Category Archives: art and crafts

Making Mondrian

Posted on January 29, 2014 by | Leave a comment

we all know mondrian, it is a uniquely forceful art style, uncompromising and easily recognised. However, looking at his art from early to late, there is clearly a development of it, in both boldness and simplicity. We concentrated on considering the iconic mondrian, and utilising information and images on the web and books of modern art we came up with our brief. We compared with Klee, a similar timeframe artist who was our previous subject, also with some ‘blocky’ images, and compared the styles – referencing colours, tones, images encapsulated. Quite different in fact.

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We started with choosing our medium. this time oil paints on specialised oil paper. We used a ruler to make our lines – not to regular a grid, using different sizes with a light pencil.

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Having done this we added our colours. those looking for a later look limiting the palette to primary colours and more white. We should have given everyone their own turps/whites spirit well. we did quite well for a while, having one paint washing white spirits [and cloths] and one for droppering onto our white tile palettes. Also, we possibly should have started with yellow! We found out rubbing out lines caused patterning to the oils, and also that if the oil was thin, the pencil line shew through.

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Finally, we waited for it to dry, and then went over the lines with permanent marker, as we felt our painted straight lines might not be so good.

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Posted in art and crafts, Uncategorized

Kontemplating Klee

Posted on January 18, 2014 by | 1 comment

I know! terrible alliteration. We have been mostly working on 20th century painters and art styles. We looked at Klee, talked about the variety of his styles, but concentrating on the more more blocky. I have always liked Klee, and have a poster of a north african scene in our dining room. We considered the blending of colours within the blocks, how there was a tonal impression in the picture, and then a few details making the whole image into a landscape rather than purely abstract. The children quite liked the blockiness being similar to minecraft.

We started with choosing the medium. we used djeco crayons that are similar enough to oil pastels but very easy to use. They are easy to blend. We used sketching paper. We had some fee paper to put our designs on and to use to practice belnding and then sketched out our blocks freehand with pencil.

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Following that we gradually built up our pictures. Some going with bright and colourful, some going with contrasting blocking, and some quite idiosyncratic. I think mine is too picture representative, but I liked the one by TheB. We all got more proficient at blending and making different colours as we progressed, and some mixed colours weren’t quite what we had expected.

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Here are all our pictures

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Posted in art and crafts, Uncategorized

Latinetc – mixing it up

Posted on March 4, 2011 by | 2 comments

chapter 6 of real science for kids was all about mixing it up :) . unfortunately, the mixing pattern spread out, and we are again in a quandary around groupings. however, i have the courage of convictions to believe that we can work all this out :) . it was also a wonderful welcome back to C and M from the manorborn. we have really missed them whilst C has been doing her en famille exchange. so woohoo and welcome back :)

The mixing it science involved seeing what a mixture was [homogeneous and heterogeneous] and what could mix [polar/charged or non charged - ie like with like] . it still involved ammonia tho!! The newtons unfortunately had me battling the most awful migraine, and i was therefore short on people skills. luckilly M intervened a fraction before BB got sent to the stairs – bad mummy moment. :( however, the science itself went well, and everyone was v happy with the workbook folders from merry :) . the cricks were next and went better, as they are a jolly and easy group to teach, usually remember at least something from the chapter :) and are v amiable about being corrected. enjoy perhaps too much thinking of hypotheses – :lol: the rutherfords had a hard time of it. there are too many of them, they just fitted round table, and didn’t get to finish experiment – they were the same size as other 2 groups combined, and with ascertaining what they remembered from chapter and explaining, and using the sheets etc, we only got half way through the experiments :( so feel quite bad about that really. Hence the mixing up the groups, so that it will hopefully work better. Mixing groups is never a process that goes smoothly, as so many things to consider. fingers crossed we find a good solution :)

Meanwhile the others were far more successful in getting their lessons in right :) and sb enjoyed skoldo french and minimus with k and 3d shapes with z. was even lucky enough to have a blow on an oboe reed of G’s [and now keen to learn to play that too - G is such a musical instrument temptress!] as well as a group recorder session.

