My Audio School....

 King Arthur's Knights

Would you like to have your children read great classic literature, but aren't sure whether they would finish it?  Would you like to read aloud to them, but your schedule and your children's schedule don't always coincide?  Perhaps you would like to read more, but don't have the time to sit and read.  Enter My Audio School.  It's the brainchild of a homeschool mom of five, Molly Evert.  When browsing Molly's site, you will find several classics available, but to unlock her complete audio library, you will have to subscribe.  Here's a little introduction from Molly......

Hello I am Molly Evert, a homeschooling mom to five children, who range in age from infant through high school. I started the website My Audio School when one of my children was diagnosed with dyslexia. At that time he was only able to read at a second grade level, yet he was several grade levels ahead in his comprehension when listening to audio materials. Seeking an alternative to high priced audio books, I began searching for high quality public domain audio materials to meet his needs.

My Audio School offers children safe and easy access to classic audio books, interesting educational old time radio drama, kid’s art podcasts, television and radio broadcasts of historic events and much more. My Audio School is a treasure trove for the classical educator, with almost 600 distinct audio resources currently available for subscribers, including over 350 full-length downloadable audio books. Easy to use, organized by historical time period, and thoughtfully illustrated, My Audio School is a bargain at just $14.99 for a full year subscription!

I just thought you'd like to know!

Thankfuls and simple joys....

Edouard Vuillard, Interieur a la Table à Ouvrage 1893

It seems everywhere I go in the Blogiverse, everyone's reading it.  One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  I am too.  I'm not too far in yet, but it's a book to read slowly.  Slowly is mostly how I read anyway, so that's good.  Somebody said, "Ever forward, but slowly," and I think it's a fine way to read or to live, even though I sometimes go forward fast, or should that be fast-forward?  Anyway, the author challenges herself  to be thankful,  to take joy, to live fully in the moment,  to see God's hand on all things.  Throughout the pages, she lists simple joys -- actually writes them down in her journal, no matter how silly or trite they might seem to someone else.  These, I am supposing, will be the One Thousand Gifts.

Back when I was homeschooling a passel of children every day at our kitchen table, we would take turns reading a chapter of the Bible every day aloud.  When we were done, we would always pray together.  Each of us would choose one person to pray for and then give a *thankful.*  A *thankful* was just that.  A thankful.  Whatever you happened to be thankful for at that very moment.  It was the prayer that we all wanted to pray.  Thousand Gifts is like that.  And my list below is a list of simple joys or thankfuls, for to be thankful brings joy.  Don't you think?

Simple Joys

Spring.... new bird arrivals daily, baby calves, warm days followed by snow and frost.  Wild winds which will eventually bring more warm days to us.

Edouard Vuillard

Lack of sleep.  Everyone takes their shift to check the first-calf heifers through the night.  Sleep deprivation  makes going to bed a joy and sleep comes easily.  "O Bed!  O Bed!  Delicious Bed, that Heaven upon Earth to the weary head."  ~Thomas Hood

Cold cookies thawed perfectly from the freezer.  A blend of cold, yet not frozen, and chewy, not crunchy.

I love you's and thank you's and kisses on the cheek from the people I live with.  (They are the best of people!)

Spot and Big Boy just joined the bum lambs after their mother died.  Big Boy has always sucked the bottle, but not Spot.  Spot just started sucking yesterday and he is so happy to have milk now.

Wet snow.  I really don't want any more snow, but I know that snow is good.  It makes grass grow and fills up our stock ponds with fresh water.  There are so many folks in the USA who are drying up and blowing away and experiencing fires.  I've been there.  I don't want that, so I'll take the snow.

Steak and eggs and toast for breakfast.  All homegrown, homemade things.

A little time to read in my bed with my cozy shawl wrapped around my shoulders and a cup of herb tea on my nightstand. 

Edouard Vuillard, The "Voiles de Gênes" Boudoir

Art.  I feel so blessed to be able to enjoy lovely art like Vuillard's on my computer.

Deviled eggs.

Wool-fleece lined slippers.  There's nothing like them for comfort.

Holding hands.

What simple joys are you thankful for?

Writing ideas...

Two Lessons

by John Ciardi

I.

A frightful Scowl met an Owl sitting in a tree.

The Owl said, "Who?"

---If it was you

who answered, "It is me,"

Then hide your face. You're in disgrace.

And the next time you reply

to a bird in a tree

Don't say, "It is me."

Say, properly, "It is I."

II.

People who say nooz for news

Must think that kittens' cries are moos.

Kittens, properly, say mew,

Rhyming it, properly, with you.

.......................................................................

Copying

Now that you've had your grammar lesson from one of our favorite poets, sit back, relax and get ready for our simpler, gentler ways to learn grammar and the art of writing. Here's how we do it.  After reading Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, I realized something that I later heard some homeschoolers say -- that the best way to learn to write, is to copy other great writers! Aha!  So for our first language arts lesson, COPY!  When the little ones learned to sit at the table with us and "do their lessons", they began to copy everything they would see their older brothers or sister writing -- numbers, letters, words, sentences. This is our first introduction to the language arts lessons. The children learned to copy simple words or sentences and soon they copied paragraphs from Bible verses, poetry, or excerpts from good books. They copied simple recipes, grocery lists for mom or a list of birthday wishes.  All of this led them to understand that writing was something that people do every day and that it is very important. I insisted that our children write something every day.

