Footprints on the Fridge

In the Seasonal Basket: Spring

I have been trying to be a little more focused lately on getting the full value of our library system and filling book baskets with new topics regularly.  We've been really loving our nature and art learning trails and thanks to Jessica, our Easter book basket was full to the brim this month.  Having full baskets of picture books placed strategically throughout the house serves as a constant reminder to me to spend some time with the littlest ones in the midst of busy school days and full family evenings. And I am a huge believer that a good picture book can teach an older child as much has any text book or internet research can, and do it an a way that brings beauty and joy to his heart. 

That being said, I filled a seasonal book basket with sweet spring picture books this month and we are enjoying them immensely, so I thought I'd share some titles. Here's what we're cuddling up with these sunny spring days:

• Hurray for Spring, Patricia Hubbell
• Birdsong, Audrey Wood
• Spring's Sprung, Lynn Plourde
• Tops and Bottoms, Janet Stevens
• Red Sings from Treetops, Joyce Sidman
• Mouse's First Spring, Lauren Thompson
• Around the Year, Elsa Beskow
• A Time to Keep, Tasha Tudor

I'm not posting Amazon links, because these are not necessarily a well-thought out book list I'm suggesting you go purchase.  More or less, I grab from my own shelves, the seasonal shelf, and the Caldecott shelf at the library.  I look for familiar titles, books I haven't seen yet that look lovely, and let the kids pick a few.  Some are destined to become favorites and fill the basket every year, others get returned to their respective shelves with no love lost. Nevertheless, there's something very inviting about a basket full of spring books placed next to the front porch rocker just behind newly planted window boxes. And these are the tender moments I'm looking to create. Maybe it'll help renew your focus too.

Next month's book basket themes are Mary in the faith basket, baseball in the seasonal basket, and Monet and gardens for the art and nature trail.  Any great recommendations? Feel free to leave them in the comments.

Nature and Art: The Glory of Spring

With Spring full upon us here and the knowledge that in a few short weeks we will begin to complain about the heat, I am trying very hard to immerse us in as much nature study and outdoor time as possible.  Last month, inspiration struck and I decided on a whim to create a display about birds on the nature table.  Then, a picture book about John James Audubon caught my eye at the library and I decided to make him the artist of the month and tie our art study into out nature study.  It was a lovely and inspirational whim. It led us on a field trip to these gardens to gaze at the snowy egrets, and will culminate in a trip this zoo this weekend, where we will celebrate the ninth birthday of our very own artistically inclined nature lover.  Since this little rabbit trail began, he has been drawing birds with great detail and passion and declaring to everyone that he wants to be the next John James Audubon. 

Here is our John James Audubon Book List:

The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon

Into the Woods: John James Audubon Lives His Dream

Audubon: Painter of Birds in the Wild Frontier

For Picture Study:

John James Audubon: American Birds

There are plenty of great books for studying birds to add to your nature table.  I just pulled from our shelves and from the library shelf and left them there for the kids to peek through as they liked.

This little rabbit trail played itself out so nicely, that I have made my library requests and this month the nature table will be full with picture books about artist Georgia O'Keefe and nature books about wildflowers. 

Here is our Georgia O'Keeffe book list:

Through Georgia's Eyes

Georgia Rises: A day in the Life of Georgia O'Keeffe

My Name is Georgia

Georgia's Bones

For Picture Study:

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Collections

I hope we can enhance this study with a field trip to this lovely spot which will be lush with azalea blossoms and wisteria vine this month.  Again, flower study will be a random splash of books from our stash and the library's shelves. 

I hope you all are getting out and about into the world this spring.  Do let us know where spring's glory takes you!

Beauty in the Ashes

Lenten mantle reminder: Forty Days in the Desert

As we approach Holy Week this year, I am having to rethink the way in which I would normally do things.  Most years, the effort of Holy Week in this house is to find age appropriate ways to make the reality of the Passion of Christ real for my children, so that they may truly experience the joyful exultation of Easter.  This year, real life has changed the perspective a bit. And it's hard.

To be honest, I wish we had needed this Lent.  I wish that all the superficial reminders that we are dust were necessary.  I wish the reality of suffering and death were far removed from our lives and we needed a wake up call. But the truth is we've been living life on the Via Dolorosa for some time now.  Death's sting is palpable in this house. The transient nature of the world is all too real.  The reality that the only eternal joy is in heaven is unfairly ours.  And the deep, desperate hope of Resurrection is the rallying cry of our spirits.  It alone makes us rise each day and begin again. My kids know the horror of death more than I ever imagined they would at such tender ages.  They know what it means to close up the tomb and wait. And they don't need any further reminders.

