Summer Book Giveaway: The Sun Egg

Tomorrow is our last day of lessons for our homeschool academic year, but, of course, the learning will continue as will the reading.  I look forward to restful summer days reading to the boys in the hammock under the willow in the back yard, or peering at picture books by flashlight during a deep-woods night in the shelter of our tent. Books by Swedish author and illustrator, Elsa Beskow, are some of our favorite and I am thrilled to be able to give away a copy of The Sun Egg.  Sonya, from A Toy Garden, generously provides the minibook.

photo courtesy of A Toy Garden

In The Sun Egg  an elf finds a large object in her woods and invites all her friends to come look at it.  Adventures continue to the end of this delightfully illustrated story.

photo courtesy of publisher Floris Books



To enter, leave a comment telling us about your favorite children's book and follow A Toy Garden via email or facebook.  (While I would be pleased to know you follow How the Sun Rose, it is not a requirement to enter the giveaway, but doing so will keep you updated on upcoming giveaways, crafts, and summer fun.)

I will choose a winner the morning of Wednesday, June 5th.  Congratulations to Nancy, who will add another lovely book to her library.

To learn how to use The Sun Egg in storytelling with moving pictures visit Rhythm of the Home.

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Welcome, the Giveaway, and Flowers

Yesterday, we had a lovely time at the Philadelphia Flower Show and I want to share a few photos to cheer your day. But before I do, I want to give a warm welcome to all of the new followers of How the Sun Rose. I hope you enjoy the blog and all it offers. I welcome your comments, questions, and please feel free to link up to the Creative Learning link party. Also, don't forget to enter our giveaway of Main Lesson Books and Stockmar Block Crayons from Oak Meadow.

Now on to the Philadelphia Flower Show where the theme was: England.

 

 

 



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!

Waldorf Paper Window Star Tutorial & Giveaway



 

 



Outside our window are muted hues where in another season would be vibrant colors.  Last night I decided that I was simply tired of grey winter days. Out came a rainbow of kite paper and Tomas Berger's book Window Stars.  After an evening of folding and gluing, and folding and gluing, we have COLOR!

 

 

 

 Paper stars are fun to make, and like our number wheel, they make beautiful geometric designs.  If you look close near the blue and green stars, you can see that I hung crystals among the stars.  On bright sunny days the rainbows of light shining through the stars and crystals will dance around the room.



 

Want to make your own? Here is a simple window star tutorial:
(Click on the picture to zoom in.)

 
 

 

You can use tissue paper, but in my experience, kite paper is best.  Don't have kite paper?  Well,  I am please to say, Sonya, from A Toy Garden is offering one lucky reader a block of 100-count kite paper.  Yes, that's right. It is our very first giveaway! (With more to come in the next several weeks.)

For the last 12 years at www.aToyGarden.com, Sonya has offered an extensive selection of mostly hand-made toys made by her, crafters in Northern California, around the United States, and around the world. Whenever possible, she purchase directly from the artisans. In general, these toys are made from wood, cotton, wool, silk, and other natural and high-quality materials and are open-ended, leaving lots of room for the child to develop and use his/her own imagination and imitation skills. A few items are just plain fun and she couldn't resist offering them to you. Sonya offers quick shipping, Free Gift Wrap, and fabulous customer service! A Toy Garden is filled with wood toys, dolls, puzzles, quality books, art supplies, woolen undergarments, and so much more!

 

You have 5 ways to enter.  You may choose only one or take advantage of all 5.

 

1. Follow How the Sun Rose via GFC (see the sidebar), Twitter, or Facebook and tell me that you did so in the comment section of this post.  Be sure to include your user name.

 

2. Follow A Toy Garden's facebook  page and note it in the comment section.

 

3.  Link up to our latest Creative Learning Link Party with a submission from your blog and note it in the comments -or- if you do not have a blog, leave a link in the comment section of a favorite craft from your pinterest boards.  

 

4. Sign up for A Toy Garden's email list and note it in the comment section.

 

5. Tell others about this giveaway via your blog, facebook, or twitter account and note it in the comment section.

 

On Saturday, February 23rd, my youngest son will choose a random number to win the set of kite paper.  I have more giveaways on the way. The next is from Oak Meadow. Be sure to  come back and see what treasures await.