Showing posts with label lessons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lessons. Show all posts

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Homeschool~ Aesop's Fables

The Fox and the Grapes

We love Aesop's Fables. These are short, quick little reads that teach morals and values through entertaining stories surrounding animals. Most of us have heard an Aesop's Fable at some point in our schooling but you may not have known it! The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse is an Aesop's Fable! So is The Lion and the Mouse, a story of a kindness that is repaid.

How about this famous lesson on laziness:

THE ANTS AND THE GRASSHOPPER

ONE bright day in late autumn a family of Ants were bustling about in the warm sunshine, drying out the grain they had stored up during the summer, when a starving Grasshopper, his fiddle under his arm, came up and humbly begged for a bite to eat.
"What!" cried the Ants in surprise, "haven't you stored anything away for the winter? What in the world were you doing all last summer?"
"I did n't have time to store up any food," whined the Grasshopper; "I was so busy making music that before I knew it the summer was gone.


[Illustration]

The Ants shrugged their shoulders in disgust.
"Making music, were you?" they cried. "Very well; now dance!" And they turned their backs on the Grasshopper and went on with their work.
There's a time for work and a time for play. 
~Milo Winter The Aesop For Children  found at The Baldwin Project

We most often use the Milo Winter version of Aesop's Fables. I found it on The Baldwin Project site and printed it off. I did a simple Copy and Paste onto a Word document. 

The Crow and the Pitcher

 The drawings are so very beautiful. They may be slightly printer ink heavy but I shrunk them a bit so I could use less ink. Then I three ring paper punched them and placed them in a binder.


 These are an Ambleside Online Year 1 reading but our whole family enjoys getting in on the Aesop fun. I usually read them myself because I enjoy reading these bits of gold with lots of enthusiasm. I will on occasion have Prince Ray read aloud for practice. The Milo Winter version has slightly challenging vocabulary so it is great for reading practice. 


I have of course used audio versions sometimes simply because I don't have that extra set of hands or eyes I have wished for and there are times when school happens over supper or while I am doing dishes! Books Should Be Free is one of my go-tos for free audio readings of classic books. So we have listened to an Aesop's Fable while looking at the printed book artwork or even coloring a picture. It should be noted that these are not the Milo Winter versions of the fables.
The Boys and the Frogs

 Here are some resources I have found in my internet wanderings that have helped or supplemented our Aesop's Fable readings.
The Lion and the Gnat
For fun sometimes we will watch a video after reading. I might later that week for a change of pace or even as a reward put on a Youtube video clip from this site. They are short, simple, and good renditions using very easy language. My kids like it when we watch the whole playlist. There are 23 videos to pick from.

If you are looking for a bit more this site has lesson plans and also audio versions available. They have over 600 fables to choose from! The Selected Fables section is easily copy and pasted and has a handy chart for 'suggested morals' you can build the study on.

 The University of Massachusetts Amherst 1994 Art 271 class has a whole site dedicated to Aesop's Fables. Many of the Fables were rewritten by the students into modern English along with original computer artwork. The History section is good if you want to give your older kids (or yourself) a bit more information on this guy we all know the name of. He definitely had an interesting life.

 Project Gutenberg has free downloads of the original Aesop's Fables.

Last year I copied the reading of the week from The Baldwin Project and then used WorksheetWorks.com to make copy sheets for Handwriting Practice.

 Here are a few free coloring pages online from That Resource Site. I wish they had more. When we do color pictures from Aesop's it is usually from their own imaginations. :)

 If you have a preschooler sitting in on most of your classes like I do you are probably already familiar with DLTK-Teach.com. This is a good size selection of coloring sheets and ideas for your little people so they can join in. 

The Dogs and the Hides

The way we really like to finish our Aesop's reading every week? 

Sir Bean working on staging.
Act it out!
These are perfect for mini-drama sessions. 
The greedy dogs at the river trying to get to the hides....


They get the practice of sharing ideas, playing pretend, learning to delegate acting parts, and of course having fun being silly.

...and they drank too much water!

 This is an excellent narration time as well. ;) In warning, because I have rambunctious kids, it is only fair to say that there have been a couple unprofessional acting moments in our past due to some of the more aggressive scenes. The actors were reprimanded and asked to be stage crew for the rest of the day. :)


How do you study Aesop's Fables?


Always Blessed,
Gretchen :)

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Friday, February 8, 2013

Purple Fur and the Silver Moons


This morning on my way to drop Princess Peony off at school we passed this group of youngsters trudging through inches of snow on a not yet shoveled sidewalk. One of those boys was dressed in an extremely out-of-date snowsuit. I could almost see the silver belt buckle in front that screamed 'I was made in 1985!" My heart went out to that child. That old hand-me-down snowsuit or pair of boots can be cause for extreme, elementary school persecution.

 I silently thanked God for Homeschool friends, Church Folk, Thrift Stores, and Clearance Sales.

