Free audio downloads from SYNC

I don't know anything about SYNC but during the summer they offer two free audio books for download each week, the catch being they are only available that week.  They tend to pair a classic with a more recently published  book with some connection to the classic.  The False Prince, which has been featured in a post here earlier and we also enjoyed listening to on a trip, is featured in late July.  SYNC schedule

Nitrotype Typing Practice

I have found a awesome typing practice website called nitrotype. It is a typing website that allows people worldwide to race with words against each other It does not offer any lessons but it does give lots of practice. Nitrotype also has a counterpart named typingweb.com. This gives structured lessons on typing. You can sign up for nitrotype here, just so you know, I am boyawesome.

 I find it fun because when you race you get money, and when you get money, you can buy cars ranging from jeeps to a NASA spaceship, but you have to level up to unlock more cars, and you have to get EXP to level up. But have no fear, you get EXP every time you race. You can also race against your friends, get achievements,buy nitros which skip words for you, but I don't use them often. They also have their own blog post on their website, and I like to look at it because they have some really interesting posts. You can put yourself up against top typists on the scoreboard. Hope you have fun!

Book Review for The Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson

The Familiars

The Familiars is one of my favorite books, and I think it might be yours too. It has creatures that you might recognize, such as a hydra, many cool spells, and cool new monsters such as the “Gundabeast”. I highly recommend this book because it's a book for any ages, if you have little children in your family it's a good read aloud book, plus it has pictures, and if you have a older child that wants to read it on his or her own, it's a fun read for all ages.

The main character in the Familiars is a alley cat that jumped into a Familiar shop through a back window and is mistaken for a telekinetic cat, or a cat that can make things move with his mind. Then he is chosen to be a companion, or a Familiar, to a wizard in training, called a Loyal, and taken to the Loyal's home, called the Stone Runlet. Then, the Loyals get stolen by the evil queen, and I wondered for a while if the queen was actually evil, but I'll leave the ending for you to figure out. The Familiars have to go pretty much all over the Vastia map, Vastia being the queendom that they are in, trying to find the Loyals.

As I have said, it is one of my favorite books and I am waiting to check out the next one at the library.

Boy Scout Merit Badge Group

A group of scout age boys meet regularly to work on merit badges. 

I was going to go into all the detail and ideology of merit badges, but I figure, if you might be interested in this, you already know about them. 

Email me if you are interested in details.  If you have a secret, or not so secret, talent, experience or interest in a topic that you'd like to share with some scouts, email me as well.  :)

Learning about the Orchestra

I'm doing something I've never done before.

We are picking one thing and learning as much about the one thing as we can in 6 weeks.

We chose Stravinsky's "The Firebird."  Along with learning about Stravinsky and ballet and Russia and Russian Fairy tales and "how to write a story" and Russian food, we are learning about the parts of the Orchestra.

The resources I found for learning about the orchestra is what I would like to share today.

Here are some things we have been doing:

WORKSHEETS ABOUT INSTRUMENT FAMILIES (printable - my kids like the crossword puzzle that goes along with the illustrated instruments.)

INSTRUMENTS OF THE ORCHESTRA (online, so fun!)

MORE Instruments of the OCHESTRA (online, also SOoooO fun!)

After we got familiar with the instrument families in the Orchestra we used this link to test our knowledge:
(Just follow the instructions.)

LISTEN TO MUSIC

And it you REALLY want to have fun, check out the PERFORMALATOR. You'll thank me later.  ;-)

These sites are so full of fun ways to learn about music, we haven't even begun to scratch the surface, but we are having a great time.



Leave a comment if you find a fun thing on one of these sites that I should try with my family.  THANKS!

ATC - Artist Trading Cards

Have you made Artist Trading Cards with your family?

When I stumbled across this great idea in the "Family Fun" magazine I thought, "What a fun way for kids to do art!"

Artist Trading Cards are small, so it doesn't take a long time to produce one and because of their size, it's fun to try a variety of techniques, but the BEST part of Artist Trading Cards is TRADING THEM!

So how do you get started?  Here are some ideas:

ATC

Artist Trading Cards

Your ATC's should be exactly 2 ½ x 3 ½ inches.   You could use scissors or a paper trimmer to make your own cards. Cardstock works very well. Would NOT recommend computer/copy paper.

