Summertime

I wanted to update everyone on what we have been 

up to since our vacations.  We have spent a lot of time at home 

hanging around.  My baby brother is going to have a baby any day now 

and to celebrate we have been going to a few baby showers.  One of 

which he planned himself.  It was more of a benefit.  A "diaper" party, they brought in 

over 5,000 diapers!!!

Highlights...

running all around Bryce's new house.

sleeping with grandma

an ice cream machine, really!!

so much ice cream

the monkey

listening to live music!! (two bands!)

very fun

We have also started harvesting some of our garden.

 

spending our days traveling around our beautiful river valley

 

we took an amazing hike 

found big blackberry bushes

spending time down by the river...

Having s'mores in the backyard

This is going to look really good come January!

 

 

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable summer. 

Now we are gearing up for our Colorado road trip

to Uncle Matt's wedding!!!

I will continue to keep everyone posted on our 

happenings until school starts (soon).

 

~Blessings

Summer vacation

Here are some highlights of our summer vacation....

He fell asleep OUT OF MY ARMS!

SWIM!  This is what he did and all he wanted to do! 

Dad made a plank off of the dock

This is all I did.  Sit and hold baby. :)

Norlan

Uncle Matt took the boys in the water fall!!

Awesome! Uncle Matt

Thoughts on first grade

I have been reflecting on our first real year of homeschooling.
Spending a lot of time thinking about what I
want to do differently or better.
Analyzing,
contemplating.

What I have come up with so far...

I need an iron clad rhythm.
Familiarize myself with the whole curriculum.
Be prepared.
Sign up now for all classes for next year.

Pray! :)

Really, it wasn't so bad.  To be honest I started out terrified.

Can I do this?  Will he listen to me?  Is he going to have fun?

Personally, it was so much better than I could have ever imagined.
Watching him learn was absolutely amazing.  It still gives me chills to
think back to times when it just clicked for him.  I had fun.  I thought he
did too.  Then, yesterday he said to me sort of exasperated
"I just want to do school again!"

That comment solidified it.
We are homeschoolers and we LOVE it.

I love the curriculum too.  It is so alive and beautiful to learn
with Waldorf.  People have commented on the curriculum for
first grade being dark with all the Grimm's fairy tales. That was
one of my favorite aspects of the whole year.  Learning through these
stories of the ages.  I read the greatest response of a mother's concern
over these fairy tales and I would like to share.  It was written by
Ms. M the list owner of Waldorf home educators yahoo group.




"My dear we cannot lock up our children in the tower of Rapunzel.

They have come to beset the world's woes and this is their training, in the safe world of these ancient tales.

They are brought to assist in the development of the human being, similar to other ancient lore that comes as children's stories today but were once, deep deep esoteric magic.

YOU are resonating and vibrating and shrinking from these elements and you remind me of the mother of Parsival who took him, son of a knight, into the deepest forest so he would never encounter his future, and despite this, a troop of knights rides thru the woods on a quest, and the next day, Parsival takes up his destiny, with the reins of a broken down nag his mother is willing to lend him, reluctantly.

It does not hinder him.

We are here on a mission, on a direct intention, to interact with this time and place, and slowly slowly, we help the children see more clearly.

Is the tune really the instrument that plays it? Or is a tune, its own entity?

You are the instrument and filter for your son. If you quiver, he feels it, if you shrink, he hears it, if you cry, he knows, too.

Why not bring a whole range of human emotion, with all the colors of the rainbow?

The blues and purples, the insidious lavenders, are balanced and made beautiful by the brilliant golds and engaging yellows. We are healing the world and ourselves and we must trust in the balance of the colors, in the balance of the emotions, in the balance of the stories.

Healing, teaching stories. Read the parables of Christ, read the fables, find the golden kernal of wisdom in your heart, and rein in your head, that thinking editing head, that does not allow your son to hear the whole story.

