Lapbook Curriculum Give-Away: Only Four More Days to Enter

I'm heading up to Washington DC today to see my father and other members of the Cross family, so I don't have time for a long post.  But I did want to remind people that the last day to enter the drawing for a FREE lapbook curriculum package from In the Hands of a Child is Friday, December 31.  To enter, read my earlier blog post announcing the give-away.  To see the MANY different subjects that HOAC has prepared lapbook or notebook curricular packages on, visit their website.

Finally, if you aren't familiar with lapbooks, Squidoo has a wonderfully visual resource on lapbooking.  A homeschooling mom who goes by the name of Jamin also has a good list of links about lapbooks.  (Actually, if you are homeschooling, she has a lot of good links on a bunch of topics, including an America Girl Club, a Boys Reading Club, and Mad Science, so I recommend you check her blog out.)

Snowflake Photography

Now that we're done with both Christmas and Boxing Day, the big excitement around here is the SNOW.  My sister-in-law up North reports that the snow in Raleigh even made the front page of The New York Times.  We've just gotten in from driving around looking at pretty snow scenes, sledding, and having the obligatory snow ball fight.

I'm sure that the many of you all who are blessed with similar winter wonderlands have been out taking pictures of the snow.  But for something different, how about taking pictures of the snowflakes themselves?    Here is an article talking about how to take shots using a popular point-and-click camera, and here is another one with more specialized camera equipment.  Apparently the hardest parts are finding an individual snowflake, or else separating one from a clump without destroying it, and getting enough light without melting the snowflake.   If you are using things like tweezers (to capture a snowflake) or some kind of dark background to contrast with the snowflake, make sure to pre-cool them.

Of course, if all that is too much for you, Snow Crystals.com is a fantastic resource on snowflakes.  Not only do they have a photo gallery of wonderful pictures of snowflakes, they have information on photographing snowflakes (for dedicated photographers only), the science behind snow and ice crystals, snowflake classification, and even how to make your own snowflakes.

So there you go!  Your art and science activities for the day are all set now.

The History of Boxing Day

For those who are still seeking some educational aspects to sneak into the holidays...

Here is a short quiz on the English tradition of Boxing Day, which began in the Middle Ages.  After answering all the questions, there is a little bit of material on the history of this day, which is an official holiday in England and some of the British territories.

It fits in well for us, because we had a British-inspired Christmas dinner last night of Prime Rib, Yorkshire Pudding, Baked Potatoes, and Roasted Vegetables (but without the Christmas Pudding, which no one here really likes).  And just like the British upper crust had to fend for themselves as their servants took off Boxing Day to have their own family celebrations, my family is going to have to get along without my cooking services for the day.

Here in Raleigh, we actually had our first White Christmas (during the night, at least) since 1966 (according to WRAL weather).  All the more reason for taking the day off and enjoying the beauty and serenity of the snow after all the build-up to Christmas.

Christmas Blog 2010: Digital Nativity

We have had a lovely holiday, and hope that you all have as well.

Here is a video I plan to use in Sunday School tomorrow (if we don't get snowed out).  My theme is that different cultures have told the Nativity story in their own way, regardless of what the "truth" is about the actual event.  But this video tells the story for our YouTube/Twitter/Google (etc.) generation.

Again, best wishes to all, and I hope you enjoy this new take on an ancient story.

Christmas Blog 2010: Where in the World is Santa?

Google has a couple of neat things to combine geography with the countdown to Christmas.  First, if you go to the Google homepage, it has an international Christmas Doodle that looks like this:

On the actual site, as you scroll over each picture, it enlarges to show you more of an international scene.  Some are actual cities, while others refer to a specific country or region.  There are 16 international pictures (in addition to one undefined Santa by the chimney graphic);  how many can you identify?  List your ideas below, and I'll give the answers in a future blog post.

Then, the US and Canadian air security agency, NORAD, is sponsoring its annual tracking Santa project, where they report where Santa is on his journey delivering presents around the world.  This year, however, it is shown on Google Earth, so you can actually see where he has been and where he is heading.  They also have some short videos of Santa flying over some famous sites across the world, such as Johannesburg, South Africa, Mount Everest, or the Great Wall of China, along with a fact or two about that locale.

So, once again, a chance to squeeze in a little learning in the midst of the Christmas celebration.  That can be important for those of us who homeschool--now, in addition to checking off math (having my son double the cookie dough recipe, which ended up being a refresher in multiplying fractions) and chemistry (for actually baking the cookies), we get to add geography.

Merry Christmas to all my readers around the world--or just generic good wishes if you don't celebrate this holiday.  

Christmas 2010 Blog: The Santa Launch Game

Since it's now two days before Christmas, I'm sure you're all sitting around with nothing to do.  So here is a fun little game by Smilebox to help you waste your time.  Of course, since it involves figuring projectiles, I'm having my son do it and putting it down as "Physics" on our homeschool daily log!

Enjoy!

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Christmas 2010 Blog: The Story of Rudolph

Last night my son and I watched the 1964 animated Christmas special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  Rudolph is kind of a stickler between my husband and me, because he thinks it is rediculous that after, what?, like 40 years of watching the show, it still brings me to tears every year.  And I'm not just talking moist eyes; every year, after Rudolph's triumph and the scene on the island of misfit toys where they think they've been forgotten once again, I have tears streaming down my cheeks.  But what can I say--especially when that little doll says something like "I don't have any dreams left."  For me--killer.

But the actual story behind Rudolph is fairly uplifting.  Robert L. May wrote the story for the Montgomery Ward store, to be made into a booklet that could be given to the children who were waiting to see Santa.  May tapped into a major middle schooler theme--my (fill in the blank) makes me different from everyone else (a major topic in many of the big contenders for the Newbery Award for this year).  May claimed he got inspiration from the classic tale of the outsider from his own life, where he was teased for being "shy, small, and slight."  He was paid a nominal fee by Montgomery Ward, but he was glad to get it, since his wife had been diagnosed with terminal cancer at the time.  She died, living May with not only a four-year-old daughter to care for, but with multiple medical bills for dealing with his wife's cancer.

Once Montgomery Ward had printed 6 million copies of the booklet, they were contacted by a major publisher about printing the story in a book.  Now comes the best part of the story....since Montgomery Ward had paid May for the work, the rights belonged to the company.  But Montgomery Ward generously decided to give the copyright back to May.  The success of the book enabled  Ray to settle his debts, take care of his child, remarry, and establish a more stable life.

His lifestyle was enhanced, though, when it turned out that a brother-in-law,  Johnny Marks, turned the story into a song that was eventually sung by Gene Autry.  It became a best-selling song, and also inspired one of America's favorite television specials.

So it turns out to be an inspirational story of overcoming one's personal issues and problems from the past and of corporate generosity rather than greed.