Paul Revere's house (or the 6 things you should know before creating a paper model/ sculpture)

So we've reached that point in our history studies where we've come to the the American Revolution.  This is a  great period of history for America because it's so optimistic;  It has the hope of people who yearn to govern themselves equitably.  It is about freedom, liberty, and rights (which at that time, true, were only meant for white men.... but we're speaking of about ideal ideas, not how they were applied. Stay with me.)  It was in this pioneering spirit of optimism that I must have been overcome, because I agreed to make a paper Paul Revere's house.  We've made paper sculptures before so I knew what I was getting into, but still I decided, if it can help Ezra wrap that one more layer of understanding around that period of history, we would do it! 
           Here's what you might want to know before beginning your first paper sculpture of any kind:
PHOTOCOPY or SCAN the page you will be working on before you hack it up.  The reason you do this is for reference later.  the instruction for making these sculptures is simply a put together version of what you'll be doing with copious amount of arrows and numbers.  Some of the parts will have numbers on them, but the smaller parts never do and knowing which of the 45 tiny pieces you have go where will become important as the sculpture develops.

   Second thing you will want to know-USE STRAIGHT CUTS to cut around the pieces, always cutting from the outside.  What I mean by this is, if you have to cut out a triangle, use two downward strokes instead of one downward and then an awkwardly maneuvered upward cut to finish the triangle.   It will just tear the piece; sometimes in half if they are the tiny ones.   I run down one side making all the left leaning cuts and start at the beginning making all the right leaning cuts to finish the triangle out.  (As seen here in these ridiculously tiny pieces.)
 Third bit of advice:  Each of those lines represents a fold.  USE A PALETTE KNIFE, OR OTHER FLAT  STIFF EDGE, TO CREATE THE FOLDS.  The copy you made of the page will also help you remember which folds are "reversed", folding forward instead of back.   My Thumb nail was actually sufficient to create some of the tiny the folds here, but the center lines had to be folded over the palette knife.  It's just far easier that way and allows for more control.


  Fourth tid-bit:  Getting ready to glue.  Please do yourself an enormous favor and FOLD THE PIECE TOGETHER BEFORE GLUING.  Figure out where the glue actually goes, and what it's suppose to look like as a finished product.  This is sometimes difficult when the piece is actually made of two separate sheets of paper.  But it in these cases, it's actually far more important to figure out how it goes together because, in my experience, there is more that can go wrong and more hinges on those two pieces fitting properly together for all the other, future, pieces to fit together.  So fit together, sometimes with tape if you want. But before glue hits a surface, know where it's going to stick and how that fits together.


  Fifth pearl of wisdom:  GLUING TOGETHER. Here's where it starts to get personal.  Each person has their own idea of what constitutes a properly finished product, and your reach for perfection will govern what kind of glue you use.  My goal was to make the house, learn a little bit about Colonial Architecture with my child and enjoy the process as much as possible folding Lincoln head sided pieces together.  Because hot glue is instantaneous, it allows you to glue and go.  The con of hot glue is it's bulky and has tendency to show.  You'll get MUCH cleaner lines with craft glue (Arleen's Tacky glue  is a good one.), but the draw back is you must hold it until the glue is set, which can take several minutes for each glue.  Considering there is often four or five places on each shape to glue, it can be time consuming.  Though the result will be far more professional looking.
         Secret number 6- Don't expect your product to look like the picture.  As you can see in the photocopy above, they gave me 4 lanterns shapes.  There were actually six in the photograph and instructions.  This again is where the photocopy comes in handy.  You can then choose to print off more of a piece if you want. 

 

Most important here, we had a great time, have a nice center piece to our American Revolution Study, and worked on dexterity, manual skills, and problem solving.  Job well done, Phoenix.

Co-oping- the greatness that is community

I'm a co-op in Williamsburg Va. (which, by the way, is a great place to homeschool in!) so that can color how I feel about co-ops, but I'm not just a member, I'm also the president, or principal to be exact.
  It takes a grand amount of time to make it work, but no matter how many hours I spend on the computer that week, I'm happy when Tuesday comes and I roll into the church parking lot.   My kids help me unpack my car and set up tables and begin another day of what we do- homeschooling in community.   We only go to the co-op once a week (for now, but we're thinking about expanding to two days a week, as AP classes can take far more time than 1 day a week can effectively cover material. That will be in our future if we can get a second day at a nearby church.  Who knows :).  
    A couple of years ago, I had a friend come back from a seminar, and she was beaming with all the encouragement she had gotten.  She a was a little shy about specifics at first and I prodded her until she said, "Well, (the speaker) said you don't need co-ops at all."  Her kids have never been to co-ops- mine or anybody else's.   And it works for them. That's great.  I, for one, love my co-ops.  A woman once responded back to my email that she felt "bad" for me that I felt that I could not teach my own children Spanish.  I replied back, "It's not bad to have limitations.  It's bad to ignore them!"  I would like to convince myself that I excel at a few things, but not for one minute can I fool myself into thinking I am even good enough at ALL subjects to teach them.  Languages, (and anyone reading this blog for more than 2 posts will soon realize) editing & typing are my worst subjects.  I get by with history, thanks to great curriculum, and please don't anyone ask me to lead a botany class because it will be all by the book I'm using and not one page more than I've read. I do happen to have a penchant to teaching art, and I've recently added Lego robotics to the list of things I feel proud to tell others I teach.  
  At my co-op, my 9th grader took chemistry from a  mom who had her Masters in Chemical Engineering.  Her biology teacher last year holds a Master in Occupational Therapy.  Our preschool teacher has Master of Education and ran a large preschool before her life as a homeschooler and now teacher at our co-op.  Our new Latin & Italian teacher is working on his PHD in ancient history, and our drama teacher holds a Masters in education and Economics.   Basically, we teach what we love & what we're good at.  I do believe that is the definition of the world's greatest job.  I don't have to be great at everything as long as I'm start enough to get great people to work with me.   
     I believe that this co-op has allowed me to continue homeschooling my high schooler.  I couldn't imagine this journey without all the support and knowledge that my co-teachers provide.   I couldn't imagine her transcript without them! 

       Next year is her unschooling year, after all these years of classical homeschooling where I picked what she learned, she gets to be master of  her sophomore year.  So far she's picked guitar, AP psychology, Italian and, I am requiring math despite the other subjects being her choice, Pre-calculus.  All from our co-op.  I am thankful for my community.  Thankful that it allows me to offer my children the best education, which, after all, isn't that what homeschooling is about?
 

K'nex: Bridges