 My children proudly wear thrifted items. We almost never buy things full price. I have been blessed with left over clothes and hand-me-downed closets on many occasions. God has always provided. We often receive things that are nicer than what I would spend money on.

We do have a few standards with the used clothes. No underwear. No inappropriate tees even if it was free. If they really hate it, and I can find it elsewhere, we skip it. If not, they wear it and become a better adult through a tough lesson. 

I think this stems from my year with the Purple Fur Coat and Silver Moon Boots.

My parents were very hard working folks. My dad sold seed corn and soybeans to farmers and as a result we moved from town to town as his job transferred him from area to area. I think often they had a lot to pay Peter and Paul was calling in his loan. 

My mom could make a divine meal out of potatoes, WIC cheese slices, and a bunch of celery. I think she excelled at making us feel full, warm, and rich in all the important things. She taught me to cook down a chicken, knead bread dough, and make a pound of burger stretch a mile and three quarters. She taught me to grab eggs from under an ornery hen, stay out of the goats way, and love the rabbits a bit less because they would be for supper someday. She taught me the beauty of a Marigold was as important as the first ripe tomato in July. 

 I never really knew we were poor. I knew we were loved.

 Then came the winter of my third grade year. I knew things were different in our family. It was my first realization of not having what others had. I did not have the cool jeans with rainbows on the back pocket. I did not have a polo shirt with a little embroidered horse on the left shoulder. I did not have pretty hair ties, or leg warmers, or Strawberry Shortcake erasers. My backpack was used and didn't have little beaded safety pins hanging from it. I didn't even have a friendship bracelet! My clothes were suddenly wrong even though they had always been okay.

The pinnacle of understanding my differentness came at the first snow. My coat didn't really fit. I remember standing in the local department store with my mother staring longingly at the beautiful ski jacket on display. It was one of those puffy jackets with the western style trim and pearly looking buttons. The top portion above the white piping was a darker blue and the bottom half lighter. It had a metal ring built in for your super cool ski gloves to hook on to. The jacket was shown with matching bib overall snowpants and a fun knit hat with a big fuzzy ball on the top. 

Man, did I want that jacket. I instinctively knew that the blue ski jacket would make me fit within the confines of normal. I could blend in seamlessly with the rest of the class. Ah, what peace it would be. I just wanted to blend in. To be unseen.

 I knew however, that it was not to be. I followed her out of the store still thinking about that jacket and about how my current coat was too short in the arms and the snow would get it and freeze up my wrists. My back peeked out if I bent over. My boots didn't fit and stunk like wet bread bags. With a 1/4 mile driveway to walk to the bus every morning that would start to be a problem awfully soon. Winter in Minnesota is merciless even in a mild year.

 Mom had been given some bags of clothes for us kids from some kind soul. It was probably a neighbor or church friend who saw my exhausted parents shuffling into service every Sunday dragging twin babies, a preschooler, and me lagging behind. We were always taken care of but I remember her looking so sad so often. Poverty can be a weary place for your soul. Still, God provided for us through my mother's diligent prayers and trust.

I can see the purple fur jacket peeking out of the bag in my mind's eye. It was a pinkish, purple, fuzzy fur. The coat was like a navy pea jacket with the square of buttons in front. There were four of them colored a dull brass like an old used tea pot. I think they were suppose to look like coins with a Roman solider on them. The really horrible part however, was the white, faux fur, trim speckled with black dots. I believe the manufacturer was going for a queen's robe meets a Roman sailor on the good ship Lollypop look.  

Oh, how I repelled inwardly. This was nothing like the sleek, shiny, blue ski jacket.

My mom held it up and judged the size. I knew it was mine. 

 So there was my winter coat. I was going to be the tail end of every joke the cool kids could come up with. My eyes filled but I did not show it. I knew I should be grateful to have a coat. The knot in my throat was so hard it hurt and I turned away.

 "Look! Boots, too!"

 With some apprehension I turned to see my new boots. Oh please could they not match the coat?!

 Oh they didn't match the coat. Nope. They didn't match anything. They were shiny, silver moon boots. Boy moon boots. With huge, thick heals and silver laces. They went clear up to my knees and glowed like a bad sci-fi movie. They needed a ski jacket and a boy!

 Really? Shall we just stick a Bull's Eye on my forehead?

 "Thanks, mom."

 I absolutely hated that jacket. I loathed the boots. However, I new it was the best my parents could give and I knew I shouldn't complain. (I am sure I did a bit....)

 I wore them.

 Grudgingly I admit, they were warm. I was teased. I was laughed at. It was embarrassing to be seen in. I stuck out like a huge purple, fuzzy, Ewok amidst the Sking Crowd. But, I sure was warm.

 The lesson learned: Be thankful in all circumstances.

What a gift that is. What an amazing lesson! What a work the LORD has done in my life with a lesson began before I even knew who He was.
 pray continually,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

 So, sometimes, make them wear that ugly, old, out of date, piece of clothing. It builds character and thankfulness.

 Always Blessed,
Gretchen :)
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