Category Archives: Family

Thanksgiving Gratitude Challenge Poem – Video

Written by Eve
Thanksgiving poetry reading by Eve on the girls’ YouTube channel.

This Thanksgiving poem, along with other poems and a video, are coming very soon.

Christmas Challenge coming next consisting of one poem a day. I already wrote with my daughters more than 20, and we are also designing free e-cards to share.

Many of the Christmas poems are already scheduled.

I am using these poems for homeschooling purposes, and we will talk about Lilli and Lizzie’s poetry and songwriting efforts soon.

Until the next Thanksgiving post,

Eve

Multiplication Memorization Poem. Stress Free learning

Did you know that rhyming aids memorization? I came up with this fun way to study multiplication with my daughters. It was so fun and effective that they asked for more.

Multiplication Memorization.
Two Times Table

2×0=0 
𝒁𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒔, 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐.
2×1=2 
𝑻𝒘𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅.
2×2=4
𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔.
2×3=6
𝑺𝒊𝒙 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒇𝒊𝒙.
2×4=8
𝑬𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒌𝒂𝒕𝒆.
2×5=10
𝑻𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒏.
2×6=12
𝑻𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒍𝒇.
2×7=14
𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆.
2×8=16
𝑺𝒊𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒖𝒛 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏.
2×9=18
𝑬𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒂 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏.
2×10=20
𝑻𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚.

Eve Sanchez
Lilli & Lizzie H.

Created in collaboration with Lilli and Lizzie.

They created most of the lines, practiced rhyming, and practiced multiplication in a stress free manner.

If you need help teaching multiplication, follow us for more stress free learning.

Eve

Athena paper doll and Greek historical fashion

Dear reader,

I didn’t want to share my Athena paper doll because the fashion illustration was historically inaccurate.  It was silly, so here it is in its imperfect glory.

Athena paper doll by Eve

Minerva was Athena in Rome

Atenea is Spanish

Atena in Italian

Since Athena’s name is extremely ancient, the sound of the letter Eta (uppercase Η, lowercase η) has changed in the thousands of years of Athena’s reach. This is why she has been Athena, Athene. I have to look more into this because I also saw her name spelled with an Alpha at the end, which corresponds to our modern Athena.

This dress turned out wrong, attempted a tied look on the waist, but the skirt should be pleated and fall at her sides.

Now that I have shown you my defective work, I will have to finish it. I have a second page where I stopped. It has a shield and another dress that also made me feel I had done a poor job.

Ancient Greek fashion

The ancient Greeks didn’t have sewing machines. They used fabrics and tied them into dresses.

Even in Rome, dresses called Stolas in Latin (the equivalent of togas for males) were very large tied fabrics.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_in_ancient_Greece

The reason why my design is wrong is that it doesn’t look tied, which should give a very pleated look that fell very close to the body.

I tried, but I created a modern look, which is alright, but I will try my hand at this again.

Lizzie’s Athena
Lilli’s Athena
This image of Athena was AI created. Lilli put this together on Canva.

I will perfect this design, and we will talk more about ancient Greek clothing. The next paper doll will be better, I promise.

Of course, you can print this one and use it in your homeschooling practice.

With Love,

Eve

Venus of BoticeLilli. Boticelli by Lilli

We loved learning about Athena, and we drew lots of Athena images. I did not share with you, my Athena paper doll. I have a bad excuse. It was imperfect… I get it, it is not a good trait to teach my daughters, to be a perfectionist, so, I will show you on my next post. I will re-create my Athena paper doll until it is perfect. Those are opposing statements, but I will show you the imperfect job, then I will recreate and perfect.

But this is not about me, or my perfectionism.

This is about Lilli.

I sent Lilli to the computer to work on her Duolingo lesson. But I got distracted by a funny picture of one of the Duolingo characters “dressed” as the Venus of Boticelli. I had been meaning to show Lilli because of how funny it looks and the fact that Lilli knows about Venus and that painting (I am a bit obsessed with the goddess).

Since we learned about Athena, the next goddess we were going to learn about was Aphrodite. Of course, Venus is the Roman name for Aphrodite. Lilli likes Aphrodite even more than Athena, she said. I realized that we must not forget Artemis….

I started with Athena on purpose. I intended to initiate the ancient goddess club with the wise one. Obviously.

