Ahhh, the school bell is ringing this morning.  Yes, it is.  The past two weeks have been full of fun and relaxation, and plenty of food and family and friends, but it’s time to put our thinking caps on once again.  I don’t know about you, but mine feels a little loose this morning.  Uh…

As one of my brooches says, I believe that we’ll get back into our school groove.

The brooch pins are coming along nicely.  We are working, working, and Michaela has found her own little niche, but more about that later.  I’ll let her post when she’s ready.  In the meantime, I am working on something special for my Etsy shop for Valentine’s Day.  When the Etsy shop is ready, I’ll be sure and post a link here.

For lessons today, the following is on tap:

• Ambleside Reading — will all be independent today, as I have to work
• Practice harmonica
• Math – Saxon next lesson
• Work on further training Annie
• Grammar will be copywork from Snowflake Bentley
• Review Snowflake Bentley as we have a co-op built around that book this week
• Science - Bug review sheet from a previous field trip
• Nature Study – More copywork – write the definition of metamorphosis and then glue pictures of butterfly life cycle onto cardstock for notebook – label.  (The pictures are lovely pictures from our garden from this past summer.  I think Charlotte Mason would approve.)
• Work on craft project
• Practice sketching
• Review Raphael prints for Ambleside art

I do hope you have a wonderful Monday.  Mondays are work days for me, and they are sort of hard for me — a real transition after being off with my family on Sundays.  But it is okay.  It really is.  I try my best every morning to smile out at the world and focus on everything that’s lovely and pure and of good report.  I believe God gives us grace when we really want to have a right spirit for His sake.

‘The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. ”  Psalm 19:1

When I was a teenager we had a friend visiting from the mountains.  In driving around our county I was commenting on the beauty of it all.  My mother seemed a bit embarassed and noted that our friend, having come from the mountains, was from a place where the land really was beautiful.  While I did see her point, I didn’t agree at all that the mountains were any more beautiful than the sandy soil, scrubby oaks, pine trees, and blue skies where I had grown up.

I used to kneel down in the woods behind our house and marvel at the soldier moss growing at the foot of one of our oaks.  The sandy trail that cut through our woods looked like a secret path to me, and I often saw snakes and birds sitting in the trees, looking at me as I walked on tip-toe trying to be really quiet like the Indians would have been.  We had a montrous tangle of blackbeery bushes that offered up many blackberry cobblers through the years.  I felt rich.

It is humbling to think of the beauty God has put around us to enjoy.  I went outside this morning and sat in the morning sun with a cup of water infused with a few drops of Ashwagandha.  (I think my adrenals are struggling, but that’s another post for another day.)

The sun on my face felt so wonderful and Annie enjoyed running around in the garden.  Over the weekend I went on a foraging walk and gathered many rosehips for winter teas.  They are currently drying in a sunny, upstairs window. 

I woke up this morning so renewed and encouraged that Nature Study is a vital and easy thing to undertake.  Michaela’s first lesson today will be outside.  I may even have her continue there, but it’s cold.  We’ll see how warm it gets.  She’s been admiring the art in a new picture book here and I think I’ll have her experiment with the method of illustration done in the book.  It appears to be black outlining filled in with colored pencils.  I am hopeful that it will make a lovely start to Michaela’s Monday.  Surrounded by the beauty of falling yellow leaves, purple poke berries and bright nasturtium flowers, I don’t see how a bit of nature can escape from ending up in her drawing.

I thought you  might enjoy Charlotte Mason’s thoughts on sunshine, from Vol 1.  of Home Education, pp 34-35:

But it is not only air, and pure air, the children must have if their blood is to be of the ‘finest quality,’ as the advertisements have it.  Quite healthy blood is exceedingly rich in minute, red disc-like bodies, known as red corpuscles, which in favourable circumstances are produced freely in the blood itself.  Now, it is observed that people who live much in the sunshine are of a ruddy countenance–that is, a great many of these red corpuscles are present in their blood; while the poor souls who live in cellars and sunless alleys have skins the colour of whity-brown paper.  Therefore, it is concluded that light and sunshine are favourable to the production of red corpuscles in the blood; and, therefore–to this next ‘therefore’ is but a step for the mother–the children’s rooms should be on the sunny side of the house, with a south aspect if possible.  Indeed, the whole house should be kept light and bright for their sakes; trees and outbuildings that obstruct the sunshine and make the chidlren’s rooms dull should be removed without hesitation. 

