A stirring Pantene commercial?

Funny how they can fit such drama into just four minutes. After you watch it, you feel you've watched an entire movie. I'm not sure if that's good or bad or what that says about society...

Unitstudy.com is having a sale!

Unitstudy.com - the web site of Amanda Bennett - has many of their unit studies on sale for $10 per CD-ROM with free shipping! This offer is good through August 8, 2009, so hurry on over and take a look!

A train meets a tornado...

You can't really actually see the tornado. It's from a camera mounted on a part of the train, but you can see part of the train getting blown off the track. Pretty awesome. This isn't a passenger train, so no people get hurt in the video.

Trompe L'oeil Video Projection...

555 KUBIK | facade projection | from urbanscreen on Vimeo.

(H/T The Informed Parent)

Ooops! The Carnival of Homeschooling is up and running!

And I missed the boat again - the second week in a row, I tell you!

You know, I LOVE living in the South - no disrespect to any of you from up North or living in foreign lands - but I just think we have the best food and some of the best weather (albeit hot) on earth! But it's humid and hot - just perfect for growing all sorts of things...things that spew pounds and pounds of itchy, bothersome pollen into the air. I think your sinuses are connecting to your brains somehow - either that, or my brains have been blown out my poor nose! (Sorry for that word picture...hope you were through with breakfast!).

All right, all right. I know people don't come here to hear me whine about my troubles - so let's get down to business! This week's Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Small World. As usual, there is something for everyone, so dig in!

Hopefully, by next week I will know what day it is and will not only forget to promote the Carnival, but will also participate in it again!

Marshmallow safety tips...

Eating marshmallows is dangerous - approach with caution!

From Free Range Kids, here are some safety tips when roasting marshmallows from a doctor in British Columbia. I don't remember taking all of these precautions back in the stone age when I was a kid! It is a miracle I survived this long!

Minding your marshmallows
Katherine Dedyna, Canwest News Service Published: Friday, July 24, 2009

There’s no such thing as being too careful when it comes to kids and camping – even for hyper-vigilant parents. But peril can take unexpected forms – including the seemingly innocuous marshmallow, if improperly handled.

For maximum health and safety, one B.C. doctor offers his wish-list of marshmallow-roasting techniques for 21st-century campfire kids:

1. Apply hand sanitizer before selecting marshmallow.

2. Sterilize the roasting twig by thrusting it in fire.

3. Remove carbon from the twig with a clean tissue.

4. Put a clean marshmallow on the clean twig with the clean hands and roast away.

“And don’t eat too many because one, they’re pure sugar, and two, all of us have burned our mouths on marshmallows,” says Dr. Richard Stanwick, chief medical officer of health for the Vancouver Island Health Authority.

“If there’s a flame coming out of it, it’s probably too hot.”

The Homeschoolin' Blues - New Zealand Style!

How to fold an origami camera that "works"!

How to Fold Origami Camera -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

She uses a lot of origami terms - like "valley fold" and "squash fold" - so if you don't know what these are you can search for them on her blog and get instruction for those, although some of the terms are self-explanatory, and you may be able to pick up how to do them through the video. I also suggest that you use the "full screen" mode to be able to see the folds better.

This is a rather complicated piece, but would be great fun for the kids...especially in case you actually do it correctly! ;)

Source: Blogorigami

Piezoelectric Generators

These are mineral crystal-powered generators that generate electricity. This energy can also be derived from people power. Did you know that we generate electric power when we breathe or when we walk? Scientists are trying to find ways of capturing this energy to put it to use powering cell phones or even larger devices. Here is a video from the people at Fast Draw to tell you more. However, I am not recommending anyone watch CBS News or any programming on CBS, which is advertised at the end of the video. The actual title of the video is "Gossamer Albatross" but there is just a little information on the Gossamer Albatross, and is more about piezoelectric generators and their current applications (watches) and possible future applications.

Here's an article from Wired.com telling more about piezoelectric generators.



Watch CBS Videos Online

Kidsnet.au has some great information for kids on piezoelectricity.

The Carnival of Homeschooling is up and running!

For some reason, carnivals always remind me of math!

Be sure to check out the new Carnival of Homeschooling, which is up and running at Homeschool CPA. who is celebrating 25 years of marriage and 12 years of homeschooling -

CONGRATULATIONS!

The theme, of course, is the passage of time, and there are interesting little vignettes about their marriage and homeschooling journey along the way.

As usual, there is something for everyone!

Check it out!

Blog Hop - A favorite recipe... in song!

This is a YouTube video featuring a recipe for one of my all-time favorite foods! Actually, when I make guacamole I just smash up some avocado and add lime juice, minced garlic, some cumin and a little chile powder to taste! I'm the only one in my family who will eat it, so I don't make it very often.

