Playing with wolves

Jaelyn requested a deep dive into the lives of wolves when we returned to our normal rhythm after the winter holidays.  I must confess that I didn't put in a lot of effort into ordering our activities - they just sort of happened as the books we requested from the libraries started trickling in.  Here's a peek into the resources we used and the activities we did.

We started off our unit by reading Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George.  This is the story of a 13-year-old Eskimo girl who was lost on the tundra and resorted to befriending a pack of wolves in hopes they would bring food to share with her until she made her way back to civilization.  We learned a lot about how wolves communicate and the incredible loyalty wolves possess for the members of their pack.  In fact, there was one day that Jaelyn started giving me commands with wolf-talk - she put her hands on her head like ears, pointed them at me, and bared her teeth.  She was telling me to lie on my belly.  We also learned about the social structure of a pack, as well as Inuit and Eskimo traditions.  Later, we also read through the last two books of the trilogy - Julie and Julie's Wolf Pack.

When Julie met the wolves in Julie and the Wolves, there were pups in the pack.  We further explored the first year of a pup's life by reading Look to the North: A Wolf Pup Diary, also by Jean Craighead George.  This story describes the timing of a pup's development stages with changes in nature or important milestone dates children might remember.  It doesn't use specific dates, and we had difficulty relating to some of the milestones (such as when certain flowers or birds appear further south) so I printed out a calendar and we did our best to identify the development stages based on the milestones we did know (such as when the fireworks fly).

We learned about the important role that wolves play in maintaining healthy ecosystems by watching Wolves:  A Legend Returns to Yellowstone.  We supplemented this by reading When the Wolves Returned, which provided even deeper insight.  For example, it mentioned the detrimental effects of rising elk populations on the trees, which impacted the number of bird species and other animals in Yellowstone.  Since the wolf was reintroduced, there is more diversity in the park.  I really appreciated how a complex subject could be written about in simple terms.  The book ended with a simple food chain that showed the trickle-down effect of wolves on both plant and animal species.

Lastly, we watched several other videos:  Living with Wolves and Wolves at our Door.  Both these videos were shot by a husband and wife team (Jim and Jamie Dutcher) living in a yurt in the mountains of Idaho.  Their closest neighbours was a pack of wolves, which they were observing to learn more about their social behaviours.  This duo also put together a book with amazing photography called The Hidden Life of Wolves. 

For each book or video we watched, I asked Jaelyn to draw a picture from a favorite page or scene.  Later, she would narrate what she had drawn.  Other activities we did during our study of wolves was creating a wolf from modelling wax and building a diorama of a wolf pack's habitat.  And there has also been lots of impromptu play-acting - like the "pups" ganging up on the alpha male and trying to assert themselves as the alpha, or Jaelyn identifying herself as the pack beta and making sure all was well with each pack member.  This play-acting is by far my favorite part of homeschooling.

We finished off our unit on wolves with a trip to the zoo while on vacation.  Our hope was that the wolves would be active and we could try to guess what their behaviours were communicating.  Unfortunately for us, the wolves were communicating that they were sleepy.  I guess that happens in the life of a wolf too - it just doesn't make for good TV or reading.

What projects have your little ones been immersed in?

Club Day. The Nature Version.

What is a habitat?  How does one explain what plants and animals need to seven year-old kids, most of whom have been inside lots owing to our string of cold days?  Reading a story seems to do the trick more often than not.  Or perhaps I'm just lucky that this group of Nature Clubbers seems to have a love for learning, whether it's after the school bell's rung or not.  At any rate, I introduced the concept of habitat by reading the book, On Meadowview Street, by Henry Cole. 

On Meadowview Street is the story about a family who moved to Meadowview Street, but there wasn't a meadow to be found...only well manicured lawns separated by fences.  The heroine in the story, Caroline, finds a flower growing and asks her dad to mow around it.  Soon there are two flowers, then four.  And soon, the dad has decided there isn't much lawn left to mow and sells his lawnmower.  The butterflies and bees who find the yard pleasant appreciate less noise.

The seasons change and summer's hot sun beats down on the rows of houses and Caroline's little meadow.  Caroline observes there are no trees and soon a maple is planted with care, birdhouses are built, and a wren has moved into the neighbourhood.  Then they dig out a spot for a little pond and make sure there are lots of nooks and crannies for creatures to call home.

The neighbours notice Caroline's yard, and appreciate it's beauty.  Soon there are other families making their yards more friendly for the plants and animals who need a place to live.

