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Monday, March 4, 2013

Main Lesson Books & Block Crayons Giveaway

  
 



In our homeschooling adventures, nature study has provided ample opportunity for my son to tap into his creative side and encourage his observation skills.  One of his favorite parts of nature study is drawing what he has observed, whether it is a butterfly, a tree, or a rainbow.  For detailed drawings he uses a small blank book that travels with us to museums and parks. However, often, he needs a larger space to draw an entire landscape or large, more pronounced aspect of nature.  For that, he uses his treasured main lesson book. 

Main lesson books are typically used in Waldorf education, but are gaining popularity in Charlotte Mason homeschool families for seasonal or nature studies.  Main lesson book can be used for every subject, and are especially useful when teaching in blocks or unit studies.


Aidan's tree drawings after a maple sugaring field trip where we
learned that sugar maples have symmetrical branches.
(Drawn with Stockmar beeswax block crayons.)

Having quality art supplies is an essential part of our homeschool plan.  My children know that they have nice supplies and therefor take better care of what they have. Our main lesson books come from Oak Meadow, are 31x24cm, and have onion skin between the pages so the crayon drawings do not rub off on to the next page. These main lesson books are such quality that we will keep them for years to come as reference guides. They will also be a treasured source of pride and a journal of our children's homeschool journey and discoveries. We currently use them for our nature studies, but next year we will use our main lesson books for creating a Book of Centuries for history lessons, and a separate one for form drawing and math lessons.

The shining rainbow shows us Seven
As it stretches down from Heaven.

For our crayons, Aidan, who is seven, uses both Stockmar Beeswax stick and block crayons, also from Oak Meadow.  When we switched from cheaper crayons to these high quality beeswax crayons, Aidan remarked about how much brighter his beeswax crayons are than the ones in a traditional coloring box. And he is right. They are truly vibrant.

He recently began using block crayons and is learning techniques that give a soft blending texture that he cannot get with stick crayons and uses the edge for sharp lines. (I am looking forward to using them myself.) For more inspiration on using block crayons visit Homeschool Mo where Maureen writes about the evolution of block crayon use in her own homeschool journey.


Block crayons are perfect for bark rubbings.

Would you like to discover the beauty of block crayons as an art medium for yourself? Oak Meadow is generously offering one reader a set of 3 Main Lesson Books and a set of Stockmar Block Crayons. 



There are two ways to enter. (You are welcome to do both.)

1.  Like Oak Meadow on facebook, where you will join over 7,000 fans who enjoy daily informative and inspiring posts. Leave a comment that you did so and tell how you or your child would use the main lesson book and block crayons.

2. Follow How the Sun Rose via GFC (found on the sidebar) or facebook and leave a comment letting me know you did so.  (I often draw inspiration form my readers, and welcome your comments on posts and fellow bloggers linking up to Creative Learning on Fridays.)

On the evening of Monday, March 11, my 4 year old son will pick a random number out of our math river rocks and I will reveal the winner.

Our next giveaway is from A Toy Garden.  It is sure to inspire creativity!

47 comments:

  1. I've wondered about the block crayons (having never used them myself), but reading more about them here and over at Homeschool Mo (thanks for the link) they do sound good. And vibrant colour is lovely. I've liked both pages on fb, and I follow you here already :-) I think I'd enjoy exploring how to use them with my kids, especially as we move into Autumn here, it would be nice to capture the feeling of the season with them.

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  2. I follow you on GFC! It would be a wonderful treat to win this and surprise my artsy children with it.

    Thank you for the opportunity!

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  3. I am now following you on GFC. My alllmost three year old ould love this!

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  4. I just followed you on FB! I love this post - we don't have any of the block crayons and they look like they would be perfect for grave rubbings as well - I was thinking of taking the kids over to do grave rubbings on their great grandparents memorial stones...

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  5. I already like Oak Meadow on FB. We would use the crayons and lesson books with our Oak Meadow curriculum! And just for fun.

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  6. I now like How the Sun Rose on FB. Thank you for the giveaway.

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  7. I like Oak Meadow on FB. My youngest would use the main lesson books and crayons this summer to draw/journal our adventures as we travel on vacation with Grandma and Grandpa.

    Cheri

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  8. Also, I just followed you on FB as well.

