We love to SCRATCH!

Click here to check out Scratch 

We have to Scratch every day and we don't even have lice. We have the technology bug thanks to a great free program called Scratch. MIT has stepped up and designed a computer programing site that is available and free to all children. It is designed so that kids can work independently through trial and error. When my daughter gets completely stuck she can search tips and tutorials on her own and solve her own problems. Scratch is unique in that even the youngest users can find, fix and report glitches themselves. She never asks me to jump in and save her. Honestly, I probably couldn't anyway. All of the toys we have discovered that rely on technology seem to reward button pushers and not creators. This is the first time we have found anything in the realm of technology that is as open ended and limitless as blocks.

Educational tasks for children using Scratch:

Hide spelling words in scenes.

Create an animated card for a fictional character, historical figure or current politician.

Draw historical figures, animate and add famous quotes.

Create a commercial geared towards a time or event in history.

Sketch out the water cycle, anatomy or even plant cells and animate in a skit.

 

Let them be free! Parents should resist the urge to be a fun sucker and

trust that children will find more educational and amazing things to do with Scratch than

anyone could ever imagine.

Writing Contest Alert!

There is a cool writing contest for short stories and poetry coming up with a $1,000 prize! Sadly for Sixfold Journal submissions are down but that just means better odds for my fellow poets. The deadline is July 24th and I know you bloggy babes have some poetry and stories lying around.  So wipe the oatmeal and breast milk off your keyboard and get to work. I did! The best part is the winner is selected by your writing peers and not some elusive editor with pursed lips and a stash of preprinted rejection letters. You'll even get to act all professional and leave feedback. If you enter let me know and I'll send you a gumball and a temporary princess tattoo. What? It works for my girls! I guess I need to start a separate big girls prize box if I intend to effectively bribe you all. The entry fee is only six bucks. You get to enter and read other people's work. I spend more than that in library fines! I loved being able to submit online. The kids were able to duct tape the walls, swirl the cats tail in the toilet and finger paint my favorite bra without any interruptions from me. Good Luck!!

Sixfold Journal

Loving Georgia

When we first came to the Augusta area we were miserable. It was hot, sticky and beachless. We missed Hawaii. We missed our friends. We missed the reef walks, waterfalls and sea turtles on Oahu . As temperatures in Georgia dropped our optimism rose. One of the first things our girls fell madly in love with here were Alpacas. The owner of Twisted Fence Ranch opened her home and hearts to our family. She dazzled our girls with her Angora bunny, her llama, alpacas and chickens. For a moment our girls forgot about the adventures they left behind and they smiled. The owner, Judy, showered the girls with information and was so wonderful with both of them. We fed the animals, checked for eggs and even helped sort and wash the wool. Judy is a whirlwind. It seems like there is nothing she can't do. She even won over my shy and stoic daughter. Her energy and kindness inspired our family to try harder. Thank you for helping us conquer our homesickness! Please Click Here  learn more about Twisted Fence Ranch tours, classes and products in Grovetown, Georgia.

Magical Scat Recipe

When hunting for anything deer, cougars, leprechauns, bears or fairies you need to look for scat.
Magical creatures are elusive and scat is sometimes all you'll ever find. Your children may love scat hunting. They can dissect it, smell it and even guess what their magical creature ate. Or they'll look at you like you've lost your mind like my children. The only thing you need is a little glue, a lot of glitter and various spices, seeds and beans from your pantry. We used green glitter and dried pinto beans for our Leprachaun scat. I mix it in individual cupcake liners so it's easy to dump and scatter in individual mounds and it keeps the glitter contained. I love to use mustard seeds, coriander and flower petals depending on the size and nature of your creature. A good book to read with this activity for younger children is Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi.

A Special Gift

Our toy nets and boxes are overwhelmed. I have nightmares that my children's barbies and plastic thingamajigs awake at night and plan our demise. How can I save myself from toy induced madness? I found the perfect non-toy birthday gift. It is not plastic or fluffy and does not require batteries. It is a Megalodon tooth larger than her hand. I can't wait for her to curl her little fingers around that tooth and grasp the enormity of the past. Isn't that what we all want-

to be awe struck?

CLICK HERE to pay a visit to my Etsy Angel that has fossils and chunks of wonder for sale. Go grab a little shock and awe for yourself. She also makes stunning leather journals

that beg to be written in and kept forever. I need one for my grocery lists.

Today's list might snag a poetry prize,

"Goldfish, Granola, Cookie Dough, Mangoes, Rice and Wet Wipes".

After all, everything seems edgier and more intriguing in leather even words.

Gravity and Air

Science Homeschool Style!

The trick for huge, stretchy bubbles is adding lubricant. That can be anything from a cup of corn syrup to a cup of lubricant from the unmentionable section. You can add that to your list of odd subsitutions! However, that kind of subsitution does NOT work both ways so don't blame me if your baking tastes off. You've been warned.

My Gift to You

I will not be sending you a Christmas card, handmade bath scrubs, wax candles, holiday letters or chocolate dipped peppermint sticks. I will not be bringing homemade spinach pinwheels and chocolate dipped fruit to your Christmas party. I will not be posting an adorable family photo here or on Facebook. I will not be doing any of these things because "Jesus is the reason for the season" and Jesus wants the truth. The truth is if I duct tape my family long enough for a family portrait I would have a compulsion to photo shop my under eye circles and crop out the princesses 'snot flicking and THAT would be dishonest. If I would ever get my kitchen clean enough to make fuzz free holiday treats I would probably burn them and then spend time unwrapping store bought treats and repackaging them to look homemade and THAT would be dishonest. If I did attempt to write a holiday letter I would be implying that I really think you care and THAT would be dishonest. If you really cared you would already now all my BS and would not need a damn letter. Normally I would say I couldn't come to your Christmas party because I am a neurotic hot mess who rarely leaves her children with nut jobs posing as loving family and friends. That is the honest truth but I also adore my girls and even my hubby no matter how many times I joke about drinking heavily and self medicating. I don't leave them because I really am crazy but I'm crazy about them also. I know one day my girls will grow up and realize that I am a wack job and will run as far and fast as they can. So until they can drive...or reach the deadbolt I plan on spending as much time as we can as a family. However, I can give you the truth. The truth is I wear close toed shoes in Hawaii because my polish is chipped and my ankles are sporting a little leg hair garland to celebrate the season. There is more food on my floor than my table. The only thing I got hubby for Christmas was a vasectomy pamphlet and a subscription to National Geographic and both of those things are kind of for me. What is it about Christmas that makes us work so hard whipping up the perfection? Is it Jesus? Is it that sneaking suspicion that he might peek in on our unembellished lives and think," Wow I went through that whole birth and suffering on the cross thing for this?" Or do we do it to ourselves? Editing and photo shopping our lives to the point that we become perpetual hoop jumpers? This year let's pour some wine from a box and raise our paper cups to a perfectly flawed holiday season. Cheers!