Using the story, we talked about the plants, insects and animals that we saw in the pictures at the start of the book.  We only saw people.  Then we walked through the changes that Caroline made and what happened as a result.  When the grasses grew long and the flowers bloomed, who moved it?  Why did they move in - what was there for them now that there wasn't before?  Was it food?  Shelter?  Did other creatures move in once the tree was planted?  Why did they move in after the tree - what purpose did it serve?  Why would the creatures need a pond?

From that, we put together the portrait of what makes an ideal habitat - food (flowers for the insects, insects for the birds), cover (shelter, a place to hide), water (to drink or bathe in).  In order to have food, cover and water, there needs to be space - space for the animals to hunt or forage for food, space for the animals to move about, space for them to call home.

Taking all this knowledge, we then drew pictures of a familiar place.  It could have been a schoolyard, a backyard, a park, or an imaginary place.  Then we looked at the spaces the Clubbers created to see if it would make an ideal habitat for birds.  Was there cover?  Was there food?  Was there water?  Was there space?  It didn't matter if they could say "yes" to all these questions - if they said "no", then we talked about what could be added to make it an ideal space for birds.

Finally, we attempted to take a short walk to check out potential habitats in the neighbourhood.  But after being inside so much lately, they just needed space to play outside, with the crisp air freshening their spirits and colouring their cheeks.  What a lovely way to end the meeting!

Queen for a day

I can't believe that I was nervous about how the afternoon would unfold as we returned from our after-lunch jaunt outside.  I was feeling unsettled that there was absolutely nothing scheduled for the afternoon.  While Nicholas had mentioned some things he wanted to do, I had visions of my girls running wild through the house with every possible costume we owned clinging to them in some fashion, tearing apart the basement my husband had worked so hard to clean up, then proceeding to leave mayhem in their wake in every other room they visited.  It would have looked something like this:

And then my Jaelyn, the Queen of the Day, led our afternoon activities.  Queen of the Day, you ask?  It arose from my attempt to bring in our Monday with some festive cheer.  I told them several stories inspired by Three Kings Day, and then I baked a cake with a dry bean hidden in it.  Whoever found the bean in their piece of cake was declared King or Queen of the Day!  The newly minted royalty was given the responsibility to call the shots - in an innocent, fun sort of way - for the rest of the day.  Today the bean was found by Miss Jaelyn.

First she led us through some painting.  She received some Glob Paint for Christmas and has been waiting patiently to try it out.  At her command, we mixed the lovely-smelling pigments with water and painted what came to us...stormy water with a compass, abstract toddler art, and a garden scene graced our walls once they were done.

Then Queen Jaelyn brought up our Create-A-Story game.  I love this game, but I haven't pushed it on my kids and it's only been out a couple of times.  It provides all the elements of a story - characters, setting, plot, descriptive words, resolution and a lesson learned - and it's the writer's job to put all these seemingly unrelated items together into a coherent story.  We played storyteller for well over an hour.  While Nicholas and I didn't get to actually write our stories, I'm looking forward to incorporating his story elements into an introduction to free-writing in the next day or two.  Jaelyn's story was about a team of scuba divers who travelled to the ocean floor only to find a city there.  It's inhabitants wanted the divers to take them to the surface, but the divers refused.  This angered the beautiful sea queen, who trapped them with blue slime.  Thankfully, there was a gorilla still aboard the scuba divers' boat who had a crystal ball and saw that his friends were in trouble and rescued them.  Later, our heroine (Jaelyn) and the gorilla travelled somewhere else and found a treasure chest.  They returned to land and gave it to the mayor, who rewarded them with a million dollars.  During the mayor's announcement, onlookers made fun of the gorilla, but Jaelyn decided not to listen to those people because the gorilla was her best friend.   Love it!

After that...well, I think the girls did run amok.  But most of the costumes stayed in their home and those that were brought out were back in their places before bedtime.  Thanks to the command of our Queen of the Day.

Jambo

('Jambo' means 'Hello' in Swahili)

I'm not sure if I've mentioned how much I love, love, love our homeschool co-op.  I've loved how the children have been engaged about the countries we've visited thus far.  I've loved how the activity for the week has been played out by my kids once we've arrived back home, sometimes for days on end.  I've loved the challenge of learning about different places and weaving together aspects of history, culture, geography, and craft into a tiny 45 minute block.

Today our group learned some more about Kenya.  Last week, the children learned what the life of a typical Kenyan child might be like and finished their day by preparing and sharing a simple meal.  This week, we looked into symbolism that weaves its way into both fine art and utilitarian artifacts - how the shapes and colours used by a culture have special significance and learning about that significance so we could appreciate the story an artifact tells.