With curtains open and rosehips drying in the windowsill, I’m busy working today and handing out school lessons from my work desk. The tea kettle is whistling. Enjoy this day.

First of all, I want to say something about health.  Good health is a blessing and something not to be taken for granted.  When people say, “If you’ve got your health, you’ve got everything,” I think they are usually speaking from the standpoint of having been sick.  It’s hard to understand what a treasure good health is until it leaves you.  And sometimes it just happens.

That said, my recent illness, which is major compared to a cold, and minor compared to what some are dealing with, has caused me to re-evaluate many areas of my life.  What I feed on, and not just physically but that as well, what I place value on, and what I spend my time doing.

I have not blogged as much lately, but that’s not because I’m thinking of abandoning blogging.  I’ve met some really close friends through my blog and I’ve also turned this blog into a bigtime outlet for myself.  The fact is, rather, that I’ve not been blogging as much because I’ve had the “brain fog” that goes with pretty moderate (maybe even severe) hypothyroidism.  Also, I’ve been trying to figure out for a year what was making me ill, so I didn’t get in this shape overnight and I’m not going to get out of it overnight. 

Enough said.

My Chatelaine

First of all in this game of catch-up, I want to show you the chatelaine that my friend Marqueta made for me.  I’ve been meaning to show you this for quite some time now, but my mind being in the intense Pooh-Bear condition it has been in, it just kept slipping my mind because other things like sleep were taking up so much room. 

What you see around my neck is a chatelaine!  Did you know what one was?  I did not, but Marqueta made this and I love it.  Michaela loves it too! It hangs right around my neck when I am sewing or crafting, holding on one of its ends a beautiful pair of scissors, and on its other end a pin-cushion and a little velvety thimble bag.    I love it so much and wanted to show you!

Our Nature Adventures

Moving on, dear friends, I know I mentioned some exciting nature adventures happening here.  We are still in the midst of them and they get more exciting every day.  It would seem at this season in my life, I am being sent pets to help me.  They really do help me, and I am saying that in all seriousness.  I find that whether it’s an injured snake or a new puppy I am tending to, my breathing feels more regular and I’m not as anxious over my blood pressure and heart rate.  It’s a similar effect to what my garden does for me.

It was quite the coincidence (or not) that I had just read in my book, Lessons at Blackberry Inn by Karen Andreola, about Donald.  “Look, a woolly bear!” 

The book went on to tell of the fuzzy caterpillar and the Isabella tiger moth that it becomes and also of the folklore concerning how much brown is on the caterpillar (mostly brown = mild winter) or how much black is on the caterpillar (mostly black – stormy winter).

Wouldn’t you know that the very next day I found this caterpillar scurrying along in our garden?  I do believe that the Lord hears even our smallest thoughts and sometimes shows us the wonders of His creation to answer our questions.  

I like gathering bits of green and little sticks for our creatures.

Of course since we are using Ambleside, we are using Anna Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study, so this is a perfect first lesson from that book.  We have put the wooly bear in a large glass jar with conditions that reflect what the wooly bear likes.  The jar will stay outside all winter so that the caterpillar can do what nature has intended and hopefully in May we will see the new Isabella tiger moth.

Another Creature

Earlier in the week I heard a loud thumping sound coming from the front porch.  It continued, so I went out to take a look.  The cats had caught a little brown snake and injured it and it seemed in shock.  I immediately picked it up and examined it.  It had a pretty deep open claw-mark (dumb cats but I love them anyway) so I put the snake in our spare aquarium filled with a bit of dirt, some plants, a couple of sticks to hide under and some water and earthworms for food.

I cleaned the snake’s wound with a Q-tip and peroxide and put some triple-antibiotic ointment on it.  I wondered if it would live.

But the snake is still alive and it’s been four days now.

Brown snakes are frequently found in gardens (not the same brown snake as what’s in Australia, mate) and they eat snails, slugs, and earthworms.  They are very cute (if you can call a snake cute).

