Da Vinci Summer III, Stitch a Tradition
I never could relate to spring cleaning. The timing just never worked out for me when Evelyn and Wesley were young. March, April, and May were busy with culminating end-of-the-year school activities. I'd say summer purging was more the thing,…
A Souvenir of Stars
This summer we’re exploring our Italian roots via an extended virtual tour. It’s such fun visiting all the places we would visit if we could really visit. Thanks to the wonder of technology, we can experience the landscape of Italy…
CORE ELA Integrated Literature + Writing
Blackbird & Company Literature and Writing Discovery guides are an integrated approach to mastering English Language Arts skills. Each guide is a reading and writing journey. Our titles span a wide range of genres and represent what we believe is…
Metamorphosis of a Baseball
It‘s true. I’m one of those people who do not get sports analogies. So last week, I was tickled when I noticed Søren unraveling a baseball. The activity began when he found an old ball in the ivy. He tossed…
Matisse iMadonnari
It’s become quite a tradition to usher in summer with a collective i Madonnari creation. This year’s inspiration started with “The Geranium” by Henri Matisse. From Wikipedia… The Italian I Madonnari were itinerant artists, many of whom had been brought…
Ars Poetica Banner
Last week we made an Ars Poetica banner to celebrate the year of poetry gone by and to usher in yet another Da Vinci Summer. We began by crafting a single sentence that described the very essence of a poem.…
Mom’s Day Blossom Cards
I have to say, I'm always a little proud of myself when I can scrap together a cute and do-able art project for my 5 year-old with materials I already have on hand. And since I'm not a huge fan…
Sugar Cube Construction
I have vivid and happy memories from my elementary school years of building my California mission out of sugar cubes. Being that my brother is five years older than me, I was lucky to always have a preview of what…
Individuality
Too bad this photo is blurry, the moment was lucid … One day at lunch Andrew and Hunter were hanging in the classroom. Andrew kept crafting and solving problems, over and over again (for fun). He would fill the entire…
It was a dark and stormy night…
And so begins Madeleine L’Engle’s most memorable classic tale, A Wrinkle In Time. A story about the life-changing journey of three children, their epic battle against darkness and the cosmic power of love. 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of Wrinkle.…