I started our discussion by showing a picture of the Kenyan flag.  We noticed the different colours and the shield and spear design in the middle.  We wondered why the country picked the colours it did.  Then, I shared the shortest history lesson I possibly could that explained the explorers, tradesmen, soldiers and settlers who migrated to the country at various times throughout its history and their influence and effect on the native Kenyan tribes.  The flag is directly linked to the country's history - you can see the flag and learn more about it here.

Then we talked about symbols in our own culture - what shapes, colours and animals might mean to us in North America.  The ages I was working with ranged from 4 to 10, so I picked pretty simple symbols - a heart, a dove, a dollar sign, a lion.  We compared this to what shapes, colours and animals might represent to one of the tribes that call Kenya home...the Maasai.  I found a wealth of information about the meaning of colours here.  Finally, before moving on to our craft, we looked at some pictures of Maasai artifacts and people (Living Tribes has some amazing photographs of tribes from all over the world) and took note of the colours and shapes used in the items. 

The children then dove into the craft of their choice...making a replica of a Maasai shield, mask or bead necklace.  Each of these projects required the same materials...cardboard and paint, and the design was up to them.  I made the pictures we looked at earlier available to the children to look at, and I shared copies of what the colours symbolized.  The children were free, though, to use the colours, shapes and symbols that meant something significant to them.  Instructions for the Maasai necklace were found in Super Simple African Art.

 

Another great day at homeschool co-op!

Club Day. The Nature Version.

There's a lot of inspiration for nature-related projects around this time of year.  I have a bit of a line-up of projects that would all be good for right this very moment, but only so much time before the weather becomes uncooperative.  Given the blustery days we've had and the abundance of leaves that have fluttered to the ground of late, I decided I couldn't wait another two weeks to make leaf tiles, which were a project featured in the 2013 Fall Living Education Journal from Oak Meadow.

There was so much in this project that was fun.  A scavenger hunt for leaves, mushing and manipulating clay, dreaming of what the tiles would look like when they were dry...oh, there was goodness at every turn.

While we didn't need to go far to find just-right leaves - tromping through our front yard was good enough - we still needed to be selective.  We were hunting for leaves that were not too big, yet not too small, combined with enough definition that they would leave a print behind when they dried and peeled out of the clay.  The leaves still needed to be pliable - the leaves that crackled under our feet were best left for raking into piles for jumping in.  Most of the clubbers chose leaves from the raspberry bush, the strawberry patch, the old elms, the baby maples invading my garden boxes, or the high bush cranberry.

Then there was the task of squishing the clay out of its brick shape and into something that could be rolled out with a rolling pin.  We used Sargant air hardening clay, which had a better consistency than other air hardening clays we've used in the past.  It needed just the slightest bit of water to be malleable enough to roll out. 

The project instructions described making a border from wood that was 1/2 inch thick.  I opted not to do this, partly because I didn't have any pieces that were that thickness, and partly because I didn't have enough clay for the Clubbers to make large tiles that were half an inch thick!  We simply cut away the edges with a butter knife and then proceeded with the rest of the instructions.
 
I don't know why I thought this project would leave a simple self-contained mess at best, but that was an error of judgment on my part.  If I were to do it again, I would do it all outside...that way, I could simply hose off any outdoor furniture that got clay or clay-coloured water on it.  And I would have lots of rags handy for spills or clay inadvertently getting here, there, and everywhere.  I would also think a little harder about buying the grey air hardening clay instead of the terra cotta that we used...the red clay really wanted to stain everything, although it is such a gorgeous colour.  Something to think about for next time!

 



I'm looking forward to seeing what lies beneath!

Together again

Despite a rough start to the morning, we found ourselves at 10:00 with our bookwork for the day all done.  I felt myself in a place we hadn't been to before, at least in recent memory - two hours left in the morning and nothing really planned.

Nicholas was already occupied on the computer, finding bird pictures for some scavenger hunt cards he was making for a friend.  There's a great way to build spelling skills!  But the girls were in need of some time with their Mama.  And there was that Michaelmas celebration that I had wanted to play with...to see where we could take it, but didn't have time to do at the beginning of the week when I had originally planned it.  Late is better than never, right?

We are not a religious family.  I had never heard of Michaelmas before reading books about Waldorf education.  There is no real significance to the celebration for us, and in that I struggle a bit.  But new traditions, especially fun ones, need to start somewhere, and I'm game for building our own traditions.  I used All Year Round to inspire the projects we did today.

