Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" turned 40 this year!

Eric Carle, author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Eric Carle's beloved book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, turns 40 this year! Actually, the official "day" was March 20th - so I'm a little late to the party, but you can still celebrate this milestone all year. The Crafty Crow has a list of links for crafts and snacks (complete with caterpillar holes!) you can do with your children to celebrate this beloved book!

I...uh...we just love Eric Carle's books, including Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Pancakes, Pancakes, and The Grouchy Ladybug! He is a gifted artist with a style that appeals to both children and adults. His books are always such a pleasure to share with our children!

Scoot on over to The Crafty Crow and get you caterpillar party started...or you may get leafed behind! (I know, I know! Can I help it if I'm not exactly the creative type?)




The Eric Carle Official Web Site

Take a Tour of the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

You might also like:

DLTKs The Very Hungry Caterpillar activities.

TeacherVision's free The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities Booklet printable.

More printables from Hubbard's Cupboard.

Homeschoolers save school districts money...

I've heard the argument before that homeschoolers cost districts precious dollars. Personally, I've never been able to see how that could be true. Sure, the district loses the money they would otherwise get for each student that doesn't attend, but they don't incur the expense of educating the student, either. We also pay local property taxes for schools we don't use. Besides, there are more private schoolers than homeschoolers...and no one seems to be trying to guilt them into going to public school.

At any rate, according to a Washington Times article by Kate Tsubata, a study sponsored by the Nevada Policy Research Institute (which is independent and not government-funded) school districts actually save more money because of homeschoolers than they lose.

According to Kate Tsubata, there are also societal benefits as well, such as:

In addition to dispelling the myth that home-schoolers — who pay taxes for schools that they don't use — are somehow costing schools money, the authors cite studies by other researchers that show the value of home-schooling in other areas: home-schoolers have higher self-esteem, fewer behavior disorders, better academic performance, and more college attendance than their peers in public and private schools.

(H/T HomeschoolBuzz.com)

Could YOU pass the test?

For a foreigner to become a citizen they must answer six of ten civics questions correctly. In a Goldwater Institute poll of some Arizona public high school students, only 3.5 percent would have qualified for citizenship - and half of them only got one question right!

Here are the 10 questions randomly selected (answers below):

1.What is the supreme law of the land?

2. What do we call the first 10 amendments to the Constitution?
3. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
4. How many Justices are on the Supreme Court?
5. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
6. What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?
7. What are the two major political parties in the United States?
8. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?

9 . Who was the first President of the United States?
10. Who is in charge of the Executive Branch?

From J.P. Greene's blog:

Recently, the USCIS had 6,000 citizenship applicants pilot a newer version of this test. The agency reported a 92.4 percent passing rate for the test among citizenship applicants on the first try. I did not expect Arizona high school students to do that well of course, given that those seeking citizenship have had the opportunity to prepare for the test. On the other hand, Arizona high school students have some advantages of their own: multiple courses in American history and social studies, hopefully exposure to American history outside of school, etc.

Here are all 100 of the current citizenship test questions from the NIS.

Answers:

1. The Constitution

2. The Bill of Rights

3. Senate and House

4. Nine

5. Thomas Jefferson

6. Atlantic

7. Democratic and Republican

8. Six years

9. George Washington

10. The President

Maybe the Arizona students need to take advantage of these free civics study materials?

(H/T Joanne Jacobs)

The Grasshopper and the Ant video...

Free Princess Paper Dolls to print and cut out!

Activity Village has some really cute Princess Paper Dolls to print - either in color or black and white!

Check them out here!

For some links to more free paper dolls, go here!

A simple and fun felt candy dish!

Make a simple candy dish from a piece of stiff felt! These would also be cute to hold paper clips on your desk or pretty bath beads in the bathroom, or spare change on your bedside table, or tiny treats for a party.

Anyway, it's something for the kids to do when it's too rainy - or just too hot - to go outside!

Get the directions here at Zakka Life.

(H/T The Crafty Crow)

Sleeping in cool comfort - Chinese style!

During the summer months, many Chinese sleep on mats made up of bamboo tiles. These allow the air to circulate more freely. (I wonder if anyone sells these in the US?) You put them on top of your bed and it allows the air to circulate underneath.

Jimmie of Jimmie's Collage shows a picture of her husband's sleeping mat on his side of the bed.(she likes the soft bed and doesn't use one) and gives more interesting details in this post.