Lenten Mantle: the Pieta and the Three Pillars of Lent

What they need this Holy Week are gentle ways to live the liturgy, to see the beauty in the ashes. The hope of Sunday's reality needs to be sweet and joyful and tangible, but the references to death and its sting need to be quiet and gentle.  So my regular rotation of Stations of the Cross and watching the second half of Jesus of Nazareth in the evenings and attending the very realistic Living Way of the Cross at the local university are put on hold this year.  There will be Mass and Confession at some point.  There will be Eucharistic Adoration and the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.  But mostly, there will be gentle beauty and quiet, hopeful healing for little hearts (and bigger ones too, I suppose).

Each day this week, we'll let a lovely picture book sharpen our focus and lead us through this week's reflections with gentleness and beauty.  Then we'll quietly create something lovely, another gentle reminder of the beauty in the ashes. 

Holy Week at Home 2010:

The Legend of the Easter Egg, Easter Eggs for Anya, and Rechenka's Eggs: We'll read these books and do a more age appropriate version of Pysanky here.  Using wooden eggs with a flattened out bottom (so they stand on their own), the kids will pencil draw a design, then trace over it a Sharpie marker.  Then they'll paint in the design with craft paint.  When that layer of paint is dry, they will go over their marker lines with puff paint to create a raised design.  I'm hoping the effect will be quite nice and the process rewarding for them.

The Little Rose of Sharon: We'll read this one and then make red and white ribbon roses.  We'll tie on day's prayer of the Divine Mercy novena to each of nine roses and put them in a vase on the mantle. We'll untie each prayer as we pray it and put it away.  On Divine Mercy Sunday, I'll put the ribbon roses away until next year and replace them with real ones.

The Tale of Three Trees: We'll follow this one up with a spring walk in the woods and pretzel making for Good Friday. 

Fiona French's Easter: This book, which contains the words of the Easter story from the King James Bible and beautiful stained glass illustrations will be our Easter Saturday read aloud. Afterwards, we'll make our own stained glass windows by coloring printed coloring pages of Easter scenes (not the bunny kind, the Jesus kind) and then covering the edges with coloring tissue paper glued down, and oiling the backside with baby oil on a cotton ball.  When they are dry, we frame them in black paper frames and hang them in the windows as Easter decorations.  We'll make a new Alleluia to hang across the mantle using the same technique.

I hope you all find some inspiration for bringing Holy Week to life in your home.  We will carry you with us in prayer this week and can't wait to celebrate the joy of the Resurrection with you.

For Palm Sunday

We are doing our Palm Sunday reading and crafting today as we are heading out for a weekend visit with the grandparents and cousins this evening.  This morning as I read to the boys from our selected readings I was reminded how well loved our Palm Sunday read aloud is. They all began to chatter excitedly when I held it up and then the little boys made me reread it multiple times.

 

Little Colt's Palm Sunday is written in rhyming text and is the story of a little donkey who is having trouble falling asleep and asks his mother for a story.  She tells him the story of his great-great grandpa who once carried the King of Kings.  The next day the donkeys' owner takes them to town where the little colt is borrowed by two men because the Lord has need of him.  The story is charming,  the rhyming text flows quite naturally, and the illustrations lovely.  My kids are captivated by this book and I am grateful to have such a lovely way to illustrate the meaning of Palm Sunday to them. I'm hoping to add this one to our list next year as well.

This afternoon we'll make handprints palms with "Hosanna" down the center and add them to our Lenten mantle.

On Sunday evening, when we get home from our weekend away, we'll have passionfruit juice (since this Sunday is also known as Passion Sunday) and Jessica's amazing trifle which we will use to symbolize that even though we are saddened that Christ had to shed His blood for us (the red), we are filled with gratitude that by His sacrifice, we are washed clean (the white). 

I hope you all have a blessed beginning to your Holy Week.

St. Patrick's Day

Here are our plans for celebrating the patron of Ireland and all things green and lovely:

Breakfast:

Green Eggs and Ham

Irish Cocoa: hot chocolate with whipped cream and green sprinkles

Morning Prayer:

Saint Patrick's Breast Plate

Books to Read:

Saint Patrick, Ann Tompert

Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland, Tomie de Paola

Saint Patrick's Day in The Morning, Eve Bunting

Fin M'Coul, Tomie De Paola

The Last Snake in Ireland

O'Toole and the Wee Folk, Gerald McDermott

Tea Time Snacks:

Shamrock Toasties  (HT: Jessica)

White Chocolate Dipped Mint Oreos with Green Sprinkles

Dinner:

Cabbage Rolls

Guinness Glazed Carrots

Irish Soda Bread

Dessert:

Brownies with York Peppermint PATTY centers and Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

Crafts:

Wee Leprechauns

Learning:

St. Patrick and St. Joseph lapbooks, adapted from Jessica's plans 

I'll upload photos when our celebrating is done.