As the girls were playing, I gathered up the ingredients for making a harvest loaf.  As the yeast was proofing, I read them the story of Saint George and the Dragon.  Then we made our way over to the kitchen and I read the story of Michael and the Dragon while adding ingredients and mixing them together.  I'm looking forward to enjoying our harvest loaf as part of our afternoon snack! 

 

 

After lunch, while Astrin rested, we decorated candles.  The project gave us two options - we could use modelling beeswax and simply roll out shapes and press them by hand into the candles, or we could use melted wax and paint designs on the candles.  We used leftover pieces of old beeswax candles as our paint.  Here's how we did it:

1.  Gather supplies and prepare the work area: 

  ~ I used an old vinyl tablecloth to catch any spills or splatters, as hot wax can fly off a paintbrush as well as paint can.
  ~ We further protected our workspace from spills by using parchment paper muffin papers underneath our candles, and to pour any unused melted wax into.  These worked great, as the wax, when cool, simply peeled right out of the paper and we could reuse it again in a matter of minutes.
  ~ We found a synthetic paintbrush that I didn't mind never using again for paint.
  ~ We used a small gravy ladle to melt the wax in, again, an item that I didn't mind if we ever used it again.  Beeswax is one of those things that I really don't like cleaning up after!
  ~ A candle and matches, for melting the beeswax
  ~ Candles for painting on.  I found some at a thrift store that were about 2 inches in diameter, and these were perfect.
  ~ Your beeswax.  As I mentioned, we used leftover beeswax from candles.  You could also use small or broken beeswax crayons too.  I wouldn't recommend using a crayon made of a synthetic wax...I don't imagine it would smell too pretty.

2.  Melt the beeswax:

  ~ This was my job.  It's simply a matter of placing a small chunk of beeswax into the spoon and holding it over a lit candle. 
  ~ Be careful not to get too close to the flame - beeswax will start to burn at a relatively low temperature.  I gently swirled the beeswax in the spoon to help it melt faster. 
  ~ Oh, and be aware that the bottom of your spoon will likely turn black.
  ~ Once the wax is melted, it can be removed from the flame and your little one can dip his or her brush right into the spoon.  If it starts clumping, simply hold it back over the flame.

3.  Let the painting begin!

  ~ Painting with beeswax was a lot like painting with paint...dip the brush and paint on the surface of the candle. 
  ~ The wax will harden quickly, so use lots of short strokes, which was my children's preferred method.  I dotted the wax onto my candle in an attempt to give my dragon a scaled look.  It worked great for the red eye, claws, and neck plates. 
  ~ Like painting on a vertical surface, the wax may drip down if too much is put in one spot.  Unlike paint though, I imagine that the beeswax could be chipped off after it hardens if it ends up in the wrong place.

4.  About changing colours:

  ~ I poured any leftover beeswax into a muffin paper, then peeled it out once it had cooled and hardened.
  ~ I was only prepared to part with one spoon, so our colour changes were not absolute or perfect...there was always a little of the last colour getting mixed into the new colour being added.  This worked out well, though, because we only had a few colours to work with.  Each person had the same but slightly different colours on their candles.

5.  Cleanup:

  ~ It is so much easier to cleanup from painting with beeswax than with paint!  Essentially, after the last candle was done, and the remaining wax was poured out and hardened (as in step 4 above), everything we used, from the muffin papers to the paintbrush to the spoon and the leftover wax, was put back into our stash of beeswax stuff.  There was nothing to wash or scrub clean, because it was really about as clean as it was going to get.

By the time we got to the end of the day, which was full of singing, tickle kisses, and laughing just for the sake of laughing, I discovered the key for what this celebration will mean to me.  I mused to myself that our harvest loaf was the first bread I'd made since the weather started getting warmer in the spring.  I feel ourselves moving out of sweltering days and into days where the heat from the stove and oven is a welcome thing.  Perhaps the dragon can symbolize our need for fire to warm our toes and noses as the days get chillier.  Perhaps the bread can symbolize the change in the rhythm of the seasons.  Perhaps the soft glow of the candles can represent moving into quieter, more reflective times.

Welcome banner

As we enter our second homeschooling year, I wanted to create a simple yet meaningful visual to mark our transition back into our homeschooling routine.  Something we could all be a part of and see ourselves in.  Something unique.  Something natural.  I arrived at the idea of a banner with pieces created by each of us to represent what we would like the coming year to be.

