Decorating our tree all over again

Have you read the book Night Tree, by Eve Bunting?  It's a sweet picture book about a family who heads out to the woods on Christmas Eve to find their tree, but not in the way you might think.

They find their tree and then decorate it, right there in the woods, with a popcorn garland, apples, tangerines, and balls of seeds and honey.  They spread out a blanket and with cups of cocoa to warm them, they sing Christmas carols and wait for any woodland creatures to come upon their tree.

 ~

We took our tree down just a day after Christmas.  The pine needles were falling off and Mark and I were ready for it to go, but our kids were disappointed.  Audra, in particular, was sad to see all the ornaments and lights taken down and wanted to keep it decorated.  It was then that she remembered the book above, which we'd recently read, and had the idea to decorate our tree all over again, but this time-- outside!

Mark stood our tree up in the garden and we set to work, stringing popcorn, and stringing dried apple slices and craisins, and we made our own seed balls by rolling apples in peanut butter and then in bird seed.  And then we ran outside and quickly decorated the tree-- it was cold out there, and we were still in our jammies!-- and ran back inside to wait and watch from the windows.

It was the neighborhood squirrels who found our tree first, crunching into our popcorn with delight.  Then, slowly came some Dark-eyed Juncos, and some Varied Thrushes, some House Sparrows and some Chickadees.  A Robin eyed the whole affair from a nearby tree but decided against it.  A Woodpecker flew overhead but didn't alight.  It was such a fun little activity that I feel sure we'll do it again!

A Varied Thrush, interested in the popcorn the squirrels had tossed to the ground.

A Black-capped Chickadee, pecking at another seed ball we hung on another tree.

Poetry and Painting

Autumn Leaves
by Angelina Wray

In the hush and the lonely silence
Of the chill October night,
Some wizard has worked his magic
With fairy fingers light.

The leaves of the sturdy oak trees
Are splendid with crimson and red.
And the golden flags of the maple
Are fluttering overhead.

Through the tangle of faded grasses
There are trailing vines ablaze,
And the glory of warmth and color
Gleams through the autumn haze.

Like banners of marching armies
That farther and farther go;
Down the winding roads and valleys
The boughs of the sumacs glow.

So open your eyes, little children,
And open your hearts as well,
Till the charm of the bright October
Shall fold you in its spell.

Evaluating our School Year: Nature Study

This post is part of a series I'm doing as a way to evaluate our school year. I am covering each subject, describing what we did; what worked for us and what didn't work; and detailing any changes I plan to make. I find this process so helpful as I finish out our year and before I begin to plan for our next year.  (I realize many of you have started school already and are beyond this point, as am I, but it's taken me longer than I thought to finish this series, and I'm determined to finish!)

~

If you're just joining us for this series, so far these are the topics I've covered:
Poetry
Bible Time
Prayer
Memory Work [with links to all other memory work posts]
Hymns
Picture Study
Composer Study
Shakespeare

~

  

Nature Study

The birdfeeder right outside our kitchen window that gets lots of visitors

WHAT WE DO:
We have done a lot of Nature Study over the years, [<<clicking on that link will take you to other posts I've written on the topic] but this past year was not one of those years.  *grimace*

This is why: It always feels like such a monumental task to me.  It takes a big chunk of time-- to get all five kids out the door for a walk, plus the journals and pencils and paints, and then the question of where to actually go, and then to time it "right" with either the weather or our schedule or both...?  It just feels so BIG and wearisome.

When it appeared on the schedule this past year, I often thought, "Ugh.  That will take hours, and then we won't be able to get to A, B and C that still await on the schedule...."  As if it's taking away time from doing "real school".  So I frequently skipped it. 

Or occasionally I did this:  "Everyone, head outside with your nature journals.  Find something in the yard to draw!"  But it was a half-hearted effort, and by the end of the year I had dropped it from the schedule entirely.

An injured bird we took care of in the house for a day.

Here's the thing: the kids noticed.  They missed it.  They actually LOVE the walks, observing and discovering new things.  It's one of their favorite things.  Perhaps in part due to the fact that we have spent other years focusing on Nature Study, they love God's creation, and they truly take great delight in it.  Ella has spent a good deal of her late-summer hours, collecting seeds, labeling them and setting them aside for next year's planting.  She is my gardener extraordinaire, and knows a good deal about all the things growing and moving in our yard and garden.  Isaac is often outside, watching the ants, the spiders or some other creature.  He learns a fact about any thing, and he remembers it.  He's like a little encyclopedia.  Isaias is interested in everything; how it grows; how it changes.  He is naturally curious about it all.  Adelia wants no part in any of it. ;)  She may get out the door, but then she'll groan and moan about not wanting to do this.  Audra is just as fascinated with bugs and spiders as the boys are, and has containers everywhere of things she has collected.  And she wants to draw everything in sight.  I forget that Nature Study is a worthy pursuit; that it is something in our schedule that causes us to pause and marvel at all that God has created.