We are hoping this snake gets well enough to be released again.  Maybe the cats won’t find it this time around.

The wound looks like it is healing up.  I might clean it again today.

In The Garden

The garden is so pretty right now, but in an autumn sort of way, nothing like spring.  The leaves are falling.  We are sprucing up with colorful pumpkins and mums, and my Clara Curtis mums are taking off now.

The paths are nearly closed off by overhanging asters…

and filled with Cassia obtusifolia and their curved seed pods.  I have five new asters I want to plant over the next few days.  My garden is one of my therapies right now.

Homeschool Co-op

I mentioned recently being involved in a Co-op using Five In A Row, volume 4.  This is something I am so happy to be involved in.  I find that time with this group — the moms and the children — is a refreshing break from the day-in and day-out chores and math and work and bill paying, etc. that occur at home.

Not that there’s not loveliness in what occurs at home, but this, to me, is like what Karen Andreola refers to as Mother Culture.  Two very smart, kind and beautiful women taught our children yesterday, giving me time to visit with the littler kids and talk to the other moms.

In fact, I spent quite a bit of time with this little fella, Daniel, only yesterday he was sometimes “just Daniel,” sometimes George Washington, and sometimes the Marquis de Lafayette.  He’s 5!  I was quite impressed with his historical knowledge. 

He diligently swept off the step with his pine needle broom.

I was about to zoom in to get a picture of a mushroom he found, but could not resist taking a picture of him.  He was looking at me very seriously, probably knowing exactly what I was up to, because he reminded me that I needed to put the camera on zoom if I was taking a picture of the mushroom.  He’s really smart.

Our little mushroom.

Daniel’s mommy, a most patient teacher, taught part of this co-op.   I love having Michaela be a part of this.

What do you think about the weight of sugar?

No one is advocating diet sodas here, but look what the weight of the sugar does to a soda. 

The kids also learned about the weight of water, molecules and much more.

Science Bags

I know many of you were wondering about how our science bags are working out.  The first one was great! 

Sponge and seeds anyone?

I know this has been long, but I had a lot I needed to say! 

Enjoy this day.

Lynn

I don’t have much to offer today along the lines of one cohesive train of thought, but rather random thoughts and pictures, because that’s the way life is sometimes.

I hardly noticed this little creature because he blends in so well with his surroundings.  I’ve noticed that different plants draw different creatures into the garden, which is one reason I’m so fond of letting wild things grow. 

I stop and wonder how often in reality I don’t notice little spots of life around me — you know, the important things that really should get my attention but don’t because I’m zooming quickly by and they get lost in their surroundings: my busy existence.

Kitties growing up.  I know we don’t really need three more kittens, but it’s a wonder to watch them nurse and grow and jump and play.  It’s a wonder to see something grow up.  I stop with my tea cup in hand and look out at them for a little respite from bill paying and appointment making.

Another bright spider — a new one to me, that the Cassia has brought in.

This kitty stops playing for just a moment to look at his mommy.  Yes, we think this kitty is a male.

A Thought On CM – Nature

Why are we so instinctively drawn to nature?  Is it good to let children get too far away from nature?

All day long, every day, Laura and Mary were busy. When the dishes were washed and the beds made, there was always plenty to do and to see and to listen to.

They hunted for birds’ nests in the tall grass…

In the tall grass they lay still as mice and watched flocks of little prairie chickens running and pecking around their anxiously clucking, smooth brown mothers.  They watched striped snakes rippling between the grass stems or lying so still that only their tiny flickering tongues and glittering eyes showed that they were alive.

And sometimes there’d be a great gray rabbit, so still in the lights and shadows of a grass clump that you were near enough to touch him…  ~Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie

I’m looking forward to even more nature journaling, flower preserving, and herbal work this coming school year.  We’ll sketch and draw, press and label, and make plenty of projects in the CM way.

Ahhh, nature study, my favorite part of homeschool.  Nature study is something I like to incorporate daily into our lessons.  This morning I thought I would share how we do our nature study here.

First of all, my favorite example of a nature journal is this:

The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady

It’s a beautiful and exquisitely detailed book with an amazing story behind it.