BB also v happy with 3d shape making, and v v excited by her recorder session with G :) it is certainly giving her huge enthusiasm to get going on the recorder. she also enjoyed her french stories. next time will think of something else for her to take as well, as had a few footloose moments. maybe colouring or dot to dots.

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I redeemed myself [hopefully] by doing music theory, and then some rousting vocal exercises and learning ‘early one morning’ [only the first verse!] which, encouraged by the kids, we went far to high on. But i mostly wanted to make the singing enjoyable, and also learn at least 1 verse of a few of our native folk songs.

Listened to our italian cd there and back, BB fairly happily did some explode the code at latinetc too, and SB had brownies and judo. BB and i snuggled, she ds-ed and chatted at 100 miles an hour too me – love those girls :)

photos may follow if lucky :)

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean's HE, daubing and making, investigating, language, little languages, music, music to love, noises and sounds, pre reading, science, socialisation, Stringbean's HE

One ring to rule them…

Posted on February 25, 2011 by | 3 comments

… one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

Some how our children have passed by the lord of the rings. We did try reading the hobbit a while back to sb, but she wasn’t keen, so dropped it. However, today was bright and sunny, and I am making the most of the time off, so after a morning with M-I-L [F-I-L's progress v v slow post op, he has been in for a week, and I estimate a further week to go] we were to go out after lunch. I say a morning with M-I-L, but sb was singularly unable to get up! this was unfortunate, as although we had made DH presents previously, we hadn’t done cards, and she was allegedly getting up early to do them!! BB mostly finished making all her lego, and did a short piano prac. When SB did get up, we both made cards for DH, and M-I-L most appreciative :) SB finished her theory book as well.

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A bit after after lunch [as it were!] we set off to west stow for their ring quest. It was only £8 for the whole family!! bargain :) there was a fab orc :) [the elf wore jeans!!!] the trail was fun and well thought out :) and we could flip between lord of the ring trail and anglo saxon easily as it was nearly empty, so we could make believe. [this is where the lord of the rings thing earlier was going too!] Had to do some telling the girls the back story, and after getting into giggles with DH, I took over :) [i may have read the book far more times :) ] SH enjoyed pretending to be aeolderman, sitting in the chair in the main hall :) BB was intermittantly wolfhound or warg – you decide which best fits her personality :) SB was in charge of runes and clues, and myself for daydreaming saxon or LOTR depending on what was called for :) We v much enjoyed it. Both the village – tho see might be better with re-enactors, it would also be busier – and the romping walk. Both girls did it at a fast trot, so obviously runes searching is better than geocaching for BB!! Def a good afternoon out.

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this evening DH chose takeaway pizza for tea and we had yummy birthday cake made by SB of sweetspice victoria sponge with vanilla buttercream and home made jam – yummy :) . the girls happily watched the first dvd of LOTR extended version set. Not frightened was the verdict. we will see as we go along then :) .M-I-L says F-I-L a bit perkier, which is good, but no nearer walking – not so! planning another eventful day tomorrow as last of my annual leave. Think i have done the best with it :)

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean's HE, history, investigating, noises and sounds, Out and About, Stringbean's HE

yeah yeah, sure sure, yip yip

Posted on February 23, 2011 by | 4 comments

as SB says all the time :) . today was a day spent at home with girls, doing presents, home ed, chatting, playing cuddling etc etc. I was feeling a bit blue today. miss my sis, needed really to have a more going somewhere holiday to focus my gaze externally etc, etc. But threw myself into doing stuff with girls. We did some fab home ed in my lovely conservatory :) and BB successfully read ‘the’ a few more times :) – we are classing this as a MAJOR achievement :) .