Math Teachers at Play blog carnival...

I haven't been keeping up with one of my favorite blog carnivals, Math Teachers at Play, lately. It's been ages since I blogged about it as well. So, I decided to give you the heads up so you can send in a submission (you need not be a certified math teacher - just a person who likes math or a homeschool teacher - anyone who has something interesting to share about math).

If you want to send in a submission, go to BlogCarnival and follow the instructions. The carnival is ongoing, biweekly, and the deadline for submitting a post is the Wednesday before the Carnival, which is every other Friday .

The next Math Teachers at Play will be held at The Number Warrior on Friday, July 24, 2009. Be sure to participate and/or come see what's going on with Math Teachers at Play!

Is achievement related to class size?

Fun Fact Friday! - Student/Teacher Ratio from Education Gadfly on Vimeo.

(H/T Why Homeschool)

A new type of origami...

Here is the link to the free Tree Maker program.

Are you qualified to teach elementary math?

Take the following test to see if you can pass. (Actually, it's a lot more difficult than I thought it would be!)

Here's the test!

If you're feeling intimidated by the test, also read this article by John Gatto. It'll give you a little pep talk!

For help with math teaching, I recommend Maria Miller's site, Homeschool Math. You will find all kinds of support there from free printable worksheets, to inexpensive download and print Math Mammoth worktexts, to her math blog.

Rembrandt's Birthday...

I haven't been feeling well the past few days, and I missed posting about the Dutch painter (and etcher) Rembrandt's birthday, which was on July 15, 1606 - 403 years ago! His paintings are housed in museums all over the world. I gathered some links for a sort of web lesson on Rembrandt, and here they are:

Here is a short biography at Finding Dulcinea.

The web site History of Holland has a more thorough biography suitable for older children.

The web site Kids Konnect has quite a few pages with wonderful pictures of some of Rembrandt's art.

Here is a notebooking page from Learning Treasures for kids to use for writing a report on Rembrandt.

Trying 2 Walk Wisely has instructions for an art/art history lap book, complete with helpful links.

Homeschool in the Woods has an activity pack that introduces 33 artists - including Rembrandt - all at a very reasonable price, if you happen to be creatively challenged (like me!).

Send in your posts for the next Carnival of Homeschooling!

Image from Honk Kong Observatory

The next edition of Carnival of Homeschooling will be taking place at HomeschoolingCPA's. Here's the scoop on her particular theme and instructions for sending in a post:

This year my oldest daughter graduated from homeschool high school in May and my husband and I are celebrating 25 years of marriage on July 21st, so I’m reflecting on the passage of time. My categories will be along the lines of time such as:

Before you begin
Starting to homeschool
Growing and learning
Travel and field trips
Continued commitment
Milestones and celebration

If you have a post that could fit my theme or a particular category, send it me using this handy submission form: http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_199.html

Any posts on homeschooling will be accepted, but if you have a post (even an old one) fitting the theme or my categories, that would be appreciated.

The due date is Monday, July 20 at 6 pm. The earlier, the better!

If you haven’t read any blog carnivals before, please read What is a Blog Carnival.

Thanks!!

Carol Topp

The Carnival of Homeschooling

Don't forget to send in your post for the next Carnival of homeschooling! The deadline is Monday before 6:00 pm PST. The Carnival will be up on Tuesday. If you participate in the Carnival, please make sure you promote it on your blog and let your readers know to be looking for your contribution.

There are two ways to submit a post for the COH:

1. You can send your post via BlogCarnival. Just go here and follow the instructions.

2. You can email your entry to : CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.com by 6:00 PM (PST) on the Monday evening of the week. It will be greatly appreciated if the submissions come in earlier. Please send the following information:

Title of Post
URL of Post
Name of Blog
URL of Blog
Brief summary of the post
(With "carnival" or "submission" in the subject field of the email.)

Blog Hop - Three things you didn't know about me!

Photo from: Cool Optical Illusions

This is my first blog hop, and I don't think I did it correctly, but here goes!

1. I love watermelon! I could eat a whole one all by myself! I absolutely love-love-love it! Believe it or not, my kids do not like watermelon at all. But hubby and I buy it anyway - more for us!

Photo from: CaptionSplash

2. We have three cats that stay inside all the time. I like to think one for each child! They aren't all ours by choice, but we sort of ended up with them! They are sweet, though.

Photo from: The Victory Store

3. I love to paint things! Not art-type painting on canvas - although I would love to do that as well. I have been busy painting old furniture and kitchen cabinets, breathing new life into them. I plan on painting the entire inside of my house. Maybe next Spring I will even tackle the outside of the house - who knows!

