Free Nature Resource

I was on the REI website yesterday and stumbled upon this interesting program called Passport to Adventure.  It has a free downloadable journal  for keeping track of outings and other outdoor activities, information about  family-friendly hikes in the local area, some free bonus activities you can download, and if your child is age 5-12, s/he can receive a certificate of completion and a free prize. 

http://www.rei.com/passport

Just thought I’d pass on the info in case anyone’s interested.  Very Charlotte Mason friendly.  My  kids are all a bit too old now (22, 19 & 14), but we would’ve all LOVED this  resource when they were younger! 

---

• Natural Nature Learning
• Nature Notebooks
• Nature Study for City Dwellers

The Advent Book Box

A great idea for the holidays is to set aside a special box or basket containing your family’s special Christmas or other holiday books. The Holiday Book Box only comes out during the Advent season, and is put away again with the decorations after the first of the year.

THE ADVENT BOOK BOX

This list of Favorite Christmas Books was compiled following a discussion between a group of home schooling mothers looking for twaddle-free holiday reading for their families.

A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens

Becky’s Christmas
by Tasha Tudor

(The) Best Christmas Pageant Ever!
by Barbara Robinson

Christmas at Long Pond
by William T. George

(The) Christmas Box
by Richard Paul Evans

(The) Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
by Susan Wojciechowski

(The) Christmas Stories of George MacDonald
by George MacDonald (out of print)

(The) Christmas Tree
by Julie Salamon

(The) Crippled Lamb
by Max Lucado

(The) Donkey’s Dream
by Barbara Helen Berger

(The) First Christmas
by Marcia Williams (out of print)

(The) Glorious Impossible
by Madeleine L’Engle

Martin Luther’s Christmas Book
by Martin Luther

(The) Night Before Christmas
by Clement Moore, illustrated by Jan Brett

A Northern Nativity: Christmas Dreams of a Pairie Boy
by William Kurelek

One Wintry Night
by Ruth Bell Graham

Rembrandt: The Christmas Story

Seven Stories of Christmas Love
by Leo F. Buscaglia

(The) Story of Christmas: Words from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke
illustrated by Jane Ray

Tale of Three Trees
by Angela Elwell Hunt

This is the Star
by Joyce Dunbar

OTHER HOLIDAY-RELATED BOOKS

Unplug the Christmas Machine, by Jo Robinson
Don’t wait until Christmas to read this book! The earlier you start thinking about the holidays, the easier it will be to make any necessary changes in your celebrations.

Debt Proof Your Holidays, by Mary Hunt
Whether you’re just looking for further frugal ideas for the upcoming holiday season, or you’re truly dreading another after-holidays debt hang-over, this book will be beneficial.

Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month, by Deborah Taylor-Hough
Less time in the kitchen means more time for activities you really enjoy. This book will show you a step-by-step plan to simplify and revolutionize the way you cook. Save time; save money; save your sanity! Contains a special Ten Day Holiday Meal Plan — perfect for simplifying your holiday meal preparation.

Simplify Your Christmas, by Elaine St James
Simple ideas for taking the complexity out of the holidays.

Hundred Dollar Holiday, by Bill McKibben
“What we need and long for now are the gifts of time, meaningful family connections, periods of silence, a relationship with the divine,” McKibben writes.

~Debi

Free Thanksgiving Resource

The wonderful folks over at Living Books Curriculum have put together a great little Thanksgiving resource full of the Charlotte Mason-style resources we need (and love!).

Click here to download.  Or click on the Thanksgiving image.

You’ll find in this free Holiday Helper pdf file materials and ideas for:  Picture study, copywork, stories, and lots of links to other free online resources.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

---

• More Thanksgiving and Autumn Ideas
• Easy Autumn Craft Ideas
• Autumn Art Appreciation

Language Arts Ideas

Narration is the process of telling back what has been learned or read. Narrations are usually done orally, but as the child grows older (around age 12) and his writing skills increase, the narrations can be written as well. Narration can also be accomplished creatively: painting, drawing, sculpting, play-acting, etc.

There’s great value in keeping a personal journal, encouraging reflection and descriptive writing. Record activities, thoughts and feelings, favorite sayings, personal mottoes, favorite poems, etc.

Daily copywork provides on-going practice for handwriting, spelling, grammar, etc. Keep a notebook specifically for copying noteworthy poems, prose, quotes, etc. Each day choose a paragraph, or sentence, or page (depending on the age of child). Have the child practice writing it perfectly during his copywork time. Have them look carefully at all punctuation, capital letters, etc. When the child knows the passage well, dictate the passage to the child for him to recreate the passage.

