Renaissance Resources

Moving right along, history wise, we will be studying the Renaissance after we finish with Leonardo da Vinci. Actually, we should have started with R&R before Leo but the kids were antsy to use our Leo resources. LOL 

As always, I provide resources for a variety of ages. 
I am not affiliated with any company or web site. I just share as many great links as I can find. ;)

All the books should be easily found on Amazon or your local library. 

All printables are free unless marked under $$$.

Art Cards - Layers of Learning

Art Cards and Coloring Page - Harmony Fine Arts

Art Timeline - Practical Pages

Coloring Pages - Kids n Fun

Flashcards - Dynamo Dictionary

Lapbook - Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Notebooking Pages - Notebooking Fairy

Notebooking Pages - Notebooking Nook

Worksheets - Ballard & Tighe

Worksheets - Education.com

Worksheets - Medicine Through Time

Worksheets - Mr. Roughton

Worksheets - Student Handouts

Various Printables - HSLaunch (type Renaissance into the search box)


$$$

Currclick

Teachers Pay Teachers (some FREE!!) 

Activities - eHow 

Activities - Mr. Roughton   

Activities - Our Journey Westward   

Activities - Preschooler The Bump

Art Project - Easy Fun School

Art Project - Education.com

Games - Wartgames

Info - BBC

Info - Ducksters

Info - eHow

Info - History Link 101

Info - Learner.org (interactive)

Info - Mr. Dowling

Info - Renaissance.org (interactive)

Instrument Guide 

Lesson Plans - Core Knowledge

Lesson Plans - Mr. Donn

Projects - eHow

Unit Study - Easy Fun School

Videos, Lesson Plans and More - PBS 



VIDEOS

Horrible Histories - Rockin' the Renaissance - YouTube

Crash Course History - Renaissance - YouTube

Dance and Music from Italian Renaissance - YouTube




Other topics to study in regards to the Renaissance:

Important People from the Renaissance - Mr. Kash

Italy Unit Study Resources - Me ;)

Lapbooks and Unit Studies - Homeschool Share

Leonardo da Vinci Unit Study Resources - Me ;)

Martin Luther and the Reformation Unit Study - Homeschool Helper Online

Renaissance Biography Notebooking Pages - Homeschool Helper Online (scroll down and search through the various topics)

Shakespeare Lapbook - Homeschool Helper Online

Various Notebooking Pages - Homeschool Curriculum for Life


I also have a resource list for Explorers! 

Hope this helps! :D


HAVE FUN HOMESCHOOLING!!!

Our Week in Review - First Week of School 2014

Our first week back to school!! WOOO HOOO!!! It was a short week, only 3 days but we managed to get quite a bit accomplished!

New pajamas for a new school year!!!
The tutorial for the nightgown can be found under Little Birdie Nightgown. I'll be posting the tutorial for Colin's chevron pjs next week! 

Breakfast on our first day was Funfetti pancakes. SOOOO GOOD!! 

We built da Vinci's ornithopter! This is from a book I bought at Five Below. We tried taking it outside to see how well it would fly but a piece got stuck and we couldn't get it to work. :( 

While reading about da Vinci we learned that he was fascinated with birds. We looked around the yard for a feather to sketch. Usually there are feathers all over the place but we had a very strong storm the night before. All I could find was that sad little feather. 

Then Cailey and Colin painted their bird pictures. 

We also built a siege engine. I found the kit at Barnes & Noble for $6 and I couldn't pass it up! The drawbridge and catapult really work! 

I found a set of word puzzles for $3 at Target and thought they would be a fun way for Colin to play with words. 


Here are a few other pics, not necessarily from this week but more like a few weeks. ;)

A cool looking moth I found on our kitchen door. 

We live in the city but you wouldn't be able to tell from all of the wildlife around us. This is a falcon that keeps coming to our yard looking for chipmunks to eat! He missed out that day. 


How was YOUR week???

Secret Subject Swap - September 2014

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This week, 11 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

http://www.BakingInATornado.com                             Baking In A Tornado

http://themomisodes.com                                           The Momisodes

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/                         Spatulas on Parade

http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/                    Stacy Sews and Schools

 http://sparklyjenn.blogspot.com/                              Sparkly Poetic Weirdo 

 http://www.eviljoyspeaks.wordpress.com                   Evil Joy Speaks

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/               Confessions of a part-time Working Mom       http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com                       Someone Else’s Genius

http://dinoheromommy.com/                                     Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com                       The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

http://climaxedtheblog.blogspot.com                           Climaxed

Your “Secret Subject” is:

If you had a dream that you were Dorothy and landed in Oz, who in your life or that you've met would be the Wicked Witch, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion? Why?

It was submitted by: http://climaxedtheblog.blogspot.com            

I have been thinking about this prompt ever since I received it. I <3 The Wizard of Oz. I even dressed up as Dorothy for a chorus performance once. I sang "Over the Rainbow" of course. 

So, who would be the Wicked Witch? I'm afraid I can't tell you that one.... LOL But there are at least 3 people in the running.

