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.

Writing something simple and beautiful

Dazzling white snowflakes

Dance and flutter in the sky

Smile up to heaven

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

About hugs

I'm pondering how something as simple as a hug can be so complex.  It can offer comfort or it can be given with a broken heart.  It can be shared in jubilation or it can signal the end of the day and sweet dreams for the night.

When I first saw the From Hectic to Harmonious day 8 challenge in the morning - share cuddles - I was pretty sure I would have many opportunities before lunch had been placed on the table a mere few hours later.  After all, I have two very cuddly little ones who seem to be magnetically drawn to my lap.  One is usually sitting on me for our circle time, the other will curl up with me for a book.  One will cuddle with me as we create homemade wrapping paper and the other will sense when I need a hug and beam her smiling face up at me as she wraps her arms around my waist.  Plus, as coincidence would have it, our Christmas countdown activity in the evening was to huddle up around the fire and read Christmas stories while munching on popcorn.  We had this challenge in the bag, without even trying.

But then I thought, what about that oldest one of mine?  The one who will (politely) decline a hug or an arm wrapped around his shoulders out in public.  The one who is growing into himself and prefers things kept at arms-length, most of the time.  The exceptions make me thankful for homeschooling and the opportunity to be present when the desire for a hug arises.  For I must say that I've noticed more hugs post-public school.  And I see the innocence and wonder in his eyes, and his passion and love for life when we do get moments of closeness.  He seems happy and at ease.  He can let his guard down.

As it turned out, Nicholas and I didn't have a cuddle that morning.  We did huddle up close to the fire in the evening and we had our ritual good-night hug.  But it felt that even though we didn't actually physically touch in the morning, we shared a closeness and a bonding as we worked together to create a story based on several pictures he drew and inspired by the ideas he'd read about in The Book of Fairy Princes.

Here is his story:

THE STORY OF

THE FOREST OF BEAUTIFUL COLOURS

 

Once upon a time in a very, very colourful forest there was a great wise owl and a colourful oak tree with leaves of blue, green, pink, purple, orange, yellow, red and brown.  And that great oak tree stood in the middle of a castle’s courtyard guarded by a very, very wise owl.  But there was a demon up in the skies above that didn’t like the sight so one day he decided to go down to the forest of beautiful colours and he would try and burn it down or destroy it in some way.

So, when he went down, he said, “Hey, mister owl.  I saw a sick tree about two miles west.  I think it’s your job to fix it.  But, are you able to fix it?”

And the owl said, “Yes, I’m the guardian of this forest.  So off he went as quick as the wind could go.

Once he was gone, the demon, who knew that there was only one way to defeat this forest, and it was to burn down the great oak tree.  So he burnt down the great oak tree, and the fire spread so much that it burnt down almost the whole forest.  Only the drooping firs were able to survive.  And there were only two colours of this drooping fir – green and brown.

When the great wise owl got to about two miles to the west, he found no sick trees and all of his trees were shining.  Then, all of a sudden, all the trees stopped shining their beautiful colour and they turned into dull reds, blues, browns, pinks, purples and all the other colours.  So the great wise owl knew something was wrong when he saw that.  When he looked behind him, he saw a great fire raging.  So, he quickly acted, for he knew what the demon had done.  He collected all of the animals that knew him and lived closest to the water to tell him where the yellow part of the water lives.  All the animals said,  “there is only one lake, and it only has yellow water in the centre of the lake.”

The owl flew as quick as the wind to the lake and the lake’s name was The Lake of Colourful Treasures.  He flew over to that lake and he took a big mouthful of the yellow part of the water.  He flew back to the great oak tree and he sprinkled the water on the raging fire on the great oak tree.  Once this was done, the fire ceased all over.  And because the owl was mad with the demon, he decided he would put up a magical barrier using his magical powers.  But the only magical powers he had were to save this great colourful forest. 

So, he sat in the east side of the tower being very sad and letting his sorrow sweep away from him.  When he was done being sad, he went to the west tower and he collected all of his seeds that he had collected from the different coloured trees and he planted them where all the other dead trees were.  The only trees that were remaining were the brown drooping fir and the green drooping fir. 

Once he was done planting, he asked all the trees if they would let him know when the demon came back so that during that time, he could prepare a spell to protect the forest.  So, all the trees agreed.  But while he was preparing, he was also researching a way to make a red drooping fir, a blue drooping fir, and an orange drooping fir, pink drooping fir, purple drooping fir and yellow drooping fir – the most important of all the colours.  When he was done, he was able to make one of each colour fir but just to make sure that the demon didn’t come in, he decided to stay watch on the great oak tree.  But after the fire everyone called it the great dead oak tree.  And you may be wondering how the great wise owl was able to make a spell to keep the demon out.  All he did was he put a yellow fir on each point of the forest – north, east, south, and west.  Nowadays, if you go to the forest, you will see him perched on the great dead oak tree.  But now, for the rest of the story.

Once he fixed all the damage of the fire, he sat upon the great dead oak tree all the time because of all the trees, it was his favorite.  As a sign of respect and friendship, he sat on it to watch over the forest all of the time. 