Dictation

I found that not all of our five children learned in the same manner. Some could copy anything they saw, and some lost their place on the page and skipped things. Although I  required copying, I found that dictation worked better for some of them. I did the same as for copying, only I read aloud the poem, sentences,  or verses and then they would write them down in their best writing. We strove for neatness, accuracy, good spelling, good punctuation, and capitalization.  I used dictation for the older student. I wouldn't ask a first grader to take a dictation when he's hardly learned to read. I would however, ask my 3rd or 4th grader to take a dictation if I thought he was able to spell most of the words. I  had the child first read through the poem or excerpt himself and then take the dictation, trying to hear where the periods would go. After taking the dictation, I read it through again while the child checked it over himself, looking his paragraph through for any mistakes.  When the child thought he had a good copy, he would check it against the original copy to see how he did and make any corrections necessary.

Spelling Lists

Often we made customized spelling lists with words which were missed in the writing lesson. At times I will added other words that were spelled similarly to the words missed. For example: If the word "patch" was missed, I might also add the words catch, fetch, and stitch to the list of spelling words. When I felt that the child had mastered his list, we began anew. If there was a troublesome word left, it was added to the next week's list.

Variety

I liked to make sure that when the children were writing, that they were writing things that they were interested in.  I often let them pick their favorite part of the book they were reading for a copy or dictation. They might choose to write their favorite cookie recipe into their copybooks or write down instructions on "How to Make a Corn-husk Doll." Maybe your little boy needs a list of tools and materials to build a bird feeder.  When children are interested in writing, they are so much more willing to write. And to me, this is the goal of writing -- to have the "want to" or the "need to."

One year I had each of our children (who were able to write) copy or make up instructions. Our daughter copied the Karen Andreola's "How To Make a Corn Husk Doll" instructions. Our middle son made his instructions on "How to Make an Ant Farm" which he later used for a 4-H demonstration. The eldest boy wrote instructions on "How to Change Oil in Your Vehicle." Do you see how practical these "writing lessons" were? They were not only of special interest to each individual child, but were useful as well. The children usually  included hand-drawn pictures to go with their instructions. 

Since we had four boys in our family, I know that not all little boys have time or patience to sit still and write. Our boys tended to wiggle lots and bounce their legs around and tap pencils on the table and look out the window and make car or animal sounds. Does this sound familiar? These are just a few more reasons to give your children a reason to write.

One son loved animals and decided that he'd like to be like Teddy Roosevelt and keep a book of all the animals that he studied so most of his writing lessons were about animals. Often these were dictations from books he had read on a particular animal. This boy did  better with dictations, so most of his writings happen in this manner.

One son wanted to draw pictures of horses and animals constantly.  He kept a folder of all the horses he drew of various breeds and kinds, and he gave each picture a name. Just the fact that he wrote a title above his drawings or a little sentence or two on the back describing it, shows how simply language is learned. He was a first grader when he began this project. 

Our kindergarten student  found very little time to write. He'd rather play Legos or make airplane runways with dominoes. I could get him to play with letter tiles and make short words with them. Sometimes I had him copy a word or two from his letter tile words. At other times he would want to write a letter to someone or write a story. At these times, I took dictation FROM him and copied it down. He loved to hear me read aloud his own stories over and over. Often he would color pictures to go with his stories and make a simple book by stapling all the colored pages and dictation bits together. This was the beginning of a child making sense of language.

In my humble opinion, I think that children under the 5th grade level, do not need any more language arts than what I have mentioned thus far. They learn so naturally to put periods at the ends of sentences, to capitalize proper names, to start sentences with capital letters, to spell and become familiar with the written language. While young children are learning so many new things -- reading, writing, and simple math, I feel they do not need the burden of formal grammar lessons. 

I really do like the book You Can Teach Your Child Successfully by Ruth Beechick. In her book, she has many sample lessons  for copying and dictation.   When I discovered this method, I first used the examples directly from the book and had great success. Then I learned to do the same things with the very books and subjects we were studying on our own. I highly recommend this book for all subjects, but particularly for the language, spelling, and writing sections. I also like her book called Language and Thinking For Young Children for children ages 4-8. There were many fun exercises (especially the manners section) which our entire family did together! It was a very gentle introduction for young children into language arts.

All through our children's school careers, they wrote something practically every day.  Some of the kids liked to keep a daily journal.  Some didn't.  When they were in their high school years, they continued the practice of copying excerpts from their reading just because they liked to.  As an adult, I find myself copying lots of things from the books I read into journals.  I have a book I call my Book of Favorites, and in it, I copy down favorite quotations, funny anecdotes, excerpts from books, and verses.  Anything that tickles my fancy.  All this to say, writing lessons do not have to come from a workbook or textbook.  They can come from necessity, from practical needs, or from the depths of a creative mind and most often, these are the most meaningful and very best lessons of all.

Nature studies...

One of my favorite things in life is nature.

