Creative Learning on Friday #18

Welcome back to another week of Creative Learning.  Last week it was my pleasure to see some of our bloggers from the spring sharing their ideas.

Here are a few highlights:

Joey shared a cute idea that I am going to use with my boys to help them see that patterns can be art.

Also, Trillium Montessori shared a blog roundup of autumn printables that will get some good use with our youngest.  The Children's Legacy Library provided an inspiring list of living books that will get my family ready for holiday reading by the cozy fireplace. 

<center> <a href="http://howthesunrose-lalagirl.blogspot.com/search/label/Creative%20Learning%20on%20Friday"><img border="0" src="http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff210/luxiii/blog%20photos/CreativeLearningbadge.png" style="height: 200px; width: 200px;" /></a><center>   (The linky wasn't working earlier today, sorry about that. It is up now.) 

Favorite Autumn Ideas

Today has been very busy, but I wanted to take a moment to share some of my favorite autumn crafts from blogland.  Enjoy.



Make these lovely napkin rings from Twig and Toadstool



Encourage gratitude with a Tree of Thanksgiving
 



These watercolor jack-o-lanterns from Frontier Dreams are sure to cheer your day

 

 

 

 

Corn jewelry - simplicity at it's best from GardenMama

 

 

 

 

Here is a treasure trove of ideas for leaf art.

 

 

Next week, I will share our favorite Autumn books.

Creative Learning on Friday returns!

Well, here I am with my new mantra: Keep Calm and Blog On.

Good things are happening here in central PA.  The National Parks are open, so I am back to work.  We are having a blast homeschooling my two sons with exciting field trips in the near future. We are full-on in the change of seasons, the cool crisp days reviving our foggy summer minds. And, Creative Learning on Friday is back.

Creative Learning on Friday Link Party is set to return

After a summer of fun and loosening of the daily flow, we are back to a rhythm that includes lessons with specific goals in mind.  And with that, I am going to resume our weekly Creative Learning on Friday linky party. 

Last academic year, we had many wonderful bloggers link up and I look forward to seeing more creative learning ideas.  So feel free to go deep in your archives or add your latest post and be ready to be inspired.

The linky party will begin again this Friday morning with an all new badge:

I Am a Park Ranger

I've been away from the blog for some time now. When I am stressed, I retreat into myself and with compounded stressors in my life, my blogging fell by the wayside.  I am determined to "keep calm and blog on" but until I get back into the swing of things, I want to share a bit of what is going on in my world.

Many of you know that I am a National Park Ranger. So often in my career people have said how wonderful it must be to be a park ranger and I heartily agree with them. Right now we need your support and encouragement. This video says so much about the position park rangers are in right now.

When the parks reopen, please take time to tell a ranger how much you value their service.

 

Michaelmas - The Armor of God Slays the Dragon Within

picture courtesy of Answers VBS

Yesterday we began commemorating Michaelmas by focusing on the Armor of God during our homeschool lessons.  Our main reference is from Ephesians 6:10-17

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

This video "I'm a Soldier in the Army of God" was a big hit with the boys.





Today, in keeping with our tradition, we read Margaret Hodges "St. George and the Dragon" and went on to talk about the armor of God, using the knights armor to illustrate the point.

 

Then the boys colored and labeled their own armor of God.

  I also touched on the archangel Michael, for whom the festival is named. I am still searching for a way to explain Michael fighting the dragon in Revelation and just what that means for us today in the here-and-now.  To keep it simple, yet meaningful, I explained that we all have our own "dragons" in our life to slay. Then we each picked something that we can improve upon in our life and then what aspect of the armor of God we could use to make the change.

We will work over the next few weeks at holding each other accountable toward our introspective self improvement that comes naturally as we pull in from the world around us.  It is seen throughout nature.  Here in central Pennsylvania, nature has offered her best, the harvest is coming in.  After a radiant burst of color, the leaves will fall, the sky will turn gray and a time of dormant introspection will begin in preparation of the spring season when all will be made new.  As in years past, we will look to God and His natural wonders to guide while we center our lives and our family looking forward to another season of growth.

Summer Bugs: Bees

This evening sees the end of summer and the beginning of autumn and to see summer off, here is the last installment of our Summer Bugs series.

These last few weeks, we learned about bees.  Big beautiful bumble bees tend to hover just outside our door where our bright lavender blooms.

Some of our favorite books included:

An easy to read little book that gives kids the facts about a bee's life.

 

From the perspective of a honeybee, the backyard is a busy place. A young bee faces many challenges as it takes its place in the hive and joins in the work of the bee community.

 Follow the chain reaction, and discover how important honey bees are.

Here is a great tutorial for needle felted bees from Passengers on a little spaceship.

Watch a PBS video about bees and their role in the beehive.

Here are some bee printables.

Illustrations courtesy of The Toymaker

 

 

So ends our Summer Bugs series.  Now on to new and creative learning.