Harvest

"The sky so bright

come dance tonight,

to a merry tune

we'll sing a song

dance all night long

beneath the Harvest Moon!"

 ~Little Bear

This week has been all about harvest.  The harvest moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox and this year it was the very next day!  We talked about the moon and stars, and their relationship to earth and how the season has changed.  We made our own harvest moons and learned how to "sew"

Wesley sewing his moon

We talked about how the moon is so named because it helps the farmer harvest later into the evening.  Our farmers spent time in the garden to harvest our own vegetables for soup. 

Matthew loves the garden.  If I can't find him he is always there.

We also harvested pears while climbing a pear tree.

Thank you to Kim for letting us have this rare opportunity! 

We got to check humming bird off the chart :)

Wesley holding a humming bird.

We took  nature walks to find signs of Autumn.  We talked about the equinox and how it is only one of two days a year when the day and night are in perfect balance.  The boys brought a few things home for our new seasonal nature table. 

Autumn nature table

On baking day we made oatmeal cookies.



On painting day we made oatmeal cookies again.

adapted from Betty Crocker~

1/2 cup sugar 

1/2 cup brown sugar

1- stick of butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 1/2 cups oats

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients except oats, flour, nuts and chocolate chips.  Then, add them in.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake until light brown, about 9 minutes.  Remove immediately from sheet and cool.  Delish

 

We went to our favorite place, Axdahls to get corn for our corn chowder lunch and feed the animals.  We attempted to make dolls from the husks...we(I) need more practice.

We read a lot of stories pertaining to this time of year.  One we really liked was called Possum's Harvest Moon By Anne Hunter.  It was a perfect way to end our harvest week.

Next week it is about apples and Michaelmas...

until then  ~ blessings

Home and Family

This week we discussed our family,  how families are different, and how we are all part of a larger family

~interconnected

We talked about avian families and who our local birds are.  We worked on calls and identification of species.  We took a trip to the Raptor Center at the University to really see up close the eagles, owls, and vultures.

Red tailed hawk

Matthew and bald eagle

Boys with bird chart and crafted bird puppets

On baking day,  the boys made play dough.

On painting day we took prints.

We wanted our family to know how much we love them, so we wrote love notes to everyone :)

Next week it is Harvest time!

until then...

~blessings

Indroduction

I have created this blog with many people in mind.  I wanted a place for our families dearly loved to come and connect with us on how our homeschooling journey is going.  I wanted a place for anyone to be comfortable to check us out and see just how our day goes.  I wanted family to see just how confident we are in our choices and to see exactly how we ended up here.  I also created this for our nuclear family for reference through out the years.  Also, to help me stay organized and on my game. Please,  humbly enjoy and get to know my motherhood blessings ~

First week of homeschooling

We started a kindergarten in our home this week and these are my students!  We have a very loose curriculum from little acorn learning.  My only goals so far are to surround them with beauty everyday and establish rhythm.  We are a Waldorf homeschooling family and I will post about that extensively later.  First, here are our first week of assignments...

 

The boys are writing in their nature books.  Our week was about squirrels, their habitat, food, and identification.  We took samples of the nut trees they most likely consumed and drew the particular leaves in our books.  We took samples of the leaves.

We made nut butters (almond, cashew, and peanut) and identified different nuts.  We read and told stories about squirrels.

We conducted experiments of how acrobatic they could be.  here we tried to get them to walk a tight rope.

 We otherwise tried to find where they lived.




Lots of field study...

Next week it is about family!


~Blessings

Philosophy

"Believe nothing.
No matter where you read it, 

Or who has said it,

Not even if I have said it,

Unless it agrees with your own reason,

And your common sense."

~Buddha