Wordless Wednesday: A is for Apple

 

 

 

Math Made Meaningful This Year

I must tell you, I can't believe I'm writing a post about math.  I'm so not a math mind.  Like most homeschooling moms, it's the one aspect of learning I'd happily leave in someone else's hands.  That's the reason I'm such a fan of the quality programs at Teaching Textbooks.  It has been totally liberating for both Quinn and me for him to start each day with his Teaching Textbooks lesson at the computer--he loves the style of teaching and learning, has never run into a problem he cannot learn after following the process the program lays out, and I do not have to stress over trying to figure out how to explain processes that quite frankly intimidate me as much as they do him.  I am so glad to say that for math this year, he'll work his way through Teaching Textbooks 6--and there's nothing left to explain.  Whew!  Thank goodness!

On the other hand, one of the advantages to homeschooling is to ensure that my children don't have the same experiences with learning as I did in school.  I don't want them to think that math is the one part of the day that we must struggle, suffer, butt heads and be frustrated.  I want to introduce them to the world of numbers in a way that is interesting, inviting, familiar, and fun.  That is what appeals to me about Waldorf math stories.  I really want my boys to be introduced to the mathematical world in this wonderfully creative, gentle way.  I have been enamored with Katherine's Gnomes and Gnumbers tale since she first began posting it at Serendipity.  I keep hoping the timing will be right for her to finish it one day, but in the meantime, my Gabriel, who is eight, is approaching the end of his introductory years in math and if I'm going to do this with him, the time is now.  In addition, Brendan, who is six, is beginning his formal learning adventure this year and this is the perfect introduction for him.  So I will begin my year using the six lessons Katherine has already laid out for the first semester.  Both boys will hear the stories and do some of the activities together, and then each will complete age appropriate hands-on work, main lesson book pages, and Kumon workbook pages for reinforcement.  Next semester, I'll work on writing some stories of our own to introduce the processes of multiplication and division and work with the same rhythm we set this semester.

Here is a sample of the plans for studying Lesson 1 for three weeks of math instruction:

Week 1:

Monday: (Both)Play the gem trading game.

Tuesday:  (Both)Listen to story 1, re-enact it, draw the gnomes in main lesson book.

Wednesday: (Brendan) Work on counting out gems up to 20.  Practice recognizing numbers 1-20 by counting out piles of gemstones that are given him and matching them to the correct number written on card stock and laminated.  Begin modeling numbers 1-20 out of Crayola Model Magic.

(Gabriel) Work on counting to 100 by placing gems on hundreds board, counting aloud as he goes.  Practice number recognition by making the number I call out of card stock number card (example: I say "72", he finds a seven card and a two card and lines them up side by side to make the number).  Reverse the process by letting him make a number and call it out to me.  Begin main lesson book activity of writing numbers 1-100 in the fashion suggested in the lesson.

Thursday (Brendan):  Do dot to dot activities with numbers up to twenty.  Play guessing game:  Have him pour out what he thinks is twenty beans from a large jar into a tray.  Then have him count them out and add or take away as needed.  Finish modeling numbers.

(Gabriel): Do dot to dot activities with numbers up to 100.  Play guessing game with 100 instead of 20.  Complete main lesson book page. 

(Both) Listen to Turtle Splash: Countdown at the Pond and The M and M Counting Book.  

Week 2:

Monday: (Both) Gem Trading Game

Tuesday: (Both) Listen to story (acting out breaking of the stick as we read), re-enact it with gnomes and sticks, draw Old Dismas in main lesson book.

Wednesday: (Both) Make roman numerals 1-12 out of toothpicks.  Place correct number of gems next to numeral. Match modeled numbers to roman numerals.  Begin main lesson book page writing numbers 1-12 in a row, followed by roman numeral, followed by correct quantity of gem stones.

Thursday (Both): Complete assigned pages in Kumon numbers workbooks, finish main lesson book page. Listen to Anno's Counting Book and One Beautiful Baby read aloud.  Draw a baby in main lesson book page and label from the story.  

Week 3:

Monday (Both): Gem Trading Game

 Tuesday: (Both) Listen to story, re-enact, narrate story and place keyboarded version in main lesson book, decorate page.

Wednesday: (Both) Play hopscoth with roman numerals in the boxes.  Count out loud as they go.  Practice counting to 100 out loud, taking turns saying the next number.  Complete form drawing for main lesson book.

