We have continued to enjoy fall nature projects here. They are things that are easy to do and don’t take long. We’ll have to move on to winter projects soon because the colorful fall leaves that were everywhere just a few days ago are now gone. We have had a couple of bitter cold nights here and the leaves have turned dark and mostly fallen now.
I did find a few bright red and yellow leaves for our wax paper stained glass project today. This idea is another one from Nature Crafts for Kids
When I look up, I see what I think is my favorite tree: a crepe myrtle I planted a few years back. Crepe myrtles grow fairly quickly, have wonderful bark, and the leaves and seeds are so pretty in the fall.
We took two pieces of wax paper, about 12 x 12 each. First I layered a piece of newspaper over the ironing board. Next I layered one piece of the wax paper. Princess of the Universe then placed the leaves in the pattern she wanted on the wax paper, leaving enough space in between and around the edges for the wax paper layers to bond. We layered the second sheet of wax paper on top. With my iron on low, we gently ironed over the wax paper to fuse the two sheets. Of course you must closely supervise this or do the ironing yourself since there’s a risk of burns. Also, I suppose you’d want to wipe your iron off after it’s cooled down.
We ended up with a stained glass “pane” to hang in our living room window. It’s pretty when the sun shines through. This marks the last fall leaf project we’ll be doing this year. Nature Crafts for Kids
Then It’s On To Math…
Our large white board has been one of the most handy things I have purchased for math. It stands behind the armoir you see in the corner above. When someone does not understand something, it’s so convenient to have our large white board to work on to show examples of whatever is causing grief. Also, Princess of the Universe just thinks it’s fun. If she has a worksheet with not enough space to do long problems, I let her do the problems on the white board and then just write the answer on the worksheet.
Is there anything that makes math easier for you?
Lynn
for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
Hi Lynn….
First, thank you for visiting my new blog…I’m having a lot of fun with it!!!
Did I tell you how beautiful your living area looks in the previous post? I love it! Sure wish I could have tea and talk with you there!
The stained glass leave prints are a warm touch! Have you ever visited the Craft Crow blog?? I KNOW YOU WOULD LOVE IT! They have quality/rich crafts…I don’t have the blog address… but just google Craft Crow and it should come up. I could spend hours there! Truth is, I have!
Those white washed boards are nice…plus they’re portible (sp?). It;s a welcome treat for Tommie to just do lessons on that! Lately, I’ve been having him “stand up” at the table to do math lessons… I have him pretend his works in a truck/auto parts store!!!! Sometimes he gets a long face and a case of the lazy’s if he sits too long!
It’s cold here…thirty degrees and our fields are snow covered.
I need your wool socks!!!!
Your pal, Michele
whoops, Lynn, I was re-reading my comment to you and it should of said, The Crafty Crow”… sorry.
Mich.
I love the stained glass idea! We have done that with crayons melted between wax paper, but never with leaves. Aubry is my crafting nut and she will really like this today!
I admit that i am really spoiled and my hubs teaches math to anyone in our house over 12 years old. When we started this schooling adventure, I told him that I just couldn’t/wouldn’t do it. Math was a nightmare for me in school and I don’t want to revisit that or show my kids that attitude. So, no math tips to leave here today, except “let your hubs do it!”
I love our dry erase board! A friend of mine says she uses graph paper for math to help keep the numbers lined up. I think this is a great idea!
Hi, Lynn,
I did the same stained glass project out of the same book with my kids when they were younger. We had so much fun exploring outside looking for the most colorful leaves we could find.
We also homeschool and my son has a huge dry erase board in his room. It has been tremendously helpful in Algebra for him this year. We also have one near our kitchen that we leave notes to one another on. They’re much cleaner than chalkboards.
-Liane
Michele, I can see Tommie standing on a table to do math! LOL. You keep school so exciting. It’s amazing. I have seen buttons for the Crafty Crow, but still have not checked it out. I’ll do so.
Randi, I wish my husband could teach them math. He is a carpenter and is really good at teaching them hands-on math — like measuring angles and then cutting carpet or linoleum to fit — stuff that just amazes me! But textbook stuff… Well, I do that.
Amber, I love the graph paper idea. I need that for Miss Priss. She has a tendency to get the lines messed up.
Liane, isn’t it a great book? I love it. There are so many more things I want to do from it. We are still working on algebra here, even though Joseph will graduate this year. His dyslexia has really been a barrier in all subjects. I am just so thankful that his favorite pasttime now is READING!
Lynn
We love the white board at the greenhouse. Two of our managers have dyslexia and the white board helps to make everything more visual! Great idea
Tamara, it seems to help us with our dyslexia around here too!
Thank you for the math tips. Keep ‘em coming!
Lynn