About Lilli’s Boticelli inspired Venus:

I was making fun of this hilarious Venus inspired character when I started talking to Lilli of the famous painting which she already knows and considers sus(picious), because, well, Venus is undressed in the painting and covering up with her fabulous hair, just like this hilarious character is covering up with his beard.

The painting is of her birth. According to myth, she was born fully grown like Athena, with one difference, Athena was born in full armor, Venus, was born fully grown and without clothes. Int he very gorgeous Boticelli painting, Venus is being offered a gorgeous cloth to cover herself up.

Duolingo’s Oscar as Venus (Inspired by the famous Boticelli painting)

Between one joke and the next, we were looking up the famous Boticelli picture. We saw that there were countless pictures of it for sale and Lilli was amazed at how expensive they were, and I told her that is really nothing for a copy of one of the most famous paintings in the world. One of the most reproduced paintings ever.

I realized that the original painting is so old that it precedes copyright laws and thus it is completely free to be copied and used in any way and even to sell. I immediately told Lilli that she should draw her, not thinking anything of it. I opened Duolingo and went to work with Lizzie on her story, I will write about that story as soon as she is ready, but it is a marvelous project.

While I was sitting with Lizzie at her computer, Lilli calls me, and she shows me this incredible Venus art! I was speechless.

Venus of Boticelli by Lilli

Lilli dressed her Venus! That was sweet. Something about her wearing rags, though, she said since the Greeks tied their clothes. But I am not certain why she dressed Venus in rags but for a child, it is much better than in her birth suit. So, I take her creativity, and I loved it.

I am simply in love with that hair, and you bet I will spend the better of the next 5 years drawing my Venus of Boticelli. That was a joke….

Boticelli and his birth of Venus painting

Take advantage and learn some art history through the links below:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Birth-of-Venus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandro_Botticelli Learn everything about Boticelli, the painter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_Venus Learn everything about the painting.

(How are the kids’ language learning going? Lizzie did her first ever Duolingo class today, that was a huge success, and she noticed what she didn’t know, of course, but I noticed how much she actually knew. Perspectives.). Lilli and Vivi both do Duolingo Spanish. I have to remind them, but they understand so much. I am getting Alex (4) to understand what it means that other language Spanish, huh, he doesn’t fully get it yet, but he likes papas fritas (fried potatoes)….

Meanwhile, I am learning three languages. I will have to go back to the drawing board with my initiative for teaching the children languages. However, the children have learned Spanish, they simply are not language “nerds” like me. The thing is I love language learning. They love art and games. To me language is art and fun.

NOTE: I used the word nerd full of love and with no judgement. I think language nerds are some of the coolest people ever. Perspectives.

Let us talk again soon,

Eve

12 Creative Writing Prompts for Children

I will be using these to inspire my children to create stories with me.

Here’s a list of 12 immersive and fun creative writing prompts for children, designed to spark their imagination and encourage playful storytelling. Each prompt includes character ideas, inspiration, and fun questions to fuel their creativity:

1. The Day My Pet Could Talk

  • Inspiration: One morning, your pet wakes up and starts talking! But they have an important message to tell you.
  • Character Ideas: A wise-talking dog, a sassy cat, or a shy hamster who knows a secret.
  • Fun Questions: What does your pet sound like? What’s the first thing they say? What secret have they been hiding all this time?

2. A Trip to a Candy Planet

  • Inspiration: You discover a hidden rocket ship in your backyard that takes you to a planet made entirely of candy.
  • Character Ideas: A candy-loving alien, a chocolate river guide, or a gingerbread scientist.
  • Fun Questions: What does everything taste like? How do you get around on a candy planet? What’s the biggest danger in a world made of sweets?

3. The Invisible Friend

  • Inspiration: You make an invisible friend who helps you with school and adventures, but only you can see them.
  • Character Ideas: A mischievous ghost, a friendly shadow, or a tiny, invisible fairy.
  • Fun Questions: How do you introduce them to others? What do you and your invisible friend do together? What happens when they accidentally cause trouble?

4. A Dragon Moves In Next Door

  • Inspiration: A family of dragons moves into the house next to yours, and they need your help fitting into human life.
  • Character Ideas: A fire-breathing dragon with stage fright, a baby dragon who loves making pancakes, or a grumpy grandparent dragon.
  • Fun Questions: How do the dragons hide their wings and tails? What jobs do they get in the neighborhood? What happens when they accidentally breathe fire?