Thursday: (Both) Work in Kumon workbooks.  Listen to Roman Numerals I to MM  and One Hundred is a Family read aloud.   Narrate and illustrate for main lesson book.

We will follow a similar rhythm for the other lessons, alternating the story and main lesson book work with hands-on learning, play, and math-themed picture books.  We'll post our plans for those lessons in the weeks ahead. If you're considering using Gnomes and Gnumbers this year and have thoughts, ideas, or questions to share, please consider leaving us a note in the comments for Lesson One over at Serendipity.  I'll meet you there! 

Heralding the Faith This Year

  I am in the final phases of putting our school plan together for the upcoming year.  I hope to share as many of them here as I can for the sake of organization and record-keeping and because, let's face it, we like to talk plans, don't we?

We'll continue to hinge our day on prayer--marking our starting point, important transitions and evening with family prayer.  Before breakfast, we join in offering our day to God and our Blessed Mother in our Morning Offering.  Before lunch, we stop to pray the Angelus.  At the 3 o'clock hour we quiet ourselves in personal prayer and in the evening, we come together for family prayer.  I have not been as good about getting the boys to settle in for quiet prayer in the afternoons, so I will put my efforts toward better forming that habit this year.   In addition, I'd like to work toward getting to Mass or Holy Hour at least once a week with the children. 

Our faith plans this year were a bit more open as I do not have a First Communicant to prepare.  It was the perfect year to undertake a family study of the Mass and what we find in our church.  In addition to this study, we'll continue with our plans for the Year for Priests.  We'll continue to live the liturgy and this year focus on commemorating those saints who served the church as priests.  Without really meaning to, we've ended up reading through a different collection of saint's stories each year.  This year, we've added the Loyola Kids Books to our collection and use them to learn about our saintly friends on their feasts and other special days.  In addition, we'll encourage personal growth through our mantle's monthly messages and weekly tea times to discuss the virtue we're focusing on.  In conjunction with our virtue study, we'll strive to memorize a coordinating beatitude each month.

  We'll undertake a study of the Mass that includes understanding each part of the Mass and what we do and say during that section as well as learning the prayers of the Mass and several traditional hyms in both English and Latin.  Copywork, dictation, and recitation will be our process for this undertaking.  Here is the breakdown for our monthly learning:

August: The Entrance Prayers and Penitential Rite
September: Gloria
October: The Liturgy of the Word
November: Tantum Ergo and Panis Angelicus
Advent Break
January: the Creed
February: Offertory
March: Prayers of the Consecration
April: Prayers in Preparation for and After Communion
May: Closing Prayers /Hymns: Ave Maria and Adoro Te Devote

In addition to these plans, each week, we'll head to church to spend some time before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and to learn about the things we find in our church.  Here are what we'll focus on each month:

August: Church architecture (nave, crossing, vestibule, sanctuary,etc...)
September: Sacred items (crucifix, baptismal font, holy water fonts, paschal candle, pulpit, etc....)
October: Christ present (tabernacle, sanctuary light, altar, etc...)
November: mini-unit on stained glass
Advent Break
January: mini-unit on priest's vestments (from Ruth and we'll introduce our own version of Jen's Fr. Oak )
February: mini-unit on altar linens and sacred vessels (using the presentations in the mini Mass kit) 
March and April: break for Lent and Easter and to focus on learning about the Consecration and Eucharistic prayers
May: A tour of our priestly heritage (I had a great uncle who was a well-known and well-respected priest in the diocese in which we now live--which is not where I grew up--I have contacted the diocesan archives to get a list of the parishes in which he served--we'll visit as many as we can this month, and use what we have learned throughout the year to take a close look at these churches)

Resources for our study:

• Maria Montessori's The Mass Explained to Children
• Patmos' A Child's Missal (hard to find)
• An Illustrated Catechism
• The Mass Book for Children
• A is for Altar, B is for Bible
• The Weight of the Mass
• Jesus With Us: The Gift of the Eucharist
• A Handshake from Heaven
• Understanding the Latin Mass

Our liturgical plans are all pretty much repeats of our own traditions, or ideas borrowed from elsewhere in the blogosphere.  I'll share these in more detail as we live them.  You'll also see our monthly mantle messages and virtue teas as they are lived and celebrated.

