Monday Morning Tea

Monday mornings are a little slow going. After a weekend of rambunctious rumpus with my little wild things, it can be a little hard to jump right into our Monday morning.  So we don't. We ease into it with a tea party and poetry. 

This week we read some lovely winter themed poems to go along with our winter exploration we are doing this season. 

Their favorite poem this week was 

'Something Told The Wild Geese'

By Rachel Field

Something told the wild geese

It was time to go.

Though the fields lay golden

Something whispered, - "Snow."

Leaves were green and stirring,

Berries, luster glossed,

But beneath warm feathers

Something cautioned,- "Frost."

All the sagging orchards

Steamed with amber spice,

But each wild breast stiffened 

At remembered ice.

Something told the wild geese

It was time to fly,-

Summer sun was on their wings, 

Winter in their cry. 

And there was some Robert Frost

And several others that we also enjoyed, leaving us excited about the coming snow and pondering the wonders of winter. 

Today the snow is falling outside, covering our little world in a blanket of white and the kids are convinced it was our winter poetry that brought winter blowing in. 

A Week of Maths

Math is mostly hands on, although each has a workbook that they do a page out of each day. Math is so fun, and I want them to have fun with it too. Chase loves finding patterns in numbers and Lily loves the different manipulatives. 

Here's a week in maths: 

Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division with manipulatives

Place value and adding large numbers on the abacus 

Sometimes, working out of the workbook

Sometimes math is more abstract, like visualizing the numbers 1-10, smallest to biggest, with the cylinder blocks

Geometry patterns, shapes, symmetry, and also fractions

Geometry building- shapes, angles, lines and points

Money addition and subtraction

I like doing our math rather eclectic like this, with no real outline. Several types of maths get done each day, so there is a lot of repeating, reinforcing, and review. And, more importantly, they are having fun and enjoying maths. 

Sunshine, Imagination, and Animals

This Sunday I am feeling an abundance of gratitude for so many things in my life. I am so grateful for my little family and where we are in life right now. 

I am grateful for 

This moment, having lunch with my favorite two people in the world, I am grateful for their company and that they are such amazing little people

This moment, when the sun was so golden that the pine trees actually looked orange, I am grateful that we get to live here, surrounded by so much beauty 

This moment, seeing her far off, in her own world, deeply involved, using some of our manipulatives to create and play out her own magical story, I am grateful for her independence and imagination 

This moment, when they sat bathed in sunlight, working together on school work, I am grateful that I get to be home with them, seeing them grow and learn, and that they get to live this way.

This moment, when it was such a beautiful day that they wanted to stop and stare at the lake for a while instead of just heading home, I am grateful that they enjoy and appreciate nature and the small things in life

This moment, when he wasn't feeling well and the cat came and snuggled him for about an hour, and as soon as she left, he felt totally better, I am grateful for the reminder that animals can be powerful healers and for the bond my kids have with our animals. 

But, most of all, this week, I am most grateful for the majestic late fall weather we have been having. These days have been perfect, make you wake up with a smile, keep you motivated all day long, fill your soul up, kind of days, and I have been loving every minute of them

What are you most grateful for this Sunday? 

Haven't posted in a while

Something is in the air. All around us, things are changing, not only in nature, with winter on its way, but for friends and family. I see changes coming into the lives of so many around me. For us, our school rhythm changes with the seasons so I have been busy reorganizing our school stuff, replanning our rhythm, and reprioritizing what's important for this season. But it's more than that. I feel things changing beyond the regular changes of the season. I can see the kids growing into the next phase of their lives as I notice how much they've grown and matured this year. Our interactions are shifting in nature and they are needing more independence. I can see they have new needs and wants out of life, and from me, and I feel like my place in their world is shifting from being their leader to being their supporter, and letting them flourish, on their own, without much of my guidance. It is sad, in part, watching them grow so fast, and wishing each moment was longer, but I am excited for this new phase in their lives, and learning all about who they are and what they need from me this season. 

