Loving the Saints

You know that feeling when everything just suddenly and miraculously falls into place in homeschooling-- when the kids are truly impassioned and learning and excited, and it just seems so easy?

It doesn't happen all the time. I mean, we regularly have a lot of fun and we learn things and we get excited, but once in awhile we experience these truly golden moments where everything clicks and feels perfect. And in those golden moments every fiber of my being knows without a doubt that we're meant to be doing exactly this. There's no self-doubt or worry or any of those creeping voices that gnaw away at the back of my brain. In those moments there is only pure delight.

We experienced one of those moments last week.

Moonshine started on her Saints block and she couldn't be more delighted about it. I remember Sunburst enjoying her Saints block a few years ago, but Moonshine is just over the moon about it. We're using a few different materials this time around-- starting with Tomie dePaola's book Francis: Poor Man of Assisi. I love Tomie dePaola. I love this book, and now, after reading it, I love St. Francis even more.

Moonshine was so moved by his stories that she started drawing them on her own. For fun. With block crayons. One morning last week she delightedly presented me with this picture:





When your child is so moved by a story that they wander off and draw a picture without you, you know you have something special. What's a mom to do? I brought out her new main lesson book and asked her to paste it in. Then we forged ahead. I took a few days to tell the stories from dePaola's book, and it also carried us through St. Clare and Brother Jacopa. Though Jacopa de Settesoli is not a saint, she's my absolute favorite so far! I don't think a tale of St. Francis is complete without her.



We even made up a batch of her famous "cakes" that St. Francis loved so much. They were so simple and delicious that we've made them three times since last week! I omitted the drying time from what is believed to be the original recipe and used unblanched almonds, just to make them easier. We cut ours into squares and put crosses on them. Here's the recipe that Moonshine pasted into her book:

Brother Jacopa's Cakes / Mostaccioli

1/4 c honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c ground almonds
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 egg white (or egg replacer)

Mix and knead well. Roll out dough between baking paper, and cut into shapes. Bake at 250 F for 20-30 minutes. Makes 18 small cookies.



Moonshine also announced last week that she "loves drawing with block crayons" and she's "addicted" to drawing with them. Admittedly, they are difficult at times, but her sudden and overflowing love for them just blew me away.

We've moved on from St. Francis to St. Elizabeth of Hungary. I wish I could say that I loved my resource for that story, but I don't. The more I research her online, the more I realize that the story I told Sunburst, though lovely, wasn't exactly accurate. Nor was the version of St. Francis and St. Clare that I told her using the same resource. It really bothers me, but I'm wondering, should I care? If it moves a child's heart, does it matter if the details are messed up?

What do you guys think? Please leave a comment, as I would really love to know.

Happy 4th Blogaversary!

I missed my own Blog Anniversary earlier this month. That's so like me! Four years though, wow! I'm not sure if I can count the lean blogging years during the move, but I'm still here. That's a sure sign of something. A strengthened will, maybe. Or insanity. Or both.

Anyway, happy four years! And if you've been reading along all this time-- wow! And thanks. If you're a new friend, thanks to you, too! I appreciate each and every one of you, and your sweet comments mean so much!

Here's to another great blogging year! Hopefully I'll say something useful. ;-)

(Celebratory pose brought to you by the lovely, late Freddie Mercury from our recent trip to Montreux, Switzerland. We are the champions, my friends.)

Way down here...

It was a quiet week here. A blah week. My Spring allergies are in full force, and I've had all the get-up and go of a large stone. So it seems kind of fitting that we spent most of it not soaring with the birds, but cruising the forest floor. What delights we discovered there!






Growing up in the desert, I was mesmerized by the magical beauty of the mosses. My enthusiasm for each little leaf paled in comparison to the kids delight when they discovered this moss-covered stump. They were sure this was the exact place where the fairies get married-- services down below and the dance hall reception on top. I can almost picture it.




While we were at it, we explored the lichens, too. They were hard to miss.








This little guy was hard to miss, too. He politely waited for me to snap a picture before he hopped out of sight.




Since we're in the midst of our botany studies, I asked Sunburst to collect a few specimens and put together a moss garden. It's just an old baking dish we've re-purposed with soil, moss, and other items--- bark, rocks, etc. I think it turned out pretty nice...