SB getting happier at doing her junior galore park [on book 2] which also bodes well [yes, i know for her school year she should be book 3, but orig she hated writing, so have been gently gently introducing :) ] she did some music theory also, but her fav bit of home ed today was her choice of fact book.

which she got for xmas but only just explored [she has been reading back to back canadian girl stories i think!] and surprised me with just how much she knows about this already. we do lots of talking, lots of reading but negligible testing, so it is always a relief when you see how knowledgeable she is. BB peering over her shoulder at one point selected a spiral galaxy to be the milky way because it was the ‘right shape’. SHe also did some of her dk project book, which she still loves, currently minerals, cleaned the rabbit hutch and did a great piano prac with me. Also finished [more or less as we need the printer to work proplerly to actually finish] P amd M’s birthday presents and also M-I-L’s.

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BB started with piano prac, having heard me do some [yes, we must tune piano] and i must make sure to encourage this regularly as she remembered all what we had done and was ready to move onto a new note. She had the great reading breakthrough as above :) and we read why do spiders… She also did a lot of drawing with her watercolour pencils in her sketch book, and played a complicated weighing game with cuisinaire rods and a balance as well as making a birthday presnet for M-I-L.

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DH excavated the room of doom, M-I-L the hallway, and as well as home edding and reading to girls [oh, we did 2 chapters of story of the world after swimming lessons] I sowed some more seeds, as blogged, caught a v disgruntled snowy rabbit [lol] and ‘found’ things :) . F-I-L seems to be better pain wise but a long way off mobilisation, predicting at least a week more in hospital.

tomorrow hoping for a going out day :)

some other books semi factual semi historical that SB enjoying that others of similar might

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Posted in art and crafts, BB-PE, Books, Butterbean's HE, daubing and making, history, literacy, music, noises and sounds, pre reading, SB-PE, science, Stringbean's HE, writing

artetc – wax and tissue paper buildings

Posted on February 22, 2011 by | 5 comments

I am on annual leave but having a ‘staycation’ . A number of reasons for this – F-I-L in hosp and M-I-L staying here prob being the most important, followed swiftly by the eeeekk! canada trip so expensive!! SO since I havn’t planned going away nor staying, i do think i musn’t fritter the time away! SO today I ‘invited myself’ to artetc with lecielrouge and Merry. We do enjoy this greatly every time we manage to go :) Today was no exception :) tho we were late :( due to a complete inability to get out of bed [i am blaming the weekend!!] Great to spend time with 2 good and lovely friends.

So there were 2 main art works today, still focusing on architecture/buildings in art. the first was drawing a row of houses/buildings on card and then cutting out the windows [done by z] and putting tissue paper behind. Think this was the favoured one, and v impressed by the imagination and differences the children used with the same brief. I had a go at this one, and was v happy with it. My kind of art :)

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the second was making wax rubbings of interesting textures around the house and then drawing on paper 4/5 buildings and using the wax rubbings to delineate some of the structure/floors. v interesting idea but quite hard to pull off! BB was being a bit wobbly about this one tho :(

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SB did some music theory practice [after a bit of a reminder to concetrate and use brain!] we are thinking maybe of giving her elastic band around wrist which she has to ping on every new question to remind her to read it properly :) she scored 90 in the practice paper which she read and concentrated, and 63 in the one she didn’t :roll: .SHe took it all v well and happily, since she was doing this whilst others playing. BB did some explode the code and finally read ‘the’!!! woohooo!!

We finished with colouring in little boxes and making fimo keyrings for upcoming triple birthday celebration :) I wish we had thought of those mario mushrooms sooner tho!! they are cute and easy to do :) . merry and girls left, and we nattered to z for longer before heading back via the hospital. F-I-L doing much better and in less pain. early days tho… we listened to italian cd on the way there and back.

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So, i have varnished the fimo, flickred and then to bed.