 

But now the demon, he saw that the owl was smart and he fixed it.  And he saw that he could not get in and destroy it.  But he saw all the other forests around it and he thought, "What if I light a fire in each of the forests, north, east, south and west?"  So, he researched as well.  And he found out that the magical barrier could not let him in, but other forest fires could get in.  So, he decided he would go light a fire in each of the four forests.  He went over and he lit a fire in the forest of the north.  Then he went down and did the forest of the east.  Then he went down and did the forest of the south.  Then he went west and did the forest of the west.  But then he thought, “ Uh oh, how will I get out?”

He decided to fly north.  But the fire was too big for him to get back up to the sky.  So he went back to the west where it was just a small fire.  But he couldn’t get back up to the sky because his sky was in the east.  He went to the south but the fire was too big so he could not make his way back to the east (which is where he came from). 

So, the demon was stuck in the fires, and the fires were getting too big.  So he thought, “all I can do is trust my luck.” He flew through the southern fire and it burned his wings.  So he ran to the east side, but it burned his feet.  So then, he had to crawl.  But when he was crawling, he wasn’t fast enough.  The fire swallowed him up, and that was the last that was seen of the demon.

But the great wise owl saw all of the fires coming.  He acted quickly.  He went over to the lake of colourful treasures (in the centre of the forest) and he took four big mouthfuls of the yellow water in the center.  And he flew  as quick as the wind to each of the four points of the forest.  He got to the north point and sprinkled some water on the yellow drooping fir.  When he got to the east point, he sprinkled some water on the eastern yellow drooping fir.  When he got to the southern point, he sprinkled some water on the yellow drooping fir down there.  When he got to the western point, he looked and he saw not even a fire at all.  It had all burned out in the western point.  What he decided to do with his last mouthful was:  to sprinkle water on each of the other trees, for some animals did not want to live by lakes and then they could live in other places in the forest.

So, it stayed nice and peaceful, with animals eating dewdrops from the trees for quite a while.  But soon it was winter.  So the animals came to the great dead oak tree and said, “What will we eat now, for it is winter.” 

And the owl said, “Once a snowflake falls on the very peak of each tree, it will turn into a larger, bright-coloured snowflake.  But, after that, all the other snowflakes will turn into brightly coloured snowflakes that you can eat, though you may not to eat them because they look so beautiful.  But that is what you will eat in winter.”

So, they found that almost every tree had a brightly coloured snowflake, though a lot of people would mistake them for a star on top.  They looked down lower and saw lots of colourful snowflakes and they just stood there looking at them.  But one of the animals’ stomachs grumbled at them.  They knew they would starve if they just stood looking at them.  They went over and ate just a single snowflake and then they didn’t need to eat any more snowflakes, for a sudden burst of energy filled them, and they were full after the single snowflake.

So, then it came to the new year’s and the bright stars on the tops of the trees disappeared.  So they all went to the great owl and asked, “What will we do, for all of the stars at the tops of the trees have went away?”

And he said,  "Well, it is still winter, and the snowflakes will not be bright and shining, but they will still be the colour of yellow and you will still be able to eat them until spring.  In spring, you will eat dewdrops again.”

So all of the animals went back to the trees and ate a single snowflake.  And their bodies burst with energy and fullness so that they didn’t need to eat anymore.  So then the animals knew about what they needed to eat and when and they didn’t need to ask the wise owl any more questions.

So, now whenever you go out into the forest of beautiful colours, if you see a brown tree , after that tree you will see a path.  And that path will lead you directly to the wise owl.  You should only go to see the great wise owl when you need help from him. 

I think I’ve forgotten to mention, but there are four different trees in this forest of beautiful colours.  There is the drooping fir, the soldier pine, the house spruce and the tower spruce, also known as the church spruce.  There are some other reasons you might want to go and see the great wise owl, for he is a very good poet and he does excellent poetry.  So you may want to go to see him to learn some of his poetry. 

Here is a poem I learned from the great wise owl:

 

A forest fire -

An unpleasant one,

Disturbing the humble one,

 

But when it’s gone -

And there are few trees,

It’s time for me to plant the seeds.

 

My great oak tree is gone – alas,

It has also lost its giant mass,

On top of it I will perch,

Very sad and very hurt.

All the animals will come to me –

They are sad and have no glee,

They come to me and they say: 

“What do we eat?

For we cannot have the thing called meat!”

 

And I say:  “Look at the trees –

What do you see?”

We see snow: he, he, he.

Try the snow and you’ll see,

That the snow is good to eat.

About snow

In my last post, I mentioned that I decided to hastily put together a unit study on snow to carry us through the two or three weeks until we decide to pack homeschooling for 2013 away for the year.  This unit is mainly for Jaelyn, as Nicholas is happily writing about birds and is diligently watching his bird feeders for Project FeederWatch.

Jaelyn's reading has simply exploded over the last month or so.  While she's typically done a good job of reading the words in her readers, I was never quite sure if she was reading the library books she cozied up with on the couch or if she was looking at the pictures.  Now I know that she's reading them word for word and understanding them.  She reads to me or to Astrin, and is proud to tell me how many pages she's devoured during her day.

