Storytelling, The Oldest Art

One of the many things that makes my heart sing is when I look into the next room and I see a mama helper reading to our children.



Storytelling is likely the oldest art, and may still be the most powerful one. Command of its magic has catapulted diverse authors like Mark Twain, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Eudora Welty, and Neil Gaiman to great success. They share the knowledge of how to spin a tale that holds us tight in its silky, strong web.-What Is a Story?

Patterns

Pat·tern  [pat-ern; Brit. pat-n]an arrangement of repeated or corresponding parts
a natural or chance marking, configuration, or design


Patterns are everywhere, if you take a moment to look.







I'm going to challenge the children to try to find math patterns in nature, as nature is filled with them.

[Tinkering] Simple Machine: The Wedge

We continue with our classes with Kami Wilt from the Austin Tinkering School. This week's Simple Machine was The Wedge.

First off, safety glasses!



Did you know that scissors are considered a wedge? As well as a spatula?



A hatchet, of course.





Using a saw to cut a wedge.









On to the Hammer and Nail









Hammer + Nails + Rubber Bands = AWESOME Geoboard!







We LOVE tinkering! And we LOVE Kami!

The Importance of Tinkering

Gever Tulley's TED talk about the importance of tinkering.

[Tinkering] Simple Machines: The Lever

Our schoolhouse has the honor of hosting Kami Wilt of the Austin Tinkering School for a series of classes on Simple Machines. We are so happy to have Kami working with our children. First up, the Lever!













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The See Saw as a simple machine. When the load is shifted and the fulcrum off center, things change.











I found the children carrying over what they learned the day before. Good stuff!

Passion Based Learning for the 21st Century

Instead of me having all these preconceived ideas of what they should doing, saying, and producing, I have to be open to what I find in each student. I have to discover — and help each student discover — their talents and interests and create a learning environment where they can use those gifts and passions to learn from a position of strength. — Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Passion-Based Learning for the 21st Century

[Field Trip] Pioneer Farms

Some of our families met up for a field trip to Pioneer Farms on their homeschooling day. It was neat to step back in time to the 1800's and explore Texas' frontier past when family farms were the heart and soul of Texas. Most of the buildings at Pioneer Farms have been relocated here to save them from demolition. They have been placed to replicate their original environment as closely as possible. There was so much there, we didn't even get to explore it all.















Fredric Kruger Farm, a German Immigrant Homestead in the 1860's.
This one room cabin was built around 1867 by German immigrants who settled near the intersection of Dessau Road and Yager Lane, about a mile away. It represents a common housing style of the era, more Spartan than the other farmsteads. Front and rear porches extended the sheltered living areas of the cabin and a loft above the main room was used as a sleeping area for the children; the Krugers had 13.




Adjacent to the cabin are a modest barn and a chicken yard, a covered outdoor kitchen that was used both in winter and in summer, and a kitchen garden that follows a tradition of that period of intermixing various plants.










James Bell Farm. A Cotton Planter's Homestead in the 1880's.



This home was of a well-to-do family in the 1880's. Furnishings inside this house reflect the simple elegance of the day. There were so  many homeschooling families there that day, I couldn't even get inside the main house to get a clear photo. Behind the house is this separate kitchen and also a spinning room - common features of the era.















An amazing grand old tree. Many of the trees are nearly 100 years old.