---

• Narration
• Defining Twaddle
• Twaddle-Free Literature by Grade Level
• More Language Arts Resources and Books

Just for fun … Autumn treats and Thanksgiving thoughts

The weather’s changing, summer’s finally over, and there’s a definite chill in the air many days. Now we can look forward to some of those fun activities that only happen in the autumn: Collecting leaves and pine cones for wreaths and other decorations; heading out to the local pumpkin patch; baking fresh apple and pumpkin pies; brewing hot spiced apple cider (hey, I can smell it simmering just thinking about it).

At the end of November, the United States celebrates Thanksgiving Day. One of our family traditions for this particular holiday is making a Thanksgiving Tree. People tell me every year that they like this particular idea so much, I repeat sharing it (sorry if it’s a repeat for you!).

Anyway, we make a tree trunk with bare branches out of black craft paper and tape the “tree” to the dining room wall. Then we cut out individual autumn-colored leaves (red, orange, yellow, brown) from more craft paper.

As someone in the family thinks of something or someone they’re thankful for, they write the item or person’s name onto one of the leaves and then tape the leaf to the tree branches.

We try to put the Thanksgiving Tree in place by mid-November so our family has at least a full week to add more leaves to the tree. By Thanksgiving Day, the tree is FULL with the names of people, events and things we’re thankful for. This is great fun for the kids and a meaningful addition to our family’s holiday traditions.

And what would holidays be like without a few special treats?

My favorite recipe for hot spiced apple cider is one of those throw-it-together-as-you-go recipes, but I’ll try to explain the process as best I can. First, I take a large jug of apple juice (a gallon if we’re entertaining). Then I pour the juice into a large pot on the stove (or into the slow cooker if I don’t want to use a burner). Heat to a simmer.

Then add the following ingredients to the pot:

• about one cup of frozen orange juice concentrate (this ingredient is a MUST)
• approximately two teaspoons (more or less) of EACH of the following: Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, Cloves (whole or ground)
• and sometimes I add about one cup (or less) of cranberry juice cocktail

Let it all simmer for awhile (half an hour at least). The smell wafting through the house while the cider is simmering is simply heaven. Mmmmm … Serve the hot spiced cider in mugs. For a nice touch, add a whole cinnamon stick to each mug.

Having a large pot of cider simmering on the stove when company arrives is a sure way to make them very happy that they chose to come over to your house.

And for another treat, make some baked pumpkin seeds (you can also do this with acorn squash seeds). After all the pumpkin carving or pie making, don’t throw out the seeds. Separate the seeds from the stringy pulp (don’t rinse or remove every last bit of the pulp — the pulp adds flavor). Place the seeds on a cookie sheet, stir in about 1/4 cup of melted butter, sprinkle with a small amount of salt and then bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes until lightly browned. Enjoy!

And if you’re wondering what to do with the leftover stringy part of the pumpkin guts, visit my friend Diana’s blog for a tasty recipe: Pumpkin Gut Bread

Happy autumn to you and yours!

~Debi

---

• Free Thanksgiving Resource
• Easy Autumn Craft Ideas
• Autumn Art Appreciation

Easy Autumn Craft Ideas

Here are a couple of ultra-easy Autumn craft ideas.

Leaf Prints:

Make your own cards or gift wrap by using nature’s bounty of freshly fallen leaves. Use poster paint for printing on paper (for cards, gift wrap, etc.), or use acrylic paint if you decide to decorate an item that needs a waterproof finish (glassware, clay pots, etc.). Brush a small amount of paint onto the underside of the leaf where the veins are more pronounced. Carefully place the leaf where you want the design printed and cover with a layer of paper towel. Gently roll a rolling pin over the top (or you can use the side of an empty bottle). Remove the paper towel and lift the leaf.

---

 
Wheat Weaving:

Soak wheat on the stalk (from craft stores or local farmers) in a tub of water for an hour or so. Holding three seed heads together, braid the stems of the wheat stalks. Curve the ends around to make an oval loop, a circle wreath, or even bend it a bit to make a heart shape. Tie with brightly colored ribbon. As the stalks dry, they’ll hold their shape. Add to your autumn decorations.

---

• Autumn Art Appreciation

Nature Study Website Recommendation

I stumbled upon this great website/blog in my online travels this week.  The woman keeps an online journal of her family’s nature study activities as they use Anna Comstock’s classic book, Handbook of Nature Study, as their outline and textbook.

