Bread And Butter

Some of us just really get into lessons! I shared a video of her shaking this butter on Facebook and I'm so sad there's no way to share that video here, too. It was absolutely delightful! If we're connected on Facebook and you haven't already watched this video, I encourage you to do so. You can't help but smile! 

 The finished butter that both girls made, along with the bread they made earlier in the day. We are in full on colonial/American Revolution mode in preparation for our trip to Williamsburg next month! The girls absolutely loved when they studied the Revolution during Grace's "local history block" last year, and so I knew they would be thrilled to do it again this year when it was Emma's turn for that same block. As an added bonus, Grace's grade five materials from Oak Meadow have her studying American history this year and that means more of the Revolution for her too! I love when their blocks line up like that. It doesn't happen often but when it does it's such a treat! All this, paired with the upcoming trip to Colonial Williamsburg makes it feel like the stars have aligned for us! 

Warm bread and homemade butter made for an absolutely perfect snack this afternoon! xo

Welcome, March!

Wishing everyone a lovely March and a blessed Saint David's Day today! xo 

Box Day!

Though our summer has barely begun we are already looking forward to lessons beginning again in the autumn! After a few years using a different curriculum, we have decided to return to Oak Meadow. We may still use bits and pieces of the other curriculum as well though. Oak Meadow will simply become the foundation of morning lessons with our current curriculum moving to more of a supporting role making for a nice blend.

We made the switch back for a few reasons, the biggest one being that it's our intention to enroll the girls in Oak Meadow's virtual school for their high school years and we felt that it would be wise to give them a few years of using this curriculum again before they had to turn lessons in for actual grades.

Since a friend had passed along the grade four materials to us we simply had to order the grade five package. Along with that, I picked up some chapter books that would be needed for both curriculum packages, as well as a few other fun things like quill pens, ink and jewelers loupes (which we just had to try out yesterday, and oh my goodness we had so much fun with them)! About halfway through taking things out of the box we were super surprised to see that Oak Meadow had included two treats- a balsa wood plane and an Oak Meadow pencil.  That plane is definitely one of the best we have ever had (and we love that it says "Learn Organically") and that pencil is pretty lovely (as far as pencils go). What lovely surprises to discover in our box!  xo

B Is For Butterfly

Yesterday Emma and I turned Bs into butterflies!

There was something very zen about this activity. 

Emma did such a great job! 

My favorite is the one made out of the backwards B!

Wordless Wednesday::Butterfly Grace

And Sew They Can!

A few days ago the girls finished their first ever sewing project! This sweet little lemon pillow project was in our Oak Meadow book and when I saw it I just knew that the girls would love it. As I gathered the necessary supplies the girls wandered in. "What are you setting up, Mama?" they asked. "I thought it might be fun to do some sewing together. Would you like to give it a try?"I replied. And so we got started. I drew the shapes on the felt and they did the cutting. They helped me thread their needles and I showed them how to make the stitches. After that they took it from there. Focused and super quiet they sat stitching- watching as their pillows took shape. Before they were all done we put the stuffing in and then they sewed the little hole up. The look of pride on their faces when their pillow were done is one that I will carry with me forever. "I did it! I can sew!" said Grace "Me too!" said Emma. And just like that the gift of sewing was passed on to a new generation.

A Beginning

After much contemplation (and lots and lots of discussion) it was decided that we would purchase the kindergarten curriculum from Oak Meadow and give it a try this year. We really went back and forth on this topic for quite some time, feeling a much greater pull toward the unschooling end of the spectrum than not. Dave felt that he would really like us to have one, and I kept reminding him that a) I have a ton of stuff from my teaching days in the basement and b) I really don't want to be a slave to a curriculum. If I wanted that I would return to the classroom. Since this is a democratic family, I decided to do some research and see what I could find (and learn).  As you may know (or may have figured out by now) we are really into childhood, nature, creativity and embracing the teachable moments around here.  If I could find something that was essentially "us on paper" then we'd give it a try, and if I couldn't then we would continue doing what we've been doing (you know, the whole if it ain't broke don't fix it thing).  As soon as I laid eyes on the Oak Meadow website I was over the moon!  Their slow pace is just our style, and I love that they have an "Unschooly, Waldorfy feel" to them!  And truly, they are "us on paper"!  Fabulous!  The materials arrived on Saturday, and that night I dove right into reading through them.  Everything I read had me nodding in agreement (and yet again wishing that we had just pulled Grace out of preschool last year).  It all made total sense to me, from the way they use classic stories to teach letters (and why), to just being outside experiencing nature, to the use of art, to the way the introduction encourages parents to make these activities as natural a part of the day as possible (instead of feeling like scripted lessons).  And it was then that I knew that we had found a gem that we would be able to embrace, all the while staying true to who we are as a family of learners!

While Em napped Grace and I created the picture to go along with the story we read last night before bed (The Tale of Peter Rabbit) to help her learn the letter A.  There is nothing as delightful as using a brand new, gorgeous set of beeswax crayons.  Nothing!  We'll surely be ordering more of these!

After Em's nap and some lunch we each created a picture of our favorite part of summer.  The three of us reminisced about all the wonderful summer things we did as we created our pictures.  It was truly delightful and a wonderful way to spend this rather warm autumn day!

"Mama, I making fireworks!"

A very proud girl and her picture of the lake that she so loves!

Since it was another gorgeous day we decided a nature walk was in order.  We were hoping to find lots of acorns to bring home with us.

Heading out to the "acorn tree".

"Mama!  There are no acorns!"

This was a total surprise (and very disappointing) since the entire base of the tree had millions and millions of acorns surrounding it in June!  Guess, we'll just have to come back another day.

And since we were on a nature walk, it was only natural to use some of the things we collected in our baskets to practice making the letter A.  Which the girls decided the fairies would love to see!

Yup, Oak Meadow and us go together like peas and carrots!  Our day did not feel any different than any of our other days.  Nothing felt contrived or fake or "too schooly".  It was just right and I am thrilled!