Sunburst has been poring over it with a magnifying glass. There's so much more to see when you have adequate lighting... there's a whole 'nother world in there! Such fun!!

A bit of Spring cheer!

Just a little brightness inside to help us truly feel Spring. Despite the chilly air outside, the daffodils are gloriously blooming! They really are fearless in the face of the icy wind and rain we've been getting this past week.

We received our new European nature table stand a few days ago, and I'm completely smitten with it. After so many years creating our nature table on a flat surface, this was just what we needed to change things up. On a whim, I took one of our white playsilks and dyed it pink with food coloring and vinegar. It worked very nicely. I heated up a pot of water with about a cup of vinegar and several (maybe 10-12) drops of red food coloring. I just submerged the damp silk into this and let it simmer in the color for about 15-20 minutes. Then I rinsed it out until the water ran clear. -- The cheery color makes me happy!

Knitted eggs, from last year's egg pattern, also made it onto the table to help celebrate Easter. The root children are waiting just a day or two longer to change over though... these little guys are several years old. I have no idea what happened to our flower children, so I'm making new ones this year... fun!! Hopefully they will show their shining little faces in the next few days.

I'm hoping the same for Mr. Sun, the big tease.

Wishing you an Easter morning that's clear and bright!!

Snow!

It snowed last night.

Not like this though. But it snowed. I'm realizing just how ambiguous the whole "goes out like a lamb" saying really is. The interpretive door is blown wide open...

Compared to lions, lambs are assumed to be these quiet, calm, fluffy little things. The lambs on the hill behind my house are pretty loud, actually. Not quite as loud as the wind yesterday, but loud enough that I can hear their bleats and clanking bells when the kids are quiet. It's not so much noise that it would shake the shutters throughout the night and keep us awake, like the wind did, but I think you know what I'm saying.

It's supposed to snow again this weekend. Not like this.



But white, I suppose, like the lambs behind our house.

We walked up the hill and visited with them a few days ago when the weather was lovely. Some of the lambs aren't white at all, and some are a bit mottled. They look more like my garden soil after it had been pelted with hail. The sun was actually shining when I uncovered the garden yesterday. As soon as I went inside the house it started hailing. I went back outside, it stopped. One last trick of the weather... I finally gave up and encouraged the sky to destroy my garden. It's early yet, after all.

And then this morning we woke up to snow. Though not like this.




The snow is just on the hillsides that surround our house. It's dusting the trees and settled in tight between them. The birds don't seem to notice it. Right now they are singing outside my window. Their song sounds something like "Come out and play! What a glorious day! It's Spring!" If anyone should know, it's them, right? But it's not... it's barely above freezing!

Is it possible that they have a sense of humor? After all, it is April Fools.

So, I welcome the snow this weekend. Do you hear that sky? Get it over with, so we can get on with things. Shake out your last wintery white pillow and let it snow.

Just please, not like this...



It really did snow like this in February.

Gearing-up for Easter

Yesterday Kitty Bill and I cooked up a little bit of pre-Easter fun with a magical, moving picture. We had a great time telling stories with it-- about bunnies that run and hide, find eggs hidden in the grass, and meet little gnomes. We even made some songs.



For inspiration, I used the very cute book: Making Picture Books with Moveable Figures by Brunhild Muller. I've been eyeing this one for a long time at the German bookstore, and I was so pleased to discover it in English. The author gives plenty of indications by Rudolf Steiner why this sort of thing is recommended for little children. The smile on my four-year-old's face was indication enough for me.

Kitty Bill was so enamored with our bunny scene he decided to make his own moving picture. It's called, "The Magic Moving Boat" complete with a plane, castle, and motorboat. The captain of the magic boat happens to be smoking a cigarette. Odd? No. That's living in Europe for you, and further proof that these little ones notice positively everything they encounter out in the world, including random smokers on the street.

Luckily he's taking in the positive images, too.



What are you doing to gear-up for Easter?

Mushroom hunting on Saturday

Mushrooms by Sylvia Plath

Overnight, very
Whitely, discreetly,
Very quietly

Our toes, our noses
Take hold on the loam,
Acquire the air.

