Artwork - deer picture

I think art lessons would be fun, but on the other hand I think the best way to encourage art in children is to just let them be creative. And believe me, there have been some doozy creations around the house!

Awhile back, I purchased some art curriculum from the thrift store that looked fun, and will eventually go through it with the boys. But my favorite thing is to just pick up books from the library with really pretty artwork and let the boys sketch. It is just natural.

The latest find is a book called The Big Snow by Verta and Elmer Hader (written in 1948). The pictures are sketched. Some are black and white but others are colored. They are very beautiful
The way I usually "get them" to draw is to just show them the book and suggest that if they want, there are pretty pictures in there to copy.

I read the book to them last night at bedtime, and first thing Justin was up wanting to draw the pictures from the book. He drew the following picture this morning. It is a buck, a doe, a fawn, and a squirrel all in the snow. I thought it was really cute!

Dad's involvement in homeschool

The title of this post sounds so serious, but you might chuckle a little when you read this post.

Since in our unit study, we are learning about Attentiveness, Listening, Ears, & Sound, Michael suggested that we read a great article in one of his hunting magazines.
The article is called "The Ears Have It" written by Dr. Phillip Bishop who is an avid hunter professor at University of Alabama (which, of course, gave me even more interest in the article).
I must say it was a very interesting article. It was easy to understand, and when the terminology was a little hard for the boys to grasp, I was able to stop and explain to them (terms like "frequency" and "amplitude"). The most interesting part was the fact that a deer's ears are always moving trying to catch sound. In this particular article, the author was explaining why a deer can hear the squeak of a deer stand, the breaking of a small twig, but it gets confused by the close, loud bang of a gun. And we were even able to feel a deer ear! Of course having one on the wall is a plus!

The subject of deer and how they listen fit perfectly with our attentiveness study.
If deer don't pay close attention at all times, they could get shot!

Way to go daddy!