"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?"  ~Matthew 6:26

Nature Walks...I live on the northern prairies and I'm sure they call this "Big Sky Country" because out here, there is nothing to block the sky. Te flora of  the plains mostly consists of  grass. The few trees that grow here are either living by a stock dam or along a creek. But this affords me large expanses of area that I can walk without hindrance, and I just love to walk. I used to walk to keep my legs toned, but now I've found many greater reasons to walk. I have found that my walks bring me closer to God. It is my most treasured time.  I've found so many answers to problems, and to anxiety, and I've found so many reasons to praise Him for the blessings in my life. No wonder Jesus often went to the mountain alone to pray and would be away until late in the night. I sometimes feel I could walk forever. The cares of the world just seem to slip away as I walk along and ponder the good earth God has  set right before my very eyes! 

Henry David Thoreau wrote, "I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks--who had a genius, so to speak, for sauntering." My walks that were once "walking marathons" are now times of contemplation, prayer, and just being.  I now understand what Thoreau said about sauntering. The sauntering I do comes when I see a "new" wildflower in bloom or a grass that is beginning to head or a butterfly, cricket, beetle or an eagle flying overhead. Sauntering happens when I nearly step on a lark's nest of eggs whose builder suddenly flew up in front of my foot, or when I find a bull snake coiled around a dozen greeny-gray duck eggs which he is about to make a dinner of. Sauntering happens when I take a rest beside a dam ringed with Cottonwood trees and just listen to the wind blow through the leaves, or when I take the time to watch the rain drops on the water. Sauntering is good for the soul.

I also used to take Nature Walks with my children. We did this as a kind of discovery project. "What can we find today?" I encouraged them to bring back something they had found...a feather, rock, flower, moss, insect or sometimes it was the memory of an antelope barking at us from a distance. After our Nature Walks, we recorded our findings in what we call Nature Journals.

Nature Journals...These were books that we recorded in weekly--usually. They contained the dates of our walks, our findings along the path, drawings, nature coloring pages, leaf or flower pressings, observations, common and Latin names of the specimens, and any other things we thought  worthy of an entry in our books. We also include poems, scriptures, verses, quotes, or hymns that described further our nature experiences.

The books we used were hard-covered books that had lined pages in them. This way we were  much neater about our writing in them. We usually drew our pictures on regular copy paper or sketch paper and then glued them into the proper place. We  often recorded two years worth of information into each book, depending on how in depth we got and how many entries we had. I know that there are now blank books available which have pages that are half lined and half plain for sketches and written entries.  Later in our years of journaling, we used copy paper and put our sheets into clear page protectors and then into 3-ring binders.

These Nature Journals turned out to be our most treasured books. Each child, and I, love looking through the past years and seeing the changes in nature and in ourselves. As the years go by, the children's pages become more detailed, more artistic, and reflect who they have become. The book The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden, was a great inspiration for me. This book is now out of print, but I found a copy in our public library. If you are fortunate enough to find a copy, hang on to it.  Edith Holden recorded her nature findings month by month  in this book which included her watercolor paintings of flowers and birds as well as her thoughts and poetry.

Books...When one is "nature journaling," he ought to have some good field guides to help in identifying the specimens at hand. We prefered Audubon Society's Field Guides because they include pictures of the actual specimens rather than drawings. Their Pocket Guides are smaller and include more general information, but are very handy for younger students. Another book we really used until the binding was coming off  is called North American Wildlife by Reader's Digest. If you could only afford one field guide, this is the one. It includes general listings of every kingdom...insects, mammals, flowers, trees, mollusks and more.  Our kids sometimes carried it to the tree fort.

Handbook of Nature Study is also a favorite of mine. It was written by Anna Botsford Comstock in 1911 and has been re-printed. There are over 800 pages of in-depth nature studies on every topic you could imagine. One spring, we have had the opportunity to see a pair of robins nest in the wreath at our front door. We watched everything from nest building to laying of eggs to hatching and feeding. Right away we grabbed the Handbook of Nature Study to find out all about the robins and their habits---how many eggs could we expect, how much time would it take to hatch them, how many worms would the fledglings eat. This book also includes questions that one could use to help children observe nature. To me, this is a "must have" for nature study.

One winter I purchased a book called Discover Nature In Winter by Elizabeth P. Lawlor. Because I continue walking and studying nature throughout the year, I thought this would prove to be a neat book to have. And it has. The book taught us to first understand the reason for the season of Winter--the tilt of the earth from the sun, shorter days and such. Then you learn about snow, winter constellations, trees without their leaves, identifying weeds and wild plants, winter insects, winter birds, identifying empty nests and about mammals who sleep through the winter and how some change during winter. It was a fun book for Northerners like us!

For very young children, I enjoyed listening to the children read the series of books called Christian Liberty's Nature Readers. There are five easy to read books with stories like -- An Ant's Story-- Mr. Crab and His House-- A Cocoon-- What Mrs. Wasp Can Do. Although these are called "readers" they are very nicely written and I considered them good children's "literature."

A Book List... of favorites that I have read or my children have read which have nature themes.

