this is a daily, frequently updated blog about what is happening in Israel. I think there are 2 or 3 ppl who write the postings, and some of them are in the IDF, or on the ambulance team or something....I'm not real postive. But really good updates and some good photos, too.
The Muqata
another good one I read occasionally is Yoni
Monday, July 31, 2006
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Dingbat Fonts
I love fonts. I use them in my scrapbooking and paper arts, but they can also come in very handy with school things. There are so many kinds of dingbat fonts out there, it's amazing. Here are 2 sites that have a lot of free dingbat fonts:
Dingbat Fonts
Dafont
Here are a few good categories under Dingbats at Dafont - Animals, Ancient, there are some cool fairy tale fonts under Fantastic, Nature, and there are a lot under Various. Since there are 21 pages of various, here are a few that look good: Biblical, Biblish Pictures, Ding Maps, Famous Buildings, Weather Dings, Music for a while, SC by the sea, ShipsNBoats, US-bats, We Inside, We love America's wisdom.
All of these fonts are free, so you will just have to download them and unzip them with Winzip. Then save them into your C://Windows/Fonts folder. Now that you have all these cool fonts downloaded, what can you do with them? You can make them a very very large size, so that one letter takes up a whole page, and print it off and let your kids color it. You could make bingo pages out of different fonts. You could use them as spaces on a homemade game board. You could use the states and famous buildings ones as trivia questions. For animals and nature fonts, you could print off various pictures and use them in crafts. I am looking at making some more file folder games, some social studies ones, since I have some math ones already, and so that is what got me looking at fonts. Here is a link to an old post I have about FFG's, and ways that you can use the dingbat fonts in them: File Folder Games. The possibilites for these fonts are endless. So, download and enjoy!!
Dingbat Fonts
Dafont
Here are a few good categories under Dingbats at Dafont - Animals, Ancient, there are some cool fairy tale fonts under Fantastic, Nature, and there are a lot under Various. Since there are 21 pages of various, here are a few that look good: Biblical, Biblish Pictures, Ding Maps, Famous Buildings, Weather Dings, Music for a while, SC by the sea, ShipsNBoats, US-bats, We Inside, We love America's wisdom.
All of these fonts are free, so you will just have to download them and unzip them with Winzip. Then save them into your C://Windows/Fonts folder. Now that you have all these cool fonts downloaded, what can you do with them? You can make them a very very large size, so that one letter takes up a whole page, and print it off and let your kids color it. You could make bingo pages out of different fonts. You could use them as spaces on a homemade game board. You could use the states and famous buildings ones as trivia questions. For animals and nature fonts, you could print off various pictures and use them in crafts. I am looking at making some more file folder games, some social studies ones, since I have some math ones already, and so that is what got me looking at fonts. Here is a link to an old post I have about FFG's, and ways that you can use the dingbat fonts in them: File Folder Games. The possibilites for these fonts are endless. So, download and enjoy!!
cool decks of cards
I came across a neat find tonight at Dollar General. While I was in the checkout line, I noticed this little display of decks of cards. They were National Geographic cards, 2 different sets. There was a Culture set and an Expedition set. The Culture set has 52 pictures of famous places around the world. The Expedition set has images from various expeditions throughout the last 100 years or so, and has little factoids on each card as well. And, these still have all the numbers and suits printed on them, so they can be used as playing cards. I think they would be neat to use as trivia cards in different games, with older kids. And they were only 2 bucks each.
So, I was going to try and look up and see if these are in any stores..........and the only place I can find them is on a few british websites, and ebay.
Here is a link to the manufacturer, so you can see what I'm talking about. I don't know if you can order from him or not. Cartamundi If not, check out your Dollar General. How this British deck of cards made it to DG in Michigan, I have no idea.
So, I was going to try and look up and see if these are in any stores..........and the only place I can find them is on a few british websites, and ebay.
Here is a link to the manufacturer, so you can see what I'm talking about. I don't know if you can order from him or not. Cartamundi If not, check out your Dollar General. How this British deck of cards made it to DG in Michigan, I have no idea. Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Week 3 - Year 1 - Dinosaurs
Monday
Social Studies - Isaac
retell with the felt pieces
100 easy lessons
time
Art Lesson 3
Tuesday
Social Studies - Isaac
retell with the felt pieces
Fossil cast
Write letters
Workbook pages out of the activity book
Measure dinosaurs
Coloring pages – warm colors
Wednesday
Social Studies - Jacob
retell with the felt pieces
Dinosaur Sandwiches
100 easy lessons
time
Art Lesson 3
Social Studies - Jacob
retell with the felt pieces
Dig up dinos
Write letters
Workbook pages out of the activity book
measurements
Coloring pages – cool colors
Friday
Social Studies - St. George and the dragon
Dinosaur Cookies
100 easy lessons
time
Coloring pages
Week 3 Dinosaurs
Social Studies
St. George and the dragon
Isaac
Jacob
time
Measure dinosaurs, compare to each other and against kids
Dig up dinos - Go out in the sandbox or garden….have buried
dinosaurs or bones. Grid it off and have them dig to find things. Use brushes and dig cautiously.