Since this little one loves to read, we started off our unit on snow with the tale of The Snow Queen.  We spent a little bit of time each day for a week doing some sort of activity related to this story...reading it, drawing a picture about something from the story, narrating a summary of the story, writing a poem. 

We're using blank sketch books to compile all of our work.  It's my attempt at a main lesson book used in the Waldorf philosophy.  While I have no idea whether I'm doing it "right" and fully intend to do more research at some point, it serves its purpose for now and Jaelyn is enjoying what she's drawing and writing in her "green" book, as we refer to it here.

I'm looking forward to getting into some learning about snow crystals themselves and how they are formed next week.  We will be reading Snowflake Bentley (a perennial winter favorite here) and looking at some of the pictures he published in Snow Crystals.  We'll be catching our own snowflakes (we're in for a big dump of snow early next week), photographing them and making sketches, making snowflake cutouts to decorate our windows, and creating our own snow crystals inside.  There are also a couple of books kicking around here on snow storms and blizzards that could be an interesting treat.  And of course there are all sorts of chances for building snow forts and snowmen in the fluffy white stuff.  But more on that later - stay tuned!

River of Words

A nature hike was a beautiful way to end our week.  Leaving the city before the sun rose too high and the air got too hot, we made our way to a peaceful patch of land.  A place where we could walk amongst the aspens, anticipate what would await beyond the bend in the path, and feel peace enter our bodies with each deep inhale.  A place where we could be playful, romp with friends, and be transfixed by the little creatures we met along the way.

At the mid-way point of our hike we came to an intersection where several paths met.  It beckoned us to dump our packs, sit down in the shade and enjoy a little time in contemplation.  I brought out a book we're reading excerpts from - The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon - and read a passage to introduce our first opportunity to write out a list poem, as suggested by a writing program I found, River of Words.   

Our family has been reading passages from The Pillow Book all week.  The author, a lady-in-waiting living in Japan about 1000 years ago, writes about nature and the world that surrounds her.  Some of her revelations are surprisingly as relevant now as they were a millennia ago.  In what we've read so far, she manages to observe the simple, finer details that one hurriedly passing by might otherwise miss.

After reading a passage, we would go around the table and add our insights to the topic of her poem.  A wedding gown might be added to the list of Elegant Things; a puppy without an owner might be added to the list of Depressing Things.  It was all very impromptu and off-the-cuff...no transcribing what was said (though there are moments I wish I had), just slipping off into a dream world and sharing the first thing that came to mind.

We did something similar while on our walk in the woods.  I prepared index cards with some of the passage titles from The Pillow Book.  We picked one...Elegant Things...then went around the circle to each person to add their own thoughts.  Each child had an opportunity to share a category or topic that wasn't on the index cards, such as Things that Fall From the Sky, Flowers, Insects.  Lastly, each child was invited to pick a card, including the blank ones not used, to write their own list.  The younger ones had an adult scribe for them while the older children worked on their own. 

Now, I sit in my kitchen with a bulletin board, and the cards we used this morning are affixed to it.  I'm not sure what permanent home this bulletin board will have, but my hope is that it will be referred to often.  New ideas can be jotted down.  Lines in the poems can be rewritten, reordered, or reread.  New poems can be mined from the lists already started.  It gives us a visual cue to think about the world around us, from the most grand and magnificent to the most minute and timid.   

Fortune teller

I found myself making lunch to the sound of a spelling bee today.  Nicholas and Jaelyn were busy making paper fortune tellers, after receiving one as a gift yesterday.  Nicholas folded up a few fortune tellers of his own, based on the construction of the one they were gifted, and the writing began. 

"Mom, do you spell 'red' R-E-D?"

"Mom, is this how you spell 'successful'?

"Mom, how do you spell 'athlete'?"  Upon which I would ask, "What is the first sound you hear?  What sound do you hear next?" "What makes the middle 'e' say its name?"  And voila - my child has spelled "athlete" on his own.

"Mom, do you have any ideas for a fortune?  The hint word can only have an odd number of letters." (This was because the hint word was used rather than a colour name or a number that is often used before the fortune is revealed.  If that makes sense.)  And so I make up a few fortunes, based on what is top-of-mind for me today.  "I am a kind person" is my response.  What follows is a discussion of whether people are born innately kind or if kindness is something that must be learned...whether people choose to be kind or whether they forgo kindness simply because they don't know how to be nice.  My writer ponders the question and determines for himself whether the fortune will read, "I am a kind person" or "I will be a kind person".

Maybe I should make up a homeschooling mom fortune teller for times when a reminder is needed.  Here's what it might contain today...

  ~ Trust that children will learn what they need to learn, when they need to learn it
  ~ Just as Rome was not built in a day, a child's education will not be complete in a day, or a year!  Learning may just go on until their last breath.
  ~ Free time provides open spaces for exploring and creativity
  ~ Smile!
  ~ Choose to be kind!
  ~ Follow the children and they will lead you to extraordinary places
  ~ Let the children learn to follow their hearts and they will find peace
  ~ Be the change you want to see in the world

The notebook

Magic can happen when little hands find their way to a small notebook with a cute puppy on the front.  This is what my husband and I discovered this weekend after our daughter toted her prize notebook home from the library.  The library was holding a summer reading contest, and the notebook was a prize for completing four hours of reading.