Maybe it's this change in the kids, or maybe it's just the change in the seasons, or maybe something truly is in the air, but I feel a renewed sense of enthusiasm for making changes in my own life. I have had the strongest urge to cleanse our household; to get rid of anything that isn't currently important to our life, and to simplify the way we live. I have been pouring myself into this, and it's amazing how much stagnant energy all that "stuff" can carry, and how amazing it feels when you let it go. With the kids needing less from me, and the house being purged, I have found time for me that was never there before, and I feel that I, too, am moving into a new phase of being able to focus a little more on me and the things that I enjoy, so I have been exploring what that means for me- what will this new season bring for me and what do I want out of life and myself right now. 

So, it's been a time of transitions and it has consumed us. Any spare time we've had, we have spent outside enjoying the last bits of fall. The weather has been amazing. Each day has been magical; warm and sunny, but with a soothing crisp chill to the air, the sky and the lake have been the most magnificent blue, and there has been a sweetness to the air from all the wet leaves drying in the sun. The sunlight is different this time of year, as well. Everything seems to sparkle in an almost silvery light, and everything even looks crisper, as if you can actually see things clearer right now. I have been savoring these days like sweet honey. I can't get enough of this late fall weather. 

Soon we will be settled into the changes that this season brings, life will slow down, and we will be enjoying the fluidity of our new daily rhythm. 

What kind of changes do the new seasons bring to your life? 

A Little Sunday Gratitude- Monkeys

This blogger app is not always so friendly to me, and many times when I post something it doesn't publish it and I later find it and have to repost it so here's my Sunday gratitutude, a little late. 

This week I am most grateful for these little monkeys.

This moment, when she got the big idea to use the dropper to make "rups" (raspberry & cups) and made 5 videos explaining how to make a rup, how to fill it and then drank her apple juice from little raspberry cups.

This moment, when he colored all night long, for two nights in a row, streaming the Spirit Animals audiobooks

This moment, when I found them working together on Chase's newest invention.

But, most of all, this moment, when these two were hiding, waiting to jump out and scare me, and I beat them to it. 

They aren't our most glamorous moments, or our most picture perfect ones, but they were the ones that filled me with so much love and gratitude for these amazing little human beings. 

A Day At The Park

We love the park, mostly because these little monkeys need to climb and hang and get their copious amount of energy out regularly or they start getting a little fiesty, but it is always a wonderful day when we can get out and enjoy the beautiful mountains we live in. 

These two are true mountain kids, snow on the ground, frigid fall mountain air, and neither wanted their jacket. They've taken to a saying heard from Grandpa, "Jackets are things kids need when moms are cold." 

We were the only ones at the park, which I secretly love, because then it is me they want to play with. They run away yelling "Chase us, chase us!" and we run up and down and all around, climbing and sliding to safety, and the two of them work together, warning each other of my whereabouts or cheering each other on, laughing and screaming, with gigantic smiles on their faces. I love these moments with them, when they are just being wild and free, and I savor every moment of it, running and screaming with them, because soon enough, they aren't going to want me to play with them at the playground, soon enough those innocent little squeals will turn into teenage laughter, and these moments will be long past.

This little one would freeze and act like a statue every time I came near. Her imagination is so big and it's always fun to see what ideas she comes up with as we play. 

And this went on and on until a flock of geese came and landed in the field across from the playground, and we were off to welcome the geese. 

Lily spent a long while running around the field, playing with her shadow, making it taller and smaller, and exploring different poses.

And Chase joined in the fun

Then went and found his own fun, frosty sand angels. 

By that time we were cold and wet so we carried our little statue to the car and went home. 

It was another fun and memorable fall day at the park. 

Character and Values

We regularly talk about values and character in our house. I think it's important for kids to know what kind of person they want to be and strive to follow those values. Sometimes this is a wonderful thing, when I see what amazing children they are, but other times I see them struggling because they are good kids, and it breaks my heart. When they come running to me crying or crushed because they can't understand why someone would be mean to them, when they feel like the odd one out because I'm encouraging different behaviors than the other kids around them have, or when they feel like they need to do something against their values to try to fit in, it fills me with sadness and leaves me questioning myself what's important in our world. 