The Tin Man - Well, if you'll remember the Tin Man had heart ALL ALONG! He didn't really need the Wizard of Oz to give him one. So, with that in mind, my oldest daughter Deanna. She has so much heart!!!!

The Scarecrow - Again, if you'll remember, the Scarecrow had brains the whole time. More than most of the others. LOL My 2nd oldest son, Joshua, would be my Scarecrow. 

The Cowardly Lion - What a misnomer. He might have been a little afraid of somethings but when push came to shove he was in it all the way. The most fearless person I know is my oldest son, Jacob.

Most important, they (other than the witch) were all the closest people to Dorothy. 

Hmm... Didn't I just do a post like this?? Yes, I did!

Read it here - Secret Subject Swap - August 2014.

When I first got the prompt I was a little worried. I can't call anyone DUMB! Or Heartless! But then I thought about it more. The whole thing with the movie was that everyone already had what they needed inside them. Isn't that true of most of us?? If you dig deep enough don't we all have what we need to get by already within us??

Little Birdie Nightgown Tutorial

It's been quite a while since I posted a clothing tutorial. I think it shows. I forgot to take a couple of pictures but hopefully I can explain well enough to make up for it.

I wanted to make Cailey and Colin new pajamas for the new homeschool year 'cause everyone knows homeschoolers only wear pajamas or denim jumpers. ;)

Today I'll post the tutorial for Cailey's nightgown and next Wednesday (at the latest) I'll post the tutorial for Colin's pajamas. 

WHAT I USED -

Just over 2 yards of flannel (for the skirt part)

Just under 1/2 yard of minky dot for the bodice (would also work well with fleece or a heavier knit)

The bodice is NOT lined. I added a neck facing and finished the arms with a zigzag stitch. I also did a zigzag stitch for the bottom of the nightgown instead of a traditional hem. I like the way it turned out and it was something different to do.

STEP 1 -

I took an older pattern that I made for Cailey and adjusted it for her growth. It's an easy thing to make using one of your child's shirts. Just trace around it on some blank paper. 

It's an empire waist, so keep that in mind.

STEP 2 -

Cut 2 bodice pieces.

STEP 3 -

Cut the bottom of the nightgown. I just cut 2 pieces for length. I wanted to work with the full width of 2 pieces. Remember, I left off a traditional hem so the length I cut was only 1/2" off of the finished piece.

STEP 4 - 

Cut the facing.

I folded a piece of the minky dot and used the neckline of one of the bodice pieces as my guide. You want to make it just a smidge smaller due to losing 1/4" when you sew the shoulders together. 

STEP 5 -

Right sides together, sew the shoulder seams. 

STEP 6 -

Right sides together, pin the facing to the neckline and sew all around the inside.

DO NOT PRESS MINKY DOT! You'll lose the dots! LOL

STEP 7 -

Fold the facing inside the bodice and pin. Top stitch all along the neckline. 

STEP 8 -

Run a gathering stitch across the tops of your skirt pieces. Leave them in 2 pieces. It's MUCH easier to attach gathers that way, or at least I think so! ;)

STEP 9 -

Right sides together, pin the tops of the skirt pieces to the bottom pieces of the bodice. Sew the seam.

Now, top stitch across the bottom of the bodice pieces or stitch in the ditch.

STEP 10 - 

Pin up the sides and sew the side seam. 

STEP 11 -

Run a small zigzag stitch across the bottom of the nightgown.

STEP 12 -

Run a small zigzag stitch across the arm holes.

If you are dealing with a small sized nightgown, you might want to do that before sewing the side seams. 

Technically you don't HAVE to finish minky dot, knit or fleece. None of them will unravel like wovens. BUT it can look nicer if you do. I go back and forth depending on the project. 

Now you're all done!!!

I'll be posting the tutorial for Colin's chevron knit pajamas soon! :D

Let me know what you think! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! 

HAVE FUN SEWING!!!!

Crazy Beaver Curtains and Vintage Sewing Valances

I have finally taken pictures of some of the other things I made for the new house! 

This is one of the valances that I made for our homeschooling/sewing/play room. I LOVE the print!!! It's all vintage sewing items. Printed burlap is the best!!!

I made this valance the same way I did the DIY No Sew Valance. SO much better than putting the burlap through your machine!!!
I also used the decorative nails to hang the valance instead of a curtain rod.

Here is the crazy beaver print that the girls picked for their room!!! Dumby me didn't get quite enough fabric so there's only one panel per window. I tried going back but the beaver print was long gone. :/ 
It's OK, though. The girls love their new curtains and Deanna assures me that she never opens them anyway. She doesn't like the light. LOL


I've got 1,001 things going on here BUT I will have 2 new tutorials coming up in the next couple of weeks. Not to mention, we start a new homeschool year today!! Wooo hooo!! Lots of homeschooling posts coming up, too!!! And there will always be the special Friday posts! :D


                           HAVE FUN SEWING AND HOMESCHOOLING!!!!