The idea was grounded in a sweep of paper stars we used to have hanging in the hall that leads from our mudroom into the rest of the house.  In India, people would hang a sweep of stars in their doorway to keep bad vibes out of the house, including the bad vibes either they or guests may be carrying as baggage.  To this we married needle felting...handwork that my children have adored in the past, and have been away from for awhile.  Each piece is as unique as its creator...a boat representing wanting to be in water...a bone representing wanting to work with animals...a hammer representing building things...a Christmas tree for sharing...a heart for sharing love and being a house full of love...a person that represents our entire family...a snowman representing winter fun.

 

May peace, love and light fill your home.

Opening night

My little polar bear at FadaDance's The Crack in Everything concert.  I'm looking forward to stepping out from behind the scenes tomorrow night and enjoying the show in the audience.  It sounded like the dancers' efforts were much appreciated tonight!

Circus gardening

The Selinger crew definitely had looks only a mother could love as we pulled up to our community garden plot after a fabulous spring party hosted by one of the families in our homeschool co-op.  I was dismayed to see that there were several other gardeners out, but thought they would be far enough away not to really get a good look at our painted faces.  I quickly unloaded our gear while the kids hopped out and set to work organizing them with where I wanted them to start digging holes for our tomatillos and Japanese eggplant.

But we must have been noticeable.  The community garden coordinator appeared out of nowhere and mentioned he needed to get a look at our scary faces (his exact words, no lie).  I simply smiled and told him we were kicking off our first time in the garden this year with a circus act.  I think we all had an opportunity to be more child-like and less serious, even if just for a moment.  It did my soul good.

(My facepainting was done by one of our generous hosts this afternoon - I'm a butterfly)

After a few more holes were dug, the kids were off to mingle with others they had met last year.  The were delighted to see the fellow with his bearded dragon and learned more about where these lizards come from and what they like to eat.  They headed off to talk to one of the garden watchdogs and picked some edible weeds (dandelion leaves) under his tutelage.  They were still in full conversation mode as I went to gather them up (leaving quite the impression with my neon painted face).  At least they left me a bit hopeful that our spindly little tomatoes may do alright in the end, and that it really was okay that not everything was in yet. 

There are such wonderful people, of all stripes, at our homeschool co-op and oucommunity garden.  It's a blessing to be a part of it all.

Slow gardening

It appears that we are (I am) embracing the concept of slow gardening.  I'm finding it easier to let go of the need to get it all in quickly and in one giant attempt.  Yes, this garden of ours is going to go in nice and slow.

I think that children will be more willing to help if they know that there will be a finish time.  While I struggle with the seeming paradox of keeping the peace and teaching to finish the job that is started, I think I should be able to manage our garden work in bite-sized chunks.  So, today, in our hour-long window, we planted zucchini, cucumbers, sui choy, pak choy and broccoli.  We did a bit of watering.  We stared wide-eyed as an ant dragged the body of a much larger insect along the dirt.  And we did a bit of garden art.

Our garden art project came about from a deficiency in last year's garden.  Last year, I did a poor job of marking our rows.  In the heat of the moment, I just didn't take the time to purchase or make proper row markers.  So this year, I thought we would use paint stir sticks (free!) to mark the rows and the children could decorate them, if they wanted to.  But it turns out that paint stir sticks are scarce right now, and we needed to make new fences for our peas to grow anyway, so we purchased longer 1" x 2" than we needed and cut them down, with the short left-over ends being our row markers.  As one set of large hands was finishing up his tasks while the smallest was starting to get restless, I brought out the acrylic paint, the paintbrushes, and let them decorate (and label) to their heart's content.  I'm feeling as though I came across a brilliant idea to keep the littler hands occupied while the larger ones and I do our garden work, as I can see there will be plenty of leftover space for future paintings.  All I need to do is add the painting supplies to our gardening stuff and we're set!
 

Club Day. The Birds of Prey version.

Before I get into the details of our adventures in soap carving with the Birds of Prey Club, I must share how interesting the walk to pick up the boys was. 

As usual, Nicholas and Jaelyn ran ahead while Astrin and I walked behind at Astrin speed.  And the things we noticed while we cruised along at Astrin speed.  She stopped to show me "dirty" that was left behind by a car.  She pointed out a piece of garbage that needed to be picked up.  We saw that snow was slowly beginning to melt, despite the temperatures staying substantially below zero for over a week now.  And it looked like the trees were preparing themselves to start budding (though that could have just been some eternal optimism on my part).