To read aloud to the younger ones---

James Herriot's Treasury for Children

The Very Hungry Caterpillar (and others) - by Eric Carle

Charlotte's Web --Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

The Great Race -- Love Flute -- Beyond the Ridge (and others) by Paul Goble

Tales of Peter Rabbit and His Friends by Beatrix Potter

Wait Till The Moon is Full by Margaret Wise Brown

Christian Liberty Nature Readers - edited by Michael J. McHugh & Dr. Paul D. Lindstrom

Pagoo -- Seabird -- by Holling Clancy Holling

Find the Constellations - by H.A. Rey

I See Animals Hiding - by Jim Arnosky (and others by him)

Parables from Nature

For mature readers and adults---

Rascal --The Wolfing -- by Sterling North

Walden --- Walking -- by Henry David Thoreau

Nature -- by Ralph Waldo Emerson

My Friend Flicka --Thunderhead --The Green Grass of Wyoming -- all by O'Hara

A Girl of Limberlost--Freckles --Laddie --The Harvester -- all by Gene Stratton-Porter

My Side of the Mountain - Julie of the Wolves - by Jean Craighead George

Misty of Chincoteague - Stormy,  Misty's  Foal - (and others) by Marguerite Henry

Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking - by Tom Brown

One of my personal goals is to continue to record enough nature in my journals to finally have every bird, plant, grass, and tree which lives on our western plains ranch. I'd like to include insects too, but I doubt I can find them all. Another personal goal is to give my children the ability to really "see" nature, to love God's creation, and to see His purpose in it. I want them to be able to recognize the flora and fauna of our every-day surroundings and be able to tell you something interesting about them. You can only imagine how delighted this mother was when her children came in from horseback riding and brought in a wildflower, weed, rock or insect that they had found along the way. "Let's look it up and see what it is," were sweet singing to my ears!

More on nature journals to come!

 

"The Amen! of Nature is always a flower."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Kindergarten Charlotte Mason style...

Kindgergarten at our house was very simple.  The Charlotte Mason method doesn't require much formal "seat work" for children under about 6 or 7.  Instead it mostly requires reading aloud for short periods of time, listening to beautiful music, observing nature, and free play outdoors.  Discovery through the five senses is the very best way to allow a young child to learn at this age.

I kept "seat work" very low key in these early learning years, although I did like the Rod and Staff workbooks for young children.  They are called the Preschool Series ...one is Bible Pictures to Color, another one is Adventures with Books, Counting with Numbers, and several others.  These are very user friendly workbooks that little ones will enjoy the lessons of coloring, writing numbers, counting, cutting, pasting and such.  All of our children liked these very much and they are very inexpensive...about $2.35 each.  I also loved their wide-lined penmanship paper (with the center line).  

Keep lessons very short, about 10 minutes at a time.

In my humble opinion, I say just enjoy your little ones!  They are natural learners and their curiosity will teach them many lessons that a book can not.  Allow them to discovery naturally,  but give them time to "sit and do" tiny bits of "school work."    Children can count with dry beans or crayons,  sea shells or rocks, measure water in the sink (cup, pint, quart) or measure using the dry beans on a large cookie sheet (How many full cups go into the quart jar?).  

Let toys be of a minimum.  Instead, give them wooden blocks, sticks, small tools like shovels and rakes and brooms.  Allow them to discover that pine cones and rocks and shells are fascinating things to play with.  Bits of colored yarn or snippets of mother's scrap fabrics make playtime fun too.  Click Un-toys for an interesting downloadable PDF article.

Have plenty of paper and crayons on hand for creative drawing. Scissors, paper punches, rubber stamps and stickers are also fun for little children. It's fun to cut pictures from magazines and practice gluing them on paper to make interesting "posters."  Sometimes we made ABC books by cutting and gluing pictures that begin with each letter:  A - apple, ape, apron.   B - boy, banana, bucket.  C - camera, cow, cook. Save each page and staple them together with a homemade cover.  It will be fun for the child to review his letters with a book he made by himself.

Allow your child to "copy" words out of a book (just for fun) or draw his favorite pictures.  Give him many beautiful picture books to look at and let him "tell" the stories in his own words (he may say he's reading the book). And always be ready to read aloud to him on your lap. I like picture books with good stories.  Some favorites are:

Peter Rabbit and others by Beatrix Potter

Home for a Bunny and others by Margaret Wise Brown

The Lord is My Shepherd and others by Tasha Tudor

The Real Mother Goose

The Children's Book of Virtues by William Bennett

Wonders of Nature and others by Eloise Wilkin

Brambly Hedge books by Jill Barklem 

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

Together with your child, collect bugs or flowers,  leaves or rocks. Find out their names.  Help the child to hear the wind in the trees or the owl in the night. Point to the changing color of the leaves. Tickle his nose with the chicken's feather or let the woolly bear caterpillar crawl on his arm.  Watch the ants on an ant hill work.  Set up bird feeders in your backyard and learn the names of each visitor.  EXPERIENCE nature together.