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean's HE, daubing and making, General, language, little languages, music, pre reading, socialisation, Stringbean's HE

Daddy Blogging

Posted on February 18, 2011 by | Leave a comment

there is a half finished draft post on victorian day back here in the workings bit of petits haricots. 52 drafts altogether, nearly all with daddybean as the author. I am hoping he will get his blogging mojo back :) at least for some of the fun trips and groups he goes to with the girls.

Yesterday they went to multisport, i worked a v v long day, and f-i-l had surgery. today they went to the arts award group for the first time. it is 10+ but bb got to stay with DH helping. they were doing botanic drawing, so quite a challenge, particularly for BB. in the end DH drew the chilli i think, and she did the shading in. SB did a plum and strawberry, and I am partic impressed by the shading of the plum. they both enjoyed it and plan to return. I believe BB did have a melt moment, cos on paper not what in head, so hoping wasn’t disruptive to the group.

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in the afternoon they dropped m-i-l into hosp. F-i-l has been in quite a bit of pain today, as the leg muscles all spasming :( i hope they can get it under control, perhaps with an epidural?? Looking forward to him moving to the rehab bit of recovery rather than the initial pain bit.

The girls had opticians appts. It turns out BB is long sighted, and needs glasses to read! SO we are getting a pair of Mr Men glasses for her. sb went to 2 diff opticians, but couldn’t find what she wanted, and is unkeen on the bendy ones again. I am v keen on the bendy ones, as they are the first pair not to be trashed and require recurrent visits back for fixing!

got home from work and we had cuddles, tickles and watched cartoons altogether. also a couple more canada books arrived. SB read one of the dear canada diaries last night and loved it, so was glad for another to arrive [they are 'preloved'] and BB is reading her prev ones again. I am loving going to canada in the summer, it is like a ray of sunshine in the dreary winter, giving us fun in planning, and learning and thinking :)

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean's HE, daubing and making, General, history, music, Out and About, pre reading, SB-PE, Stringbean's HE

Latinetc – acid base titration

Posted on February 16, 2011 by | 4 comments

today we tried to follow the new timetable for latinetc a bit better. It worked better than anticipated for a first go, but we did make a bit of a mess in the afternoon :lol: anyway. sure we will do better next time, and still went fine enough and the kids seemed to have fun. Have taken some good photos and science went well.

the science bit was acid base titration from chapter 5 of the real-science 4 kids. we did quite a chat around various bits. the rutherfords actually asked some v in depth questions, and i think got drowned by the answer :) but were really good at working out their aims and hypothesis. then we got going and all did very well at considering the science behind the practical. will be glad not to do ammonia again for a while tho :)

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Art was paper weaving, and then placing into a bigger pic. i was v impressed with SB’s boat and both she and bb loved it. both loved the recorder too, and bb v happy that she could do what she ws asked to. i heard a raucous latin session :) and sb loves skoldo anyway. BB initially reluctant with the french stories, but was happy to listen to the end. Even the workybook bit in the middle went ok. the only prob was the drift we had, so didn’t do the song I had planned. Ah well!! I think the youngest ones had a much better balanced session to, with mice making with gina and zoe reading loads of books.

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SB had made a cake on tues to bring, dairy free and with sparkler candles, so was v happy with that and the happy birthday singing. the children also all had occassion to run about and be crazy.

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SB had brownies and judo. on arriving home m-i-l and f-i-l were hear, as f-i-l has knee replacement to go to tomorrow – hoping will go smoothly! BB was a whinge-bag really :( but did happily make sb a birthday present. take away chinese for tea was rather lovely, and bb fell asleep v v quickly :)

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean's HE, daubing and making, investigating, language, little languages, music, noises and sounds, science, socialisation, Stringbean's HE

working from home

Posted on February 14, 2011 by | 2 comments

i don’t often work from home, but had a vast amount of paperworky/journally/knowledge stuff to do, and as long as i am avail to go back in, it is a possibility to do [v occasionally!] today was one of those occasions, partly cos have had severe heartburn all day, and easier at home where can drink milk and gaviscon :), and partly cos had bb whilst sb taken to orthodontist. i was v v productive. far more, actually, than would have been at work as i would have been distracted into doing other stuff.