    Cheri

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  9. we have been learning with oak meadow for years. thank you for the give aways and sweet words. with respect, elizabeth

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  10. my boys would use the lesson books for our science lessons which are nature based and for their main lessons.

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  11. We love Oak Meadow and "like' them on fb.
    Natalie

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  12. We also like HTSR on fb. Thanks so much!
    Natalie

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  13. We would use the main lesson books and crayons for our nature lessons this summer! Our family is starting our journey into Waldorf education after four years of public school and we are so excited about our upcoming adventures in homeschooling!

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  14. I like Oak Meadow on FB. I'd use them with my 5 and 2 yr olds--and I wish I had them when my big girls were younger!

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  15. We like OM and joined your followers Yeah :)

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  16. Just liked you on Facebook. I really like all your info and ideas--so happy to be following you now!

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  17. I was already a fan of OM on Facebook (which is how I learned about Sun Rose). Those supplies will be great for homeschooling my kids (using OM). I would really live to use the block crayons lone for leaf, tree, etc. rubbings.

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  18. I like Oak Meadow on fb I have use their material and methods with my youngest two :)

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  19. I have liked How The Sun Rose on FB and I look forward to reading posts!

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  20. I have liked Oak Meadow on FaceBook under the name of 'Elle Gallant'. Thanks for hosting the giveaway!

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  21. I am already follower of Oak Meadow on FB and we are doing OM Kindergarten this year. These wonderful crayons and Main Lesson Books would be used for Alphabet pictures, Nature Study and all the science lectures we do!

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  22. I liked both Oak Meadow and The Sun Rose on Facebook. I came across your page, looking for Waldorf activities to do with my kids at home. We are now away from our home and Waldorf school and kindergarten in Latvia and temporarily living in US. My 7 year old is going to public school here to learn the language, but I am trying to integrate a little Waldorf learning in his day. So I would use block crayons for form drawing and alphabet studies, and my 4 year old is happy to draw with these.

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  23. I liked Oak Meadow on Facebook. These supplies would be used for projects with my preschooler.

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  24. Liked you both! I can't pass up an opportunity to try some art supplies!

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  25. I like Oak Meadow on Facebook :)

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    1. and we will use these for our main lessons on letters and numbers.

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  26. and I liked your blog on FB. looking forward to exploring it!

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  27. Liked Oak meadow. My daughter would use the crayons to build her small motor skills and express her imagination through her art.

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  28. I like Oak Meadow. We recently got a butterfly activity package. I would use the lesson book and crayons with that.

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  29. I follow Sun Rose via facebook.

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  30. i like oak meadow and now i also follow sun rose. so excited for me and my son to start our homeschooloing adventure! thank you for the oppurtunity to discover how many different ways we could use these wonderful tools.

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  31. I liked oak meadow on Facebook. Thank you! (Under the name Staci Malaby)

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  32. I already follow you and the OM method too! Denisse Moreno

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  33. I liked Oak Meadow on Facebook. We'd use the materials for nature study, too!

    ~Genny @ In Lieu of Preschool
    inlieuofpreschool@gmail.com

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  34. I liked your Facebook page, too. Thanks for sharing the giveaway in The PLAY Group's Playground G+ group! :)

    ~Genny @ In Lieu of Preschool
    inlieuofpreschool@gmail.com

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  35. I just liked Oak Meadow on facebook as name: fiona nuyen
    I would use it for my Art class!
    Thank You
    Fiona N
    iceyogurt(at)gmail(dot)com

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  36. And I followed How the Sun Rose via GFC as name: Fiona N
    Thank You for the giveaway

    Fiona N
    iceyogurt(at)gmail(dot)com

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  37. I liked Oak Meadow on FB (Maria Librande). My two early school-age children (5 and 3) would LOVE these crayons. My 5 year old adores using crayons, but has sadly been dealing with a pail full of broken crayolas thus far. She would treasure these block crayons and lesson book. I'm sure they would be her constant companions.

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  38. Also, I started following you on GFC - and I didn't mention that we are starting homeschooling, so these would be wonderful to add to our schoolroom supplies! Thank you!

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  39. Thanks for sharing! I hope to someday get block crayons for our home! Hope you stop by again today at Eco-Kids Tuesday! http://likemamalikedaughter.blogspot.com/2013/03/nifty-thrifting-at-eco-kids-tuesday.html

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