Nature Walk Extravaganza

Instilling a LOVE of nature in my children is a priority since nature is a reflection of God's awesomeness. I like to take time to be awed at His creation and I like to bring my kids alongside in this experience.

Tomorrow I have an autumn nature walk planned. To help with our discoveries, I am going to have the girls use this picture checklist from abcteach : Nature Walk Checklist

Recently I came across some other neat ideas to use while exploring nature:
Painted Egg Carton Discovery Chest

Using your 5 Senses

Top 10 Things to Do on a Nature Walk


Awe-Tumn
When summer's seams
Have come undone,
Then greens to reds
And purples run.
A palette falls
To forest floor,
And autumn leaves
Leave me in awe.

~ Douglas Florian ~ "Autumnblings"

A Milestone

Get Ready for the Code - Explode the Code Primer Book A is officially completed - October 24, 2008.

There were moments of "letter writing trauma" as m's looked like seagulls flying across the page and k's's looked like flat-headed crocodiles with their mouths wide open. But truth be told, my heart delights and the corners of my lips curl up in response to the flying m's and wide-mouthed k's.

I'm not sure if I should be aiming for "perfection" in the area of writing or not. But so far, I'm not. - I'm aiming for legibility.

This is my daughter's first attempt at a workbook and to be honest I'm pretty proud of her. She showed perseverance and looked almost studious at times while working away at the exercises. Next week we'll bring on Book B ... Get Set for the Code!

We're not trying to do School at Home. We're trying to do home school. These are two entirely different propositions. We're not trying to replicate the time, style or content of the classroom. Rather we're trying to cultivate a lifestyle of learning in which learning takes place from morning until bedtime 7 days each week. The formal portion of each teaching day is just the tip of the ice burg. ~ Steve and Jane Lambert

A Forest Scavenger Hunt

This is a fun little scavenger hunt that I came across in a local environmental magazine:

~ a mushroom
~ lichen (like hanging hair)
~ a cedar tree
~ a seed
~ a feather
~ a non-native species
~ a sign of the season
~ a sign of humans
~ a branch or stick shaped like a letter
~ a squirrel or chipmunk chattering
~ something red
~ something round
~ a conifer cone (like a pine or fir cone)
~ a scat (animal droppings)
~ somebody's home
~ a bird song
~ a stream or creek
~ a nurse log (a log with plants growing on it)
~ a wildflower
~ a sign of a woodpecker
~ a rotten log
~ a worm or an insect
~ something yellow
~ a river worn rock (smooth and round)
~ moss on a tree trunk or log
~ an old growth tree (takes 3 kids arms to wrap around the trunk!)

Wee Gillis ~ Munro Leaf ~ FIAR Unit Study

Memory Verse: Proverbs 9:9 ~ Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still.

Day 1
~ listened to bagpipe music
~ talked about the months of the New Year and January
~ went through a calendar learning the names of the months and an occasion that corresponds with each
~ sung the months of the year (made up a tune)
~ compared "oatmeal eating" pictures
~ made homemade oatmeal

Day 2
~ looked at the picture of Wee Gillis blowing the bagpipes and talked about how the "cross-hatching" lets us know that his cheeks were red
~ tried cross hatching on a square piece of paper
~ glued pictures of a hairy-cow and a stag into our animal classification chart

Day 3
~ looked at the shadows in the illustrations and discussed where the sun was coming from (my daughter also looks for her shadow and the direction of the sun when outside)
~ completed a directed drawing of a hairy-cow and it's shadow




Day 4~ placed a sticker on Scotland on a world map
~ created a Scotland flip book - the pages included a flag of Scotland and of our own country, pictures and labels of a kilt (and a swatch of plaid material), bagpipes, a hairy-cow and a map of Scotland




Day 5
~ narrated the story of Wee Gillis ~ my daughter dictated and I typed (she needed a little prompting but for the most part it is her interpretation)
~ cut and assembled scrapbook pages with the completed Wee Gillis activities

And the Winners are . . .

Here are the curriculum winners for this school year(Kindergarten):

Unit Studies - Five in a Row (presently working out of Volume 2)

Math Bags and Activities - I am making these up. Each bag/activity will focus on a specific Math skill (e.g. number correspondence, numbers up to 100, patterns, 2-D shapes, measurement, sorting, adding and subtracting).

Get Ready for the Code, Get Set for the Code, and Go for the Code - The Primers for the Explode the Code Series.