Yesterday, I described how we prepared for today's meeting.  There were some things that I wish I would have been more prepared for.  For example, I would have ordered the book, The Inuit:  Ivory Carvers of the Far North, from an out-of-town library branch.  This book was recommended here, and this blogger also provided a link for how to carve a polar bear.  This mama provided some wonderful tips, like using Ivory brand soap and making sure to have a tablecloth of some sort to catch all the shavings.

We got the idea for making our own tools from craft sticks here.  And because my children had so much fun making their own tools, I decided that the Club could make their own tools as well. 

Once the soap came out, I simply gave the Club a few tips, such as that scraping off little bits at a time to ensure the carving wouldn't break or crumble (which we learned the hard way yesterday).  I didn't provide them with any patterns, partly because I didn't think they would use them, and partly because I value providing children with opportunities to explore the given medium and create from their own imaginations.  I did, however, provide them with one resource that we could find at our local library on short notice:  Art of the Far North. 

Lastly, I wanted to get feedback from the Club on what activities they liked the most.  Here's what they shared:

  ~ Puppet making
  ~ Soap carving
  ~ Charades

Prepare and practice

Yesterday I was humming and hawing over what to do for the next Birds of Prey Club.  Nicholas had given me the awesome suggestion of navigation, and my mind was starting to wander with the possibilities...learning how birds navigate the world, particularly when most of them have such long distances to travel...learning how to use a compass and playing some compass games...doing some geocaching...perhaps getting into navigation of earlier times.

But something was holding me back, and I recognize now that it was my own need for order and flow.  My brain's desire for activities to tie to a central theme, and my gut churning because it felt that something in the winter session of the Birds of Prey Club just didn't get wrapped up.  This, of course, is okay.  There was plenty that we didn't get to, partly due to our brief need to bring some self-imposed order to our meetings, partly because of illness, and partly because I lacked energy to do the preparation needed to get to that end point I so desired.  Perhaps I was also reading that the group just wasn't into learning about the potential threats to the Arctic.

Somehow, inspiration came in the form of Inuit art, and opening the possibility of marrying an ancient craft with ancient navigation techniques.  We would briefly explore Inuit culture (including the role of Inuksuks and carvings) and finish with carving soap in whatever form the children chose.

I have never carved soap before, so I headed straight to the internet to learn more.  My first couple of finds made me reconsider the wisdom of this project.  For I saw a gentleman sawing away pieces of soap, and another using what looked like a very large carving knife.  This was not what I had in mind, and panic briefly struck me. 

Fortunately, narrowing down my search to "soap carving with children" provided some much more kid-friendly results, which I'll share tomorrow. 

For today, though, we prepared and practiced.  We brought out some craft sticks and some sandpaper to make some rudimentary carving tools.  We cracked open a couple of bars of soap to see if our tools would work, and to learn some of the hands-on "do's" and "don'ts".

Here's looking forward to tomorrow, knowing that at least the craft part of our afternoon is ready to go.

 

Return to routine

Ah, welcome Monday.  Yes, a Monday where each of us rose from our own beds and greeted the day in our own special ways.  A Monday where everything returned to normal.  A Monday where we fell back into our routine. 

Last night, Nicholas and I sat down together to look to the week ahead.  I'm amazed at how grounding this simple ritual has become.  And if it wasn't good enough to give us focus, clarity and a roadmap for the week that will be, it has also truly removed much of the conflict that used to arise daily.  The man who wants to be in charge is in charge, and the mama who would like to see him touching on certain subjects is getting her wish.

During our talk, Nicholas decided he wanted to work on the Canadian Heritage badge for Cubs.  He figured out which requirements he wanted to work on and when he would work on them.  Then, we worked out how his plans would fit in context with the rest of our week.  As it turns out, his selections led to a trip to the museum this morning and some drawing by all three of the children.

I'm noticing something happening in this family.  Just like last week at the zoo, I've noticed on the last two trips that we are no longer rushing through the exhibits at the museum either.  We are there for a specific purpose.  We are intentional in which exhibits we look at.  We spend more time searching for the details.  The pace is relaxed.  I enjoy the trips, and my children, more.  Could this be an unforeseen benefit of homeschooling?  Maybe.  I think I like it!

Free-range Monday

I write this post with lunch-time approaching.  But everyone seems so immersed in their work that I hate to disrupt them.  Here's what's going on throughout my house...

Jaelyn is making Valentines for her friends and family.  I'm helping by cutting out hearts of all shapes and sizes (which is very meditative).  I asked her who she would like to give Valentines to, and wrote out the list she dictated to me so that she can work at her own pace.  She's also organized her list by family, and by how she knows each family.  I'm pleased that she's writing a little note in each one, and decorating them with her own artwork and other special items.  That being said, she's only finished two so far, and her enthusiasm may whittle out as she gets to the end of her list.

