Crickets and Honeysuckle Sipping

Okay, not really, but I have not posted anything in a while and I am fairly certain if you were checking in, you might have thought you simply heard crickets...if it were warm enough.

It was a long, cold winter with lots of stuff going on that had absolutely nothing to do with homeschooling and yet, at the same time, everything to do with life events that are more important than any math lesson.

When I started writing this in mid-March, we were just finally starting to see the brown grass in our yard. I refused to take a picture of that. It was a false start to spring. Spring and GREEN, pretty grass finally showed up with a lot of very cold days to get us here...even cold into May.  So, to stave off spring fever, I read quite a few books. Some were simply me pre-reading for content for my oldest, others were for my own edification, then some were simply brain candy. :)  However, I did find some gems while I was reading and this was one of them.

This lovely book that I is called "Honeysuckle Sipping" by Jeanne R. Chesanow - a most delightful book!


Once upon a time, children did not have computer games, shelves & bins full of toys, playrooms, or other such dedicated places for their entertainment. During good weather, they were sent outside to play and had to amuse themselves. In the great outdoors they played with the plants that they found in their environment. They made whistles out of grass, dolls, had snacks (truly, sucking honeysuckle is a wonderful delight - yummy!), made crowns -- all kinds of wonderful things that were only limited by their imaginations.

There are some lovely poems, legends, and folklore that go along with so many of the plants in our flowerbeds.  One of the plants they talked about in the book, we already knew about and had played with:

A few years ago, when I was expecting my youngest son, we moved to a house that had LOTS of hollyhocks. I just love hollyhocks and this house had lots of wonderful colors! At the time, we also got a magazine called The Girlhood Home Companion (I highly recommend the magazine. Even though no longer in publication, you can still get back issues. They are lovely). One of the issues talked about hollyhock dolls. So, we went looking for more instructions. We found them and this is what we made:

I look forward to introducing my children to some of the other fun found in the book. It is also a great way to continue our nature studies as we look for the various plants found in the book. I hope this inspires you to take a different look at the plants in your yard and the world around you!

Our favorite conservation area

We are very blessed to have a conservation area in our small town and live only about 5 minutes from it. There are upland forested areas, upland prairie areas, wet prairie areas, wet woodlands, along with regular wetland areas (meaning ponds & swamp). So, besides our walks around our yard, we try to get out to the conservation area 2-4 times a month (well, except in the winter....we don't have snowshoes, heehee!). During the spring, it is a little harder to visit all the areas because even with grass, the trails get muddy. We have hiked trails on warm, early spring days only to still encounter snow on the trails!

We have found it to be a great place to see many different kinds of birds, plants, trees, frogs, etc. Last year, I had the privilege of taking a visiting friend to the conservation area. She and her daughter were privileged enough to even get bit by some of our state bird (cough....mosquito! heehee!). Since they visited in the summer when all the plants were well into their life cycle, I thought I would share some of the pictures I took last week to show it at the beginning of the season. I took the pictures with my friends in mind. I hope you enjoy them.

>>A beautiful, flowering tree in the wooded area just off of the parking lot. I am still working on the tree name for this one. I love this time of year.

    <<The is the main trail that we walk on from the parking lot.

>> By mid-summer, the grasses are about 3-4 feet all through here. Right now, they are just a few inches. Sometimes, they will do a controlled burn in the prairie zones.  G3 was very excited to know that bluebirds happen to live in the birdhouse in the middle. I missed seeing it, but the children actually saw an altercation between a bluebird and some robins in the area (in the trees behind me). I suspect there was a territory violation.

<<In this picture, on the left side of the trail in, when my friends were here, this was full of a wildflower that I had not ever seen before in that area. I suspect it was something new that was seeded in that area.

>>The prairie area here would be on the right side of the picture above. In this area, there are flowering plants that grow well over 7 feet tall. It is amazing to walk through this zone and be simply dwarfed by the plants. Right now, we are dwarfing the plants. In a few weeks, not so much. It is amazing how quickly plants can grow!






<<The large green "tufts" in this picture on the left are the beginnings of some of those huge plants. The picture just below on the right is a close up of the same plant, but from a different area. No name for it at the moment, but I will when it flowers this summer.

A close up of one of the unnamed tufts.

<< This one of my favorite plants in the prairie zone. In early fall, when it is dried out, the huge  leaves make this fabulous dry, rattling sound. I cannot explain it, but it is the most amazing sound to me. Isn't that just silly? This one and the one just above it are ones we are researching the names

This one has the answer to one of the clues.

