The resource originally scheduled for today was a “no show” (remind me to send it to bed without any supper), so in its place today we are featuring this fun assortment of “stop motion animation” videos. Note: These are all YouTube streaming videos, so they are NOT downloadable, but only viewable online. If you have any problems with these, please consult YouTube’s troubleshooting tips for help. We are not able to provide technical support for these. Enjoy!
Sorry I’m Late! – Here’s an amazing short film using old fashioned, stop-motion “pixilation” animation. At the end of it, you’ll see some examples of how they put this together. There’s a lot more behind the scenes info on this process at the filmmaker’s website, http://www.sorry-im-late.comGreat fun!
And here are some more delightful stop-motion animations for your family’s viewing enjoyment.
Animated Origami
Watch this time lapse video of an origami (paper folding) artist as he creates an animated movie… then a rough version of the movie itself… and finally the finished product. Note the armature that holds the paper model and how the bluescreen background is set up so it can be digitally “erased”. Just fascinating! Enjoy!
Extra Strong
Western Spaghetti
Dancing Cupcakes
Rotting Strawberries
Here’s a neat time lapse video of a nice pile of strawberries rotting… or are they dancing? No… they’re rotting all right. Come on, strawberries! Fight it!
And here’s one last non-animated video, just for the sheer wacky scientific fun of it:
Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos
No doubt you’ve heard that one 2 liter Diet Coke + a handful of Mentos candies = a 5 second fountain of Diet Coke. Well, what happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints? It’s amazing and completely insane. The first part of this video demonstrates a simple geyser, and the second part shows just how extreme it can get. Over one hundred jets of soda fly into the air in less than three minutes. Here’s a spectacular mint-powered version of the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas.
POCO A POCO: A Direct Method for Learning Spanish (PDF ebook) – Back by popular demand, today we bring back this neat beginner’s Spanish language primer in which you learn the language “poco a poco” (little by little) – by reading basic lessons written entirely in Spanish. Presented in both question & answer, and conversational format, each day’s lesson are presented orally by the teacher, and build on the previous day’s lesson and words learned. Great curriculum!
NEW this time around: The original POCO A POCO: TEACHER’S MANUAL! Includes lesson plans, year by year teaching syllabus, and a complete vocabulary & grammatical guide.
BEEBE’S PICTURE PRIMER (PDF ebook) – Today’s resource is this truly delightful beginning reading (and writing) primer, with wonderful line drawings on every page. Great both for reading practice and also for cursive writing practice. You can also print out individual pages for coloring. Nice!
Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” (MP3 audio) – A mysterious magic mirror gives the Snow Queen the power to turn good children evil and keep them captive forever in her ice castle! Can a faithful friend’s love triumph over evil? You’ll find out in this delightful, exciting dramatization of the classic Andersen fairy tale, as originally broadcast on “Let’s Pretend” on November 12, 1953!
As an added bonus, we’ve also put together a few coloring pages to keep little fingers busy while listening to this classic tale. If you like this added feature, please post a comment and let us know. If we get enough positive response to this, we’ll try to add this feature to future audio programs!
LIFE BEGINS (PDF comic book) – “Life Begins: An Amazing Adventure”, is a comic book published by Human Life Alliance, designed to teach grade school children about the humanity of the pre-born child. It is a walk through the first nine months of life, lead by two adventurous narrators, Carl and Tickles. Children will enjoy their antics while learning important life-affirming information about how a baby grows inside a mother’s womb.
To quote the publishers: “Since Life Begins was created for grade school children, it does not contain information on abortion, but instead concentrates on the amazing humanity of the pre-born child. Human Life Alliance understands the importance of giving children a strong foundation in the facts of prenatal development and respect for human life at all stages without damaging their innocence prematurely.” http://www.humanlife.org/
This PDF “comic book” story is very tastefully and modestly done, and is a great resource to share with kids of all ages.
In the final section of THE BIG HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY – EARTH, WATER & SKY we focus on the world around us – from small brooks – to soil, minerals, and crystals – to the weather, skies, and sun, moon & stars. What a wonderful world it is… and many wonder-filled lessons and activities fill this last section of the book.
Again, each study begins with a great Teacher’s talk, and includes activities and discussion questions. Be sure to download all of these and keep in your permanent homeschool library. This is a keeper that you’ll use many time throughout your homeschooling years!
In Part IV of THE BIG HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY – PLANTS & TREES we focus on plant life in all its many forms in the fields and forest around us. Wonderful lessons and activities fill this section of the book.
Again, each study begins with a great Teacher’s talk, and includes activities and discussion questions. Be sure to download all of these and keep in your permanent homeschool library. This is a keeper that you’ll use many time throughout your homeschooling years!
In Part IV of THE BIG HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY – INSECTS & INVERTEBRATES we focus on all the creepy-crawlies of life around us: flies, ants, butterflies, grasshoppers, bees, spiders, snails, worms, and more. “Oooooo!” “Ahhhhh!” “Eeeekk! Get it away from me!”
Again, each study begins with a great Teacher’s talk, and includes activities and discussion questions. Be sure to download all of these and keep in your permanent homeschool library. This is a keeper that you’ll use many time throughout your homeschooling years!
In addition to today’s “Nature Study” resource (see the post below), we also invite you to visit our sister site, Homeschool Radio Shows, for a wonderful “Living Books for the Ears” program – Little Boy Blue: The Story of Eugene Field. It is SO good it may make you cry (literally). Or maybe not. I guess it depends on how sentimental you are. (Let’s take a poll and see how many folks actually do get choked up listening to this.) Anyway, you’ll long remember this sweet story — AND the extra bonus resource that comes with it is a sheer delight!
We continue today with Part III of THE BIG HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY – REPTILES, AMPHIBIANS & MAMMALS:
In this section of the book, we study toads, frogs, snakes, lizards & turtles … and then practically every fuzzy animal you can think of that lives on farm or forest.
Again, each study begins with a great Teacher’s talk, and includes activities and discussion questions. Be sure to download all of these and keep in your permanent homeschool library. This is a keeper that you’ll use many time throughout your homeschooling years!
