LivenLearn

January Learning, It's Not Just About Winter

Tobin is just wild about these books!

Periodic Table

Physics

Astronomy

Biology

Rocks and Minerals

He has us read them over and over again. He has them each memorized and he is constantly talking about them, drawing them and writing their names. He is in love. He even made his own little wooden coin rings. One ring for Physics and one for Biology. All his doing. I have learned a lot from my little six year old this month. I made him a wooden atom and particles for the focus table. I also made him the parts of plant and animal cells. I still need to make him the wool felted diagrams that I keep meaning to do. He even drew a plant cell poster to hang above the focus table. These books make learning so FUN! Please do see if your library carries them and introduce them to your children. These are some really hard concepts for children to grasp, much less memorize. But Tobin is doing just that with these books. We can't wait to buy more. I also want to get this book to read to him:

Uncle Albert and The Quantum Quest

 

Lucas made this just yesterday.  A spanish conquistadors quarters. He uses legos all the time when studying history. 

 

Work is all around us. This table is never clear. So homey. 

 

Each night I straighten this area up for them so that they can work here again the next day. And each day it ends up looking like this. I love that. 

 

Hope you are all having a wonderful beginning to this new year! Here is just a peek inside our lives. One of my favorite things about reading blogs is just peeking into the lives of other homeschoolers and all the clever things mothers find and do to help their children learn. These two tables are important areas. The jars of pencils and markers are also important. Legos, books, and toys. They are all used everyday just to learn. Even food participates! A favorite website resource for us is brainpop.com. It's worth the annual fee. The boys love it!

Happy Tuesday to you all. And did you know a neutrino moves at the speed of light? I didn't know that. Not until my six year old told me so.
 
 
 
 

 

Book Recommendation

I just received this wonderful book in the mail and had to share with you right away! It's so wonderful. Check it out!

                                
 

Holiday Handiwork

Here are a few pics of some thing we made over the last week. Using only what we already had in the house!! Love that. 

I made little first-aid kits for some guys in my life. Inside are cool ninja band-aids and a little sewing kit; just in case they were to loose a button one day. Great for the car! I made them out of an old sweater.

The boys made these beautiful needle-felted ornaments for family members.I especially love the snowman Lucas made and "willow in a blizzard" made by Tobin. It's always fun to make ornaments each year. Next time I think we are going to make beeswax ornaments.

 

For my little cousins I made fabric covers for moleskines. Just add a little elastic and they can hold a pencil. Oops, I did purchase the fabric special for them as well as the smencils. A fun treat. I also made the boys pencil holders out of the cool bat fabric leftovers with zipper closures. 

 

 

For my boys. Tobin really wanted a baby bunyip, so I made two. They also wanted samari and I think they were my favorite to make. Lucas wanted me to make one of his new comic characters out of wood as well. The green guy there is goo-man.... hee hee :D Love it. I made them a beautiful walnut tree and Schnitzel and Chowder from the hilarious cartoon network show. I always have so much fun making treats for them. The tree is stunning. I wish I had a better photo of it. I can't wait to make more. It looks so much like an old grandpa tree of the forest; getting on in years, but still young enough to sprout a few leaves in the spring.

 

Our annual gingerbread house! This year it is so big we had to reinforce it with toothpicks. Eric and I made it together; which was so fun and relaxing. Then we handed the job over to the boys and they decorated the rest eating candy all the while.

 

Finally we made gingerbread trees for our neighbors. Need to walk these over today.

 

Wishing you all much joy and peace this next week. Have a wonderful holiday!!! Tomorrow is Solstice! Our tomten will be leaving gifts out for the boys tonight. I wonder if he and the julbock will leave muddy footprints in the kitchen again?

How do you celebrate solstice? First we share food with the little birds. We give them a feast of seeds.Then we love to cook a savory soup and homemade bread. We light candles and tell stories. Maybe a fire in the backwoods firepit! 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

And The Winner Is.....

Tobin helped me out and drew your name Sharon Adler!!!! Congratulations!!

Wishing you all safe travels and joyfilled holidays.

Your comments were so sweet and each of them filled me up. Your kind words were the perfect holiday gift. Thank you so very much. I look forward to another year of toymaking and being part of that magic that you bring into your homes. Children add so much to the toys don't they? So much more than I could ever do.

Happy Holidays!

Solstice Giveaway

I want to say thank you to all of our customers over the last year the best way I know how, with wooden toys! I want to express to you my deep appreciation for all of the support. I know that you all love your toys so much, while I enjoyed making them for you. But the monetary support has been vital to this little family in Missouri and for that you have my deepest gratitude. I am proud to announce that my husband passed his master's project just yesterday. It hasn't been easy since he lost his job last December but we don't focus on that. It's been so rewarding making the ends meet making toys for all of you! My heart is full. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Since I am only one woman with only two hands; though I often wonder how awesome it would be to have more than two, I have only a few things to giveaway. If I was able I would make gifts for each and every customer. I promise I can get this set to the winner by solstice if you are in the US. If you are out of the country then you may not get it in time, but you will surely have it for next year :) So this giveaway is open to everybody.