The magic in that notebook transformed my lovely seven-year-old into a sweet waitress who painstakingly made up menus for her guests, set the table, and served us our three-course supper with a smile.  She refused to eat with us at the table because she was working, instead choosing to eat once all our dishes were cleared off.  She somberly told me that I would not have to pay because I cooked the food, but that everyone would have to pay a dollar for their meal. 

We had a repeat performance the next morning, too, for breakfast.  Oh, how I love when these spontaneous bursts of learning happen right before my eyes!

Today's learnings

Today I learned...

  ~ How awesome authors can be.  Nicholas decided to write to one of the author's of a book he just finished reading, Silver Dragon Codex.  She, the fabulous Ree Soesbee, responded within hours.  How cool, and gratifying, is that? 

  ~ How valuable self-care is.  After a month (or perhaps more) of living with a stiff neck, and years since a massage, I finally took some time and booked myself in for one.  All the kinks aren't quite out yet, but I haven't had this range of motion for a while. 

  ~ That my two-year-old wants to read to me!  Astrin pulled out a fairy book Jaelyn brought home from the library, opened it up to show me the pictures and words, and told me about how the fairies and "man" (Jack Frost) were mad.  Yes, everyone in that story was mad, even if they were smiling.  So cute.

  ~ Where Chris had hidden all the board games so that Astrin won't pull them out and toss all the pieces around the living room.

  ~ That Jaelyn has gotten really good at math.  I mean really good.  She shared her strategy for subtracting in her head, which, if I understood correctly, means getting one of the numbers to ten, and then subtracting from 10.  I remember having a similar conversation with Nicholas when he was in grade one, and it made my head spin.  And I do like numbers, really.

  ~ That it can be difficult to find simple answers to some questions, like "what is alum" as we embark on a science experiment to create our own crystals.  I'm disappointed that I can't explain why mixing alum and water makes crystals.  It might be one of those questions that gets passed Papa's way.  But I could regurgitate all it's uses, from cleaning water to making bread "whiter" and pickles crisper.  The next time I bite into a crisp store-bought pickle, I'll wonder if I'm eating crystals!

  ~ Where I might go to find more answers to the question, "what do I do with this toddler while I try to focus on the other two children's work?"  Check out Christopherus Homeschool Resources' conversation board.  Check out topic #3.

Our first spelling lesson

I find myself inside a quiet house after a morning of firsts.  There were some words being read for the first time by Jaelyn.  There was an introduction to calculating area and volume, and how to write square and cubic meters in shorthand.  And there was our first spelling lesson.

Before Chris and I kissed our children goodbye and sped out of town to our province's homeschooling convention last month, we asked the children what, if anything, they would like us to bring back for them.  Nicholas and I talked quite a bit about how practice makes all things easier (note I say "easier" and not "easy").  We agreed that we could up the time he spends with a pencil in his hand writing words.  Our agreement was that he would alternate between working on creative writing of some sort for one week and then spelling the next week.  He, in fact, requested that the structure of the spelling week be much the way it was when he was in school - a list of spelling words, followed by tasks for using those words, culminating in a "test" at the end of the week. 

My task at the homeschool convention was to find a resource that would be easy to use, provide guidance for varying ages and skill levels, and suggest engaging activities.  With the children's list of suggestions and my requirements, I scoured curriculum catalogues and researched resources on the internet.  I narrowed down the possibilities and let the children take a look at what I found too, as I've discovered that something that looks marvellous to me can look different in their eyes.  Finally, donned with my trusty list of curriculum leads, we made a break for the used book sale when the time was right.

Today we brought out the first of those resources for a try.  It is The Natural Speller by Kathryn L. Stout.  Why this resource?  I liked that it covered spelling words from Kindergarten to Grade 8, had various activities for using those words, and activities for creating more words using the root and prefixes and suffixes.  I liked that it grouped words with similar structures together so that basic spelling rules can be learned, applied and retained.  I liked that it could be customized to the child.

Best of all, it really didn't take me that long to put together five lessons for the week.  I simply found an exercise book (as I've discovered that looseleaf tends to get pulled out of binders much too easily by my little ones), chose 10 words from one of the lists, then adopted the activities from the sample lesson plan.

I know that Nicholas and I will need to tweak things as we go so that we find the right balance of just enough challenge and just enough variety.  We'll need to figure out how much handwriting and how much practice using dictionaries and thesauruses works for now.  We'll need to talk often, and listen closely to each other.  That's really what we've had to do to get to this point.  While the morning had it's share of firsts, it ended with a real-life practice in respectful communication.  And that's a life skill we'll all be practicing for the rest of our lives.

When baking and poetry meet

Funny how some things fall out of the sky and grace us with their presence.  Like when we do a bit of baking for the weekend and the chocolate chips become something we use to count the syllables in the verse of a song.


The magic is spun and we drift into talk about the couplets we learned from the morning and write out a few of our own.  We brainstorm words that rhyme.   We talk about stanzas and the types of poetry we like the best.