Rules:

1.      Every card must be 2 ½ x 3 ½ inches in size. 

2.      They can be traded but never sold.

Suggestions:

1.      Write your name on the back of every card you make.

2.      Think about giving it a title when you are done.

3.      Take your time.

4.      Do your best work.

5.      Use the whole card.

6.      Remember, there is no such thing as “wrong” in art.

Suggested Supplies:

Black pen

Black permanent marker

Stamps  (IE store bought stamps, potato stamps, foam stamps)

Ink to use with stamps.

Glitter

Markers

Colored pencils

Gel pens

Spin Art machine or Salad spinner (for making spin art)

Your thumb or other fingers (fingerprints)

Glue stick

Tissue paper

White glue

Stencils

Half dollar or glass – for tracing circles

Crayons

Watercolor paint

Scissors

Magazine cutouts

Fortune cookie slips

Seeds

Thread

Fabric

Stickers

____________________  (There are sooo many more ways you can decorate your cards, use your imagination.)

Suggested Techniques:

TESSELATION: Tessellation, a term used in art and science, refers to a repeated pattern that fills a defined area (such as a wallpaper design, a quilt, or many of M. C. Escher's artworks). To make a tessellation-inspired design, use a black pen to draw a freehand shape with several closed spaces (for example, a circle divided into pizza slices or a snowman). Fill each space with a tiny repeating pattern, such as dots, squares, flowers, circles, or triangles.

STAMPS: Store-bought or homemade stamps (such as a potato or a foam stamp) are easy for the youngest artists to handle and can be the centerpiece of a card embellished with markers, glitter, or other supplies. If you are using various colored inks, clean the stamp with a wet rag or baby wipe before switching shades.

LOOP-THE-LOOP: Loop a marker or gel pen around in a scribble, finally rejoining the line to the starting point. The image should look like a tangled piece of string with lots of loops. Fill each one with color, using marker, colored pencil, or gel pen.

SPIN ART: Attach a card to the center of a Spin Art machine with masking tape. Use tempera or acrylic paints and spin. For a variation, add interesting lines by gently scraping the wooden or plastic end of a paintbrush across the card as it turns. (If you don't have a Spin Art machine, try placing the card in the bottom of an old salad spinner; set it spinning, then remove the top and drip in the paint.)

FINGERPRINTS: Press your fingers onto an ink pad with washable ink, then onto a card. Use a pen or marker to add to the design. Stumped for ideas? Try drawing things that contain a circle or an oval: a spider, a ladybug, a snowman, a flower, a sun, or a moon.

STAINED-GLASS TISSUE: Cut various colors of tissue paper into pieces the size of a nickel or bigger. Using a glue stick, cover the whole card with the pieces; you can overlap them to create new colors. When the glue is dry, outline the edges of the pieces -- or "panes" -- with black permanent marker. To finish, paint the card with a thin coating of white glue.

VENN DIAGRAM: In math and logic, a Venn diagram, with its overlapping circles, is used to demonstrate shared qualities among different sets of things. Create a Venn diagram card by drawing around a small glass or a large coin with a black pen to form an overlapping pair of circles. Next, fill in the circles with designs. To make a true Venn diagram, fill the area of overlap with elements that appear on both sides.

RESIST: Create a simple design in light-colored crayon, then use a watercolor paint to wash or paint over the design. The card will absorb the watercolor paint, but the waxy crayon will resist it.

COLLAGE: The possibilities for a collage card are almost endless -- you can use magazine cutouts, seeds, thread, even fortune cookie slips. Adhere the materials to the card with a glue stick. If you're working with friends, pick a theme like soccer, spring, or space and see how each of you interprets it.

I am so glad I scanned in the actual article, because I was never ever to locate my magazine again, I've tried to find it online just to see ideas for cards, but there aren't as many pictures in the online version, so I am sharing the scanned images with you.

I hope you enjoy the ideas below as much as I have.

(If you want to read the text, open the photo in a new tab to see the image in it's larger size.)

Leadership Education Academy

http://leadershipeducationacademy.com/

This is an online source of LEMI scholar project classes.  They also do other classes.  We tried a spring term class last year (2012) and enjoyed it.  Weekly 90 minute online discussions through Elluminate software: video conferencing, instant messaging, "board" for teacher notes and visuals.  He got rigorous reading assignments, discussion based on literary topics and moral decision making, writing assignment and simulation.  The live discussion was good for making friends. Not terribly cheap, but we didn't feel cheated: $70 for a six weeks.  Their fall and winter classes are longer and therefore more expensive.