the ELLA echo

IT SNOWED! IN NASHVILLE !

 

it's not much but for us it is amazing--we haven't had a snow like this since before the turn of the century! the most recent (and most often-occurring) big weather event here is tornados.  dislike.

this snowfall was a good one--we've already had our first batch of snow ice cream, and we've all been hit by real snowballs.  

this is why everything shuts down here when there are only 4" of snow on the ground:  5,600 miles of roads in davidson county and only 30 pieces of road equipment--that's plows, ice trucks--everything. after all, why have equipment for something that is only going to happen once every decade?  

there is also 1/2" of hard ice under this snow--bad for driving, but great for sledding.

 

this is how southern kids sled--in kiddie pools, because why have a sled when you're only going to get real snow once every decade?

but in the south, when you get your first real snow, your daddy will drag you back and forth in your tiny, urban side yard and be happy for the privilege because each time he'll get to hear this:

a giveaway! win PBS sprout's new DVD, "lend a helping hand"

you already know that we are PBS sprout fans here.  as a member of sprout's band of bloggers, they recently offered me the chance to host a very special giveaway for my readers!

PBS sprout and HIT entertainment have just released the first DVD in a new series called "let's grow", featuring some of the most popular characters from the sprout lineup.  each DVD focuses on one life skill for preschoolers, such as safety, manners, expressing feelings, and other preschool topics. there are crafts and educational games on each DVD, and each includes a printed parent guide with additional information, tips, and website tied to the DVD's theme.

the first DVD is entitled "lend a helping hand", and demonstrates how kids can help friends, family, and their community thru activities such as cleaning up after themselves, or creating and using a recycling bin.

ella and i watched the copy of the DVD that sprout sent me, and her review is this:  "kids are going to LOVE this DDD (sic).  all kids like to help but the little ones usually need suggestions so it's good that sprout is showing them how." 

awesome, right?

here's how you can enter to win a copy of this DVD for your little one:

primary entry:

1. leave a comment at the bottom of this blog post telling me which sprout show or character is your child's favorite (ok, maybe it is YOUR favorite--you don't have to spill the beans).

for additional entries you can do one or more of the following:

1. post this contest on your own blog with a link back to this entry, and leave a comment at the bottom of this post with the link to your post to let me know you did so.
2. follow the ELLA echo on facebook's networked blogs (i just joined!--see the right sidebar) and leave a comment letting me know you followed.
3. tweet "@rostitchery is giving away a copy of PBS sprout's new DVD, lend a helping hand http://3.ly/Kxh", and leave a comment letting me know you did so.

you have until friday, 5 february, at 5pm central time to enter.  the winner will be selected by a random number generator.  i'm looking forward to hearing which sprout shows your child loves!  

wordless wednesday: a family of owls

 

how we homeschool: game schooling

 

one of the biggest reasons i wanted to homeschool ella is so that "school" would not be awful for her.  :D she has always loved to learn, and i didn't want that love to disappear in a sea of worksheets and textbooks.   i know that most schoolteachers work really hard to make learning fun but what i think what they often miss is that FUN, in and of itself, can actually be educational on it's own.

that is why i lean more and more toward what i call "game schooling".  basically, we play games, and from those games we learn something. :D  but the point has to be the game itself--if there is even a hint of "school" involved, the fun gets sucked right out of it.

these are the games that we've been playing this week:

• shut-the-box (arithmetic, logic, strategy)--thank you lala!
• madlibs (vocabulary, parts of speech)
• scrabble (spelling)--ella got the apple package during our apple study unit
• marbulous (science)--ella calls this "the contraption maker"
• color explosion sheets (art)
• wii fit and wii sports resort (physical fitness)
• view-master cards (reading)

we also make up our own games, such as when we adopt laura but live in her time (history, social studies), or when we rewrite nursery rhymes or fairytales so they include a pie (literature, composition).

there are so many great games to choose from that i truly believe a child could do almost nothing but play games and have fun and still learn just as much, perhaps more, than by doing just "school" alone. that's worth at least 10 bonus points right there.

we're always on the look-out for more games to play so please leave a comment with your suggestions!  

how we homeschool: ella sewed her first dress

for christmas i gave ella this fantastically pink and very wonderful vintage sears kenmore sewing machine that i found on craigslist last fall.  i had to learn how to wind and thread a long bobbin, but once i got it all threaded up it ran like a dream.

ella was thrilled with it!  she immediately started planning what she would make first, and she decided she wanted to make a dress.

she drafted and printed the pattern herself, with my guidance, using the child's play patternmaking program by wild ginger software, she assembled and taped the pattern together with my help (i forgot to get pictures of that part--i was too excited!)--then i cut the pattern out for her. she laid out the patterns on fabric, weighted them, i cut.  she did all the sewing herself.  she even pressed the seams herself. the only part i sewed was the neck placket in back, which is fiddly even for an adult. 

 

 

 

she was so excited to put it on that she wouldn't stop to let me press out the folds in the fabric.  she was too eager to go down the runway (AKA nordictrack C2200, which seems very appropriate for a runway).

the edges are raw, the seam allowances and hems are all different sizes, but no seamstress has ever been happier with her own creation than ella is with this dress.

 

oh, about the homeschooling:  subjects covered on the day she made her dress include: mathematics (measuring her body, calculating the amount of fabric needed);  geometry (drafting the pattern, assembling the printed pattern pieces, laying out the pattern pieces on the fabric, assembling the pieces in the correct order and orientation);  reading and writing (navigating the program, reading the parts of the pattern, recording her measurements, reading the pattern pieces);  mechanics (threading and running the machine);  science (the affects of heat on the fabric and thread fibers, interaction of the thread with the fabric for stable seams);  art (determining a design for the dress, selecting a fabric that worked harmoniously with the dress design).  probably some other things too, but those are the biggies.

she's already picked out her next project, and it involves:  stretch velvet.  LOL  i'm glad my singer walking foot fits this machine.

december was a full month

 

it was very busy here in december.

we made cinnamon applesauce ornaments

and a cinnamon stick cabin

 

to go with the two fun online classes we attended: one about christmas in the pioneer days

 

and one in which we got to hear christmas stories while snuggling on the couch.

 

we went on a wonderful homeschool field trip to traveller's rest, where we got to try spice cookies and syllabub, and learn to dance the virginia reel

and got to write a christmas card with a quill pen.

we checked the advent pockets every morning to see what bible verse the advent goblins wanted us to read that day, and to see what gift they left to remind us of the verse.

 

and of course, we went to see santa and whisper a christmas wish into his ear.

 

and then--on christmas day--ella got what she asked him for:

a wishing well "exactly like laura's",

 

a glade air freshener,

 

and a baby sister for dalui.

 

many other moments, big and small, added up to a truly special month for us.

it was the perfect way to end what ella tells us was her best year ever.