Art Movement Scramble Game and Update

I had a little light bulb pop on in my head early this morning (like 2 a.m. early - uuuugh!). And this is the result:

I'm calling it the Art Movement Scramble Game! I took all the art movements/periods that will be in the Art History Card Game, put them on little paintbrushes, and velcro'd them to a 5-gallon paint stick. Crazy, right? Yeah, I know, but I think it'll be great! I haven't shown it to Mary yet, but I did let her pick the paint stick color. ;) For some reason, I had a really hard time making the paint brushes, and what showed up on my screen as I was working with them is not what came out of the printer. So, after a couple of tries, I finally got something that I'm happy with. I'm going to see if my husband can work on fixing the problem, and if he can (but of course he can; he's like a super-smart computer superhero!) I'll add it to the Art History Card Game as a little extra happy.

I know Art History is not everybody's thing, and some might say, "Well, what's the point of memorizing this stuff?!" To that, I'd say that the point is just to learn. To learn about God's story and the art that reflects it is enough for me. It's all so fascinating when you really dig into it! But, like I said, it's not everyone's thing. If you're not into all this artsy-fartsy stuff, thanks for sticking with me while I travel down this rabbit hole for a while. :) And if you do happen to share my excitement for the Mona Lisa and Pollock's No. 1, I hope to have those art cards finished in the next few weeks. I've been a little too busy to blog much lately, but I've putting out regular facebook updates and whatnots. Please join me there if you'd like!

I've also had some questions about how my first year of tutoring is going. Thanks so much for asking! Well, I thought it would be all ice cream and cake because Mary's tutor last year made it look so easy. Ha! Needless to say, Mary just had an insanely awesome tutor who made it look easy. It's not been that bad, but it can be challenging to try to keep a handful of kindergartners engaged while introducing the new memory work. I've found some things that have been very helpful to keep their attention - puppets!

That's me with Larry and Lucy singing our Latin chant the second week. Oh, friends, my class LOVES Latin because of this dynamic duo. Ha!

Besides the puppets, I don't really have any tips or tricks that you probably don't already know about. I really enjoy tutoring these precious children, and spending this extra time with my Mary is such a blessing.

Actually, one of the best things about tutoring so far is watching Mary copy me at home. On Wednesday, we'll usually have 'Kitten School,' and she'll spend a good hour with her class, doing exactly what we did in CC the day before! Best review EVER!

Geography with my special tutor map

Latin with Larry and Lucy

And don't forget snack and presentations! Love it!

So, so much seems to be going on right now. I have a million posts I'd love to write, but there just aren't enough hours in the day. There are lots of new developments with my sweet Anna; she's fine, but just some new things going on. Maybe I'll get a chance to share about her journey soon. And field trips are about to kick into high gear at the end of this month. Whoever said homeschoolers have a problem with socialization is right - too much socialization! Not really, but it can feel that way sometimes, right? I'm so thankful to God to be in such an active and loving community and church with amazingly supportive friends and family.

I hope your school year is off to a great start, friends!