I have also picked up Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock so that I can participate in:

Enjoying the Classics

Here are a couple of tried and true picture books that we have been enjoying lately:



The illustrations are excellent and allow for imaginations to go to another place. The relationship between the mother bunny and the child bunny allows kids to relate to the story even more. There is a text pattern and rhyme that can be used as a model to guide children in adding their own verses to the story. A very sweet read.



I love this book. There is so much learning that occurs by simply reading the text and discussing the illustrations. The illustrations are not in color but somehow they captivate the hearts and minds of both children and adults.
As we have read through this book several times, we have:
~ learned the difference in appearance between a mallard and a drake
~ counted the baby ducklings on each illustration to make sure none has been lost
~ recognized the need for a mama duck to find a place to nest and sit on her eggs
~ learned what molting is
~ compared the park in the book with the park that we go to to feed the ducks
~ established who a cop is
~ reviewed along with the ducklings the rules of safety when walking near traffic

A wonderful read!

A Poem, Two Quotes, and a Verse

I took a piece of living clay
And gently formed it, day by day
And molded with my power and art
A young child's soft and yielding heart.

If a child is to keep his inborn sense of wonder . . . he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in. ~ Rachel Carson

The imagination should be allowed a certain amount of time to browse around. ~ Thomas Merton

Be an example . . . of good deeds of every kind. Let everything you do reflect your love of the truth. ~ Titus 2:7

Summer Lessons

Song of Summer by Margo Petterson
Summer is quickly approaching and even though the school doors are closing, the curious minds of our children never shut down! As I look ahead to July and August, I am starting to think about the lessons that I will be teaching my children during the lazy, but inevitably crazy days of summer. Here are some of the lessons that have come to mind:

How to pick strawberries without smooshing them.
How to pack a healthy picnic lunch.
How to paddle a canoe.
What the summer solstice means.
How to make others feel special on their birthday(we have a lot of summer birthdays).
How to swim safely at the lake.
How to make a bird feeder out of a giant sunflower.
How to spot the Big Dipper and Ursa Minor.
How to make homemade ice cream.
How to pack a backpack for a sleepover.
How to can peaches.
How to make and sort a collection of rocks, shells, and flower petals.
How to build a stable sand castle.
How to play hopscotch.
How to jump rope.
How to pit a cherry and make a fresh cherry pie.
How to keep our petunias and marigolds alive and well.
How to harvest lavender.
How to count their many summer blessings.

Truth to Cling to

Mother and Child by Francis Coates Jones

She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her.

~ Proverbs 31:26~28

Tidbits and Tips: A Homeschooling Binder

Every homeschooling parent needs a "homeschooling binder" - a place to stash (I mean carefully organize) all the homeschooling paraphernalia that inevitably will come your way. Paraphernalia that you don't want to throw into the recycling because you just might need it. . . one day.

I have recently designated a lovely orange binder to be my official homeschooling binder. I already have a few homeschooling tidbits that need a home. Some of the tidbits are from a homeschooling convention that I attended in the Spring. The other resources are outlines from some of Susan Wise Bauer's convention workshops - nuggets of information about instilling the love and skills of language into children at the K-4 level.

The cover of my homeschooling binder houses my personal homeschooling convictions. As well, I plan to include some of my favorite Bible verses relating to the training, discipleling, and raising up of my children.

Blessings!

To Choose or Not to Choose

I'm talking about curriculum here. There are so many choices to choose from when deciding on homeschooling curriculum that it truly can be overwhelming. At a recent homeschooling convention the keynote speaker, Debra Bell, realistically revealed that as a homeschooling parent it is inevitable that we will choose the "wrong" curriculum . . . sometimes. It's not so much a mistake as an opportunity to learn what doesn't work for our families.

Over the last couple of years I have been experimenting with Jane Claire Lambert's Before Five in a Row (FIAR) curriculum. I will admit - both the kids and I love it. This curriculum focuses on quality literature based unit studies and is very open ended. Suggested activities are provided that correspond with the "book of the week" and I can choose which activities I feel will best meet the learning needs and abilities of my children. It is very hands-on which requires more time commitment from myself, however the results are delightful! I have been using Before Five in a Row (for ages 2-4) for the past 2 years in a very unstructured way. My kids have been "doing school" but haven't even realized it. I plan to continue to use some of the Before Five in a Row units during my daughter's Kindergarten year just because the books are so . . . wonderful.

I have recently been searching for blogs of other homeschooling families who are using Five in a Row. There are a lot of them! I am so excited about this newly discovered online community of other "rowers" (that's what they call themselves!). I will be adding "Rower" links to my sidebar . . . soon.

Living to Learn or Learning to Live?

