The pictures alone are worth a visit, so be sure to drop by this weeks
Carnival of Homeschooling.
Rated M for MESSY!
This activity was a lot of fun (until that whole
snake thing happened), so I thought I'd share our little recipe. We found these ideas in Just for Fun: Activities for Early Childhood (which I found free in a box of books, but cannot seem to locate anywhere on the web. It's an old book.). This can get messy, so I recommend making this craft outside.
You will need:
Shaving cream foam (not gel)
Powdered tempera paint
Finger paint paper (wax paper works, too)
Masking tape
Old clothes or paint smocks
Tape down a sheet of paper to keep it in place. Spray a small amount of shaving cream (about the size of a quarter) directly onto the paper. Sprinkle tempera paint on top. Mix with fingers and use it like finger paint.
Since my six year old doesn't "do" messy, we mixed our paint on paper plates and she used a paint brush. I, however, jumped right in with both hands.
A variation we're going to try next week is to put shaving cream in zip top bags with a few drops of food coloring, then squish to mix. Once we get the shade we like, we'll snip a corner of the baggie and squeeze designs onto the paper.
Homeschool tip: This is a fun way to teach a child to write the alphabet.
Labels: Outdoor crafts
The Nerd Family welcome us to their home with the 120th
Carnival of Homeschooling.
From the Commercial Dispatch (
Legislative system relies on trust, March 31):
Here’s a dirty little secret some Mississippi legislators don’t want you to
know: Sometimes they pass bills without even reading them.
Well, sure, we kind of knew that already.
Journalist Emily Wagster Pettus connected two instances in which controversial bills passed under the radar. The first one I remember well and the second one was completely unknown to me until today. During the 2000 legislative session, the outrage of citizens prompted lawmakers to rescind a bill--during a special session, no less--in which lawmakers gave themselves double the retirement benefits that state employees (including teachers) receive. The other case occurred just last week. Prompted by pressure from an anti-abortionist group's mass-email campaign, lawmakers rushed to vote on a bill, essentially, so just they could say they did it. According to the article, lawmakers didn't even know what they were voting on. Although it passed, the bill was later called back due to a procedural issue and may die due to inaction.
One law was rescinded and the other was rushed through the system as a result of public pressure. Do you know what that means? An organized, informed, ACTIVE citizenry can affect changes in the law. Granted, these may not be changes that you and I agree on, but just the possibility of affecting change via activism in Mississippi is vaguely encouraging to me.
And hey, as a homeschool advocate, I'll take whatever encouragement I can get.
Labels: grassroots, Legislation, Mississippi, political activism
Do you want to know more about the origins of April Fool's Day? Here is your chance to find out more about April Fool's Day, as an added bonus you get to read some terrific post, so drop by
Why Homeschool: Carnival of Homeschooling - The April Fool's Day Edition. Be sure to check out my post about the Bayou Regional.