Nicholas is upstairs in his room reading Whispers of War:  the War of 1812 Diary of Susanna Merritt.  I truly believe there is no other place he would rather be right now than laying on his bed, fully immersed in that book, which is adding further details about the war that he will imaginatively play out later.

Astrin is, well, sleeping.  We went for our morning walk, and then settled down at the table where she started drawing and then promptly dumped all the crayons on the floor.  I brought her down to clean up her mess, and then she informed me she wanted to go to bed.  And it's been quiet ever since.

And me?  Besides cutting out hearts, I've put together a birthday party invitation, imagined the activities I'll lead for this month's homeschool co-op classes, mentally added things to our grocery list, and rearranged what the day's meals will look like given the errands and activities that need to be done today.  If the afternoon continues like the morning, and my little toddler sleeps much longer, I may even pick up the knitting needles and do a round or two. 

Club Day. The Nature Version.

I was looking forward to an absolutely frigid day for one of our Nature Club meetings, and January didn't disappoint.  Today, we made a super-quick fire and ice sun catcher and (just as quickly) discussed a whole range of nature-ish topics.

I ran across the fire and ice sun catcher project in Amanda Blake Soule's book The Rhythm of Family.  The children and I gathered some winter animal edibles on one of our family walks earlier this week, before the deep freeze set in.  We tried our best to identify the plants so we could share that information with Nature Club.  We found rosehips, berries from a buckthorn tree, wizened crabapples, and chokecherries.  We also grabbed some fallen evergreen twigs and pinecones to add some variety to our sun catchers.  Finally, from the fridge, I offered sliced oranges, pumpkin seeds and cranberries.  All this information was shared with the Clubbers.

As we filled our bundt pans (which the Clubbers dropped off before the meeting so we could freeze a layer of ice in advance), we talked about the animals that winter here and we wondered about how hard or easy it was to find food. 

Lastly, we talked about the uniqueness of water, despite its ordinary appearance.  Specifically, we chatted about how it expands when it is a solid.  We talked about the sounds the ice made as we poured a layer of water over top of the goodies we'd just placed in the pan.  Yes, water is amazing.

And the sun catchers?  They'll shine brightly during these short, bitterly cold days and bring a little winter beauty into our lives.  Then, when the temperatures rise and the sun beats intensely on them, they'll melt and drop their bounty down for the birds and squirrels to savour.   They'll remind me that all in this world is temporary, and urge me to soak up every bit of loveliness that enters my world.

Solstice lantern

Last year, we attended the Solstice celebration organized by our local Waldorf-inspired school.  We loved the solstice spiral and all it represents.  We will not be able to attend the school's celebration so we will be creating our own special, quiet celebration in our backyard on December 21.

The solstice spiral represents several things to me.  First, it represents the return of the light on this longest night of the year.  Second, and perhaps more profound, is that it represents the light within each one of us and how it can glow and bring warmth to those we touch.

We started preparations today by making felt solstice lanterns.  I found this project in the Fall 2011 issue of Living Crafts magazine.  I found this to be a challenging project to make with little ones - I don't think I would try it with someone younger than Nicholas, unless I knew what I was doing (which I didn't).  But we did learn a couple things along the way.  Some were practical learnings - like that the lanterns felted better when all the wool roving went up-and-down as opposed to horizontal and vertical, and exactly how thin a layer of wool was needed to start off with.  We learned little life lessons too - like not giving up, patience, trying again if it didn't work out the way it was supposed to.

Painting day

We enjoyed a very intimate and special holiday variety show with the friends and family of our homeschooling co-op.  I think this is the first holiday concert I've been to where I want to weep with happiness.

Our co-op did a short skit loosely (and I do mean loosely) based on The Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett.  Each child chose what animal they would be and was responsible for putting together a costume.  One of the mama's narrated the story while the children acted it out.  Then, each child could perform anything of their choice, if they were so inclined.  We had dancing, violin, drums, singing, a poetry recitation...a true variety show!  After, we shared treats, tea and juice, chatted, and further strengthened the bonds of our small but amazing community.

When the concept of what we would do as a group really started to materialize, Nicholas was less than enthusiastic.  One of the other mama's in our group picked up on that and suggested he do some set design.  Then, of course, Nicholas got very intensely involved in designing and constructing his costume, so the set was pushed to the wayside.  Then, Friday began, he was satisfied with his costume, and both he and Jaelyn were excited to start on the set.

