Lapbooking Luau Workshop Review

"If mothers could learn to do for themselves what they do for their children when these are overdone, we should have happier households. Let the mother go out to PLAY! If she would have the courage to let everything go when life becomes too tense, and just take a day, or half a day, out in the fields, or with a favorite book, or in a picture gallery looking long and well at just two or three pictures, or in bed, without the children, life would go on far more happily for both children and parents.

― Charlotte Mason

"PLAY" was the name of the game this month as a half a dozen homeschool moms gathered at Magnolia Hill Studios in Vineland for our July Starlight Workshop Tea "Surviving the Summer Slump: Lapbooking Luau"! 

ICE BREAKER

Arriving in appropriate "luau attire", attendees were greeted at the registration table with a traditional Hawaiian lei and a name tag - their name in Hawaiian.  

Once everyone arrived, a fun ice breaker game ensued with a hula dance memory game:  Each participant had to say "Aloha" followed by their Hawaiian name - with a hula dance move.  The game went around the circle with each repeating the names and hula moves before them - then adding their own.  Giggles and creativity kicked off what was to become a fast-paced, fun afternoon of playful teaching and learning!

Miss Kathy welcomed everyone, inviting them to enjoy the tropical treats under the Luau umbrella - and our signature Constellation Academy tea - iced in the summertime, of course - before getting started.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

There were plenty of announcements about upcoming events and fall classes - the most important was the unfortunate CHANGE OF DATE for our Beekeeping Field Trip at the Berge Family's Acts Arbor Farm, originally scheduled for Friday, July 20.  Due to the recent derecho storm damages and a rescheduling of our beekeeper's day job, we have rescheduled the field trip to MONDAY, AUGUST 13 - from 1:00pm-3:00pm.

This will be just after our August 11 Starlight Workshop Tea Back To School: Learning Style Sense (more on that below) - the same day Beekeeper Berge will be harvesting honey.  This means there will be fresh honey for tasting and purchase - $6.00 per jar - orders taken.  Our hour with the bees and beekeeper will be followed by a mini-lapbooking session where we'll create a souvenir to review all we've learned.  A fun project to make and take together.  

Oh!  Ice cream snack for dessert, too!

More Announcements:  Miss Kathy's Starlight Story Studies at the Pageant Wagon - Fall Class Registration is in Full Swing!  RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY!!

Click HERE to learn how to register for all Miss Kathy's classes this fall:

PRIMARY LEVEL – K4 and K5-Grade 1

Class meets 1 hour weekly w/home review activity

Story Study:  My First Little House Series Adapted from the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Each week is a different Little House story with activities to introduce the home school parent and child to the teaching and learning tools that will be a major part of their lives for years to come.  Features activities exercising basic motor skills using color sheets and lettering/early language notebook pages, lapbook method mini books and lift the flap projects are created for a culminating primer lapbook, and hands on games and crafting with story discussion and dramatization make this a homeschool method tutorial for the homeschool parent and a memorable literacy experience for the homeschool primary student!

 

ELEMENTARY LEVEL – Grades 2-4

Class meets 2.5 hours weekly w/home assignments

Story Study:  Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls's story begins in 1871 in a little log cabin on the edge of the Big Woods of Wisconsin. Four-year-old Laura lives in the little house with her Pa, her Ma, her sisters Mary and Carrie, and their trusty dog, Jack.  Join the Ingalls family for a year of their pioneer, celebrate Christmas with homemade toys and treats, do the spring planting, bring in the harvest, and make a trip into town. A unique glimpse into America's frontier past features associated history, geography, social and life science studies in addition to all aspects of language arts and writing skills with notebooking, lapbook, and portfolio.

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL – Grades 5-9

Class meets 3 hours weekly w/home assignments

Story Study:  The Door in the Wall, by Marguerite de Angeli

Robin, son of Sir John de Bureford, is expected to learn the ways of knighthood. But his falls ill and loses the use of his legs. Fearing a plague, his servants abandon him and Robin is left alone.  This Newbery Medal winning story, set in medieval times, is about a boy who learns his own strength when he saves the castle and discovers there is more than one way to serve his king.   Study features associated history, geography, social and life science studies in addition to all aspects of language arts and writing skills with notebooking, lapbook, and portfolio project.

 PLUS:  Parable Players Home School Theatre with TWO grade level productions! 

Shining Stars Intermediate Theatre:  The Empty: A Throne Medieval Morality Play

Lady Greensleeves lives in Castle Barren under the watchful eye of Mistress Miss-the-Mark, her nurse, Sir Boasts Alot, the Knight who guards her, and Friar Folly, responsible for maintaining her “religious exercises”.  Even with such stewards, Lady Green-sleeves feels her life “lies in ruins, knowing naught but despair.”  Her heart cries out for rescue as she blindly follows the directives of her overseers.  Enter Jester Good Wit & Wisdom and his band of Troubadours with an offer of marriage from a Great Lord - only if Lady Greensleeves will agree to empty her throne.