Fossil cast
Write letters
100 easy lessons
Workbook pages out of the activity book
For all Bible stories, have her retell them with the felt pieces
Make open face dinosaur sandwiches by cutting dinosaur shapes from wheat bread. Spread with peanut butter or cheese spread and add raisin eyes.
Dinosaur Cookies
Let students bake sugar cookies. Use cookie cutters to cut dinosaur shapes. Bake, cool, and let students decorate with different colored frostings.
Art curriculum – Lesson 3 warm and cool colors
Dinosaur coloring pages
Books
Dinosaurs by Design - Creation Research Institue
The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible Creation Research Institue
look at J 567.97 to see if there are any decent dinosaur books
Archeology J 930.1 M
Lapbooking
I am looking at lapbooking and thinking about incorporating that as a way to keep track of some of what we do in our unit studies. Lapbooking is basically taking file folders and making mini books to store various information in, so you have a whole theme inside the file folder. So, here are a some sites that have a lot of information and links that I've found.
Lapbook Learning
Yahoo Group for Lapbooking
Cindy Rushton Lapbooking Links
In the Hands of a Child
Lapbook Learning
Yahoo Group for Lapbooking
Cindy Rushton Lapbooking Links
In the Hands of a Child
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
books about Israel
I have read several books about Israel and thought I would list them here. These are all very good and very well-written, very factual, etc.
The Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz
From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman
If a Place Can Make You Cry: Dispatches from an Anxious State by Daniel Gordis He also has a website, DanielGordis
From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine by Joan Peters
When I was a Soldier by Valerie Zanetti
there is also a great fictional series by Brock and Bodie Thoene, called the Zion Chronicles (5 book series) about the founding of Israel.
and one great website that I came across was For Zion's Sake. This is a christain organization and it looks amazing. They also have a really neat store that helps to benefit the Israeli's and this organization: Jerusalem Gifts
The Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz
From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman
If a Place Can Make You Cry: Dispatches from an Anxious State by Daniel Gordis He also has a website, DanielGordis
From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine by Joan Peters
When I was a Soldier by Valerie Zanetti
there is also a great fictional series by Brock and Bodie Thoene, called the Zion Chronicles (5 book series) about the founding of Israel.
and one great website that I came across was For Zion's Sake. This is a christain organization and it looks amazing. They also have a really neat store that helps to benefit the Israeli's and this organization: Jerusalem Gifts
Monday, July 24, 2006
Cleaning Kids
Last night we were getting ready to brush our teeth, and I looked down at our sink and saw all of this dirt and mustard all over. I sighed as I realized I was going to have to clean the sink yet again, because Aiden cannot manage to wash his hands without getting everything else dirty. 
Then.......I had a revelation.
If Aiden made the mess, why doesn't Aiden clean it up? I know, I know, a very unique concept
So.............I told him today that he is old enough to start learning how to clean things, and for that matter, so was Alysa................and they were thrilled. They were so excited to clean, it was funny.
Here is collaged pictures of the dirty sink....
and here is the nice, clean sink:
I showed Aiden how to clean the sink, and Alysa how to clean the tub. We clean with vinegar, so don't worry, they weren't covered in chemicals, LOL. They were so excited, that they wanted to switch jobs. So I told them next time we do the bathroom, Aiden can do the tub and Alysa can do the sink. They both did a really good job. I didn't have to touch up anything Alysa did. I really didn't have to touch up the sink, either, but I wiped it all down anyways, just to make sure that the vinegar touched everywhere, so I would know all the germs were gone, LOL.
And tomorrow......they get to clean the glass door that goes out to the backyard that is covered with fingerprints!!
Then.......I had a revelation.
If Aiden made the mess, why doesn't Aiden clean it up? I know, I know, a very unique concept
So.............I told him today that he is old enough to start learning how to clean things, and for that matter, so was Alysa................and they were thrilled. They were so excited to clean, it was funny.