CHANGES FOR NEXT YEAR:
I have this idea that we are going to devote one day a week to just this.  And block out several hours to make this happen.  This will be hard for me.  Generally I have bread rising or dinner in the works or Things To Do That Seem More Important.  BUT.  It is important.  And my kids love it.  And it is good for ALL OF US to get out of the house and explore God's creation.  So that's the plan.  We'll see if this happens, or how often it happens.

Ella, holding a bird that had a broken wing or foot (I forget which)

Keeping | Nature Study Journals

Whenever we sit down with our nature journals, outdoors or indoors, I think "Why don't we do this more often?"  We love this.

Last week I grabbed a vase of flowers, a stick from the yard, and a snipping off of our camellia tree, set them all in the middle of the table, and we painted.  Well, they painted while I read aloud, and then I joined them when I'd finished the chapter and they were still working.  ;)

This one is from my five-year-old:

and this, from my six-year-old:

I was so proud of her because sitting still is nearly impossible for her and she generally lasts about a minute during any crafting time.  But she painted!  And look: you can even make out a flower there on her page.  :) 

This next one is from my nine-year-old:

and this, from the eleven-year-old:

This one is Ella's (age 13):

Finally, here's mine.  (Don't look too closely, though, because I misspelled Camellia when I first wrote it.  I've since changed it but this picture bothers me because of the typo.  ;))

*

Linking up with Celeste at Joyous Lessons

 

Our Simple Schedule: Part 4 (Geography, Science, and Written Narrations)

This is Part 4 (and the final post) in an impromptu series I'm doing in response to a readers question about our schedule.

Here is her question:  

I know this was a while back, but I really love the simplicity of that schedule you shared (the picture in the other post of your school schedule). I'm curious what resources you're using for things like math and dictation (are you using Spelling Wisdom or just choosing something each week, etc.). Anything in particular for Bible, memory, poetry, etc or just choosing as you go? What about geography and science? And, written narrations ... are you just letting Ella choose what she will write from? Thanks so much! You really know how to simplify and make it feel calm (or at least appear that way). :) 

Here is what we've covered so far:
Part 1: Math
Part 2: Dictation and Spelling
Part 3: Bible, memory work, and poetry

And in this post we'll cover geography, science and written narrations.  So.  Geography.  Mark is really much more into geography than I am, so I asked him to make our lesson plan last year.  He made a GREAT one, having the kids draw world maps, label oceans, continents, rivers, mountain ranges, etc.  They loved it.  Then he moved to local geography, then back to each continent for a closer look.

We started well and then faded into nothing.  TOTALLY my fault.  And really more of a management thing- he had the lesson plans on the computer, I never printed it out or had it with me, or I'd look and be confused about what I was supposed to do so we just ended up skipping it a lot of times.  :(  Which just means we'll be doing some repeats this year.  Fine by me.  I plan to be much more organized- everything printed out and ready to go and discussed with him beforehand.

Science.  We've spent years doing only nature study and we love that--  examining things growing and living around us, drawing, labeling, and reading about them.  This past year I thought we should maybe explore other science stuff so I ordered an Apologia book and we did that once per week, in addition to nature study.  I didn't really like the textbook approach, although we all liked the information we learned.  Generally I would look ahead, print out some coloring pages (specific to whatever animals we'd be reading about), and the kids would color while I read aloud.  I'm still undecided about what we'll do this year.  I just ordered this book--

-simply because it seems right up our nature-study-alley, and I thought it might give us some fresh inspiration.  We'll decide soon what science will look like next year, but I'm leaning more toward a nature study approach again.

Written narrations we do once a week- and again, much like dictation, I select a passage from one of our books: whatever we're reading at the time (history, read-aloud, one of the kids' own books, Shakespeare, etc).  I read it aloud ONCE while they listen, and then they summarize it for me in written form.  If there are places or names that are unfamiliar to them, I will put them up on the dry erase board for them.

I am ALWAYS surprised by how much they write.  I expect a paragraph, and they will easily give me a page to a page and a half.  I love reading these narrations.

A written narration requires a bit of time (about half-hour) and little to no interruptions, so honestly?  I skip this more than I'd like to admit, because it's just difficult to have such quiet around here!  But that's how we do it when we do it!