To enter just leave a comment here. Make sure that I have a way to contact you. We will draw a name on Wednesday, December 16th.

We are giving away the beautiful solstice candle holder, little Tomten and the walnut rolling pin. I will also send along a candle. 

 

I will also be part of a contest at Jump Into A Book next week so be sure to enter there as well.

I hope you are all having a magical December! St. Nicholas Day was a fun start to all the magic that my children just can get enough of. I so wanted to make them each something for St. Nick's Day, but then they would know it was from me. So I purchased them little wooden critters from Osteimer. A little magpie for Tobin because he is my little treasure seeker; finding all things shiny. For Lucas a little woodchuck for his love of all things rodent. Oh the magic of little tags that say "made in Germany." 

 

Happy Holidays to each of you! Wishing you all the best. Much love and gratitude from the Kopp family.
 

Take A Peek

I just love this. Take a peek if you have the time.

I love it when people put beautiful things into this world.

Gearing Up For The Holidays

Hello everyone. I hope you all are healthy and happy. The holidays sure do creep right up don't they? I can't believe that today is the first day of December. It's just beginning to get cold on a regular basis. It's so funny because the boys have hardest time adjusting to wearing winter coats and shoes outside while they play. Tobin will often say "I just want summer back so I can just wear shorts." 

This weekend we decorated our home with our annual traditions. Our tree is up and happily adorned with handmade ornaments from over the years. It's so fun to see them all again. Below is a photo of our advent calendar. My husbands grandmother, Oma made this when he was only about 2-3 years old. It has been in his life that long. Now we borrow it each year. Eric says he remembers his grandmother wearing dresses made of the same fabric she used to make each and every bag. She was from Germany and after living in Berlin during the second World War she was a woman of "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" so it's no surprise to me that she used the fabric she had in the house when she made all these little bags. It's so nice to have this treasure in our home; a treasure made by Oma. The stories of my husband and his brother feeling around each bag and swapping them around so that all the best candy was first. On Sundays they would receive a little something like a toy and they would feel those as well. Our boys figured this out right away and I have to fill each bag with candy and then secretly swap the candy out for toys on Sunday morning so it's a surprise. Funny guys.

 

We also switched out our autumn table for a winter theme. So lovely! The lovely Grandfather wizard is from Winsomehollow. Also that sweet little fire fairy roasting a marshmallow is from Alkelda.

 

 

We also have the focus table all set up for Solstice, Tomtens and stories of St. Nicholas. Those gorgeous wool tapestries are from the very talented MoonGoat at etsy. Jessi at MoonGoat has made the coolest wool action figures for my kids this year. I am so excited about them. And the lovely wool St. Nicholas is from Mel of Haddy2dogs at etsy. Lovely candles from Janina; they smell AMAZING,  and a sweet wooden Tomten from zooloonaturals.

I have other books coming in and I am so excited about them. Here's a list of some books on our table:

Return Of The Light

The Christmas Rose 

Moominvalley In November

Frog, Bee and Snail Look For Snow

The Winter Solstice

Sun Bread

The Tomten

Tomten And The Fox

The Visit Of The Tomten

Also, here are some free advent calendar print outs:

Toymaker's print out

Mibo

I also purchased a fun stamp for stamping the new books I purchase this year for gifts. I also write a little message. Just a sweet touch. Her stamps are so fun.

Okay after typing this all out and adding all the links I am afraid I am addicted to etsy and handmade toys and goodies! :) Maybe also a little bit addicted to books. HA HA :D 

We are still focused on Russia and Christmas traditions from around the world. Solstice and all the different explanations from many cultures. Lucas read a wonderful Leo Tolstoy book. We are also listening to Stravinsky this week.

Wishing you all the beautiful week full of the magic that comes this time of year. My boys are already having trouble settling down at night to sleep, they are so excited. 

Much love from the Kopp family.

 
 
 

Bits Of Days

Just as quickly as some interests come and then pass others are all fresh and new and exciting. Lucas is interested in Russia. It's architecture, it's art, culture and history. He is also still so absorbed in the Artemis Fowl books. We finally found him a blazer to wear like Artemis and he wears it all the time; along with a "russian" hat. I love that! He is growing up so fast. *sigh* We are reading lots of old Russian folk tales then moving onto learning Russia's history. A lot of these stories have iron in them which I think is interesting and want to see if I can find out why. They are also pretty scary. Especially Baba Yaga. 