5. The Secret Library in the Attic

  • Inspiration: You find a secret door in your attic that leads to a magical library filled with books that come to life.
  • Character Ideas: A talking book that gives you advice, a librarian wizard, or a knight from a fairy tale who’s tired of fighting dragons.
  • Fun Questions: Which book do you open first? What happens when a character from a story steps out of the pages? Can you create your own story-world?

6. Superhero School

  • Inspiration: You discover you have superpowers and get invited to a school for young superheroes.
  • Character Ideas: A kid who can turn invisible, someone who can talk to animals, or a hero who controls the weather but sneezes and makes tornadoes.
  • Fun Questions: What’s your superhero name? What’s your first mission? How do you balance saving the world with homework?

7. The Mysterious Box

  • Inspiration: One day, you find a mysterious box on your doorstep with a note that says, “Do not open until midnight.”
  • Character Ideas: A curious inventor, a sneaky detective, or a magical creature hiding inside the box.
  • Fun Questions: Do you open the box early? What’s inside? Does it lead to an adventure or bring a surprise visitor?

8. Lost in a Maze of Giant Toys

  • Inspiration: You get lost in a life-size toy store where all the toys are gigantic—and they come to life!
  • Character Ideas: A helpful stuffed bear, a bossy robot, or a teddy bear who’s afraid of heights.
  • Fun Questions: How do you find your way out? What’s the most amazing giant toy you meet? What happens when a toy decides it wants to be your friend forever?

9. The Treehouse Time Machine

  • Inspiration: You build a treehouse in your backyard and discover it’s secretly a time machine that can take you anywhere in history.
  • Character Ideas: A daring time-traveling squirrel, a kid inventor from the future, or a pirate from the past who got stuck in the wrong time.
  • Fun Questions: Where do you travel first? Who do you meet? What happens if you accidentally change something important in history?

10. My Life as a Tiny Person

  • Inspiration: One day, you wake up and you’ve shrunk to the size of a bug!
  • Character Ideas: A talking ladybug guide, a friendly ant army, or a wise old beetle who knows the way back.
  • Fun Questions: How do you get around now that you’re tiny? What everyday things are now giant-sized obstacles? How do you get back to normal?

11. The Magical Market

  • Inspiration: You stumble upon a hidden marketplace where magical creatures sell enchanted objects and potions.
  • Character Ideas: A potion-brewing witch, a friendly gnome shopkeeper, or a mischievous talking cat selling magic beans.
  • Fun Questions: What magical item do you buy? What does it do? Does it lead to an unexpected adventure or a big mistake?

12. Underwater Adventure

  • Inspiration: While swimming at the beach, you find a secret underwater kingdom that needs your help to solve a mystery.
  • Character Ideas: A playful dolphin, a royal sea turtle, or a jellyfish with a glowing map.
  • Fun Questions: How do you breathe underwater? What is the mystery you need to solve? What magical sea creatures do you meet along the way?

These prompts offer a blend of imagination, adventure, and mystery, giving kids fun characters and scenarios to build creative short stories from!

Songwriting: Give me my guitar

Dear reader,

This is a cool song I wrote many years ago.

I have a very old video singing it. I will not show you because it was too awful.

But, I created the lyrics for the song in a better way today.

I am looking for singers or musicians to sing this or any of my other songs. Just ask and I will allow you to.

Lilli is creating a Pandacorn (my newest song) animation right now which is simply adorable.

With love,

Eve

Words: Advice vs. advise

Dear reader,

English is my second language. learned it as an adult. Since I love to learn properly, grammar has been my best friend.

With this short poem, I was trying to make the distinction between advice and advise after I realized I had used the improper spelling of the word. Actually, I thought it was only one word long ago.

When you write, you learn. My advise if you are trying to make a distinction between the two words is to use them in writing. I know now, before, while I was confused and knew I could make a mistake, I would search the difference and find help from a blog post like this one or an article.

Difference between advice and advise

The difference between advise and advice is simple:

  • Advice is a noun, meaning a suggestion or recommendation. Example: “She gave me great advice.”
  • Advise is a verb, meaning to offer a suggestion. Example: “I advise you to listen carefully.”

Tip: Use “advice” when you’re talking about the suggestion itself, and use “advise” when you’re talking about giving or offering that suggestion.