I am always excited and yet slightly burdened by the awesome responsibility God has bestowed on us as the first heralds of our faith to these young souls.  I pray that the Holy Spirit has guided my choices for this year and that He will inspire us daily as we seek to grow in Holiness and walk in His way.  I'll be praying this prayer from my Mother's Manual often, I think:

Most loving Jesus, I realize motherhood is a sacred trust.  Let me not be neglecftful of my duty.  I know that proper religious education is of supreme importance and that, compared to it, all other learning is of little worth.  I appreciate, too, that it is a serious and grave obligation for a Christian motherto strive generously and perseveringly to obtain a good religious education for her children.

Let me not be too selfish to make the necessary sacrifices.  Rather let me generously and bravely strive to obtain for them the religious education which education you desire.  May I always remember that I shall have to give an account to you for every soul trusted to me ; and, remembering this, may I generously fulfill that most important duty of any mother--to afford the proper spiritual instruction for her child.

Heart of Jesus, fountain of all Knowledge...Have mercy on us!

 

Get Your Passports Ready

Can I tell you how excited I am to take off on our trip around the world at Serendipity?  I love the collaborative process of working with such gifted women and I am thrilled with the results.  Our school year is going to be so rich!  I can't wait to unpack the African treasure chest together and see what we find.  I hope you all will join us. 

For those of you beginning to flesh out the details and trying to get a vision for how this could work in your home, you can see my first attempt at laying out a week in my Google calendar in .pdf form here: Download Calendar_2009-05-10_2009-05-17.  There are already some things I want need to work on to get this plan exactly where I need it to be, but it's a good start.

I'm beginning to put together our continent boxes too.  I'm using black photo boxes like these for this project.  I'll back on outline map of the continent in colored card stock and decoupage it to the top, then slide a same-colored label on the front of the box.   The montessori downloads for that continent will get backed in the same color card stock before laminating and then placed in index card files.  I'm going to have to gather all my other items before I decide how exactly I'll keep them in the box and color code, so I'll give you a more detailed run down when the Africa box is ready to go.  If you need ideas for how this concept works, there is years worth of conversation and ideas logged at 4Real plus lots of links to really great examples.

This little table that I showed you in another post will become the montessori geography center.  I'm going to hang some art and photos low on the walls just above the table, then place a globe and the box for the continent that we are studying on top.  The small drawer will hold the appropriate puzzle map.  On the shelf underneath, I will place work trays similar to these with the  push pin tools and  a three part card tray.   During the montessori work block I have scheduled in the week, I'll have one child take the three part card work from the continent and the tray and bring it to the big table to work.  Another child will stay stationed here at the small table where to do map work.  A third child can take the rest of the contents of the box and the work tray to the large table and explore freely.  And finally, there'll be the option of geography computer games for yet another option.  As each child finished his work in one area, he can swap stations with someone else or move on to the open station at the time.  Our beeswax, wooden figures, and play silks will be available for anyone who is waiting for an open station.  Those can be used to sculpt the animals in the box, to imitate cultural dress styles, and to be painted or decorated like children from the continent we are studying.  Little ones will be allowed to explore the continent box and puzzle maps when older kids are done and to use the art supplies with the help of an older brother.  In addition, they will be encouraged to complete the work in their own montessori baskets during this time. 

I hope that gives you an idea of how one component of this study can look in your home.  I hope to add posts that detail some of our other learning blocks too, but they'll probably have to wait a while...the baby clock is in its final hours!

 

 

Little Bits of Beauty ~ Spring Nature

  The weather this week and a bathroom remodel project that left our homemaking and school routines in a shambles made finding and relishing our little bits of beauty a real necessity this week.  Luckily, our March nature basket contained just the thing to settle us down for a lovely morning and leave us with a sweet Spring reminder that is still making us smile.

We started Thursday morning with a nice stack of spring books to read, including this one from one of my favorite picture book collections.  We moved on to a little research about birds, their eggs, and their nests, then enjoyed a sweet craft and sweet lunch time snack.

I bought those four sweet bird statues for our nature display at the dollar store a while back.  We've already learned their names, a bit about each species, and the likelihood of spotting them in our neck of the woods.  It seemed natural for the boys to each choose one bird to make a nest for.  We researched together what their eggs would look like and then the boys set about filling the nests with some rafia and roving to make them a little more comfy.  They then painted their eggs, added them to the nest, and painted a baby bird as well.

Here are the finished products:

Brendan's cardinal and nest.

Quinn's goldfinch and nest.

  Evan's robin and nest.

Gabriel's blue jay and nest.  His brothers were really impressed with how realistic his looked.

At lunch,we enjoyed a little bird's nest treat for dessert--Little Debbie Star Crunch pressed in the middle holding a clutch of Cadbury Mini-Eggs:

This little bit of beauty in a drab week left us all smiles.

      

       

And our sweet Kolbe?  Napped through the whole thing!