park this summer, why not try some of these nature journal ideas.
Last spring I sent some specific ways to make entries in a Nature Journal. Our family has been using those ideas regularly. We tried the leaf exercise and the following warm up ideas. I put a pumpkin in the center of the living room before we went outside to journal. We made drew several of these warm up sketches.
1. Blind Contour - Good to try when you first see an object, and to ge tyour hand onto the paper...Without looking at your paper at all, keeping your eyes only on your object, "trace" in a continuous line across your paper everything you see. Don't look, lift your pencil, or stop until you have drawn all lines, outlines, markings, bristles, veins, eyes, feathers and so on. . . Don't peek at your paper. Complete in 1-2 minutes.
2. Modified Contour - Draw the same form that you made the blind contour, allowing yourself to look at the paper, but be sure you do not lift your pencil off the paper. Draw with one continuous unwinding line, as before. Go slowly & stop only when you feel you have fully read your object. Complete in 1-2 minutes.
3. Quick gesture Sketch - Useful for field artists because much of what we draw moves quickly! Looking at your paper & the object at the same tim, lifting your pencil as eneded, now scribble down the whole form as fast as you can for 5 seconds; then try doing it in 10 seconds, finally take 15 seconds to get your sketch down. Try to get the major sense of th form by looking hard and drawing the large, identifyiable shapes. Exampe: bird comes to a feeder & keeps returning to same posture.
More warm up activities are given in Keeping a Nature Journal. This is one of my favorite resource for making entries into our nature journal. (Yes, I said "our journal". I keep a journal, too.) Another terrific source is Nature Studies the Easy Way. Scroll down this page to find this title.
Kerry
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Reading & Teens
As I read an old newsletter of mine, I was reminded that encouraging teens to read can look different than encouraging young readers. Here are a few thoughts.
Though summer can be very hectic and busy with camps, vacations, and a host of other activities, you should still take the time to relax and catch up on your reading, encouraging your teenagers to do the same.
When my kids were younger, every summer we had a reading chart - usually one from the local library. At our local library in Texas the kids could choose a new book if they completed their reading goal for the summer.
As they would finish certain goals on their chart, they would receive smaller prizes.
One year we had a "Grand Prize." If we all completed our summer reading goal, we would spend a day at Schlitterbahn, a water park in beautiful New Braunfels, Texas. I decided we might as well make it a really, grand prize. Since I could get some discount tickets, it wouldn't be that much more than going to the movies...and it was a lot more fun!
Even though they are teenagers now, I still want to encourage reading in my kids. Here's an idea I found:
For every four hours of reading, I give them a small prize like an ice cream sundae,a ticket to the local minor league baseball game ($2.00), a tube of lipstick or other make up, candy bars, etc. You get the idea. Something that costs a dollar or two. If they finish the entire chart ( I usually set it around 35 hours of reading), I give them something special. They pick the prize before we start, and it usually costs about $10.00.
My two bits: I have used a variety of incentives for my children to read. With my older ones, I even buy clothes on clearance that they wanted and save it for a reading incentive. Nail polish, hair items, etc can also be found on clearance as well.
I encourage you to start your own reading program with your teen. This idea may not work for you. Be creative and come up with something that will work for your family. Set goals for all of you and plan on achieving them this summer!
When you get tired of the frantic pace that summer can bring, steal away and curl up with a good book. Remember your kids are different. Some may naturally spend free time reading and others will want to climb trees. My middle daughter just spent the last few days reading Sense & Sensibilities. In fact, she read the last 7 pages just before breakfast this morning. Now, she is reading Pride & Prejudice since we watched the rest of the movie last night. Yes...that' goes against my rules (read the book first, then watch the movie). Oh well!!!
Happy Reading,
Kerry
Though summer can be very hectic and busy with camps, vacations, and a host of other activities, you should still take the time to relax and catch up on your reading, encouraging your teenagers to do the same.
When my kids were younger, every summer we had a reading chart - usually one from the local library. At our local library in Texas the kids could choose a new book if they completed their reading goal for the summer.
As they would finish certain goals on their chart, they would receive smaller prizes.
One year we had a "Grand Prize." If we all completed our summer reading goal, we would spend a day at Schlitterbahn, a water park in beautiful New Braunfels, Texas. I decided we might as well make it a really, grand prize. Since I could get some discount tickets, it wouldn't be that much more than going to the movies...and it was a lot more fun!
Even though they are teenagers now, I still want to encourage reading in my kids. Here's an idea I found:
For every four hours of reading, I give them a small prize like an ice cream sundae,a ticket to the local minor league baseball game ($2.00), a tube of lipstick or other make up, candy bars, etc. You get the idea. Something that costs a dollar or two. If they finish the entire chart ( I usually set it around 35 hours of reading), I give them something special. They pick the prize before we start, and it usually costs about $10.00.