 I used to take "dictation" from my little ones and make books for them about different things that they were interested in.  One year my 6 year-old son wanted me to read about knights, castles, horses, and tournaments and so we did.  Then we made a little book with his re-tellings of these stories.  He drew and colored pictures of horses and shields to go with his words, and we just stapled them together into a very simple book with a cover made of a coloring page he did.  He thought these books were real treasures and even gave some of them away to favorite people as gifts!!  

Make things out of clay or playdough. Here is a very easy recipe that your young child can make. 

Homemade Playdough

2 cups flour, 1/2 cup salt and about 1 cup water. Mix flour and salt. Add water gradually to make a smooth stiff dough. You may add food coloring and/or mint flavoring for smell along with the water.  Store in air tight containers or in food storage bags.

Allow your children to bake with you too. They can measure up the cup of flour or sugar. My children always enjoyed tapping the eggs on the counter and then handing them to me to break open and dump into the bowl. On holidays, we always made sugar cookies and used our cookie cutters, so there was much rolling out of dough, cutting, and decorating to be done with frosting and colored sugars. Children love doing this and they can say proudly, "I helped!"

Give children the opportunity to work with you. A small child can be taught to tidy up his room by putting all the Legos in the box or by picking up the dirty socks and dumping them into the laundry basket. He can learn to dust or spray and wipe door handles with a cloth. Teach him to fold washcloths in half and in half again (fractions) or match socks for you. Your child can learn to set the table at a very young age.  A small child can take care of a pet. He can learn to  feed the dog daily, brush its coat, or play fetch with him. Children enjoy working in the garden also -- digging, dropping in seeds, and pulling up weeds to put in their own buckets.

Sing with your child! Even if you're a little off-key, he'll never notice and will be glad that together you are making joyful sounds! Give him happy songs like Whistle While You Work, Yankee Doodle, Skip To My Lou, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and others.  Also play those beautiful classics like Vivaldi:  The Four Seasons or Brahams at Bedtime.

There are many music CDs of classical collections put together especially for young children

One of the most important things I feel we need to give our young children, is plenty of room to imagine,  and that doesn't come from always giving an assignment or lesson,  but rather by giving free time to think on their own -- time to romp in the yard, play "fort" under the kitchen table, make airplanes with Legos, play tea party with Dolly. Even when they are much older, time for solitude is vital.  Enjoy your little blessings!  Letting them know that they are loved by you and by God builds great confidence in your children and gives them reason to be and do their best.

For additional information on Kindergarten Charlotte Mason style, click Ambleside.

Fine Art, Mary Cassatt...

 

Mrs. Cassatt Reading to her Grandchildren

 As a child growing up, we did not have any sort of art appreciation courses in school, and we did not live near art museums so learning about great art was non-existent.  Art class, yes.  We learned to use paste, scissors, water colors, crayons and such, but art appreciation was not a part of my education until I had children of my own.  As a home school mom, I loved the fact that I could pick and choose the type of education my children would have and I knew theirs would include art.  Yes, cutting and pasting, painting and drawing, but also being exposed to beautiful fine art.  This would be my education as well, and that is the beauty of home education --the teacher oftentimes learns right alongside her students. 

Mary Cassatt became one of my fast favorites because of her many, many pictures of women and children.  Our own children grew to love her work and could recognize her paintings.   It was exciting for me to think that our children would eventually be able to pick out some of the great artists from a group of paintings, but my utmost goal was that they would simply have a love and appreciation of beauty that is truly art.

 Breakfast in Bed

Is this not the way to awake every morning --a cup of coffee or tea and the joyful  innocence of a child beside you in a cozy bed?  Those were the days!

 Young Mother Sewing

I love this picture of a diligent mother fully concentrating on her sewing while her daughter leans on her lap.  There is no disruption, but a sense of "being together" that is enough.  Likely, the disruption came later on.

 

 Louise Nursing Her Child

What's not to love about this picture?  Both are fully captivated by each other.  What a bond!

Little Girl in a Blue Arm Chair

This picture became one of my daughter's favorites.  She requested it for her birthday, if I remember correctly, and she proudly hung it in her bedroom to look at every day.   She still has it hanging in her own home today.  If you would like to view more of Mary Cassatt's art, click here.  All paintings viewed here were selected from Mary Cassatt Complete Works.

If you are considering studying fine art with your children, I recommend looking for large coffee table books at your library of various artists' work.  Casually flipping through the pages and stopping at favorite pictures to look deeply is one of the best ways to learn to love art.  Ask questions like:  "Why do you like this painting best?   What part of this painting does you eye focus on most?  Where does it seem the brightest?  The darkest?    You might also like to play the game of Eye Spy while studying a picture.  If you have access to art museums, pack a lunch and go!  Even a half hour can enlighten the mind and soul!

Art and Nature...

 

"Baby Owl"

by Andrew Wyeth

Museum Syndicate

This picture reminds me of the many times the children and I found a dead bird along the way, took it home, and proceeded to really observe it, really look it over -- its feathers and the colors of them, its beak shape and the legs, and how the eyes were set. Then we would try to sketch it in our nature journals.

 

Singing hymns...

click to enlarge

Hymns have always been a big part of our worship.  We worship at our church in a more musically contemporary way with hymns sprinkled in now and then.  We like that too, but hymns have such a deep richness, a history, a boldness, and a beauty in lyric that is incomparable.  Today, being Reformation Sunday, I am reminded of one favorite hymn writer -- Martin Luther -- who composed one of many family favorites:   
A Mighty Fortress is Our God.