Our family values are: 

Joy

Respect

Consideration

Responsibility

Kindness

Integrity

Thankfulness

Compassion

Honesty

Determination

Our Value Cards have a value on the front with a picture that helps explain the value

And on the backside is a definition and ways we show that value

We also have corresponding cards that explain a little better how we can follow each value. 

So this morning, after reviewing each value, they put them in order of importance to them. 

It was interesting to see how each of them ordered the values. They both put Integrity at the top of their list, because they define integrity as being an overall good person, and having all of these values. Joy was near the top of Lily's list but almost at the bottom of Chase's list, because he thinks that "having all of these other values helps you have joy. And that if you were a mean person and didn't have these values, you wouldn't be a very joyful person". It was so interesting to see their interpretations of each value's importance. 

We made a chart to help keep track of when we see each other practicing a value. 

It's a group chart, so we are all working together to fill it, which should motivate the kids to point out when they see each other practicing a value. Once it is full, we will have a fun family night out. 

We will continue to use and explore these value cards throughout the year. 

Pilgrim Project

Chase has been working on our pilgrim unit for, well, way too long. He was kind of dragging his heels a bit on pilgrims because he "wasn't that into it". He liked Columbus, Jamestown even more, and is excited to start Daniel Boone, but pilgrims- not so much. I guess it wasn't exciting or adventurous enough. They didn't discover a whole new half of a world, or get mostly wiped out by a horrible sickness, or lose all their food in a fire. We also had so much going on during this unit, we were constantly interrupted which always makes it harder to really get involved in the unit. Oh well, so it goes. 

So, Chase decided to do a pilgrim lap book for his unit project, the culmination of months of notebooking, mapping, studying animals, the 13 colonies, pilgrim life, Squanto, and different Indian tribes. Some of the components of the lapbook or some of the projects he did are:

Apothecary Shop: learned about herbal medicines and colonial medical practices 

Tin Lantern: learned about colonial craftsman jobs

Learned about colonists- what work they did, how they dressed, and what their day was like

Colonial Houses

Colonial Dress- learned about the many layers of clothing and the reasoning for it

Colonial Food- made a recipe book

Farming- learned about what foods they grew and what tools they used, how much time they spent cooking, about the kitchen, and the different items used in it

How they made clothing, what the cloth was made out of

All about bees, why they were called bees, and how much colonists depended on each other for help

Wove a bed- learned all about pilgrim's houses

And how they decorated with stencils

Learned all about the original 13 colonies and who settled them 

He's proud of his work, we have a pretty thorough understanding of pilgrims, and we're ready to move on. 

Our Winter Schedule

Our family and school routines are always changing along with the seasons. Fall and spring we crave more structure and seem to cram in as much learning as we can. Summer and winter life slows down and we spend more time having fun, together as a family. This ebb and flow of school and family life seems to happen naturally as we try to balance structure and freedom, closeness and independence, strengths and weaknesses, curriculum and natural learning, 1st grade needs and 4th grade needs, work to be done and the outdoors calling.... Each new season brings a renewed excitement for homeschooling and a welcome break from the mundane routine of the season past. 

With fall on its way out, we are settling in to our winter routine. I love everything about our winter routine. Everyone slows down a bit; weekday mornings are a little lazier as we spend extra time starting the fire and making warm drinks and cuddling together while we wait for the house to warm.

 In true Charlotte Mason style, our lessons become shorter and more independent, allowing for some much appreciated creative time for me, and taking less time in the day, so that our afternoons can be filled with natural learning, on the rare day that the kids are not skiing. And our nights are spent differently too, with the sky darkening earlier. Nights are spent in front of the fire, reading classics by candlelight or deeply engrossed in strategy games. There is a stillness to our home life that balances out the demand that skiing has on our schedule. I love what every season brings to our family, and winter slows us down, makes us appreciate each other and our time together, and allows us to really enjoy our everyday life at home.