My two bits: I have used a variety of incentives for my children to read. With my older ones, I even buy clothes on clearance that they wanted and save it for a reading incentive. Nail polish, hair items, etc can also be found on clearance as well.
I encourage you to start your own reading program with your teen. This idea may not work for you. Be creative and come up with something that will work for your family. Set goals for all of you and plan on achieving them this summer!
When you get tired of the frantic pace that summer can bring, steal away and curl up with a good book. Remember your kids are different. Some may naturally spend free time reading and others will want to climb trees. My middle daughter just spent the last few days reading Sense & Sensibilities. In fact, she read the last 7 pages just before breakfast this morning. Now, she is reading Pride & Prejudice since we watched the rest of the movie last night. Yes...that' goes against my rules (read the book first, then watch the movie). Oh well!!!
Happy Reading,
Kerry
Notebooking & Writing Ideas
Do you ever have your children put dividers in a notebook at the beginning of the year, only to find that you run out of time to keep it organized? I sure do. We have several notebooks....history, writing, science, etc. I always have the best intentions to keep up with the notebook throught the year, but some how time gets the best of me. After evaluating our week, I hope to use Fridays to update our notebooks. Here are a few of my thoughts on how Fridays will be used over the next few months....
1. We will work on the basic subjects (reading, writing, 'rithmetic) and use the rest of the time to read and work on our notebooks.
2. Each child should update their personal reading list with the books they have completed that week. We use a chart with the categories of history, literature, science, biography/Bible and fun (your child's choice).
3. All papers that have not been inserted into the notebook will be placed in the appropriate spot.
4. The best work will be placed on a decorated page and then inserted into the notebook.
5. Titles, borders, and sprucing up will be added as needed.
6. Research for particular topics will be done
Cindy Rushton makes many suggestions for making notebooks appealing to others. She is always encouraging you to decorate your pages, making them presentable to your audience. For those of you who follow Cindy's guides, Notebooking-Yes, You Can Be A Binder Queen, Too, Nature Study the Easy Way, or Language Arts the Easy Way, the following products will be an inspiration to your endeavors!!!
A local co-ops asked me to order a great book, The 123's of Creative Doodling. I immediately thought it would help those families who use notebooks. This book is perfect for the child who may not be a great artist because it takes you step-by-step through simple drawings. I plan to have our children use it as they decorate their notebooks.
When placing the order for the Creative Doodling book, I found a few other books that I believe will help with the children's notebooks. The Kid's Creative Lettering Book instructs the child, in a step-by-step manner, how to use a variety of letter fonts in your notebook. The LMNOP Book of Lettering has more intricate letter styles for the more advanced student.
My children's favorite product when using the Creative Lettering book are rulers. Some rulers have letter stencils on them and other rulers have borders. My kids used to have a terrific time as they try out rulers. "Mom, these are really cool" was repeated a few times when they first used rulers. Some children may be better served using the stencils to title pages in your notebook and border their best work.
Kerry
1. We will work on the basic subjects (reading, writing, 'rithmetic) and use the rest of the time to read and work on our notebooks.
2. Each child should update their personal reading list with the books they have completed that week. We use a chart with the categories of history, literature, science, biography/Bible and fun (your child's choice).
3. All papers that have not been inserted into the notebook will be placed in the appropriate spot.
4. The best work will be placed on a decorated page and then inserted into the notebook.
5. Titles, borders, and sprucing up will be added as needed.
6. Research for particular topics will be done
Cindy Rushton makes many suggestions for making notebooks appealing to others. She is always encouraging you to decorate your pages, making them presentable to your audience. For those of you who follow Cindy's guides, Notebooking-Yes, You Can Be A Binder Queen, Too, Nature Study the Easy Way, or Language Arts the Easy Way, the following products will be an inspiration to your endeavors!!!
A local co-ops asked me to order a great book, The 123's of Creative Doodling. I immediately thought it would help those families who use notebooks. This book is perfect for the child who may not be a great artist because it takes you step-by-step through simple drawings. I plan to have our children use it as they decorate their notebooks.
When placing the order for the Creative Doodling book, I found a few other books that I believe will help with the children's notebooks. The Kid's Creative Lettering Book instructs the child, in a step-by-step manner, how to use a variety of letter fonts in your notebook. The LMNOP Book of Lettering has more intricate letter styles for the more advanced student.
My children's favorite product when using the Creative Lettering book are rulers. Some rulers have letter stencils on them and other rulers have borders. My kids used to have a terrific time as they try out rulers. "Mom, these are really cool" was repeated a few times when they first used rulers. Some children may be better served using the stencils to title pages in your notebook and border their best work.
Kerry
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