I found a sheet at the thrift store and laid it out on the basement floor, and they gathered all their painting supplies.  After that, my sole job was to keep Astrin and the dog out of the basement.  We accomplished that by taping some kraft paper out on the table so that Astrin could paint to.  I, meanwhile, drew some tree pictures that would eventually be stencils for another paint on fabric project.  These trees were intended to hide the kids while they waited for their turn to go on stage, and will later become temporary walls in our basement studio.  The project came out of Imagine Childhood by Sarah Olmsted.

Here's how it all came together (well, how half of it came together):

A designer is born

Yesterday, our homeschooling co-op put the rest of the structure around the holiday skit we will be sharing with friends and family.  We will be offering an interpretation of Jan Brett's The Trouble with Trolls.  However, we will be exchanging the trolls for various creatures.  The children will be preparing their own costumes and props and we'll be gathering together one last time for a dress rehearsal before the big night.

As you may have guessed, Nicholas has decided he would like to be an owl.  And, some of you may know that he is very detailed and craves a realistic interpretation of the things around him, owl costume included.  So, there would be no cardboard wings or paper plate masks for him.  He's taking to designing his owl costume and has set his sights on sewing it himself.

We found some large paper in the basement and he drew the general layout of how his costume would look.  We talked about the need for seam allowances.  We talked about considerations when taking a two-dimensional object (the pattern) and making it three-dimensional (the finished piece).  We talked about how the fabric might fray and how the fabric choice needs to be considered in the design.  We talked about the weight of different materials and how weight impacts how the fabric will hang and the finished garment will look (and how hot it will be underneath).  He was very open to hearing about what he would need to consider and problem-solving.

He has settled on constructing wings, a full head mask, talons for his feet, and a tail.  All the pattern pieces are cut out and some of the fabric has been cut too.  Tomorrow we'll work to squeeze in a little sewing time.  What an exciting time!

Baby chicks

I'm planning to make barnyard wall hangings for the two littlest ones in our extended family.  I first attempted this project last Christmas for my nephew, who is a few months older than Astrin.  The project was inspired from Creative Play for your Baby, which is an extremely rare find I happened to track down in our provincial library system.

One of the barnyard animals I made last year was a pom-pom baby chick.  It was constructed simply by making two pom-poms out of yellow yarn and sewing them together.  I discovered, however, that this wasn't the most sturdy chick for a soon-to-be toddler.  This year, I set out to find another way to create a sturdy, yet natural and lovable (and recognizable) baby chick.  I think this year's attempt is a winner too, as everyone I flashed it in front of could identify it as a bird of some kind (some said "canary", others said a "chick", and Astrin herself called it a "hen").  Here's a quick tutorial:

Materials needed:

• Yellow wool rovings
• Large bowl with dishwashing soap and warm water
• Felting needle
• Sponge
• Optional:  black or blue wool rovings (for eyes) 

How to do it:

1.  To make the body:

• Take a handful of the yellow wool rovings and wrap it tightly into ball form

• Dip the wool ball into the bowl with dishwashing soap and water
• Roll the wet wool ball in your hands, applying gentle but steady pressure.  Think of the action you use to roll play dough into a ball.  As the wool ball cools, dip it in the water and continue to roll it until a ball forms to your desired firmness.
• Wrap additional wool around the ball, if necessary, to achieve the proper size.  Something about the size of a ping-pong ball is good.
• Let the ball dry (likely overnight)
• You could likely needle-felt the body, I just chose to go with what I knew for my first attempt!

2.  To make the head:

• Take a slightly smaller handful of yellow wool rovings and wrap it tightly into ball form
• Select where the head will be placed and start to needle-felt the head into place, starting with the neck.  Use the sponge as a base for your work, so that you can pierce through the head and not damage the counter-top or table underneath.  Experiment with using different angles when using your felting needle.

• One the head is attached, needle felt around the rest of the head to shape it more and make it firmer.
• Select where the beak will be.  Place the beak position against the sponge and concentrate your needle-felting on this spot.  Consider felting on both sides, as well as the top and bottom of the beak, to give it further definition.

• Optional:  Take a very small amount of black or blue wool rovings and wrap them tightly into a ball.  Put the ball into the eye position and needle-felt the ball in place.

3.  To make the tail:

• Take a small handful of yellow wool rovings and wrap it into a tight ball, square or triangle - either of these will work.
• Select where the tail will be placed and start to needle-felt the tail into place, similar to how you attached the head to the body.
• Use different angles with both the needle and the tail on the sponge to create a pointed tail.

And you're done!