My Education Junction

This is one of my favorite pictures of my mother.

Please stop by my son’s photo blog. This is his first Wordless Wednesday, and he is very excited!

Filed under: Wordless Wednesday on July 31st, 2007 | 21 Comments »

In the next few weeks I am going to try very hard to create both a workpace for myself and my son, as well as an area condusive to creating art. I have been trying to collect ideas on how I can create these areas so that serve the children, myself and my wallet.  Because I have decided to school Nick at home this year, I am going to have to find a way to teach Ava and keep her entertained while her brother is working. This might be my greatest challenge. I am afraid Ava will think that she and her brother are on a never ending summer break.

In my quest for creating ”stations”- for lack of a better word, I have found some things I think I would like to incorporate in our learning areas. For instance Wallies makes a vinyl chalkboard-like wallpaper application you can apply to your walls. I love the art lines that you find in Pottery Barn, but I think I can easily create the same thing myself.

I am also looking at desks. I live in an old home, and so I am easily swayed towards furniture  which has more of a classical styling.  But lately I find myself yearning for something more modern with cleaner lines.  I recently came across a great selection of modern desks at Jazzy Expo. They are bit out of my price range, and it is fair to say they are more than what I need, but I love, love, love their Savannah Desk and their Swedish Desk-gorgeous. Unfortunately, my while my heart screams Savannah, my wallet is screaming Ikea.

Once I get it all figured out I will be posting pictures. I hope you guys like what I come up with

****This is a sponsored post****

Filed under: Sponsored on July 31st, 2007 | No Comments »

One of my many memories of my grandmother is picking Queen Anne’s Lace in the summertime. We would fill big jars with this pretty wildflower, and often we would put food coloring in the water to see what color the flowers would turn. I never thought we were conducting a science experiment. I was just having fun. While reading a science book I picked up at the library, I found dying Queen Anne’s Lace listed as an experiment.

Dying Queen Anne’s Lace allows you to observe how water is drawn up the stem of the flower.  If you do not have Queen Anne’s Lace available to you, you can use white carnations.

What You’ll Need

Mason jars or large glasses -number required is dependent on how many dyes you will use

Scissors

H20

Food Coloring - red and blue work the best

Queen Anne’s Lace - enough to fill each of your jars with 4-5 blooms

What You Will Do

Upon picking your Queen Anne’s Lace, cut each stem on the diagonal to insure optimal water intake.

Put several drops of food coloring in each jar, and fill the jars with enough water that the stems are submerged between 1-2 inches.

Place your flowers in the jars and observe them every few hours.  Look closely.  You should begin to see faint colored lines appearing up the stem of the flower.  In 12- 24 hours you will notice your flower changing colors.

You are witnessing the process of plant transpiration and osmosis. You can use this experiment as an exercise in collecting data. Observe and record if a certain dye travels faster than another. Measure travel on an hourly basis. Use two identical samples and place one indoors and one outdoors.  Is one jar producing results faster than the other?

There are lots of ways to have fun with this experiment.  When you’re all done you’ll have a bouquet of very pretty Queen Anne’s Lace.

Filed under: Science on July 30th, 2007 | 2 Comments »

You probably don’t know this, but I have been rockin’s for a while now.  Some time ago Jenny from Jenny Up the Hill Gang nominated me for the Rockin’ Girl Blogger Award.  I failed my fellow rockers because I never passed it on.

As luck would have it I have been nominated once more. This time by Shawna at The Homeschooling Experiment. Thank you both ladies, it is an honor and a privilege. I will do my best to keep on rockin’.

Now I must pass the honor on….

To Erica at Little Mummy~~ Erica writes a wonderful blog geared towards the parents of toddlers. I have gotten some wonderful ideas and invaluable direction in following her blog. So if you have any wee ones at home, be sure to visit her.

To Randa Clay at RandaClay.com and Free Stuff 4 Kids~~Randa is absolutely amazing. She is an incredibly talented graphic designer who on numerous occassions has shared her knowledge and expertise with me. I am certain that if it were not for Randa, I would have lived a non-rockin’ life for years to come.

To Joel at So You Want to Teach~~Okay Joel’s no girl, but he rocks just the same. Joel is a band director living in the Grand Ole state of Texas. He is passionate about teaching, and he gives me the birds eye view into the challenges teachers are facing. Thank you for sharing Joel.

What I am about to do may be a bit unorthodox. I live on the fringes of the blogging world, so I am not certain how you will take to me changing up the award just an itty bitty bit~~but I’m going to do it anyways….

I am passing the Rockin’  Girl Blogger Award back to both my dear blogging friends Jenny and Shawna. Knowing they will have received the award on more than one occassion, I have decided we need a new award which will be called–

Her Royal Highness of Rock
 

Ladies, as a member of your court, thank you very much!

Filed under: Parenting and Misc Stuff on July 27th, 2007 | 5 Comments »

Butterfly Photo By Nick

Filed under: Wordless Wednesday on July 24th, 2007 | 18 Comments »

It is no secret that when my mother was pregnant with me she prayed, begged and pleaded that I would not have red hair. My mother, a redhead, had gone through life enduring more carrot top jokes than any one  person should.

Being a redhead isn’t all about carrot top jokes. It’s also about being very pale, getting very burnt in the summer sun, and having large patches of freckles plant themselves upon your checks and across your nose. If you have German grandparents, or parents in my mother’s case, it is about being nick named “rot koph” (translated redhead in German.) You may not speak German, but you always know when you are being spoken to.

Needless to say, my mother’s prayers were all for not. I came into this world feet first and with a head full of red hair. Initially, I did not like my red hair. I did not like being called carrot top or freckle face– and a few others that I can not share on a family orientated blog. But over time it began to grow on me. It became a significant part of my identity. I felt as though I had been made a member of a very select organization which only allows for those who make up 3% of the world population. I would see other redheads and smile, and they would smile back. Because as odd as it may sound, it is as if we already know each other. Seeing something familiar in a strangers face is a great comfort in life. It affirms that we are not alone, and there is someone who shares in our struggles and in our joy.

While you might have thought I would thank my mother for lessons learned – and she gave me plenty, I thank her for my red hair,  I thank her for my life, I thank her for the experience, and I thank her for my carrot top daughter.

Thank you Mom!

Your Rot Koph

This post is part of the MamaBlogga’s July writing project. Head on over to MamaBlogga’s and find out how you can participate

Filed under: Parenting and Misc Stuff on July 24th, 2007 | 20 Comments »

I was finally able to speak to our school counselor today. She told me Nick had placed in fourth grade reading and second grade math. Honestly, it surprised me because I expected him to perform better in math than in reading. In all fairness, some of the questions on the math portion of the test had to do with weights & measures and ratios. I don’t think either were covered in first grade math.

Now I need to figure out how to arrange a working space for him. I want to create more of a formal work area for him. I am afraid if I don’t he will think his whole life is nothing other than a Drake and Josh marathon.  

I’m sure I get the whole home furniture situation figured out. If nothing else, I need to figure out a way to keep his sisters mits off of his school supplies.

***This is a sponsored post***

Filed under: Parenting and Misc Stuff on July 24th, 2007 | 2 Comments »