It began in 1906 as a diary kept by Edith Holden, documenting her nature observations in the English countryside. Ms. Holden kept the journal to encourage her students. Tragically, Edith Holden drowned in the Thames at the age of 49. For some years, her diary was passed down through her family and was finally published after a great-niece approached Webb & Bower in 1976. The book became an immediate success, a record-breaking best seller, but then went out of print for several years. It is currently back in print, (one can only guess at how long — hopefully for good) and it’s one of my favorite books ever.  I’ve had my copy for about 10 years.

Our Nature Study

Ideally we go outside (our own backyard is a fine place for this) and spread out a b lanket.

It’s nice if the weather is warm, but if it’s chilly out, a big sweater works just fine.  An added benefit of using your own backyard is that it’s easy to run inside and get a quick cup of hot tea every so often, especially if it is chilly. 

As I settle onto the blanket, it’s my instinct to tell Princess of the Universe to sit down right away, but the wiser part of me gives her time to run around and get some energy out.  Children love the outdoors and seem to know exactly what to do in it.

“Mom, watch.”

It’s a wild and crazy game.  The only part of Earth left is the stack of two wooden blocks that Princess of the Universe must land on. 

I can hardly bear to watch this.  What if she misses the one spot of Earth left?  Will she go into outer space?  Will she disappear?  Maybe she will come sit down quietly on the blanket.

Thank goodness, she came to the blanket.  Sigh.

What are we doing? 

I’ll tell you.

Princess of the Universe and I have discussed the style of Edith Holden’s diary.  To me, it almost has the look of elegant doodling on some pages. 

I have always been a doodler myself.  I can fill up a 9 x 12 page with doodles taking a phone number and message down during a phone call.  (Did you know that a recent study showed doodlers remember more from their phone conversations?)  I digress.

The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady is also filled with an abundance of information about nature and history. In summary, the fun layout makes it interesting to read, the beautiful illustrations make it classic, and the seriousness of the information written makes it a real teaching tool.  The bottom line is that I want our nature journals to favor Edith Holden’s.

How do we do that? 

At this point, I simply require that Princess of the Universe follow my lead.  She writes what I write, copywork-style.  Our journal pages are kept in the same fashion in which Edith Holden kept hers.  The difference is that we are using information pertinent to our location and our lives and we are using colored pencils to document what we see.

Oh my.  Time for another pleasant distraction.  My oldest, Daniel, who is off work for the day and has been fishing shows up. 

Big Joe and Princess of the Universe must gather around and see the picture of the large fish he caught and released.  I sip on hot tea.  And wait.

Instead of coming straight back to the blanket, Princess of the Universe goes in the opposite direction, but there is a method to her madness. She needs to show me that she can jump all the way across the blanket.

“Wait!” I say. Let me move our journals.  And set my camera to “action.”

Okay, run! 

I am happy to report that Princess of the Universe comes back to the blanket, but look!

Another distraction.  It’s totally okay, however, because this IS the heart of nature study: observation. 

I think the key to successful nature study is to just get yourself outside, relax, and enjoy what comes your way.

Princess of the Universe lets the granddaddy long legs crawl onto her hands.  We look at the colors.  Gray.  Brown.  She has a patch of darker brown on her back.   We note that she’s missing a leg.  We let her go.

Back to work.  “Use the right colors to draw your dandelion,” I tell Princess of the Universe.

Her leaf is the right color but needs more definition, I think.  I don’t say anything this time because overall she has done a fabulous job.  She’s documented some valuable information and she’s done it with care and enthusiasm.  (I think the Earth’s-almost-gone game helped tremendously.)  Mental note to self:  in a lesson soon, we will color together just a leaf, working on detail. 

Patience is what wins the race.

Here are our two journals side by side.  How did we decide on this information? A few questions did the trick.

• What is growing in our yard this month that we did not see last month?  Dandelions.  Let’s draw the dandelion.
• What do we know about the dandelion?  It’s a food and a medicine.  It has many names.  Let’s write some of that down.
• What about its scientific name?  This is a short and sweet lesson in classification.  Over time these little lessons add up to a good working knowledge of how plants and animals get their names.
• What fun fact do we know about March?  It’s mommy’s birthday.
• What do we hear as we sit here?  Birds.  On some days we may try identifying birds by their sounds and drawing a bird.