He does not need to hear the whole story, you see, he already knows, and he is thinking you are in need of protection, love, gentle mama-centered help....the child can hear the stories and knows them already, of course, this is the state of this world, the dark and the light, where is the third place?

They come to guide us to that third place, these children.

So, consider the story telling. You are brining one a week for a first grade child or perhaps two if you are ambitious....and we tell as written. We tell in a quiet voice, we channel in a sense, we do not make up or embellish or read the story. We tell this tale in the best way we can, quietly, carefully, and if a tear slips out along a cheek, or a smile twitches at a corner or even a giggle escapes, or a frown of concern creases one's face, well those are the bits and pieces of us, that enter the tale, too, and sit with the community as the elders recite these old tales round the camp fires.

Smoky, eye-tearing camp fires. Old old stuff. Ancient time out of mind stories. Whose? Ours. Our stories.

This is the best I can do, perhaps it can help, you are in charge of what you choose, of course, but I often find those who struggle with the stories, most often need to hear them. There is a healing magic in each one.

Mrs. M
You should read, The Wisdom of the Fairy Tale"



This year is new and yes a little harder.
We are learning through fables and trickster tales.
Again, I am scared.

But, this time I know I can do it!



~Blessings

Summer

I wanted to update everyone on how our break from school 

and our summer rejuvenation is coming along.

You know it's summer around here when we start getting our vegetables!

We have been a member of Foxtail Farms CSA for 6 years and it remains

my greatest joy.  Fresh organic veggies delivered to my home.

DELICIOUS

We have been able to see more of Grandma.

She is off of work for the summertime.

She loves holding the baby!

 We found a monarch Caterpillar and raised her on milkweed.

We watched the metamorphosis and released her.

First flight of our monarch

It has been a really HOT so far!!!

I am thankful for daily walks, hoses, pools, and air conditioning.

Happy summer everyone!

Television

I recently found this on a wonderful woman's blog and had to pass it on.  

I have to be honest that I have slacked a little and let the kiddos watch 

shows lately.  This is a wonderful reminder to me and I thought I would 

share with others.  We as mothers are their protector, and filter for their 

soul!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Television

The most important thing we've learned, So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set --

Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink --
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND! IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE! HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES!

-Roald Dahl

Garden and Botany

Since my last post we have dedicated our school time

to a couple of outdoor adventures.

~ The garden ~

Planning

 We planned out the garden.  We talked about companion planting, 

how high different plants get,  and the sunny spots.  Matthew

liked writing it all out himself. 

Wesley drew his garden plan

Cultivating

With dad's help we tilled, turned and dug in the soil.

This might be their best part.  :)

Planting

We planted all of our plants and seeds.

As lightly as I could I discussed soil and 

what each plant optimally needs.

Hopefully this will be our most abundant year!

After the garden was all planted we moved into wildflowers.

We expanded our research at the beautiful

Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden.

Though our local library we got a pass for a 

free study guide.  It was such a fun 

scavenger hunt.

We found the unusual ~ Jack in the pulpit

Wild turkey

Wild geranium

Yellow Trillium

Everything was so gorgeous we went multiple times.

We then brought our knowledge with us and took 

long hikes looking for these new plants.  Matthew is 

so observant he notices all the details.  I am learning so 

much from him.

Wesley is very patient trying to catch dragonflies

We found phlox blooming with Monarchs sipping

All of the wildflower hunting has inspired us.

Now we have been discussing wild foraging.

We will work on that more this summer.

The boys came up close with many animals too.

We found frogs and toads.

Dad brought home tent caterpillars this week too

We have ended our current curriculum now.

I think we will continue on with review for a few weeks.

I haven't decided where to go next.  All I know 

is they are having fun and we really want to keep up our 

"school" all year.  I will update with more when I decide.

one last big thing in Matthew's life is he finally 

learned to ....

tie his shoe!!!

I will update soon and let you all know what we 

are up to. 

until then

~blessings