***This week, on TUESDAY, 7/14/09, the theme is THREE THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT ME (or US). You can express this with photos, writing or a combination. Here is a sample I did: http://www.mcklinkyblog.com/2009/07/mcklinky-photo-blog-for-july-14-2009-3.html ... Do not change any part of this code except for text that falls between (and includes) the opening and closing asterisks. Between the asterisks is where you place your content. DO NOT CREATE A NEW MCKLINKY LIST. WE ALL USE THE SAME LIST. DO NOT CHANGE THE LIST ID BELOW. Be sure to enter your own link to your own blog post as soon as the blog hop starts! Link directly to your blog post, not just your blog.***

The Carnival of Homeschooling is up and running!

The Three Ways of Knowing

The location is Tami Fox's Thoughts and Views!

She says there is no particular theme, except for the variety of styles of homeschooling used by different families. So, there's sure to be something for every type of homeschooling family!

Check it out!

The World Carrot Museum

This is what I call "accidental" education. It happens a lot around my house!

My 8 y/o daughter was playing with Play-Doh and made a big purple carrot. I happened to remember that there really are purple carrots - and a lot of other colors - and told her so. As I was at the computer, she asked if she could see a purple carrot. Of course she can! This is the information superhighway, after all!

So, I searched for "varieties of carrots" and up popped the World Carrot Museum! I will never cease to be amazed at the variety of interests and web sites available to us! The World Carrot Museum contains information about carrot nutrition, varieties of carrots, carrots in art, carrots in literature, recipes, carrots in history (did you know they were a great help in World War II?), carrot science experiments, nutrition information - and much, much more!

Just one interesting tidbit of information that I found is that the flower (or weed - however you view it) known as Queen Anne's Lace is a wild carrot! There is a whole page of information on Queen Anne's Lace, the history of the name, and instructions for making paper, a cake, and jelly out of Queen Anne's Lace.

There is a wealth of information on carrots if you are willing to dig it up!

The World Carrot Museum

I just had to add this video that I found at the World Carrot Museum! This is one jazzy carrot!

Send in your submission to the Carnival of Homeschooling

It's that time again! Send in your post today by 6 pm PST. The carnival this week is hosted at Tami Fox's Thoughts and Views. Here's the scoop, according to Tami:

I always enjoy receiving the entries and reading them as I put the carnival together. I do not have a specific theme in mind other than articles that deal with home education. There are so many varied ways to homeschool and instill a life-long passion for learning in our children. Let's have a great time and share some of our passion for educating our children at home!

To submit an article for consideration for the Carnival of Homeschooling, here are the particulars:

Submissions are due to: CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.com by 6:00 PM (PST) on the Monday evening of the week. (July 13th)

It will be greatly appreciated if the submissions come in earlier. I work on assembling posts as I have time during the week leading up to the Carnival.

Please send the following information:
Title of Post
URL of Post
Name of Blog
URL of Blog
Brief summary of the post (With "carnival" or "submission" in the subject field of the email.)

You can also send in a submission via Blog Carnival by going here.

If you haven't read any blog carnivals before, please read What is a Blog Carnival.

Thanks so much! I am looking forward to reading your articles!!

Send in your posts and be sure to attend the Carnival of Homeschooling tomorrow!

Barney Fife and the Preamble to the Constitution...

I love these old episodes of Andy Griffith! It's one thing the whole family can watch...if you don't count the commercials, that is!

(H/T The Informed Parent)

My Audio School and Leonardo Davinci - repost!

I posted this before and, for some reason, I looked back on the post when I realized Leonardo Davinci was in the title, but I didn't even mention him in the actual post. I'm sure anyone who looked at my post was confused and/or quite possibly annoyed. I'm very sorry about that.

The My Audio School site is a resource for audio and videos for many different subjects - and the videos come up on one page. You don't have to go to YouTube or other places and search around for videos on a particular subject. This is an extremely helpful resource. Plus, it's free! You can't beat that. So, here's my previous post:


At My Audio School there are many audio files and videos about history subjects to choose from on a variety of subjects. Included are several videos on Leonardo Davinci's Inventions. No matter how much you think you know about the talented Leonardo Davinci, I'm sure there's something you didn't know in these videos. The best thing is, they're all in one place and you could base a whole lesson on the information contained in these videos.

Best of all, it's free!

Here is their stated purpose for the web site:

I built this site is to provide excellent educational audio content for my children in a format that is easy for them to use. I hope and pray that your children will also be blessed here! Every audio book on this site is from the public domain. You can stream individual chapters from the blog, or click the provided links to download books in their entirety to MP3.

Go to the My Audio School web site to find out more.

Here's some different music!

My kids especially like the rain and thunder sounds. I like the whole thing. The song brings back some memories from my younger years!