What do we use as a nature journal?

For now, Princess of the Universe works in a sketch book with nice heavy paper.  I have several ideas for preserving her nature journal, but I have not decided yet how we’ll do it.  In the past we have used a standard black and white composition book, cutting out our drawings and gluing them in and using the lined paper underneath to write our info on.  These pages we are doing now, however, are larger and fuller.  I want to keep them whole and intact.   For now it’s fine to just keep it all in the sketch book.  It keeps things simpler.  She can just pick up her sketch book and go.  

I’ll be sure and post what we decide to do to permanently store her nature journal for this school year.  When it comes to nature study, the point is to just do it.

Lynn

Nature Study.  It sounds good, especially to someone like me who absolutely adores flowers, butterflies, birds, and, well, nature.  However, I’m a suburban girl – never really lived in the city, but never farmed either, so where do I begin to achieve this romantic-sounding thing called Nature Study?

The most obvious thing would be to get myself outside.  Yes, get outside!  It can be in your own yard.  You all know by now that I am totally in love with my own little yard and I am constantly amazed at the diversity of wildlife I find in a tiny flower garden on 1/3 of an acre. 

Still, if your own yard seems too familiar, why not do a little research and find a local nature trail, state park, or friend’s woods (with permission) that you can walk on for a change?

Yesterday we did just that.  The thought came to me to visit Occoneechee State Park, and without batting an eye that’s just what we did.  We drove to what’s commonly called Eno Mountain and then took about an hour-long walk to kick off our Nature Study this year.

I would like to say the idea just popped into my mind spontaneously, but really Jane Claire Lambert’s Fall Nature Study was the motivating factor.  I am always raving about Five In A Row, and justifiably so.  However, even if you are not unit study inclined, or (gasp) FIAR inclined, you can easily incorporate Jane Claire’s nature studies into your homeschool. 

This is starting to sound like an ad.  It’s not.  :)

It’s a recommendation that if your heart’s desire is to incorporate Nature Study into your homeschool, but you’re not quite sure where to start, Jane Claire’s Fall Nature Study is a tremendous help. 

I knew already that it’s good for children to get outside.  I knew that nature walks are a good way to bond as a family.  But after reading the Fall Nature Study, I felt like I had a basket full of amazing ideas on my arm - a way to go forth with confidence and start teaching little lessons and gently requiring assignments, all centered around nature.

On Tuesday I purchased the Nature Study from Five In A Row Digital.  In mere seconds, the Fall Nature Study file was on my computer and ready to be printed out.  I was so impressed with the accompanying graphics, the record-keeping pages, the fun ideas for journaling, and the tried-and-true personal information was shared. 

Anyway, just wanted to share one of the things we are doing in our homeschool as well as share a great resource that’s out there at such a reasonable price.  I think it’s going to be worth a million dollars to us as we keep our nature journals this year, but I paid less than 20 dollars for it!

Princess of the Universe does a silly walk, imitating Big Joe.

I love moss.  I had to stop and say hello to this lovely carpeting of moss.

Joseph gives us a lesson in balancing on a rock.  First get your balance.

Then lift your leg like so.

Then swing gracefully to the side, and then jump down so your sister can try.

She looks like a little forest elf, all in brown.  Let’s bow to the trees now.

And a little lower. 

I was fascinated with the mushrooms!!  I wish so much that I could identify them all.  I am very much inspired to get a mushroom field guide.

Just look!

I am sure this is one of the mushrooms that the garden faeries gather around and dance beneath under the light of a full moon!

I think this is some sort of “puffball” mushroom.

Isn’t this a beautiful sink?  Can you imagine it full of rainwater?  Oh my what a glorious sink it would make for an acorn doll!  (I’ll have to show you one some time.)

And this is surely a forest faerie bed.

Princess of the Universe becomes photographer.  She really wants her own digital camera and her own blog.  I think it must become a reality.

Wouldn’t you like to have a brother like Big Joe to carry you when you are tired of walking up hill?  Up up up!

Happy Trails,

Lynn

PS – For more, and even more beautiful, nature walk pictures, you must visit my friend Patricia and view her recent nature walk.  I can tell you that she is surrounded by the gorgeous woods of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Makes me want to go up there right now!