Every time I sing this hymn, and especially when I sing it with my family, I feel like I can conquer anything!  And we can through Christ who gives us strength.   Can you feel the courage and strength of the Right Man  On Our Side in this verse?

Did we in our own strength confide
Our striving  would be losing,
Were not the right man on our side,
The Man of God's own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He --
Lord Sabaoth His name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

 Even today as our children have grown into adults, they continually mention to me how much they enjoy singing hymns.  Really, they do!  By choosing just one a day to sing, my home scholars gained an appreciation for hymns that will last a lifetime.  I hope they pass their favorites on to their own children someday.

Why Does It Snow? (a poem)

Pic by Holly Heyser NorCal Cazadora


"Why does it snow?  Why does it snow?"
The children come crowding around me to know.
I said to my nephew, I said to my niece,
"It's just the old woman a-plucking her geese."

With her riddle cum dinky dido,
With her riddle cum dinky dee.

The old woman sits on a pillowy cloud,
She calls to her geese, and they come in a crowd;
A cackle a wackle, a hiss and a cluck,
And then the old woman begins for to pluck.

With her riddle cum dinky dido,
With her riddle cum dinky dee.

The feather go fluttering up in the air,
Until the poor geese are entirely bare;
A toddle, a waddle, a hiss and a cluck,
"You may grow some more if you have the good luck!"

With your riddle cum dinky diodo,
With your riddle cum dinky dee.

The feathers go swirling around and around,
Then whirlicking, twirlicking, sink to the ground;
The farther they travel, the colder they grow,
And when they get down here, they've turned into snow.

With their riddle cum dinky dido,
With their riddle cum dinky dee.

~Laura E. Richards

This poem is a special one to our family because every year when it would begin to snow, I would go to our well-worn Oxford Book of Children's Verse in America and find this poem to recite together.  The kids all memorized it at one time or another.  As it snows once again today, I'm thinking of this poem and my lil chicks acting silly as they would recite with me.  And while we were engrossed in our poetry book, we would turn the pages to a couple other  Laura E. Richards poems:   Eletelephony, Antonio, and Punkydoodle and Jollapin.

Special thanks to Holly Heyser for the terrific goose feathers picture. 
Do check out her amazing hunting blog here.

Little Boys - playing in the dirt won't hurt

click image to enlarge

Several years ago I clipped this article from a newspaper or magazine or something.  I'm not sure what its origins were really.  But the message was strong and clear and I knew I would refer to it again and again since I, myself, have four boys and just one daughter.  The article puts it well.  Young boys just don't always fit well intothe mold of a school desk and their hands don't conform well to a pencil and paper.  My boys could make a pencil do many things well except do what it was intended.  A pencil could become a dart aimed at a brother or sister or the dog.  It could become a SCUD missile complete with sound effects.  It could be used to launch rubber bands across the room or to dip wax from the candle in the middle of the dining table.  Once dipped in wax, the pencil could easily be lit on fire.  So many, many things that pencils could do, but to become a writing utensil in the hand of a boy and make it write legibly and intelligently was a most difficult task.  The darn thing would drop instantly out of the

hand, bounce on the floor, and roll off somewhere never to be found that day.  The lead would mysteriously break moments after touching the paper and there would be no sharpener to be found.  Even a mechanical pencil could be made to do many of the same tricks that a wooden one could do and it could disappear and lose it's lead just as easily too.

What's a mom to do when her little boys can't sit still?  I say, work with the wiggle!  That's right.  Let them wiggle and squirm and fiddle around while you read aloud from Rifles for Watie.  Let them build Lego cars and trucks or stack blocks or play Lincoln Logs while you read from Milne's Winnie the Pooh.  I promise (I really do) that your little boys are paying attention.  It may not look like they are listening or soaking anything up, but they are.  Try this experiment and see if I'm right.  When you are in the midst of reading aloud and they are quietly playing , stop reading in mid-sentence.  See if they notice.  (they will.)  Then ask a question about the story, and I'll bet you one of your many mother's hats that they will be able to answer you.  Try it and see if I'm right.

Boys, especially little boys, really must be allowed to wiggle and move and be busy with their hands while they learn.  School desks are mere traps to boys and they don't allow for much freedom other than lifting the lid for a pair of scissors with which to cut the braids of the girl in front of him.  One thing I have learned is that all children, especially boys, do well with short lessons when it comes to school-ish things.  Did you know that the first 10 minutes of any presentation or speech is the most listened to and the most absorbed?  So with a child, a 15 or 20 minute lesson in handwriting or math is plenty if you wish to capture their attention and have them truly learn.  More time than that, and their eyes begin to wander out the window and to the tree fort where the pirates are just now sailing alongside the cargo ship....and you've lost them.  You might as well open the door and set them free to sail.