Nobody sees us,
Stops us, betrays us;
The small grains make room.

Soft fists insist on
Heaving the needles,
The leafy bedding,

Even the paving.
Our hammers, our rams,
Earless and eyeless,

Perfectly voiceless,
Widen the crannies,
Shoulder through holes. We

Diet on water,
On crumbs of shadow,
Bland-mannered, asking

Little or nothing.
So many of us!
So many of us!

We are shelves, we are
Tables, we are meek,
We are edible,

Nudgers and shovers
In spite of ourselves.
Our kind multiplies:

We shall by morning
Inherit the earth.
Our foot's in the door.

A little birthday knitting

Moonshine has a birthday coming up. I found a pattern to knit her favorite thing in the world-- matryoshka dolls. It's all hush hush until the big day, but I'm so excited about it I had to share.









Matryoshka pattern from Susan B. Anderson's Itty-Bitty Toys.

Nature, nature everywhere...

Last week we unearthed a huge snail in the garden. Its house was still closed up for the winter-- something Sunburst recognized immediately from our study of snails last year. We brought it inside to see if we could catch it warming up and opening the door...

We had set it on the windowsill and after a few days had forgotten about it, actually. It wasn't until I had the kids in bed and sat on the couch with Einstein that I heard the strangest sound... crackle... crackle... crackle... the snail was out and crawling around. We missed the big show, but we got to take a good look at the cast-off door the snail had made. We were so surprised at how strong it was!




Then we found a peacock butterfly in the garage. Not the best place to sneak out of your chrysalis...






Next came the salamander...




And of course more digging in the garden. There is so much nettle still, plus I've discovered that our yard used to be a road... a very, very long time ago. So underneath the nettle roots are huge stones. Luckily it's a very old road, and though it's a ton of work, I can use the stones to line the garden beds. Once I dig them out that is... It's slow going, but I've learned something about myself. I'm like a dog with a bone when I want to be.





The kids are not helping dig. But I'm going with the old adage that modeling workhouse behavior this care for the earth before their eyes is enough. It sinks in... while I had my nose to the grindstone the kids had built a couple of forts out in the yard.



It's so good to feel the warm sun again!

Word World... a world of words

Last week I posted about the struggles Moonshine has been having with school, and the struggles I have been having figuring out how to teach her. This week it's as if all of that is behind us. Moonshine is having a blast making words.

I dug up an old lesson idea I created for Sunburst-- Word Family Village. Moonshine remembered it well from helping Sunburst color in all the roads, and she was super pleased to be able to conjur up this world of her own accord. She's calling it Word World, which is really fun to say five times fast. I can't do it, and she loves that even more.

My dear friends in Wales happen to be also doing the word family block this week. While I was reading about her fun variation of it on her blog, here and here, I noticed a link to my old lesson... I had entirely forgotten that I had created a cute little story to go with it.

Sometimes I forget to read my own blog.

The greatest part of this lesson right now... baby silent e. With Moonshine's help he's causing a load of trouble. Can becomes cane. At becomes ate. It makes her giggle. (Of course sometimes he's not silent-- at becomes eat, etc.)




Kitty Bill got in on the fun, too... He made houses with doors so he could hide his little people inside them. Everything has got to have moving parts with this boy.




All in all, we're having a fantastic week!

Happy St. Patties Day!

Look! It got warm! We spent most of the day outside enjoying the warm sunshine and all the crocus in the yard.

I happily toiled for hours digging nettle roots out of the garden bed I hope to plant in very soon. The nettle was six feet high when we moved in, so the roots are everywhere and deep. Such a lot of work for the smallest space, but nothing makes me happier than digging in the garden.

Not much school was done today... a little painting... can you tell we're excited about Spring?!




A green, semi-Irish dinner... potatoes with almond-arugula pesto and a green salad.




The leprechauns made an overnight visit and played the usual tricks-- moving furniture, turning things upside-down, and making things green. The kids were delighted, as always. However, this year something was extra fishy. In addition to the chocolates for the kids, the leprechauns left a couple presents for Einstein and me. This has never happened before... but I have to admit, one of those leprechauns is a fine little knitter.



Wishing you all a beautiful, warm St. Patrick's Day!