Here is collaged pictures of the dirty sink....
and here is the nice, clean sink:
I showed Aiden how to clean the sink, and Alysa how to clean the tub. We clean with vinegar, so don't worry, they weren't covered in chemicals, LOL. They were so excited, that they wanted to switch jobs. So I told them next time we do the bathroom, Aiden can do the tub and Alysa can do the sink. They both did a really good job. I didn't have to touch up anything Alysa did. I really didn't have to touch up the sink, either, but I wiped it all down anyways, just to make sure that the vinegar touched everywhere, so I would know all the germs were gone, LOL.
And tomorrow......they get to clean the glass door that goes out to the backyard that is covered with fingerprints!!
Week 2 - Year 1 - Ice Age
This is Week 2, the Ice Age. The things that are italicized are because there are links at the bottom, that go into a more detailed description.
Monday
Noah
retell with felt
time
100 easy lessons
Paint animal plaster of Paris casts
Tuesday
retell with felt
Build
Workbook pages
Wednesday
Abraham
retell with felt
Excavate the ice
Write letters
100 easy lessons
time
Thursday
Abraham
retell with felt
Melting Ice
Workbook pages
Learn about complementary colors – do paper weaving
Friday
Abraham
retell with felt
100 easy lessons
time
Week 2 The Ice Age
Social Studies – Read Bible
Abraham
Abraham coloring pages
Take a roasting pan and fill it with water, glitter, marbles, plastic dinosaurs and animals, sea shells, rocks, and , finally, some ice cubes to help get it freezing. Freeze until edges, bottom and top are really solid but some water remains inside. Give the children a chance, one at a time, to don safety glasses and use the rubber mallet and a dull old chisel to excavate the ice.
Children predict and experiment what will melt ice the fastest. Salt or water or both. Three pie pans of ice. One for the salt. One for the water. And one for both. Make a chart for the children's predictions and for the outcomes of their experiment.
Build
Write letters
Workbook pages out of the activity book
For all Bible stories, have her retell them with the felt pieces
Go through art curriculum – 1 lesson a week
Paint animal plaster of Paris casts
Friday, July 21, 2006
be strong and resolute
I read a book a couple of months ago called Dispatches from an Anxious State, by Daniel Gordis. He was an American Jew who moved to Israel a few years ago. This book is a collection of emails he wrote to family and friends, eventually some of them making it to the New York Times. He's written a couple of other books as well, and he also continues to periodically post these dispatches on his website. Here are some exerpts from the latest dispatch, today.
That small block of Haifa, with its shattered shell of a building,
rubble all along the street, citizens dazed as they wandered about
looking at it all, appeared to be exactly what it was – a war zone.
And yet, the people in the street stayed near their homes, going
nowhere. The newscaster asked them why they didn’t go somewhere else,
where it might be safer. One man answered with statistics. “Why leave
now? We’ve already been hit. The chances of us being hit again are one
in a million.” To which another man responded almost with outrage.
“What do numbers have to do with it?” he asked. And then, he turned to
the camera, almost screaming, pointed to the broken building, and said,
“This is our home. Mi-po ani lo zaz. From here, I am not budging. And
he repeated his refrain over and over again. “This is my home. And from
here, I am not budging.” Mi-po ani lo zaz.
Israelis understand what this is. This is a war over our homes. Over
our homes in the north, for now, but eventually, as the rockets get
better and larger, all of our homes. This is not about the territories.
This is not about the “occupation.” This is not about creating a
Palestinian State. This is about whether there will be a state called
Israel...............................................
.....................Now, the bitter reality of which Israel’s right wing had warned about
all along is beginning to settle in. It is not lost on virtually any
Israelis that the two primary fronts on which this war is being
conducted are precisely the two fronts from which we withdrew to
internationally recognized borders. We withdrew from Gaza, despite all
the internal objections, hoping to move Palestinian statehood – and
peace – one step closer. But all we got in return was the election of
Hamas, and a barrage of more than 800 Qassams that they refused to end.
And then they stole Gilad Shalit {one of the kidnapped soldiers}. Not from Gaza. Not from some
contested no man’s land. From inside the internationally recognized
borders of Israel. As if to make sure that we got the point – “There is
no place that you’re safe. There is no place to which we won’t take
this war. You can’t stay here.”
Because as much as we have wanted to believe otherwise, they have
no interest in building their homeland. They only care about destroying
ours............................
....................And which is why this incredibly divided and divisive society has
rallied so monolithically around a Prime Minister who until last week
wasn’t terribly popular, and around a war that may or may not
accomplish all its military objectives. It explains why, even as the
air raid sirens go off across the country, and may eventually start
their wail in Tel Aviv, too, as people dash across streets, panicked,
trying to find the nearest bomb shelter, no one complains about the
government. No one’s complaining about the amount of time it’s taking
the air force to put a stop to this. It explains why all over this
city, advertisements on bus stops have been replaced with a photo of an
Israeli flag and the phrase Chazak Ve-ematz – “be strong and resolute”
(Moses’ words to Joshua in Deut. 31:7)..................