As a longtime fan of Comstock’s work, it’s great to see another family making use of this excellent resource in their family’s homeschooling efforts.

Click here:  http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/

The website has some great photos (the leaf photo on this post is mine, however), lots of hints and tips, and she sells some books and resources for nature study that the she’s put together.  Not having seen or read her other resources, I can’t necessarily recommend them at this point … but if they’re anything like her blog, I’m sure they’re worthwhile. 

---

To order your own copy of Handbook of Nature study, click on the book cover to the left.

Living Books, Twaddle & Whole Books

Living books are the opposite of dull, dry textbooks. The people, places and events come alive as you read a living book. The stories touch your mind and heart. They are timeless.

For a list of children’s books recommended by grade level, click on the illustration.

Catherine Levison, author of A Charlotte Mason Education, says:

“Charlotte Mason advocated avoiding twaddle and feasting children’s hearts and minds on the best literary works available. Twaddle is what parents and educators today might call ‘dumbed down’ literature. It is serving your children intellectual happy meals, rather than healthy, substantive mind- and soul-building foods.”

Miss Mason also recommended whole books rather than anthologies. Whole books are the entirety of the books the author actually wrote. If the author wrote a book, read the whole book. The opposite of this would be anthologies that include only snippets from other works—maybe a chapter from Dickens, a couple of paragraphs from Tolstoy, etc.

---

• Twaddle-Free Literature by Grade 
• Living Science Books 
• Living History — “Ancient Egypt” 
• The Advent/Holiday Book Box 

Nature Study

In spite of often rainy, inclement weather, Charlotte Mason insisted on going out once-a-week for an official Nature Walk, allowing the children to experience and observe the natural environment firsthand.  If you’re doing this with your own children, keep in mind that these excursions should be nature walks, not nature talks.

 In addition to the weekly Nature Walks, Mason also recommended children spend large quantities of time outside each day, no matter what the weather. Take a daily walk for fun and fresh air.

She also encouraged children to keep a nature notebook or nature journal. Nature notebooks are essentially artist sketchbooks containing pictures the children have personally drawn of plants, wildlife or any other natural object found in its natural setting. These nature journals can also include nature-related poetry, prose, detailed descriptions, weather notes, Latin names, etc.

---

• Nature Study Books and Materials
• Natural Nature Learning
• Nature Notebooks
• Nature Study for City Dwellers

 

Nature Study Store

Nature Study has always been one of my favorite aspects of Charlotte Mason’s educational methods, and I’ve always felt that Autumn is the ideal time to start Nature Study if you haven’t done it in the past.  So many easily visible changes happening.  Very easy for kids to observe nature “in process.”

A while back, I put together a small online bookstore containing many of my personal choices for nature study books, materials, toys and other resources.

Feel free to stop by (and tell your homeschooling friends!):

 The Nature Study Bookstore

Debi’s Three New Books

Deborah Taylor-Hough (editor of The Charlotte Mason Monthly newsletter and this blog you’re visiting now) is also the author of several books including the popular Frozen Assets cookbook series and Frugal Living for Dummies(R).

Debi has just released three new titles in September 2009 with Lulu Publishing. These titles aren’t available yet in bookstores or through online retailers (such as Amazon.com or BN.com). Ordering directly from the publisher’s website is the only way to currently purchase these new titles.

 

Habits: The Mother’s Secret to Success
Print: $9.99
Download: $4.99

Charlotte Mason was a British educator from the last century whose ideas are currently experiencing a revival, especially among American private and home schools. Her ideas on the formation of habit are a key to understanding how to make lasting change in a child, or even yourself. This book is an excerpt of her teachings specifically on the topic of habits.  Introduction and editing by Deborah Taylor-Hough.

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/habits-the-mothers-secret-to-success/4517182

---

The Simple Mom’s Idea Book
Print: $11.99
Download: $4.99

While starting life as a new wife and mom, the author always wished for a personal mentor. Someone who could take her under their wing and show her the ropes of how to be a stay-at-home mom, live on one income, survive in a tough economy, educate her three lively kids, and raise children who successfully grew up to be adults who reflected the character of their Savior. If you’ve been looking for some simple ideas for life and homemaking from someone’s who been around the block more than once or twice, look no further. Have no fear … the Simple Mom is here!

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-simple-moms-idea-book/7664648

---

Basics of Inductive Bible Study
Print: $7.99
Download: $3.99

Think the Bible’s confusing? You don’t understand the language? Don’t let the Bible intimidate you anymore! Here’s a simple, step-by-step guide to studying the Bible for anyone, both newbie and experienced alike. Learn to see for yourself what the Bible is really saying, what it all means, and then discover how to easily and practically apply its teachings to your own life. Topics covered include: Observation, themes, people, context, key words, interpretation, word studies, application, basic study outline, helpful suggestions for Bible study leaders, and several sample lessons from a study on the epistle (“letter”) to the first-century church at Philippi (aka “Philippians”). Basics of Inductive Bible Study is based on the teaching outline from the author’s class, An Introduction to Bible Study.

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/basics-of-inductive-bible-study/7642225

The Power of Habit

Copyright Catherine Levison.  Used with permission.  All rights reserved.  http://charlottemasoneducation.com

We all want to raise polite and loving children who aren’t causing our lives or home schools to be in a constant state of friction. Both adults and children tend to be creatures of habit and there is no end to the problems (or, better yet, lack of them) that arise from habit.

It’s a good thing that much of our daily activities are habitual, for example, people operate cars through the power of habit. What would it be like to have to think about the turn signal, foot brake, steering wheel and two mirrors every time we made a turn? What does this have to do with raising children and education? Everything. Much of what we do, and how we do it, is controlled by habit.

I observed the power of habit first hand when we moved the dining room clock in our house and replaced it with a picture. Because the clock had hung there for nine years everyone found themselves disoriented by the change. I don t know how many times I stood in front of the picture mystified, trying to figure out the time.

I also came face to face with the power of habit when we moved into a house that had a sink with reversed hot and cold water faucets. I thought I would grow accustomed to the reversal rather quickly — I was wrong. I would have been able to replace one habit with another if there had only been one sink in the house, however, it wasn t the only one and I admit I found myself in constant confusion when I was in front of this particular sink. I had to think instead of relying on habit.

Charlotte Mason was one educator who recognized and wrote about the power of habit and claimed that even virtues such as patience, meekness, courage, generosity and truthfulness are a matter of habit and can be trained as such. I agreed with her to a point but I did not really know this to be a fact until one time when I paid for my groceries with a hundred dollar bill. The clerk made change, then wrapped it up inside the receipt and inadvertently included my hundred dollars. No one saw this, in fact, I almost didn t look at the wad myself. At the last moment I did look in my hand and saw what had happened. My reaction came so fast even I was surprised. One of my habits is honesty and it was out of habit that I returned the money. Later, I thought about habitual morality and realized its significance.

If you find yourself always telling or asking your children the same things over and over again then this teaching on habit will benefit you. If I had the proverbial nickel for every time I told my kids to put the milk away, I’d be rich. Mason noted that when you find yourself always telling children to do the same thing, you have not trained them in the habits you wish they would perform.

The key is to identify one bad habit at a time in your child (or yourself) and then purposefully replace it with a good habit. We often make the mistake of tackling too many bad behaviors at one time. Success comes when we focus on one problem at a time. It s best to approach the child, clearly state what the bad habit is and then explain how it will affect their future.

For example, if your teenage child prefers to sleep in rather than getting up at a decent time explain to him how this can affect his employment, college grades and ability to catch the bus on time. The goal is to get him to see why he would want to make a change. Make that your first and final lecture. With a view that the child has to exert himself toward the new habit, do not interfere when it isn t necessary. Help as inconspicuously as possible.

Habits ordinarily take six to eight weeks to take shape and become permanent. Then they are habitual and will not need additional work. After the bad habit has been replaced by a good habit you can target a new habit.

For Charlotte Mason’s own words on the subject of habit formation, be sure to check out the new book, Habits: The Mother’s Secret to Success, edited by my dear  friend, Deborah Taylor-Hough.

About the Author:
Catherine Levison is a long term home schooling parent with over a decade of experience. She is the mother of five children and resides in Seattle. A popular speaker to home schooling audiences throughout the USA and Canada, Levison is the author of the popular book, A Charlotte Mason Education: A How-To Manual, the sequel More Charlotte Mason Education and A Literary Education: An Annotated Book List (SourceBooks). Visit Catherine online at: http://charlottemasoneducation.com

Simple Times …

Just thought I should probably let my regular blog readers know that I’ve recently started publishing my eNewsletter, Simple Times, again. Due to life’s ups, downs and crazy circles, I had to cease publication for several months this year.  It’ll probably be going out about twice-a-month again, but I don’t have any specific publication dates set … the idea of looming deadlines just sounds like an additional stress I don’t need at the moment.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, it’s really easy.  Just click on the following link and it’ll open an email window.  Just send a blank email to the address that comes up, and voila!  You’re a Simple Times subscriber. 

join-simple-times@hub.thedollarstretcher.com

Simple Times is a free email publication dedicated to the pursuit of simple living – providing inspiration, encouragement, motivation and practical help for those who (for whatever reasons) are choosing to simplify their lives.

Regular topics included in Simple Times are things like:

•  saving money on everyday expenses
• simple parenting tips
• cooking for the freezer
• and just generally simplifying daily life

There will definitely be an added focus on simple ways of surviving in the current tough economic climate.  With my current bout of unemployment, I’m definitely attuned to what’s happening in that arena right now.  :::sigh:::

~Debi

Autumn Art Appreciation Ideas

Here are some possible paintings for Autumn art appreciation and picture study.  Just click on the small photos of the artwork to open a larger version for easier viewing.

---

Autumn Leaves, John Millais 1855

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Excerpt] “… Millais decided to embark on a painting that was beautiful in its own right without any attempt to tell a story. His models were four young girls, all under 13 years of age, chosen for their youth and beauty. They were to be shown standing around a pile of gently smoldering autumn leaves which they had just collected from their garden. The painting, which became known as Autumn Leaves, was designed to evoke a mood and a feeling of the transience of life and beauty – all is doomed to eventual decay, even the greatest innocence and beauty is overwhelmed by the passage of time. The painting is considered to be Millais’s masterpiece. He wanted the picture to awaken the deepest religious reflections with its solemn air and restrained coloring. The work was influenced personally by Alfred Lord Tennyson, one of whose works he was illustrating at the time, in particular by his poem The Princess.”

---

Wheat Field Under Threatening Skies, Vincent Van Gogh 1890 
[Excerpt] “Contrary to popular myth, [this] is not Van Gogh’s final work. Admittedly, it does make for a neatly wrapped interpretive gift if the painting really were Van Gogh’s final work before his suicide. The painting is, without question, turbulent and certainly conveys a sense of loneliness in the fields – a powerful image of Van Gogh as defeated and solitary artist in his final years. Furthermore, both the popular films Lust for Life and Vincent and Theo rewrite history and depict this painting as Van Gogh’s last – with more of an interest in dramatic effect than historical accuracy.”

---

Autumn, Mary Cassatt 1880 

[Excerpt] “Today Mary Cassatt is probably best known for her portrayals of the intimate activities of urban women, including reading, knitting, and taking tea, and the subject of the mother and child, which dominated her work after about 1893. Like Degas, she appears to have repeated particular themes in order to master various techniques. Practical reasons and considerations of social decorum also may have dictated her choice of subjects, who were most often members of her own social circle engaged in familiar activities.”

---

The Harvesters, Pieter Bruegel the Elder 

[Excerpt] “Through his remarkable sensitivity to nature’s workings, Bruegel created a watershed in the history of Western art, suppressing the religious and iconographic associations of earlier depictions of the seasons in favor of an unidealized vision of landscape. The Harvesters probably represented the months of August and September in the context of the series. It shows a ripe field of wheat that has been partially cut and stacked, while in the foreground a number of peasants pause to picnic in the relative shade of a pear tree. Work continues around them as a couple gathers wheat into bundles, three men cut stalks with scythes, and several women make their way through the corridor of a wheat field with stacks of grain over their shoulders. The vastness of the panorama across the rest of the composition reveals that Bruegel’s emphasis is not on the labors that mark the time of the year, but on the atmosphere and transformation of the landscape itself.”

---

Early Autumn, Montclair, George Inness 1891  

[Excerpt] “In the painting Early Autumn, Montclair, the landscape appears non-specific and the centered foreground trees are spot lit even though the scene appears to be rather fuzzy. Like the Impressionists Inness was a close observer of nature and sought to express the season, weather and light conditions of the locale. But while Inness may have begun his paintings in nature, unlike the Impressionists, he completed his work in his studio relying on his memory and colored by imagination to create his luminous expressions of the spirituality of observed nature.”

New Inductive Bible Study Resource

 Those of you who frequent my personal blog (Life: The Journey), may remember how I was going to put together notes from some of the classes I’d taught at church this past year.

Well, I finally finished one of the booklets! This first booklet was basically put together from my teaching outline for the “Introduction to Bible Study” class.

 Feel free to take a peek at:

 http://www.lulu.com/content/basics-of-inductive-bible-study/7642225

There are several more of these books/booklets based on my classes and workshops in the works … so stayed tuned! 

~Debi

Editor, Charlotte Mason Monthly eNewsletter