This particular visit, we are looking for a Letterbox. I started us letterboxing back in 2005. We are better known as the Catherders of WI on the trail. However, due to pregnancy challenges with M3 and then life afterwards, we have not been letterboxing since the summer of 2010 (just before I went on bedrest with M3). So, this is M3's first time looking for a letterbox. We were looking for one about a Tiger....G3 was very worried that we would find Lion's in the forested areas. Silly boy! 

<< 3 different kinds of mushrooms at the base of one tree stump.

One of the many ponds in the wetlands area.

Red-winged blackbird

Seed spreading, lol!

 

Garlic Mustard plant. Pretty, but an invasive species originating in Europe. Edible.

Two of my hikers:
G3 on the left and M3 on the right. G3 is bound and determined that we will NOT get lost.

The deer lay here.

<< Common Blue Violet. If you look closely, there is some Garlic Mustard plant hiding in there.

>>I just love the contrast of life and death here.

Nature Study When it is Cold Outside

Locust tree with winter buds

Yesterday, it was warm (almost 50 degrees) and rainy. Today, it is quite a bit chillier. It is 26 degrees and the windchill is 16 degrees. Brrrr!!!  I am ever so glad that we finished up the outside Christmas decorations/lights yesterday!

When we got back from piano lessons, since everyone was already dressed for the cold, we took a 15 minute walk around the yard to see what we could see - even though it was cold.

Winter buds on the Locust tree

But, we were able to find signs of things to come, even though it is only early December.

There are winter buds (resting buds) on the Locust tree.  Not fully developed buds, of course, but resting buds (embryonic leaves, stems, and flowers, if the tree has them).

Sedum "cabbages"

The Sedum plants set their little tiny "cabbages" for next years growth already. Normally, we leave the plants standing all winter, but because the ones in the front bed grew so big and fell over, we went ahead and cut the ones out front down. The ones in back did not get quite so gigantic, so they will look pretty with snow piled on them.

Who am I??

For the life of me, I cannot remember what this plant is! If you know, please tell me, but the "berries" are delightful looking and will be very pretty against the snow we are supposed to get next week.








Our oak tree has not yet turned loose of all of its leaves. In fact, it did not even start dropping them until just a couple of weeks ago - just before Thanksgiving. I expect today's wind will remove most of the rest.

We also spied a winter resident in our yard (a sign that the hawk has moved on).  If you look closely, you can see Welcome Robin in the the tree there (just about in the middle behind the branches).

We have our bird feeder out for winter. Typically, we get finches, chickadees, & cardinals during the winter. I do need to start putting out water daily for them in the bird bath.





All this just to say that there are things to look at in the yard during the winter - even though things look "dead" and boring. And when snow comes, we will be out looking for bird & animal tracks.

Remember, too, since it gets dark so early, to go out and look at the stars. When it is cold out, they seem to be so much closer & brighter than normal. The winter constellations have arrived and those that show up during all seasons are in different positions than during summer.  Also, keep track of the space weather at Spaceweather.com. One never knows where there might be a chance of northern lights due to solar activity (although, it has been pretty quiet the last couple of weeks. There are meteor showers to watch for (Geminids coming up on December 12th/13th) and right now, the moon & Venus can be seen together in the west well before it get completely dark!

Winter-Time
Robert Louis Stevenson

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face, and blows
Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding-cake.

Advent & Christmas 2013

I thought I should update this post for 2013 as some of the links have changed (or are dead) and we have changed up some different things for the last couple of years. Mind you, this is not a CM list of activities - just ones we have enjoyed over the years.

I just have to go buy our candles for our Advent wreath. I always seem to forget to do that each and every year. So, it is off to Hallmark tomorrow with hopes that they will have a set of tapered Advent candles, otherwise, I will buy individual little ones and work with that (which might be safer from little fingers anyway).

For myself, I am reading Ann Voscamps's The Greatest Gift: An Advent Devotional.
 
Print the 2013 Inductive Advent study. Print it now so you are ready for Sunday (or since I just updating this, uhm....so you are ready for tomorrow & can play catch-up).

Free ebook from Knowledge Quest - Figgy Pudding, Stollen and Tamales when you sign up for their newsletter (if, like me, you already receive their newletter, just enter your current email addy - you will still get it).  Plus, you will be helping them send gifts to the needy through Gospel for Asia!

We have a Jesse Tree from HERE. When we did it, we made it simple. I printed the sheets, colored in the pictures with pencils and laminated them. Perhaps, I will print them again and have my older 2 do something a bit more formal with them.  The place I meant to buy cross-stitch patterns for the ornaments went out of business, it seems. But, there seem to be no shortage of other ideas that you can purchase out there.

