Four signs of Spring 1. Most of the snow in the backyard and the vegetable patch has melted or been washed away by the rain. (The front yard, however, is still covered, but by much less of it than before.) 2. I started lots of seedlings in the basement: the onion family, celery, tomatoes and …
Category Archives: child’s play
More Winter Fun
Winter, winter… you’re still here. How can we miss you when you won’t even leave? It snowed some more, a lot more. See Amie and DH in the previous post, posing in the path, barely ankle deep? We got over two feet after that and were happy that blizzard (Juno, they called it?) did not …
Snow Buddies
Ah, nowadays much of the storytelling happens on the home school blog, which is private. You, the three readers of this blog, aren’t missing out on much, though, as my own stories there are mostly about curriculum. I hope one day to share the more philosophical and ethical musings in homeschooling as they pertain to …
We’re Going to Homeschool
We decided – Amie, DH and I – to homeschool Amie for the coming semester and probably also fifth grade. We love the school she is going to at present. It’s a smallish (ca. 400 kids) neighborhood K-5 school where kindness really matters, where the teachers are deeply caring and the staff a charm. Amie …
Life Lessons for Birds and Clouds
On a warm and sunny day last week, Â I let the chickens out in the yard. Amie came home from school just then and she joined the flock. For an hour she herded the hens around, nattering and scolding like a mama hen, with some marvelous life lessons (for chickens). What is the difference between …
Pod Meadow Walk
A friend came to visit us and after eating homemade Belgian waffles I suggested I take her and my family to Pod Meadow, which I had discovered on a walk with Transition earlier in the week. The weather was a balmy 55F and only partially overcast. Pod Meadow is an amazing conservation area in my …
Exploring Pain: Amie’s Variation of the Wildcraft Board Game
Last week I splurged on Wildcraft, a cooperative board game for kids (and adults) developed by HerbMentor, one of my favorite places for herbal instruction. The idea of the game is to make it up the mountain to the huckleberry patch, gather huckleberries, and make it back down again to grandma’s house before nightfall. And not …
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HUMONGOUS Pumpkin Haul
Today we came home from Amie’s cello lesson to this: We could not believe the size of that giant pumpkin! There were also bags of more pumpkins, goopy pumpkin guts, and a couple of gourds. The latter I would have to cut up somehow, they’re so hard, or maybe I’ll try drying them for bird …
Daily Bread No. 8, and First Pumpkin Foundling
Today, the day after Halloween, we found our first punkin orphan, dropped off at our mailbox. Amie ran to welcome it. We reminded people of the composting program when we were out trick-or-treating, and many were enthusiastic. And I met one elderly gentleman who was the first to live on this street, and he and …
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Hive Inspection and Preschool Bee Talk
I did a quick hive inspection today. It was hot – at 10 am – and I had forgotten to tie my long hair back, thinking the hat might keep it back, but no… So I made it quick, and just pulled out the frames to check on the pattern of brood, honey, pollen, and …