***

Next up:  School Planning 101

Nature Study in the yard

{drawings by Audra, Ella and mommy}

The above were all drawn by Audra (5).

  

Ella's birdhouse

This was the second year of our handmade Christmas.  Mark drew Ella's name and made her a birdhouse.
 
Here she is, examining his artwork: 

 

He drew windows and flowers on it, cute daddy that he is- and just knowing how much she would love those details.

This is how much she loved it:

 

Here is her birdhouse now:

We were all so excited to spot this little visitor last week!  Ella says it's a house sparrow, and she and her mate were flying in and out all morning with little pieces for their nest.  ~smile~

Wednesday by the bay: Nature Study

{last week}

I thought this boat looked cool in the fog

All smiles!

Classic Isaac pose

Yes, Isaac.  That's very cool.  No, thank you.  I don't want to hold it.

Cuteness.

What is this?  Anyone know?  (We took a picture so that we could ask daddy to identify it.)

Studying nature with Miss Mason

A few months ago at Goodwill, I spotted (then purchased) three volumes of The Original Homeschooling Series by Charlotte Mason.  We do a lot of Charlotte-Mason-ish schooling around here (living books, nature study, picture study, etc) and yet I've never read her work, other than excerpts online from time to time, and heavily-quoted books about her methods.

Recently I've begun reading Charlotte Mason's first volume, Home Education.  I am pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it has been to read her words.  I think she knew the mind of a child very, very well- and set about to engage within each child an interest in the things around them.

I have been particularly re-inspired by her words about really seeing and observing the natural world.  I read an idea of hers last night aloud to Mark:

It is a capital plan for children to keep a calendar- the first oak leaf, the first tadpole, the first cowslip, the first catkin, the first ripe blackberries, where seen, and when.  The next year they will know when and where to look out for their favourites, and will, every year, be in a condition to add new observations.  Think of the zest and interest, the object, which such a practice will give to daily walks and little excursions. 

{Just as an aside: I am quite delighted by the fact that Miss Mason used the word "capital".  I might have to start sneaking in that phrase around here: "Kids, I think it would be a capital plan if you chose to do your chores right now."  And another aside:  I think we might have to work on that bit about "daily walks".  Yipes.}

I digress.  Anyway- don't you think that's a great idea?  I know that my Ella would LOVE such a project: a clean calendar with blank squares to fill with firsts.  I don't know about a cowslip or a catkin, but just think of the possibilities: the first robin spotted, the first acorn found, the first snowfall, the first fallen leaves, the first bloom, the first pumpkin, the first little plant coming up in the garden, etc.  Goodness, even I want to do it!  And just think of all the possibilities for little drawings.  

So I'm trying to figure out how to build that in to our school year.  In the meantime, I am inspired to be an observer of the beauty God has created: to slow down, to take the time to see it (and to draw it!)


Today when Ella asked me what she might do, I suggested she get out her nature journal and draw things around the yard.  She wanted to, but didn't know where to start, so I said, "Why don't you wander through the yard and collect different leaves and start drawing them?"  I set up a spot in the shade, she got her journal and pencils and some leaves, and went at it.  A couple minutes into it she was frustrated.  (She's such a little perfectionist, that girl.)  I told her to wait a sec and I'd get my own journal and we could do it together.  So we did.  After a few minutes Audra joined us... then Isaias.... then Isaac.  Here are our drawings:

Three-year-old Audra's nature drawings: see that flower there on the right-hand side?  

Isaias's strawberry leaf (traced)

Isaac's leaves (also traced).  I think.

Ella's drawings: a strawberry leaf and berry, and a hydrangea leaf and petal.

Detail of my page.  (I'd forgotten how much I like to draw!)

Nature Study idea

Mark took our kids to a nearby wooded area for Nature Study today.  He asked them each to scout out a spot, and then he used some string and sticks to stake out a square yard around each child and asked them to observe what they saw in that space.

Audra made a "Little House house" for some of her dollhouse figures
[I feel that I should also note, here, that she dressed herself today.]

Isaias discovered lots of bugs in a log

Ella contentedly observed and drew pictures of everything in her area

Isaac found a spider and inspected the roots of an upturned tree

....and Adelia wandered

The kids all enjoyed this activity, and spent over an hour doing this.  Whenever any of them made an exciting discovery (like a centipede or some bug or spider eggs), they would holler and the others would go join them and they'd all observe it together. Their big "find" of the day was owl pellets.

Mark thinks he got the idea from this book, which has several great Nature Study ideas: