Quick Update...

So I haven't kept up with my blog lately but it really wasn't entirely my fault. It all started almost two weeks ago when I was going to post a worship article on a Wednesday morning. That was the morning my shoulder decided it did not like living in it's socket. So that put me out of commission for a few days. (I did the bare minimum that I needed to get stuff done.) Finally Monday rolled around last week and I thought I would spend the evening getting some writing done. Apparently that was not to be as I started to feel pale while waiting in the line of the bank and ended up with a full on Stomach Virus that landed me in bed all day Tuesday. Felt better on Wednesday and had to play catch up with our homeschooling and I had to work in the afternoon and Church that night. Thursday I was still feeling pretty run down but I thought I was on the mend, that was until Friday morning when I woke up with a scratchy throat and a runny nose that wouldn't quit. So now It is Tuesday and I am finally starting to feel better. Hopefully I'll get an opportunity to get some writing in either tonight or tomorrow. This Friday is the first day of our Homeschool Co-op's Spring Semester and I will be teaching 2 classes this time around. The first is a music class for 2nd and 3rd graders focusing on percussion instruments. The second is a class on the Ten Commandments for 3rd graders. should be fun.

Until next time...

Teaching Tuesdays: Making Music

So this semester at our homeschool co-op I will be teach a music class to 2nd and 3rd graders focusing on percussion instruments. This got me thinking about all the ways you can incorporate music into our homeschool programs. First off I think we can all agree that music is highly beneficial to our children's learning, both from an cultural and educational standpoint. Music is one of the few things that can unite people of different cultures all over the world. Studies have also shown that music helps with cognitive ability and logical reasoning.

So how do we introduce music to our children? Many of us have little if any musical background, but that is no excuse in our modern day and age. With the internet we can research almost any topic, music included.

The first thing I would recommend is letting your little ones drum. give them some pots and pans and some chop sticks or pencils and let them experiment with different items. Let them discover that each item has a distinct sound. Older children can learn to repeat patterns and eventually create their own rhythms. 

Musical instruments don't have to be expensive either. Sand pails make excellent drums and don't discount those toy xylophones when teaching about toned percussion. Again older students can use them to create their own compositions. Also inexpensive kits that include tambourines and hand bells are great for little ones to express themselves.

Music can also help to enhance learning especially when it comes to memorization. Set a list of facts to a well known nursery rhyme and you have a powerful mnemonic. For example sing the following to the tune of This Old Man:

North America

South America

Europe, Asia, Australia

Africa and Antarctica

I mean how many remember School House Rock. You can still get them on DVD and there are plenty of Geography and Bible memory song CDs out there.

So next time your homeschool lessons seem to be dragging try adding a little music to the mix and see where it goes.

I would love to here how you use music in either your homeschool or classroom. Leave a comment below!

Stocking Up

So over the holidays, I was perusing my local Ocean State Job Lot when I came across an interesting cookbook. It's called "The Stocked Kitchen Cookbook" and after reading the back cover blurb I was intrigued. The cookbook  stated that with their one shopping list I could prepare over 100 different recipes. Hey I was game.

After reading the introductory pages and scanning some of the recipes, I decided to use their system. Though I would of course modify it because I can never leave anything alone.

The system is fairly simple, I'm sure most folks use a similar system but it was something I hadn't really thought about. The basic premise is that you have one master grocery list that contains everything you need to make all the recipes in the book. It's similar to using a build to list in a restaurant for ordering. Of course as I said before, some modifications needed to be made. For instance, the list included herbs de provence, and poultry seasoning, neither of which I will use, the first due to allergies abd the second due to personal preference, there was also very few sundry items on tge list. Also there were certain items that were missing from the list that I use in many of my own personal recipes, ie. allspice.

After revamping the list based on my own personal tastes, I went through my kitchen and crossed off the items I already had on hand. Then I went shopping.  The benefit of this was that I now had all the ingredients on  hand for anything I wanted to make. I was even able to use a recipe I found online right away because I had all the ingredients on hand.

Overall the system, or at least my modified version, is working for our home. So what about you? Is there a system you use to keep you pantry stocked? Let me know in the comments below.