The other thing I've learned about boys is that they need lots and lots of time outdoors -- thinking their own thoughts, arranging their own battles with the Redcoats, hunting for skunks, hammering nails into another section of the tree fort.  It all goes right along with their education.  Without a hefty amount of free play time and work time, I don't think their brains function right, and they certainly have far too much energy to sit still for long if they aren't allowed to burn it off.  One of my favorite energy burners that often took place when I was at my wits end was laps around the house.  No matter the weather, I'd send them all out the door to take laps.  I designated the number and counted the laps off as they ran past the picture window.  It always seemed to fix the problem and give their brains some added energy for the task at hand.  Plus it was fun!  I'm no psychologist or child expert, but from my point of view, kids need wiggle room, fresh air, and time to romp every bit as much as they need pencils and books.

Five Lil Chicks Story

Stitching by Giggleface Studios

There once was a Mother Hen who wanted to raise her chicks in the way of the Lord. She wanted to raise healthy chicks fed on the very best wheat and the plumpest worms available. She wanted her chicks to be smart and wise and hard workers. She prayed, she listened, she heard. What did she hear her God say? "Homeschool."
Could she do it?

Homeschool seemed way out of Mother Hen's league and way beyond her abilities, but she felt God calling her to it so she studied and studied all kinds of books like: Let's Have Healthy Chicks and Dare To Discipline Your Chick and You Can Teach Your Chicks at Home. She listened to Focus on the Family and to a couple dubbed The Grandparents of Homeschooling, Dr. Ray and Dorothy Moore. Little by little, Mother Hen became convinced that this lifestyle could be had if Papa Rooster thought it best too. And he did.
So they did.

The 5 Lil Chicks sat under their mother's wing day after day and learned all the Important Things that she and Papa Rooster deemed necessary. There were days when the chicks didn't want to learn to read or do their math. There were days when the only thing the Lil Chicks wanted to do was to play outside or peck at each other. Mother Hen thought she was never going to teach them a thing. But she pushed on, one day at a time, keeping her lessons short and sweet and giving her healthy chicks lots of time in the sunshine and fresh air. Papa Rooster gave his chicks work to do which made them strong and he taught them fine lessons too. They hoped their chicks would thrive.
And they did.

As the chicks grew in wisdom and stature, Mother Hen knew that one day they would each have to fly the coop and find their own way in the Big World. She taught them in the way they should go according to the Good Book and she tried to direct the chicks' studies after their particular interests with hopes that they would do well on their own, but ultimately the chicks would have to work hard and diligently. Would they be wise enough to fly on their own?
Yes, they would!

Nowadays Mother Hen and Papa Rooster have only one lil chick left at home. Mother Hen is still encouraging her chick in the way he should go, still hunting for delicious worms to serve him, and looking for the perfect books just for him so he, too, will grow in wisdom and stature just like his chicklings. After all this time Mother Hen decided it was time to share some of her thoughts and ideas with other Mother Hens who want to teach their own lil chicks at home.
So she did.

Five Lil Chicks

Music in the home...

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!"

"Sing to Him a new song, play skillfully with a shout of joy."

"Let them sing for joy on their beds."

Music has always been an integral part of our family life. Chickens aren't known for their beautiful singing voices, but they still have their own sweet clucking sounds that bring communicate perfectly to their chicks. Children naturally love to sing and love being sung to, even if Mother is a bit off-key. I brought my chicks up singing nursery rhymes, Jesus Loves Me, and Shortnin' Bread, and together we've learned a lot about music. Mainly, we've learned to love all kinds of music. We've learned bits of music history, spent time listening to a few of the great composers, and we learned to play simple instruments as we sang our favorite songs together. By no means have we become music connoisseurs, but we have enjoyed it in our own simple ways.

HOW WE DID IT

In our home, we have sung everything from old folk songs, patriotic songs and songs in round, to cowboy songs and hymns. I usually played guitar to accompany the children, but we also sang a capella (no instruments) and we sang with tape and CD recordings. We especially liked the Lester Family tapes of a capella music in rounds, cannons and hymns. As the kids became piano players, they took turns accompanying our sining sessions. Below are a few samples of the genres of music we sang together.

FOLK SONGS

Shortnin' Bread - Skip to My Lou - Git Along Little Dogies - Dinah - Oh Susanna! -

Camptown Races - Wait for the Wagon - Down in the Valley - Erie Canal

PATRIOTIC SONGS

Yankee Doodle - You're a Grand Old Flag - When Johnny Comes Marching Home - Dixie Land - Battle Hymn of the Republic - America the Beautiful - Battle Cry of Freedom

SONGS IN ROUND

Row Row Row Your Boat - Are You Sleeping/Fr-ere Jacques - Canoe Song - Horsie, Horsie! - Upward Trail - The Merry Lark

HYMNS

This is My Father's World - Fairest Lord Jesus - Great is Thy Faithfulness - Doxology -

A Mighty Fortress is Our God - What a Friend We Have in Jesus

CHRISTMAS SONGS

Although these are classified as Christmas songs, they were often sung at any time of the year in our home because they were favorites.

Jingle Bells - Silent Night - The Holly and the Ivy - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! - I Heard the Bells - Up On the Housetop - Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer - Away in a Manger

WHERE DO YOU FIND THESE GOOD OLD SONGS ?