....................It’s sad, because deep down, people are starting to wonder. Would going
there be the only way to get beyond their hate? We got out of Lebanon.
We left Gaza. Olmert was elected after he openly declared his intention
to give back the majority of the West Bank. But without intending to,
we called their bluff. And now we know: the issue isn’t their
statehood. It’s ours..........................
..........................It’s the eighth war, or the ninth. But it isn’t the last war. It’s the
first war, all over again. We’ve got this war for the same reason that
we had all the others. We have this war for the same reason that people
in Haifa are still saying mi-po ani lo zaz. We got this war for the
same reason that we got the first, and the second.
We know why they attacked then. And we know why they’re still
attacking. And we’re determined to hold on for the same reason that
they’re so determined never to stop. There’s one reason, and one reason
only:
The Jewish People has no where else to go.
That small block of Haifa, with its shattered shell of a building,
rubble all along the street, citizens dazed as they wandered about
looking at it all, appeared to be exactly what it was – a war zone.
And yet, the people in the street stayed near their homes, going
nowhere. The newscaster asked them why they didn’t go somewhere else,
where it might be safer. One man answered with statistics. “Why leave
now? We’ve already been hit. The chances of us being hit again are one
in a million.” To which another man responded almost with outrage.
“What do numbers have to do with it?” he asked. And then, he turned to
the camera, almost screaming, pointed to the broken building, and said,
“This is our home. Mi-po ani lo zaz. From here, I am not budging. And
he repeated his refrain over and over again. “This is my home. And from
here, I am not budging.” Mi-po ani lo zaz.
Israelis understand what this is. This is a war over our homes. Over
our homes in the north, for now, but eventually, as the rockets get
better and larger, all of our homes. This is not about the territories.
This is not about the “occupation.” This is not about creating a
Palestinian State. This is about whether there will be a state called
Israel...............................................
.....................Now, the bitter reality of which Israel’s right wing had warned about
all along is beginning to settle in. It is not lost on virtually any
Israelis that the two primary fronts on which this war is being
conducted are precisely the two fronts from which we withdrew to
internationally recognized borders. We withdrew from Gaza, despite all
the internal objections, hoping to move Palestinian statehood – and
peace – one step closer. But all we got in return was the election of
Hamas, and a barrage of more than 800 Qassams that they refused to end.
And then they stole Gilad Shalit {one of the kidnapped soldiers}. Not from Gaza. Not from some
contested no man’s land. From inside the internationally recognized
borders of Israel. As if to make sure that we got the point – “There is
no place that you’re safe. There is no place to which we won’t take
this war. You can’t stay here.”
Because as much as we have wanted to believe otherwise, they have
no interest in building their homeland. They only care about destroying
ours............................
....................And which is why this incredibly divided and divisive society has
rallied so monolithically around a Prime Minister who until last week
wasn’t terribly popular, and around a war that may or may not
accomplish all its military objectives. It explains why, even as the
air raid sirens go off across the country, and may eventually start
their wail in Tel Aviv, too, as people dash across streets, panicked,
trying to find the nearest bomb shelter, no one complains about the
government. No one’s complaining about the amount of time it’s taking
the air force to put a stop to this. It explains why all over this
city, advertisements on bus stops have been replaced with a photo of an
Israeli flag and the phrase Chazak Ve-ematz – “be strong and resolute”
(Moses’ words to Joshua in Deut. 31:7)..................
....................It’s sad, because deep down, people are starting to wonder. Would going
there be the only way to get beyond their hate? We got out of Lebanon.
We left Gaza. Olmert was elected after he openly declared his intention
to give back the majority of the West Bank. But without intending to,
we called their bluff. And now we know: the issue isn’t their
statehood. It’s ours..........................
..........................It’s the eighth war, or the ninth. But it isn’t the last war. It’s the
first war, all over again. We’ve got this war for the same reason that
we had all the others. We have this war for the same reason that people
in Haifa are still saying mi-po ani lo zaz. We got this war for the
same reason that we got the first, and the second.
We know why they attacked then. And we know why they’re still
attacking. And we’re determined to hold on for the same reason that
they’re so determined never to stop. There’s one reason, and one reason
only:
The Jewish People has no where else to go.
the Hoff
So when I was writing my other post, I saw the dancing baby icon.
and it reminded me of a video that everyone must see. Awesome Hoff Video
You will laugh so hard. If not........well, I don't know what to tell you. Life must be tough without a sense of humor.