Rising Stars Beginner's Theatre:  Life on Plimoth Plantation

Based upon a song written and sung by the early Plimoth Plantation Pilgrims in 1623, this humorous retelling of a slice of American history is filled with fun facts and the pioneer spirit so much a part of our founding Christian heritage.  More details on this special debut beginner's class coming soon! 

DON'T FORGET:  Shooting Stars Summer Reader's Theatre Workshop for August!  Click HERE for registration details.

Our July Shooting Stars Summer Reader's Theatre Workshop started this past week with three eager young fellows exploring the theme "It's A Mystery!"  Week one introduced the mystery story genre with facts about what makes a good mystery story and a fun reader's theatre mystery skit to get our acting skills wet!  Week two features students creating and writing their own mystery skit, while week three brings us to production of same for a small family gathering on the closing day of the workshop.  The August session will follow a similar format with a different theme tailored to the group of youngsters registered.

SEWING CLUB with Cindy Mann - click HERE for details and contact Cindy directly to register for the classes.

MAGNOLIA HILL STUDIOS DANCE AND ART ENRICHMENT with Sandy Smith, Artistic Director.  We are so blessed to be connected to the dance and art classes gently nurturing creativity in children with Sandy and her professional staff at Magnolia Hill Studios.  

A love of the Lord, goodness, beauty, and excellence are evident in everything produced at Magnolia Hill and Sandy - a home school mom of 6 for the past THIRTY years, shared about the vast amount of enrichment classes available to homeschool families.  Click HERE for details and contact Sandy directly to inquire about any number of classes available this fall in addition to her summer workshop sessions.

REMINDER:  Summer Tutoring for SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN by Cathy Daubenspeck, Special Needs Teacher.  There's still plenty of time this summer to take advantage of this special resource service to help you understand and meet the needs of your special needs child.  Click HERE for details and contact Cathy directly to set up a consultation appointment.

REMINDER:  High School Writing Tutor, Bethany Finn - offering language arts and literature studies for senior high school students with intensive emphasis on college level prep writing skills.  Click HERE for details and contact Bethany directly to set up a consultation appointment for fall session.

MAPPING YOUR WAY:  Prayer Journal

Adrienne Richardson, who usually conducts this segment, was on vacation this week - and much missed.  However, not to be missed was a meditative thought for the Prayer Journal section of our Guiding Star Notebook used by participants at each workshop.  

Updated copies are always available for new workshop participants for $10.  Click HERE for ordering information!

This month we are taking some summer fun time to PLAY and learn - inspired by the Charlotte Mason quote at the outset of this post.  Then - we were . . .

OFF TO HAWAII AND OUR LAPBOOKING LUAU!!

Miss Kathy showed a basic lapbook plan and shared a few mini lessons about Hawaii - each lesson accompanied by small lapbook mini-book projects that reviewed the material taught.  

Participants cut and pasted each project just as their children would do.  Fine motor skills and critical thinking are exercised thus and, when conducted in a relaxed atmosphere with Hawaiian music playing in the background, discussion and interaction help to cement facts and figures.  

 

SPOONFULS OF SUGAR:  TROPICAL TREATS & VOLCANOES 

Nikkole Hollenweger demonstrated a tasty tropical treat using healthy tropical fruits such as bananas, kiwi, and clementines.  Directions for slicing and arranging the fruit on a cool whip iced pineapple upsidedown cake preceded another mini-book project for the lapbook - an accordion book with the step by step recipe.

Cake was served as Nikkole readied another creation from the kitchen and pantry - a home-made VOLCANO!  With simple pantry ingredients, Nikkole demonstrated this fun science lesson while we waited for the expected eruption.  We were not disappointed!

Miss Kathy passed out a double matchbook mini-book project to cut and paste while discussing the PHYSICAL science lesson that easily illustrates a SPIRITUAL truth as we discussed the INTERNAL CAUSE to EXTERNAL EFFECT - being melted by the heat of God's Word in our lives to where we erupt outward in good works and Godliness, changing the landscape and atmosphere of the world around us much like the lava from an erupted volcano changes the landscape and atmosphere surrounding it.

Then - it was time to glue all the pieces together in the lapbook itself!  

TA-DA!  A terrific teaching tool easily adapted for any subject and any grade level - appealing to a broad range of learning styles, too!

Our 3.5 hours together flew by and we just couldn't leave without learning the popular Hukilau hula dance - using the convenient dance mirrors in the Magnolia Hill Studio where we've been meeting this summer.

Don't Miss Next Month's Starlight Workshop Tea on Saturday, August 11th!!

We'll be exploring and tooling you with some pattern alterations to adapt your curriculum choices and teaching approach to the LEARNING STYLE of your child!  Are you a VISUAL, AUDITORY, or KINESTHETIC learner?  We'll be pinning the right teaching and learning patterns in place for BACK TO SCHOOL STYLE SENSE that will make your 2012-2013 school year an academic fashion plate of success!

RSVP ASAP - Email us at constellationacademy@gmail.com to reserve your spot - and BRING A FRIEND!!