We have enjoyed reading Jotham's Journey, Bartholomew's Passage, & Tabitha's Travels. We are on our 2nd reading of Tabitha's Travels for this year.

Here are a couple of freebies that are also available:
Free Nativity Lapbook for younger children
Free Christmas Symbols lapbook

Free TOS Digital Holiday Supplement - lots of great stuff here for Thanksgiving & Christmas!
You can also email to ask for their newest (?) supplement here. The information how to ask for it is on the right hand page.

Homeschool Radio Shows has an offer for The Cinnamon Bear. 

From the Ambleside Online page we have a list of Christmas Carols and they are available in a printable PDF format, Christmas Poetry, and a list of Christmas books to read.

That and along with making a few Christmas presents for some people, cookies, lots of Christmas themed books, a Christmas concert at church, driving around to see the lights (love the displays downtown!), some old radio shows I purchased several year ago from Homeschool Radio Shows and hopefully, some caroling, we should have a fun, Christ-centered month leading up to Christmas.

I hope some of these are of help to you as well. Feel free to share some of your favorite resources in the comments.  Have a blessed Advent.

Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Don't panic. Yes, it is the middle of October, not mid-December. But, if you have children performing things for Christmas at church, recitals, concerts, & the like, you have started hearing Christmas music being practiced in your home.

My oldest child had been practicing the Casting Crown version of I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day for a group at church. Sadly, that isn't going to happen now for various reasons (not because of her - ah, the accompanists life). However, the song has stuck with me and for whatever reason, it has resonated with my soul this year.

The history behind it Longfellow's poem Christmas Bells interesting and inspired by events in his life at the time. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned the words during the American Civil War (it was published in 1866).  Apparently, his son went to fight in the Civil War against his father's wishes and ended up being seriously wounded. Mr. Longfellow also lost his wife during this time period as well due to an accidental fire.

While we don't have cannons going off here in the USA (let's keep it that way - okay?), we do have much evil in the world and we are pummeled with it daily, via the media, to such an extent that we may often feel that, as Longfellow said in the poem,

"And in despair I bowed my head; 

“There is no peace on earth,” I said;

Yet, much like it says in the song My Father's World 

This is my Father's world.  
 O let me ne'er forget 
 that though the wrong seems oft so strong, 
 God is the ruler yet.  

Longfellow comes back and reiterates:

 Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
    The Wrong shall fail,
    The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.

While we won't have true Peace on Earth until Christ returns, we can look for the bits of peace and goodness out there in the world around us. We can continue to pray for peace and anxiously await his return.

So, while my daughter may not be playing the Casting Crowns version of Longfellow's poem on the piano this year, we will still be memorizing Longfellow's original poem this year as a family. I have put the words below (and they are going up on the whiteboard shortly in my house).


If you are not familiar with the Casting Crowns rendition, here is a (link) video with words of their song:

Christmas Bells

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
    And wild and sweet
    The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
    Had rolled along
    The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
    A voice, a chime,
    A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
    And with the sound
    The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
    And made forlorn
    The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
    “For hate is strong,
    And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
    The Wrong shall fail,
    The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Knowledge of Man - Art & Music

This summer, I had the opportunity to go to the Art Institute of Chicago with all 4 of my children, a wonderful friend & her daughter who were visiting from Australia, and another wonderful friend & her husband from Indiana. We had a wonderful time (well....except when the little ones had had enough... ;) ).. But, the best part was being able to see the paintings of the masters up close - not just a small print on the bulletin board by the dining room table. 

There was a special exhibit called Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity going on during the time of our visit. They had taken the masterpieces and recreated the clothing shown in the paintings. For my oldest, it was pure bliss. Our children participate in historical reenactments several times a year with some dear friends. Those friends also have made the clothes for them to wear and taught my oldest daughter about what makes a dress (or guys outfit as well) appropriate to their time period and what things changed as time went on. As we walked through the exhibit she went from dress to dress explaining the time periods and why. It was so fun. Then for her to see them so beautifully done on canvas was such fun for her. The outfits themselves were truly works of art.

So, with that, on to the Carnival!

This edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival's topic is...

Knowledge of Man: Art & Music

• From Harmony Fine Arts, we have a free art unit about Renaissance Art.

• From All Things Bright and Beautiful, we have selections of Art, Music and Poetry: Jean Baptiste Camille Corot - Hagar in the Wilderness, John Philip Sousa - The Belle of Chicago, John Milton - Samson Agonistes, Robert Louis Stevenson - Bed in Summer

•  From The Winding Ascent, we have some wonderful ideas of how to expose your family to Music to Soothe the Weary Soul.