To advice is a verb or a word that refers to action. The action is advising. The word is spelled with an s whenever you say TO ADVISE or ADVISING because these refer to the verb or the action of advising another.

A noun is a thing, wether a physical thing like a table or a non physical thing such as advice

Sentences and examples

When someone is giving a suggestion or recommendation, the action is called advising. So, “advising” is the act of offering advice.

Advice is the thing: the words or suggestions and to advise is the action of saying the advice.

For example:

  • Verb: “The teacher is advising the students to study.”
  • Noun: “The advice she gave was helpful.”

Just remember: the action of giving advice = advising!

Here are a few simple sentences for children to help them remember the difference between advise and advice:

  1. Advice is a thing you give.
    • Example: “My mom gave me good advice on making friends.”
  2. Advise is an action you do.
    • Example: “Teachers advise students to study hard.”
  3. Advice has a “c” because it’s like ice—a thing you can have.
    • Example: “His advice helped me.”
  4. Advise has an “s” because it’s like say—something you do.
    • Example: “Doctors advise us to eat healthy.”

These can make it fun and easier for children to remember the difference!

Was this helpful?

Feel free to use my poem in your lesson or class or as a reminder.

Please tell me if you would like to see more like this,

With love,

Eve

Comet Stargazing and Home Education Log

Dear reader,

This week we woke up our kids very early and took to the darkness outside looking for the comet A3. We saw it, too. It was an amazing sight even though it only lasted a few seconds and we all saw it (except for the two toddlers).

Lilli and Vivi wrote journal entries about it. Lilli, a perfect memory with 0 errors or need for improvement. Vivi in gorgeous letters. She needs to work on the legibility of her writing, but she has chosen incredibly beautiful decorated letters, which I love and I told her, I will have to copy some of her incredible letters.

My focus will be on practicing with Vivi so she can improve the legibility of her writing while keeping her wonderful letter design. I enjoyed her work so much and I was full of pride.

Lilli researched and taught us what a comet as well as a, meteor shower is, wrote this in her journal.

Both Lilli and Vivi drew the comet.

Home Education Log: Learning activities with our kids

This is not an entire list.

We discussed our ancestry, DNA, DNA tests related to ancestry, neanderthal DNA in humans in research, history of our families which interested and intrigued our oldest kid.

We did Halloween inspired art and crafts.

Alex drew a ghost and many more cool drawings. He was inspired by documentaries and videos we watched on the history of Halloween.

We watched documentaries about the history of Halloween, kids stories, and more on this topic.

I finished a Halloween paper doll: I love fashion illustration and I incorporate it into our art activities.

This lovely fashion witch was designed in 2014. Back then my illustration skills were beginner level, but the dress designs were gorgeous. With my new skills, I drew a new doll and copied the same exact dresses, added the witch hat and broom.

We found old art of mine and discussed my art progress at which point I took advantage and gave a speech about improving one’s skill. I allowed the kids to see my bad beginner art that I am ashamed to show today and explained how I learned to draw figures by watching experts and used that fuel to inspire them by assuring them they too will be much better in their art.

I helped the kids finish Math worksheets they did not finish during their week.

We studied the Celts, specially regarding our own Celtic roots.

Lilli and I did Math: skip counting, addition, multiplication, and division.

Vivi and I worked on addition.

The kids have been sick, so we have not been to Jiu-jitsu class. They have been playing in the yard and “working in the garden”.

The kids read children’s books.

Lizzie and I wrote a poem together (she created the story) and she did the ending in prose using many words that start with g. Then she wrote the poem by hand. Her intention was to improve her handwriting of the letter g and she succeeded, her g was beautiful after such practice. She will be choosing her next letter to work on and we will repeat this exercise.

Lilli started the new Duolingo Music course.

Lilli returned to her Duolingo Spanish course.

I created children’s songs inspired by Lilli. Lilli created pictures to go with the song. I added AI music to the songs. We sung and sung and danced.

Lizzie decided to write a song. She created a story and we will be working on turning it into a song.

Lilli, Lizzie, Vivi worked on Math, Science, Grammar, Art on Outschool.

Links

https://phys.org/news/2023-10-neanderthals-inherited-genome-now-extinct-lineage.html

https://phys.org/news/2024-09-archaeologists-ancient-neanderthal-lineage-isolated.html

And you, would you share your home education efforts with us?

With love,

Eve