(H/T Harmony Art Mom)

I know this isn't homeschooling or education related, but...

I thought it was too funny to keep to myself! It seems that Chik-Fil-A is having a promotion tomorrow called Cow Appreciation Day! In honor of the cows, they are asking people to dress up like cows tomorrow to receive free food!

Click here for the downloadable costume (pdf).

Rappin math teacher!

What a fun way to learn math! This is the Rappin Mathematician.



The Rappin' Mathematician

(H/T Why Homeschool)

Carnival of Homeschooling - Founding Fathers Edition is up!

The Carnival of Homeschooling Founding Fathers Edition is up - and it is huge!

As usual, there is something for everyone!

Have fun!

A giveaway from The Masked Mommy!

At the crafty-type blog called The Masked Mommy, the author is giving away a poster of a painting that is her (purple) interpretation of Vincent Van Gogh's The Starry Night. It's quite lovely.

Check it out!

Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in three parts...

Barb from Harmony Art Mom posted these videos in this post at her web site. Sometimes I forget how wonderful it is to watch the musicians perform. With video, not only do you get to listen to the beautiful music, but you can actually feel it along with the musicians and the audience.

What are the most reliable history resources?

As a homeschooler, I know how difficult it is to decide what curriculum and book choices are best for your family. Even the curriculum companies that have been around for a while can have inaccuracies in their texts. When your kids are younger, teaching history mainly consists of hitting the high points with American history - the pilgrims, the Liberty Bell, the flag, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. When they start getting in upper elementary/middle school, it changes - at least it has for me. I, too, hated history when I was in school. However, the older I get the more I find history fascinating. But there's one problem...where do you get accurate books so your kids (and you!) can really learn about historical events? How do you know they're accurate?

Yesterday, I was listening to Janet Parshall's Talking it Over radio program. (Here's the podcast of that program.) Her guest for both hours was David Barton of Wall Builders. Mr. Barton was a math and science teacher who hated history. He realized his need for accurate information about history when he read some original historical documents having to do with American history and discovered he had never been taught that in school. He began to collect old documents and books.

The program was very interesting, as he gave several examples of things that he had not been taught in history class and found out himself by reading original documents. He was on the show for both hours, but I was wishing the show were longer. I highly recommend you go listen to the podcast.

Did you know that there was a Bible printed by Congress in 1782 which was used in public schools?

Yet another thing I didn't know is the integral role played by black Americans in the founding of our country! Sure, I know we have Black History Month every February, but that mainly covers the years of slavery and the years before integration of people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. - important people to be sure, but "black" history started a lot earlier than that! According to Mr. Barton, the reason is because we are all taught "Southern" black history.

It was quite a different story in the Northern states. In fact, slavery wasn't even legal in some states. There was a man named Rev. Richard Allen who was a slave. He became a Christian when some missionaries rode across the plantation where he worked. He then went on to lead his slave master to Christ, who then realized he didn't need to own slaves. Richard Allen then went to Philadelphia, preaching to people along the way. He became the pastor of a Philadelphia church with a congregation of 2,000 members, who were white! He is one of the founders of the AME denomination, so I'm sure some of you have heard of him.

Mr. Barton also told about a man named Wentworth Cheswell, who was elected to be a judge in New Hampshire and served for 40 years as judge. Cheswell also served in the same capacity as Paul Revere - he rode to warn the British were coming - but he rode in another direction. Wentworth Cheswell called into action several thousand American patriots to fight against the British.

He said these stories can be found in books like those by William Nell entitled, The Services of Colored Americans in the Wars of 1776 and 1812, and The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution. He also recommends a book called Setting the Record Straight: American History in Black and White.

David Barton also points out that textbooks only cover a handful of the founding fathers - five or six. There were over 200 founding fathers. There were people like Benjamin Rush, Francis Hopkinson, John Witherspoon, Richard Henry Lee, Stephen Hopkins, and Albert Sherry - who were all Christians with Biblical world views. To read more about the many other founding fathers, he recommends a book called Lives of the Signers, which was originally published in 1848.

At any rate, I do recommend everyone listen to this program - and get your pencil and a pad of paper and takes notes (like I did). You will learn a lot of things just from this program and gain an appetite to know more!

Hey, don't just monkey around this summer!

Image from How to Make a Sock Monkey on Hub Pages

Please, please, pleeeeeeeeeease send in your posts for the next Carnival of Homeschooling! Everyone wants to hear from you!

The next Carnival will be held on Tuesday, July 7 at Why Homeschool and is being hosted by Henry and Janine Cate. Your posts are due by 6 pm PST on Monday, July 6.

I'm looking forward to participating in and reading the next Carnival of Homeschooling! Go to this page for instructions on the hows and wheres of sending in your post!