Oh, I'd like to have more afternoons like this.  The tricky thing about magic is that it is sometimes elusive, and sometimes there but hard to spot.  In either case, simply showing up and being a part of my children's world is the prerequisite for both.

Poetry

I'm loving how enthusiastic Nicholas is about writing poetry.  For a guy who would prefer to talk instead of write, he puts up very little fuss when it comes time to write some poetry.  We've worked through limericks and haiku, and we recently moved on to poems that do not rhyme, but that instead follow a pattern in the number of syllables per line.  Nicholas wrote a lovely poem about owls the other day, and I chose to get in on the action by writing one too.  While he was reluctant to share his, here's mine:

The Sentry

I gaze out my window
At her speckled white feathers--
She barely notices the cold.
She perches so regal atop the bale
And stands watch over the field.

The fields are all icy,
Covered with a thick blanket
Of hard-packed, freezing white snow.
Who would venture from its cozy warm home
To the dangers that await?

What was that over there?
Her head quickly spins to the
Movement she spots in the distance.
Ah yes, there it is, a plump little mouse--
A welcome meal for tonight.

She spreads her great white wings
And with a powerful flap,
Rises up and silently skims
Over the surface of the bleak white field.
She is beauty in action.

She speeds toward her prey
With effortless ease and grace--
The mouse is unaware of her.
Her lethal talons stretch out for the kill.
One small life fuels another.

I gaze out my window
As she sails back to her perch
And she blinks her big yellow eyes.
Watching and waiting for hints in the dark--
The alert sentry stands guard.

A peaceful compromise

Here we were today, all four of us gathered in the bathroom as we finished getting ready for the day - teeth brushed, hair combed, me wrestling with a little one's diaper as she tried to climb on the potty.  The children were about to start their quiet time work - no morning walk today as it really is too frigid (-30C). 

I asked Nicholas what he would work on today.  He mentioned he would work on Language Lessons, he would like to play a math game, and he wasn't sure what his writing work would look like.  I mentioned looking at the next Writing Strands lesson, for he might like it - he was to write about a friend.  He got a look of fear in his eyes, then brightened up.  "What if I made a game?"

I hesitated, feeling my gut twist up a bit and my mind revving its engine.  How was a game writing?  But I resisted the urge to blurt out the question and responded curiously instead with, "What kind of game?"

"I don't know....what about a math game?" Nicholas answered.

Still not sure how he was tying writing into this game, I asked, "What will you write about?"

"The instructions.  And I'll need to make cards with the questions on them, and the cards will tell the person how many spaces to move if they get the question right.  And I'll need to make a game board."  Nicholas replied, his voice sounding more excited and his eyes sparkling just a bit more as he continued to formulate what his game would look like.

Both of us satisfied, he went off to his room to start his quiet time work while I finished getting Astrin ready for the day and headed downstairs to help Jaelyn. 

Later, Nicholas brings down the instructions he's written.  I ask him how he would like us to go through the words he had trouble spelling.  This time, he would like to go through it together, admitting that there were a few words he had trouble with.  We go through spelling and punctuation, have a few giggles along the way, then he heads back upstairs to make the cards and board.

Peace ensues.  What a great feeling.

 

Getting ready to count down

As we turned the calendar to December, our thoughts have moved ahead to Christmas.  Talk of activities and events, traditions and food has been echoing through the halls.  It's a great time of year!

While we aren't a religious family, I do like the idea of counting down to Christmas Day in a meaningful way. I'm not sold on the chocolate advent calendars I see at the grocery store, and I didn't have time to make an advent calendar with little surprises hidden behind doors and windows or in little pockets (though I would like to one day - maybe for grandchildren).  So, we're starting a new tradition with something that is doable for us.  We'll be reading new-to-us Christmas stories before bedtime every night until Christmas arrives.

So, what's sitting on the ottoman waiting for us these frosty winter evenings?  I found a book while we were on our summer vacation - Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories by L.M. Montgomery.  I also picked up a book at the library that looks promising - An Atlantic Canadian Christmas Reader:  Stories and Traditions by various authors.  And then there's the stack of other books that only come out at Christmas time.

How are you counting down to Christmas?

   

A first story

Lately, Jaelyn has been writing somewhat independently.  She knows what she wants to write, and we slowly go through the spelling of the various words.  Sometimes it's just a matter of saying the word slowly and asking her what sounds she hears, such as when we write "went" or "cat".  Other times it means we talk about special sounds that it takes more than one letter to make.  Last week she was writing beautiful poems for our homeschool co-op's holiday variety show (so we'll keep those under wraps for now).  This week she wrote her first story.  She has allowed me to publish it here in this space:

The Cat and the Pup, by Jaelyn Selinger

There was a cat and a pup.  The pup chased the cat.  The cat ran up the tree.  The pup is barking.  But the cat did not come.  The pup barking and barking.  The pup did not bark.  The pup went away but the cat did not come down the tree.  The cat owner went to the tree.  The cat owner went to the grocery.  The cat owner got a bag of cat food and set a bowl down.  The cat came down the tree.

So love that!