The girls also pretty productive with their HE. BB doing some maths about shapes – easy peasy! and then explode the code 1 – not quite so easy, but getting easier. SB did some music theory, recorder and galore park english 2 [the latter def not at all so easy!] . we did a secret craft [ :) ] in that it is going to be partly a present for daddy, and partly a present for her friends. SHe and BB both did it, and are v happy with their results :) That took a while, and we had to keep daddy occupied elsewhere, so sent him out for rabbit supplies, but he forgot the food!!

I went back to working, BB watched some sinbad and SB finished her english with one of those acrostic poems, which she quite liked. SB went to ballet, BB played in the garden, and then came in a mooched. SHe was bored, she needed me to think of something – piano, music theory, fimo, hama beads, wet felting, dry felting, sewing a felt heart, beaded bracelet, painting, bean experiments, electronics set, card game. nope all boring, and i was grumpy at this point that thought of LOTS of things to no avail. however, found a golden crown from the castle party years ago, so BB v happily decorated with stick on jewels!!

When SB returned from ballet we tidied up, and then looked at real science for kids chemistry chapter 5 with both girls, and then story of the world 1 with the Medes and Persians. We had a jolly good chat about how Cyrus’ grandad would have been better keeping him at home, and raising him with love! had an early chippery tea watching ray mears in the northern territories of canada in the path of Dr Rae, v interesting that!!

SB and the orthodontist – well, she needs removeable braces now, and will prob need fixed then. She has a grade 5 [worst] problem so def on the nhs. I think we are going to find braces traumatic!!! BB has her filling tomorrow, think that will be traumatic too.

Poor BB has had a gulpy sobby bedtime, as the little silvered resin piggybank i bought on sat is already desilvering, and she loves him v much, but is v unhappy the silver going. cuddles, songs and chatting haven’t entirely resolved this, but we have agreed you can carry on loving something even if not as silvery as it was – bless.

oh, and we caught 1 mouse in the trap, and released quite a long long way away :)

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean's HE, Dance/drama, daubing and making, early maths skills, history, language, literacy, little languages, music, pre reading, Stringbean's HE, writing

Historyetc , libraries, gardens and labyrinths

Posted on January 26, 2011 by | 13 comments

lol – next time I am going to be able to say that it is all greek to me!! ANyway, this time was about arshibanapal and the library at Ninevah, The hanging gardens of Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar and the Minoans. It was a full house and some really interesting and different crafts/activities.

As usual, our chapters and crafts are based around story of the world, I am taking an archaeological activity from the kids book, and we are also reading some relevant myths

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My girls and Big both agreed that their fv today was the plaster frescoes that Lecielrouge came with but that there was a great selection of different crafts to do. Merry brought fimo, and all the kids did some v careful ‘hanging baskets of babylon’ :lol: I did a slightly crazy hanging gardens of babylon, where we cut up those black plastic modules and then used a hot glue gun to glue them back together in a more ‘interesting’ configuration. we then put in compost and seeds, so a garden they will be :) . for the older kids we had some wordsearches and crosswords and a ‘maths-in archaeology’ scenario. Lots of the children drew labyrinths and mazes. The younger ones had a paint a minotaur mask as well and they all made minotaur peg dolls and books for the library at nineveh. All v successful :) .

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unfortunately it was a bit too rainy, so no trampolining and then no clear skys to starwatch :( Also within 5 mins SB had had an accidental collision with one of the toddlers, and her broken but fixed tooth is now broken again. :( . It was pretty hurty, and hurt periodically thro the day, enough to keep dosing with nurofen :( so visit to dentist in the morning.aarghh and hope no damage done. now children playing before bedtime, Jax and i have imbibed a bit of wine in a phew, another successful session, now relax kind of way! Will add a few pics when flickred

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean's HE, daubing and making, history, socialisation