Part of my philosophy of homeschooling is to live to learn. Life is saturated with learning opportunities and if we grab hold of these opportunities our minds are broaden, our hearts are opened, and we live more abundantly. The more we experience life, the more knowledge and wisdom we acquire.

Today my children and I read a book together and they discovered what the word "basking" means. Last week we made "I am Special" books and my 2 year old (almost 3) wanted to write her name on her book. She did - for the first time! Yesterday we learned that cream of tartar is the magic ingredient to make "the best" play dough. And recently my oldest learned how to float, glide and swim during her swimming lessons. We didn't plan to learn these things, but together we are taking hold of life's opportunities and as a result, learning.

Here's that fabulous play dough recipe:

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon oil

Cook ingredients on medium heat until they become formed. Have fun!

Let's Do Activities!

This past week we did "Activities". This is when I clear off the kitchen table and choose 4 activities to set up on the 4 sides of the table. The girls can choose a starting activity and then rotate around the table as they please. Sometimes they rotate to all 4 activities and sometimes they choose only 2 - and that's okay. This past week, I set up more playful activities and went with somewhat of a dinosaur theme.


Mini dinosaur land with rice. This gave lots of texture experience for my 2 year old especially when the water pond mixed with the rice fields.




Dinosaur tracer - self explanatory. I usually try to include at least one "pencil-paper" activity and this was it.




Animal Rock Land - This was the hit of the week. The girls played with this for 3 days before their attention span waned.




I usually don't include books because they don't get chosen during "activity" time. They didn't get chosen this time around either, but we did get to share one over snack later.

There you have it.

A Little More on Faith and Character

As a mom, I have been a "home educator" since the moment my firstborn came into this world. It started off with the Baby Einstein books and the Discovery Toys stacking cups. Then crayons, construction paper, building blocks and dress up clothes got added to the repertoire. As my daughter grew older activity bags, ABC's and counting everything became part of her learning routine.

My daughter was getting "educated". - At least according to society's standards.

The problem with this type of education began to arise when I started to ask myself:

If I teach my child to count, but not how to be kind, then what have I taught her?

If I teach her all of her letter sounds, but not how to love, then what have I taught her?

If I teach her how to write neat little messages, but not how to be self-controlled, then what have I taught her?

Amidst all of her "education" I wondered how is her faith and character developing? Bedtime prayers and Bible stories, Sunday school and Veggie Tales are all important in her spiritual growth, but is the realness of God evident in her daily life? Did she come to the end of the day without being reminded that she is "fearfully and wonderfully made"? Did she hear me thank God for the promise of the rainbow after the rain stopped? Did I choose to punish rather than to discipline when she disobeyed?

Recently I'm feeling challenged to deschool myself. Maybe it's time to put away the magnet alphabet, close the writing practice booklet, and open my eyes to the world God's created. Maybe it's time to start focusing a little less on the temporal and a lot more on the eternal. I don't want too many days to end without striving to love the LORD our God with all of our hearts, and souls and strength. I don't want too many days being wasted.

My Conviction

As a homeschooling mom it is essential that I know why I have chosen to home school. It is not a good enough reason to say "because it is the more 'noble' way". I know that in the days ahead there will be moments when the public school down the street looks very inviting and the whole idea of homeschooling will seem utterly ridiculous. It is on days like these when I will need to go back to that little piece of paper stuck on the inside of my cupboard door and read it aloud. I will need to remind myself about my original convictions of why homeschooling is the best choice for our family at this time. I will need to read something more realistic than "because I want to be a good mom".

So here I sit on the brink of officially homeschooling my oldest daughter. Conviction writing time is here. My convictions are several, with some being stronger than others, but nevertheless each one is important and will be essential in the days ahead. So here they go . . .

Conviction #1 - Living Without Regrets. I have the opportunity to home school and a large support group is already in place. I don't want to look back on this time and wish that I had, when I hadn't.

Conviction #2 - Age 5 is Toooooo Young. Someone, somewhere decided that age 5 was the appropriate age for a child to leave the influence of his home and start being influenced by 20 other 5 year olds and an adult stranger. I personally feel that 5 is too young to leave home. Just my own personal conviction.

Conviction #3 - Faith and Character. No matter what I do, my kids are going to learn their ABC's and how to count simply by being alive. But will they learn how to love God with all their heart, soul, and strength? Will they grasp an understanding of God's love, faithfulness, and forgiveness? Will they learn that God cares about the big things but also the teensy, tiny things? As for character, we are presently talking a lot about the Fruit of the Spirit and trust me, we have a looooong way to go!

So there you have it. I may come back and revamp occassionally, but for now these are the convictions that stand. Now I just need to tape them to the inside of my cupboard door.