To see what we could see

I am truly feeling as though a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and that I can be fully present in mothering my children.  I feel lighter, happier, more resilient.  And with the turn of a page and the start of a new week, it seemed fitting to get a little further from home and go on a field trip back out to a nearby nature refuge.  We headed out into the world after we read a poem about Autumn from The Waldorf Book of Poetry.

This is the same nature refuge we visited in early September.  I wanted us to get out to the nature refuge at least once a month so that we could see how things change as we roll through the seasons.  And what was different in October?  At first, I wondered.  There was the absence of leaves from the trees, but that felt almost too obvious.  Slowly, it came.  Once we settled our senses and just let ourselves "be" in that little patch of quiet, it started to come, like peeling the layers off an onion.  Yes, the leaves were off the trees.  But now we could see the nests that were once so nicely camouflaged and hidden from view.  We could better see the bark and the subtle differences between the different species.  We could hear the crisp leaves under our shoes as we walked and kicked our way through them.  We could imagine a road paved of gold instead of simply the grass covered with yellow leaves. 

Then we started to hear the songs and calls of the birds.  Though the songbirds were few, they were there - hiding in the thick brush or perched in a tree branch overhead.  It took quiet on our part to hear them and search them out.  Then the quiet would unravel as the sound of geese passing overhead caught our attention!  We craned our necks to figure out where they were coming from - were they landing in the lake, or were they higher up and just passing through?  What kind of geese were they? 

As we sipped on tea and ate a snack of dried apple slices, I felt myself taken back to that magical place that I discovered when we visited Green Gables in Prince Edward Island.  I asked the children about what they saw and heard and felt.  The answers came in the form of poetry, much to my surprise and excitement! 

I truly did love today.  I was thrilled that the children didn't complain of being cold, as the wind was quite brisk despite the bright sun.  For those of you who would like to venture outside more often with your little ones as the days grow shorter and colder, here are some tips:

  ~ Dress in layers on both the top and bottom.  Think long johns, knee-high cold-weather socks, and outerwear that blocks the wind. 
  ~ Dress for weather cooler than you expect.  It's always easier to strip layers off than wish you had more to put on!  Remember mitts, hats and scarves!
  ~ If your trip involves a car ride, either keep the inside temperature as cool as comfortable, or only put on those extra layers right before you get out of the car.  If bodies get too warm and sweaty in the car, they will get too cool outside.
  ~ Excellent footwear is a must.  It can keep dew, muck, snow, and slush off toes and helps make the trek through uneven terrain easier.  For some locales, footwear that covers the ankle is also beneficial, as grasses, branches, or other plants may rub against the legs and the ankle area may not have enough protection.  Snow may seep in and make for very chilly walking.
  ~ A warm drink, such as tea, hot chocolate or soup, helps warms the hands and soul.
  ~ Keep moving!  A body in motion will keep warmer than one that is still.

Do you have any tips to share?

Enjoy your cool weather exploring!

Dreamland

The night treasures come.

Owls hoot in the dark night sky.

Beautiful night sky.

~ Nicholas, October 18

Somehow, our family has started to get into a poetry groove.  In fact, my son has requested that all of his writing work be poetry.  So, we've had a sprinkling of poetry around our house - from reading rhyming stories, to books filled with poetry, to writing our own poetry.  Lately, our children have headed off to dreamland with the words of a poem leading them.  I'm attempting to resurrect our evening tradition of reading a poem or short story outside the children's bedrooms once they are tucked into bed.

I still love tucking each of them in - making sure the covers are just where they need to be - and then giving them each a hug and kiss goodnight and wishing them sweet dreams.  Each child is just a little different from the others.  Astrin needs to give everyone a kiss goodnight before I take her upstairs to get into her sleepsack, while I recite The Going to Bed Book and cuddle her.  She needs the door closed too and will shout until it is closed!  Nicholas needs everything in its right spot.  Jaelyn typically just needs the challenge of a race to be scurrying up the stairs and diving head-first into bed. 

We've discovered a real gem of a book to keep the bedtime poetry fresh - The Waldorf Book of Poetry.   While we've only had it in our book collection for a few weeks, I have a feeling it will make its way into many of our days, and perhaps even activities throughout our day.  The collection is organized into different themes - imagination (think fairies!), the seasons, fables, animals, history, numbers, grammar, and more! 

I find that story-time and poetry reading before bed is such a nice way to spend the final moments of the day with my children.  I aspire to start our days - once we're all ready to face the day - with a story that we can be mindful of as we head out into the world.  We did this well for about a week, and I'd like to pick up where we left off now that the mountain of food to be preserved has dwindled.  And I'm so thrilled to have another resource that can speak to their imaginations, hearts, and souls. 

A heart-happy day

Today didn't start out as anything special...in fact, I was suspicious that it would turn into a horrendous day, as all of the children were up early this morning!  Nevertheless, it shaped up to be a pleasant day...Jaelyn read a new book to me and we cuddled while a read a new book to her.  She also finished off a knitting project (but more on that tomorrow).  We went to our homeschool co-op and had a delightful time.  I gathered with some fine folks this evening to celebrate our achievements on pulling off a community festival this past September.