                          

 

They both love the Avatar stories and so do I. I love watching the shows with them and cried a little when Appa was captured. Appa has to be the cutest woolly character ever and he reminds me a lot of Totoro. The boys love him. So this last Saturday Lucas just sat down and felted an Appa. I am so impressed! Lucas has always been a natural sculptor, but this took him a few hours and he did it all on his own which had us both grinning with big proud grins. I remember when he was so little and as soon as he fine tuned his motor skills he was twisting and sculpting bag ties from the grocery store. I still have a bunch of them. They were so precious to him at one time that he would get so upset if they went missing. 

Can you believe how quickly the holidays are coming? Shew! Oh the best time of year. All the festivities before the cold really sets in.

OH and here are some books we have enjoyed recently. Most are themed for winter, hibernation and the changing of the season. 

A Story For Bear I seriously teared up with this one. It's so incredibly cute.

While The Bear Sleeps This book is just a must have for the whole family.

Red Sings From The Treetops Lyrical and gives color personality.

The Mole Sisters These little moles are so cute and easy for Tobin to read. Very optimistic which I appreciate.

Tale The People Tell In Russia A good start in reading Russian folklore. We have a big pile of books by russian authors and about russian folklore. I will share more once we get through them all ;o)

Have a great week!!

Who Says I Can't

Who says I can't drive fast? (I know the risks)

Who says I can't eat the big piece of cake?

Who says I can't say that?

Who says I can't cry easily?

Who says I can't wait on my children hand and foot?

Who says I can't tell that jerk off? 

Who says I can't tell you how I really feel?

Who says I can't dive right in?

Who says I have to go to school?

Who says I can't be emotional?

Who says I need to get out more? Maybe you should stay home more.

Who says I have to go out of my way when I don't really want to?

Who says I can't be proud of every little thing my boys do?

Who says I have to play nice when others don't?

Who says I have to wear underwear all the time?

Who says that I have to wear pajamas for that matter?

Who says that I should leave you alone when you hurt? I prefer to stay and hug you.

Who says everything has to be equal and fair? That's impossible.

Who says magic isn't real? 

Who says I can't wear that?

Who says I can't give the plants a bath?

Who says I can't mow the yard in barefeet?

Who says I have to wash the dishes?

Who says the house needs to be clean all the time? That's impossible.

Who says I have to wear make-up? Yuck.

Who says I have to? 

Where Do I Begin

Hello friends. I know it's been a while. I am failing my blog miserably. I am just so busy which I enjoy. I love being busy. We had some really wet weather a week ago that kept us indoors and we started reading so many books. We haven't stopped! We always read a lot but we are up to three hours a day that I am reading to them. We are moving on to a new book titled The Sea Of Trolls and we will do this fun project once we get into the book. This will be our first time reading a book by Nancy Farmer. She has written quite a few that look interesting.  The Jump Into A Book blog is really sweet! I love her focus on projects to do after reading specific books. What an inspiration! 

With all the wet weather we also shifted our homeschooling to binders filled with worksheets. It seems that naturally we shift from lots of worksheets to other creative options for covering the same material. Lucas has started keeping a daily journal. Which is new for him. The last couple of weeks he was writing lots of stories about ninjas. Tobin keeps comic or sketch journals. They are so fun to look through. We bake almost everyday. They love to cook. I will have to share my mother in laws pumpkin rolls recipe. So good! 

So we are shifting away from bunches of worksheets for a while and learning to speak a little Italian and we will be cooking lots of authentic Italian meals. Tobin is learning about hibernating animals and has set up his table with them. The alien focus was so funny. Tobin needle felted plants with arms and faces that lived on the planet along with his favorite aliens; characters he made up, Gorgon and Angler. A friend on mine is making Tobin these characters into bendy wool felted figures. He is going to FLIP!

 

I wish I had a photo of his alien set-up. They change fast. But we had so many fantastic conversations about aliens. Do they exist? Where would they come from? What would they look like? We talked about string theory and the great expansion of the universe. Sure aliens can exist. But statistically the chances of us meeting are nil. We talked about gravity and how it is actually a very weak force compared to others. Lucas has been playing with magnets every since that conversation. Because electro-magnetism is much stronger than gravity. That blew his mind. Anyway... I love to talk about astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology. It was fun sharing with them all that I have learned on the subject.

Lucas is learning about Spanish Conquistadors and he is reading Don Quixote. This boy! He is so impressive! He remembers everything that he reads. Just like his father. Tobin and I on the other hand have to touch it and work with it for it to stick! HA! I need to find him a cool art project to do with his study.

We are live'n and learn'n as always. Keeping up with these sweet boys of mine keeps me young that's for sure! They eat and digest information as quickly as I can serve it up! Oh they fill me up. 

Happy Monday everyone!