The fish in the mouth part is my favorite scene.
and it reminded me of a video that everyone must see. Awesome Hoff Video
You will laugh so hard. If not........well, I don't know what to tell you. Life must be tough without a sense of humor.
The fish in the mouth part is my favorite scene.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Week 1 - Year 1 - Creation
I am going to do a 3 year cycle through history. And then repeat that cycle a couple of times. And I'm going to go ahead and start that cycle with Kindergarten. So, this is week number 1, and we started at the beginning, of course :) The things that are italicized are because there are links at the bottom, that go into a more detailed description. We'll see how this week goes. Hopefully I didn't plan too much for each day. We will also use many more books than I have listed. I just wanted a jumping off point for where to look in the library. When we actually do this week, I'll post more details about how it goes and what we do, and actual books and other things we end up using.
Monday
Day 1 - God created the light, and day and night. 2 - God created the sky/atmosphere.
Retell with felt
100 easy lessons
Air takes space
Make a cloud
Coloring pages, mini-book
Tuesday
God created the waters, the land and the vegetation.
Retell with felt
Write words
Memorize days of creation
Workbook pages
Learn about primary and secondary colors – paint coloring sheets from primary colors.
Wednesday
God created the sun, moon and stars.
Retell with felt
100 easy lessons
Constellations
Make planets out of clay
Write words
Memorize days of creation
start learning about time
Coloring pages, mini-book
Thursday
God created the birds and the fish.
Retell with felt
Saltwater and Sun
Write words
Memorize days of creation
Workbook pages
Paint coloring sheets from secondary colors.
Friday
God created the animals and man.
Retell with felt
Write words
100 easy lessons
Memorize days of creation
start learning about time
Coloring pages, mini-book
Week 1 Creation
Social Studies – Read Bible
Science –
Constellations – put glow in the dark sticker stars on black paper in shape of various constellations.
Take modeling clay, and using proper dimensions, made each of the planets with a different color (sun=yellow, earth = green, Uranus = blue, etc.) and of the proper proportionate size.
Math - start learning about time
Language Arts -
learn to write alphabet properly - use a vocab word from each day to ease the boredom :)
For all Bible stories, have her retell them with the felt pieces
Art –
Go through art curriculum – 1 lesson a week
Memorize all 7 days
Thursday, July 13, 2006
New Look!
I finished giving my blog a new look. More of an artsy feel for right now. And I have 2 units finished, so I'll be posting them soon, too!
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
planning Kindergarten!
I'm gearing up to start Kindergarten this fall, so I've started working on our yearly plan and unit studies and all of that. I'm also going to redo the look of my blog a bit :) I can't wait!!
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Mug Contest
So I was just browsing a few blogs and came across this contest at Under His Construction So, here is my entry for favorite coffee mug. This is called Monday Morning Mug.
Thursday, July 6, 2006
Lewis and Clark
We took a 3 day road trip to Mt Rushmore a couple of weeks ago, and on the way there, we stopped at the rest area on the Missouri River near Chamberlain, SD. This is a spot where Lewis and Clark camped on their journey. They had a neat little museum inside. On the way home, we went south through Wyoming down to Fort Laramie, and then took part of the Oregon Trail east through Nebraska, driving by Scotts Bluffs and stopping at Chimney Rock before driving back home.
So the kids have been all excited about all of that. So I checked out a few books out of the library and we are doing some Lewis and Clark things. I have got to say (again) that I just loooooove love love love the Williamson Publishers books. fantastic. I would love to own all of them. If you do an amazon advanced search, you can search by Publisher and search for Williamson Publishing Company, you can see all of their books.
I also found this book at the library and was using that as well.
So.....we did 2 things today. One was making 'vermillion' like Lewis made and gave to the indians as a gift...they used it to paint their bodies. So, we made it and the kids painted their bodies. Then, we made journals and went and inspected some plants and drew pictures and colored them, like Lewis and Clark recorded the various plants they saw.
So the kids have been all excited about all of that. So I checked out a few books out of the library and we are doing some Lewis and Clark things. I have got to say (again) that I just loooooove love love love the Williamson Publishers books. fantastic. I would love to own all of them. If you do an amazon advanced search, you can search by Publisher and search for Williamson Publishing Company, you can see all of their books.
I also found this book at the library and was using that as well.
So.....we did 2 things today. One was making 'vermillion' like Lewis made and gave to the indians as a gift...they used it to paint their bodies. So, we made it and the kids painted their bodies. Then, we made journals and went and inspected some plants and drew pictures and colored them, like Lewis and Clark recorded the various plants they saw.
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