The special moments of today seemed to focus around Nicholas.  How he announced this morning that he would prefer to write poetry - limericks and haiku, mainly - for all his writing work.  He finished a poster about owls and endangered species that he has been working on for the last month and a bit.  He discovered at our homeschool co-op that he really likes to do high jump (as well as one can when a pole is suspended from two chairs and there really isn't a thick cushy mat to fall into).  On our way home he mentioned finding a track team to join.

Here's hoping you had a heart-happy day too!

What's the use of handwriting?

A few weeks ago, I wrote that I wondered what relevancy teaching handwriting would be in this day and age.  I have now found the answer.  If one cannot read handwriting, one cannot make scrumptious recipes for things like zapple crisp, Thanksgiving rice dressing, or pumpkin pie.  That's because all those recipes are hand-me-downs that have been written on recipe cards.

We received a rather large zucchini from our CSA farmer.  We decided as a family it would be destined to some sort of dessert.  We were limited, though, by what we had on hand.  No chocolate chips for chocolate chip zucchini muffins.  No desire to mess around cutting up maraschino cherries for a cherry zucchini loaf.  But we did have lots of rolled oats on hand.  So we decided to make zapple crisp.  For those uninitiated, zapple crisp is pretty much like apple crisp, except there is zucchini in it instead of apples.  It's a great way to use up zucchini in a new and interesting way that everyone will love.

Nicholas decided to lead this project, knowing that the dish at the end of the rainbow was yummy-delicious.  So, I dug out the recipe from the recipe box and asked him to gather up the ingredients.  Shortly after, I heard grumbling from his part of the kitchen.

"Mom, this is handwriting.  I can't read it," was his response when I asked what was wrong.

So, we looked at it together, line by line.  It turns out that some of it was hard to read, either due to my handwriting style (why do "e" and "r" and "u" and "i" and "l" all look the same?) or because the recipe was well-splattered from repeated use.  Oh, and it was written with green pen, which hasn't aged so well.  And I had written abbreviations he hadn't seen before ("what does 'c.' mean, Mama?)  But when we went through it slowly, together, it started to make sense to him.

Once the zapple crisp was prepared and in the oven, Nicholas sat back.  "You know Mom," he started.  "You should re-write all of your recipes in printing.  Or at least print anything new you add." 

I smiled sweetly at him.  "You know Nicholas," I replied.  "I can write faster than I can print, so I think I'll keep on writing."  And, fingers crossed, here's hoping he'll keep on cooking so he can keep on learning!

Here's the recipe for zapple crisp:

Ingredients:

• 6 cups zucchini - peeled, quartered lengthwise and sliced into 1/4" slices
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, divided
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp cornstarch or tapioca starch
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil

Method of madness:

1. Lightly oil a 9" baking dish.  Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Simmer zucchini and lemon juice in medium-sized pan for about 15 minutes, until zucchini is soft.
3. Add 1/2 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger and cook for 5 minutes more.
4. Remove a few tablespoons of liquid from the zucchini mixture.  Dissolve cornstarch in liquid.  When no lumps remain, return the liquid to the zucchini mixture and stir.  Move zucchini mixture to the baking dish.
5. Mix oats with remaining brown sugar, salt and butter until the mixture becomes crumbly.
6. Spread the oat mixture over the zucchini and bake for 20 minutes or until brown on top.

 

Writing stories

Last week, my son and I sat down for a little heart-to-heart about writing.  He clearly was not interested in doing the Writing Strands workbook I'd purchased for him.  From my perspective, it looked like a relaxed, interesting program.  From his perspective, it was an encroachment on his time and how he wanted to spend it.  So, I shared with him my feeling that writing is important in our world as a way to share information and express thoughts with others and we should still do writing work every other week.  He needed to tell me what would work for him.  He promised to think about it.

Then, later that week, I pulled up the story I had written while we were in Nova Scotia.  I read it to both my children, and told them I was planning on writing others, as inspiration would allow.  They were silent through its reading and said they enjoyed it.  Then, my son expressed his wish to write stories for his stuffed animals.  Done - I was ecstatic with this idea!  We brought out several notebooks for him to pick from (one that he could add pictures to, and several that were different sizes.  He picked the size and colour, wrote the names of the animals he was writing for, and set it aside for writing week.

Writing week is here this week.  Yesterday he struggled with what to write and how to build it with only a blank page staring back at him.  So, we walked through the building blocks of a good story...who did he want the characters to be?  Where would the story take place?  What would the problem be?  What was the solution?  How would the characters find the solution?  Did we want to jot down the answers to the question now or just think about them and start writing?

He preferred to write the story on his own, without any more coaching from me.  He preferred to think of the questions, and then just jump in and write.  He asked me to read his story out loud, and then share with him any spelling corrections.

He's now written two stories for his animals, both of which he was happy to run up the stairs and share with his animals.

I had promised to share the stories I wrote as they became ready.  Here's the first one...that same one I wrote in Nova Scotia and read to the children last week for the first time.