• From Our Journey Westward, we have Cindy’s Top Ten Nature Study Supplies - what a fantastic list!

• From Windy Hill Home School we have a visit into their week and see the results of trying a new art curriculum:AO Year 3, Week 8

• From In The Magpie's Nest, we have a look at how they do art, art history, and some of their projects at How Art We Doing?

• From Letters From Nebby, we have some thoughts on Teaching Art

• From Fisher Academy we have a look at Nature Study through September's Nature Study Monday'.

• From Snowfall Academy, we have a look at how using Charlotte Mason's ideas help the children to make their own Connections.

• From Journey and Destination, we have a look at how they are doing Ambleside Year 6 with a 13 year old

• From Archipelago,  "Stick with me, class...who can tell what educational principles Miss Perkins violated?"  Let's find out How to be a better teacher than Miss Perkins (it's not hard) 

• From Sage Parnassus we have St. Luke's Little Summer - a lovely experience through Miss Read of the last vestiges of warm weather before winter comes to visit 

Find out more HERE about upcoming carnival topics & how to get yourself on the e-mail list to receive reminders and announcements so that you never miss another edition.


Submit any Charlotte Mason Education posts on any topic at any time to charlottemasonblogs (at) gmail (dot) com!

Nature study is fun, easy, & can be done anywhere!

Sometimes, I think that too many parents try to make Nature Study (ala Charlotte Mason) far too intimidating to themselves. I believe some of that intimidation is simply because the parents themselves are simply not very familiar with God's creation and have no idea what they are looking at.

When my first 2 children were born, we lived in an apartment. In the city. On a busy road. In an area of town, that by the time my 2nd child came along, I no longer felt comfortable taking walks with the children by myself anymore. So, we improvised. We were lucky to have a small balcony. Before the babies started coming, we already had planters that we hung on the railing. We just added more things up on that railing in in containers in the corner. We watched ants, bees, moths, spiders, & the occassional butterfly. We put a very small inflatable pool on the patio along with a 1"x2" plastic container of sand on that small balcony. There was not much room for me out there (seriously - it was a pretty small balcony!) and often, I actually sat on the carpet right by the door or on the bit ledge that one stepped over to get to the balcony and watched the little ones play and learn. There was a light mounted on the building right by our balcony, so it always attracted bugs - which attracted spiders. I think the most memorable thing for all of us was watching the newly hatched spiders float off on their bit of web in great bunches (no, you don't want to be outside when this happens - ack!). We found dead bugs in the pool and before I tossed them over the side, we looked at them. I got a bug id book and we learned what a few of them were. It was fun, it was very basic, but they were only 1 & 3 when we moved to a different, ground level apartment with a tiny bit of yard out in suburbia.

So, I say all that to say that yes, you can start nature study when they are old enough to toddle around. It does not have to be in depth. It does not need worksheets. It is not hard.

Fast forward a decade and I am doing this again with the other 2 children that God blessed us with. They are, for the moment, 2 & 4. 

On this lazy Saturday morning (before chores kick in), I was drinking my coffee & eating a bit of oatmeal while reading my emails, checking the Ambleside Online forum, & scrolling through facebook. My computer desk is a corner of the kitchen/dining area right by the patio window/door area. I love that I can be almost outside while I do that.  Because of that, I often see things out of the corner of my eye and can call the children over to look quickly if needed. And today, that resulted in this post on Facebook a little while ago and then turned into this post:

"CM Nature study.....from our patio window's: Today, G3 & I had the chance to watch a pair of mourning doves work their way around our patio & the flower beds. We talked about their feather colors, their spots, how they bobbed their heads back and forth as they walked. We watched them grabbing bugs & such off the ground. Well, until M3 ran over and yelled, "A BIRD!" and banged on the window, lol! But, then we got to watch 3 chipmunks being all kinds of silly on our patio, the flowerbed & the fence by the flowerbed. They were hilarious in their antics and we all had a good time watching them. And to think that we studied nature through the glass...."

Oh, in a little bit, we will will have lunch (already?!) and I will toss all 4 children outside and they will run like little wild things. But, I know, later after they have burned off some of that energy, M3 will bring me a bug of some kind (that little girl has NO fear of bugs, lol!). G3 will come tell me about some birds he has seen. M2 will go with him to see what he has found and if she knows, she will tell him what plant/bug/bird/creature that it is. If not, I will come look and see. Most times I know, but sometimes, we have to go look it up. And that is okay. Sometimes, the little ones draw a picture of what they have seen. Sometimes not. I don't push it because I want them to enjoy it. When they are older, I will encourage them to draw in their journals. Until then...no worries.

Remember to keep it simple. It is simple when they are so young.