Using Art To Teach Math, History, English, Science: The Core and More

If you have an artist bent, you're gonna love these two amazing books out from Freddie Levin. One gives step by step instructions as to how to draw princesses and princess-related items, such as a horse and a carriage, or a castle. The other book actually teaches math by using drawing.

How can you use these in homeschool?

Draw Plus Math Enhance Math Learning Trough Art Activities by Freddie Levin is a book that does exactly what the title says. Imagine teaching/learning math without the struggles. The author takes you through a series of drawing activities which contain a math lesson.

The book starts out by teaching basic shapes, colors, and patterns using fish in a tank. It progresses to teach odd and even numbers by drawing odd-numbered eyes on an adorable alien creature, or birthday candles on a cake; learn fractions by drawing pizza slices. There are twenty lessons throughout the book. You can even learn to draw a frog, who helps you add, and then make him a special addition to your princess drawings (next book).

(The above set of 3 drawings is from my 4 year old)

The next book is a 1-2-3 Draw Princesses by Freddie Levin. This book walks you through all the steps necessary for drawing a complete princess from head to toe. But, that's not all. You can learn to draw a tiara, a horse, a carriage and a castle to go with your princess. And, there are not just your commonly-known "Disney" princesses. These princesses also include great warriors such as Nzinga, and scholars such as Eleanor or Aquitane.

Practical Lessons from the Princess book:

Let's face it, Disney does not have the market on all princesses. The author explains that a princess can be thought of in a positive light, or as a spoiled brat. A princess simply means - a daughter of a king, or a queen. In addition, there are many options to use this book, and apply it to your core lessons.

History - There are obvious history-teaching elements in this book.  The Middle Ages was the time of knights and castles. The author has included historical princesses from various countries. With each princess, there is a brief description of who she was and how she served her country. Don't see the one you want to learn about? Choose one or more princesses in history and draw elements of that princess into the princesses you choose to draw from the book. Some of the princesses included in the book are:

Eleanor of Aquitane - Princess of France
Nes Amun - Princess of Ancient Egype
Jahanara - Princess of india
Nzinga - Princess of Africa

(The above drawing is from my 9 year old)

Literature/English Skills - Begin with these fun Knights and Castles worksheets.  Then, read a story about royalty. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is a good choice for starters. As you read, allow your children to select princess-like pictures from the 1-2-3 Draw Princesses book and draw along. Often, if you can keep little hands busy, while you read, the child's mind is undistracted and open to focus on the story. If what they are doing to keep their hands busy happens to also fit with what you are reading, all the better for peaceful, connected learning.

There is also a princess reading list included with the "Reading Princess" toward the back of the book.

Spelling - Use the book to pull vocabulary words for spelling, such as:

princess
queen
king
castle
tiara
carriage
horse
ballet
opera


Science -There are some fun science lessons to be learned from frogs to the physics involved in a moat.  Here's a great site to get you started with science and castles.

Math - Math involves more than the numbers 0 through 9. It also involves the use of shapes and patterns. Your child will learn shapes such as circle, triangle, square, and more complicated names and shapes, like a trapezoid. The very first thing the book explains is what these shapes are called, and what they look like. This is important, because this is the foundation of the ability to create the pictures in the book. It also lists out each drawing in a series of steps. These need to be followed in a seuential order, while the child is counting - 1, 2, 3...

Religious Studies - As a homeschooler who does so from a Christian perspective, I'm always trying to weave into my curriculum how it applies to our family's faith. This book is no different. When I read the description of why the author created this book, and what a princess is: a daughter of a king or queen", I immediately thought of how, in the Christian faith, we believe that we are all children of the king. As girls, we are princesses and our boys are princes. There is a prince, by the way, in the book for your son to draw. This description led me to remember a book that is so very helpful in teaching your little girls how to handle the world they are about to walk into as they leave childhood and grow into adolescence. It teaches her how to determine if a "prince" is really a "prince" or just someone who wants to come and "steal her goodness". The book is called "the Princess and the Kiss".

Taking the princess one step farther, you could conduct a unit study on Queen Esther. This is a Bible account that is taught during Purim. But, you could learn about her any time of the year.

I'm sure there are more learning/teaching tips within the covers of these two books. However you choose to use your 1-2-3 Draw Princesses book, or your Draw Plus Math Enhance Math Learning Through Art Activities is up to you, but the both hold tons of possibilities for learning.

Art - And, of course, you can always use the books for simply teaching art alone.  But, with so much more to learn from them, other learning is bound to happen naturally.

Using LEGO Vignettes in education

I recently discovered a new phenomena - LEGO Vignettes! If you have heard of this, I'm sue you are jumping up and down with excitement to realize that I finally became aware, as LEGO Vignettes hold a host of potential in the education and parenting realm.

What is a Vignette: Well, generally speaking it is used in literature or entertainment to refer to a short sketch of the story - Or a snippet, as if frozen in time, for one scene. The term comes from the French word "vigne" which in English means "vine". Books used to have fancy decorative designs along their borders that looked like the tendrils of a vine. The two concepts somehow merged together over the years to form the word - "Vignette".