The Foxes Play

Little Red Fox lived in a den that was carved out of a little hill, right where the forest and the meadow met, and it was a lovely place for a little fox to grow up.  For in the meadow, she could playfully chase butterflies or nap on the warm rocks, and she could always smell the fragrant flowers and chat with the bees that visited every day.  And in the forest, she could wander amongst the tall trees and conjure up imaginary fox heroes of long ago, or whisper secrets to the wind that rustled the leaves.  What she loved most about where she lived, though, was all of the games that she could play with her brothers and sisters.  They could play tag, or hide and seek, or capture the flag, or Marco Polo.  Little Red Fox liked hide and seek the best.

One early autumn morning, when the leaves were starting to change colour and falling gently to the forest floor, Little Red Fox and her brothers and sisters romped out of their den, ready to play.  Little Red Fox held her nose up to the warm sun, hoping to cast off the chill from the night.  Then she opened her eyes and exclaimed, “Look at all the leaves piled up in the nooks and crannies of the forest!  Look how the grasses are so golden in the sunshine!  This is the perfect day to play hide and seek!”

“Little Red Fox,” replied White Chest, who was the oldest of the little foxes.  “We played hide and seek yesterday.  It’s time for someone else to have a turn picking the game.”

“No fair,” Little Red Fox grumbled. 

“I know, let’s play Marco Polo!” exclaimed her brother, Black Paws.  All the foxes, except Little Red Fox, cheered for Marco Polo.

“But we played Marco Polo yesterday too!  And Marco Polo will disturb the bees.  Let’s play hide and seek,” implored Little Red Fox.  But it was too late.  Black Paws had his eyes closed and was already shouting out to the other little foxes and they were shouting back to him.

“No fair, no fun, Marco Polo is dumb!  No fair, no fun, Marco Polo is dumb!” Little Red Fox chanted as she danced around Black Paws. 

“Stop it, Little Red Fox.  I can’t hear the others.  If you don’t want to play, do something else.  I’m sure we’ll play hide and seek later,” said Black Paws, frowning. 

But Little Red Fox didn’t stop.  She kept on chanting in her loudest voice, “No fair, no fun, Marco Polo is dumb!”  She ran tight circles around Black Paws as she continued to shout, “No fair, no fun, Marco Polo is dumb!”  Black Paws tried to get away from her so he could hear the others, but he couldn’t see where he was going.  He trotted right in Little Red Fox’s path and she ran right into him!  He fell down a gentle slope, tumbling head over heels.  When he finally came to a stop, he sat up and tears spilled from his eyes.

“Oh, I hurt all over,” he moaned.

All the little foxes stopped playing.  They quickly ran down the hill to where Black Paws was.  “Where does it hurt most,” they said, and they gave him little fox kisses all over – on his head, on his paws, on his ears.  Once they kissed his tears away, the little foxes slowly climbed the hill to take Black Paws into the den.  They silently walked past Little Red Fox, who was at the top of the hill watching in horror.   

“Oh no!” thought Little Red Fox.  “What will Mama say?”  Little Red Fox didn’t mean for Black Paws to get hurt - it was an accident!  But they hadn’t listened to her, and they hadn’t played her game.  It was their fault that Black Paws got hurt, not hers!

Once they were at the den and Black Paws was safely inside, White Chest returned to the top of the hill where Little Red Fox was sitting miserably.  “How did you feel when we didn’t play hide and seek?” she asked softly.

“Mad,” grumbled Little Red Fox.

“Why?” asked White Chest.

“Because it is my favorite game and I really, really wanted to play it,” replied Little Red Fox.

“We all have a favorite game we like to play, and we would get mad too if we always had to play the same game and never our favorite one.  That’s why we need to take turns deciding what game to play.  And besides, there’s still a lot of time for playing all sorts of games.  What other things do you like to do?”  White Chest asked quietly.

Little Red Fox cocked her head and paused to think.  “I like chasing the butterflies and chatting with the bees.  I like chasing the squirrels and weaving between the trees of the forest.” 

White Chest smiled.  “Those things sound nice.  Do you think that if there’s a game you don’t want to play with us, you could do one of those things until you feel ready to play with the rest of us?”

Little Red Fox looked at the ground.  She knew White Chest was right.  “I can try,” she said quietly.  She raised her head and looked towards the opening of the den.  She saw her brothers and sisters, including Black Paws, watching her and White Chest.  She sighed.  Then she slowly walked to the den to apologize to Black Paws.  For she truly didn’t want him to get hurt, and she forgot about the feelings of the others and sharing turns.

Later that afternoon, after a lovely rabbit lunch, all the little foxes again scampered out of the den.  They playfully tumbled in the meadow when White Chest shouted, “Let’s play tag!”  

“Yay!” all the other foxes, except Little Red Fox, cheered.  She wanted to play hide and seek so badly! 

“Could we play tag and then hide and seek?” she asked meekly.

“I think so,” said White Chest.

Little Red Fox brightened.  And she had so much fun playing tag that she almost forgot how much she had wanted to play hide and seek.  Finally, the little foxes collapsed in the meadow in a tired, giggly heap.  When they caught their breath, White Chest sat up and suggested they play hide and seek, and that Little Red Fox could be “it”.  The other foxes cheered and then quickly scampered into the forest while Little Red Fox covered her eyes and counted to ten, very slowly.