One of the best sources I found for these old timey songs are the old school music books, circa 1950-70. Often you will find them on the discard table at your public library or at public school book sales. You may also find them on Abebooks.com for rare and out of print books. The book I used for years is called Together We Sing by Irving Wolfe and is considered an "all grades edition". Mine was published in 1952. I found it at a country school which was closing down. It's truly a treasure that I will use with my grandchildren one day.

Another good source is church hymnals. I have three old hymnals which I love to sing from.

I have found a few Golden Book song books. We have a very good Christmas songbook which works nicely for caroling. Another book is called the Reader's Digest Family Songbook of Faith and Joy . It includes simple piano accompaniment for favorite hymns, spirituals, cradle songs, folk songs patriotic song. It's out of print now, but still available if you look for it. You can always check your mother's or grandmother's piano bench for a copy.

INSTRUMENTS

We've been known to use a variety of instruments during our family singing which most folks have around their house.

Spoons: two held between thumb, index finger and middle finger. Clap against the other hand or the leg while sitting.

Wooden Spoons: one in each hand and hitting together to the beat of the music.

Pan Lids: either clanging together as a cymbals or one lid played with a wooden spoon tapping to the beat of the music.

Sandpaper Blocks: two wooden blocks with rough sandpaper stapled to edges and rubbing together to the beat or on the off beat.

Drinking Glasses: filled with water to different heights, they make a nice ringing sound when gently tapped with a utensil or wooden spoon handle.

Cheeks: mouth opened, tightened cheeks and tapping gently with the hands. Open and close mouth to make different pitches of sound.

Lips and Teeth: practice whistling a tune through the lips or teeth.

Hands: practice clapping to different beats and times (4/4 and 3/4), snapping of fingers.

Voice: singing or making your joyful noise!

MUSIC APPRECIATION

We enjoy listening to a good variety of music in our home. We like anything from classical to country-western, folk songs to 50's and jazz to pop. If it's good music, we'll listen. I did not grow up listening to classical music and so I learned to appreciate it while teaching my children, as I did with many other subjects along the way. It is amazing how easily a child (or a mom) can pick up on a particular composer's music as they casually listen to CDs throughout the day. I did not demand deep study into the lives of the composers or their styles, but chose to gently expose the kids to the great composers by simply playing them in our home. Soon the children found their favorites and even asked for one by name. "Mother, please play Brahms at Bedtime while we fall asleep," was a common request. Classical Kids has some nice CDs for younger children. They include a sampling of the chosen composer's classical music along with an adventure story about the composer. We listened to these over and over again. You can purchase a whole collection or individual CDs about the composers. Sometimes the public library carries these in their audio section. Our favorites were: Mr. Beethoven Lives Upstairs, Mr. Bach Comes to Call, and Tchaikovsky Discovers America.

We have studied composers at various times and tried to learn a few of the most interesting things about them. One book we found quite amusing is called Bach, Beethoven and the Boys by David W. Barber. It is a trivia book, of sorts, showing the great composers as "real people," relating some funny or odd things that they did or unusual events that happened to them. Barber has written some other books on the opera and baroque music. Check for these books at your library. As I recall, you may want to preread the chapters first before reading them aloud to your children.

I have learned to see the importance of giving my children the knowledge of all styles of music, always looking for the best in each genre. We live in the Mid-west where country-western music is popular. We do enjoy it, but realize that it isn't all good. I enjoy some of the "oldies" and the children have learned to like them too. In fact, three of our younger boys worked at a golf course where all that was played in the club house was Classic Country-Western, so Johnny Cash became a favorite of theirs that summer. It was funny to hear them rattle off names like Patsy Cline, Hank Williams and Tammy Wynette. There will always be pop music and so we try to find the best artists to listen to. Do you remember when the Beatles were considered a long haired fringe rock band? Nowadays they are considered "classic rock" and hold their place in our music collection. I enjoy folk music and some blue grass with fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, banjo, and bass so the children were exposed to this style just because I played it and listen to it myself. In my mind, being exposed to a smorgasbord of music builds an appreciation and ear for music.

FORMAL LESSONS

Some of our children have taken formal music lessons from trained instructors. Four of five children took piano and two still play as adults. One of them wished to learn guitar and I taught him the basics of what I knew and then he searched for an online program and learned far more finger picking than I could do. We found a neat way of taking music lessons at home. We purchased cassettes and CDs from Homespun Music Instruction and have found them to be invaluable. The student can listen to lessons over and over again and take his lessons at any time and learn at his own pace. The cost is very reasonable, especially when compared to weekly lessons from an instructor. These music instruction CDs and DVDs are made by the best instructors in their fields and they are guaranteed! How can you beat that?

As the children have grown into adults, I find it interesting to notice their tastes in music. My daughter and her husband walked out in procession from their wedding to Tchiavkowsky's 1812 Overture. This same daughter called me the other day to say she was listening to favorite childhood classical CD that we always listened to at home. My sons have told me that they prefer singing hymns over contemporary Christian music because the lyrics are so rich and thoughtful. I'm just grateful that they have had such a diverse and deliberate music experience growing up in our home.

He who sings scares away his woes. ~Cervantes