Now, where do LEGOs fit into this nice description? People who work with LEGOS figured out that these short sketches, or scenes from a book or movie, could be created using the popular child's brick-building toy. And, LEGO Vignettes were born. A LEGO Vignette is basically creating a scene, or shadow box style artwork, out of LEGOS.

Check out this blog dedicated solely to LEGO's and how to use them!


Great! So, what does this have to do with education?

It has a ton of benefit in teaching and learning, and not just for kids. There are grown ups who enjoy this art form. The potential use of LEGO Vignettes is limitless. Here's some ways to get you started:

1. Read a story to your child. At the end of a chapter, or at the point you see our child's eyes light up - Stop! Ask your child what they are picturing in their head. How do they think this scene, described in the book, would look? Now, go to town creating that scene out of LEGOS.

2. Instead of notebooking or lapbooking, or in addition to this, have your child build a LEGO Vignette of a historical moment. Using LEGO bricks can even be done by children too young to write. This could be a war scene, or a scene of Betsy Ross sewing the flag of the United States. It could be a church picnic, or a scene of Martin Luther King, Jr. or Abraham Lincoln giving their famous speeches. Anything historical.

3. Use the LEGO Vignettes with special needs kids. Depending on the learning challenge, or special need, sometimes a child can express himself through pictures or sculpture art, like a Vignette, when they struggle using words. By having them create Vignettes, you will get a glimpse into your child's world that he may find difficult to express otherwise. It's also a wonderful hand-eye coordination tool. For kids who struggle with physically picking up a LEGO, Or can communicate well but cannot physically maneuver the pieces, try the larger Duplo blocks or have them tell you how the design should look while you create it.

4. These LEGO Vignettes can work well in working through emotional struggles too. In play therapy, children are often asked to play with toys. As they play, the therapist can determine areas of concern in the child's life. Even if you're not a licensed therapist, a lot of communication can open up by using toys like this at home. LEGO Vignettes can be used in this kind of mode with a parent-child. Ask your child to build a scene of the happiest day they remember, or the saddest day. Use their creation to ask questions and learn how your child views life.

5. Since LEGO Vignettes typically include using LEGO figures, you can act out a lot of common social etiquette situations with your child by creating a Vignette and then making it "come to life" by using the figures to act out positive and negative social interactions with each other. The next time your child is in one of these situations, he will know how to act.

I'm sure I've just touched the surface of how LEGO Vignettes can be used. Check out this report on using LEGOs and some pictures of what others have done with LEGOS in their Vignettes - Pics from Flickr - Pics from Google Search. Then, think about it - How will you use LEGO Vignettes with your children?

Wikki Stix Giveaway Contest

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We had a lot of fun reviewing this product. And, now we want to offer Wikki Stix to you. I want to share a 24-pk Rainbow Wikki Stix with you. Read through this blog to find out how you can win!

My children and I had the privilege of reviewing a product called Wikki Stix. The good people at Wikki Stix sent me some samples and away we went. The kids have since begged to "play" with the Wikki Stix. What a fun way to learn! They are non-allergenic, clean up easily and easy to work with for little fingers. Not only that, they are very affordable and reusable over and over again. They have endless uses.

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There are numerous other packs to purchase and put to educational use. There are even party paks to use at birthday parties and Curious George workbooks. I especially loved the idea of the adult stress reducer pak. There are alphabet cards, number cards, holiday kits, dinosaur and oceans kits, glow in the dark stix, single color paks, rainbow paks, neon paks and more.

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GIVEAWAY:
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Here's how you can win your own 24-pk of Rainbow Wikki Stix:

Go to Wikki Stix Website! Look around. Then Like Teachable Scotts Tots on Facebook and leave a status update comment to tell me how you would use Wikki Stix in your classroom. A winner will be chosen at random using a number generated through random.org.

Discovery Education's A Walk In The Park at Six Flags For Children's Miracle Network

Most homeschooling families know that there is a whole lot more to education than just book work. Part of it involves character building and part of it involved building strong bodies. Some children cannot participate in sporting events and other physical education that others easily accomplish. According to statistics, one out of every five children have a minor chronic illness. Children's Miracle Network comes alongside families to help. Now, you can help a child in need.

Discovery Education is sponsoring A Walk In The Park - Donor Drive. Click on the words in orange above (A Walk In The Park) to find out more. How does it work? You walk for pledges. If you cannot walk, you can pledge. If you cannot pledge or walk, you may be a family who will benefit from such an event. If you do walk and you raise $50, you get a free Six Flags ticket. If you raise less, you still come away a winner for your participation and whatever funds you help to raise goes to help a child in need.



What better way to instill an empathy and compassion in your children but to walk for an event that gives back while offering an incentive of a free Six Flags ticket. Even if you do not reach your $50 goal, every little bit helps to build a fund for children in need.