Outdoor Hour Challenge: Wildflowers and Weeds

Welcome, Summer!  This month we’ve finally been able to get back to our nature study and our outdoor hour challenge.  This month the focus is wildflowers and weeds and we’ve been able to have three nature walks filled with wildflowers and weeds.

Our first excursion was with some friends and we went on a flower treasure hunt- trying to find a flower of every color at a nearby park.  Not all of these flowers are wildflowers or weeds, but the kids were so excited to find all the colors.  From the list we printed out from the Outdoor Hour Challenge newsletter, we found all the colors but blue.  The white flowers we were particularly interested in, since they looked like upside down flowers.  Our friends proudly identified the red trumpet blossoms for us.

Colorful Flower Treasure Hunt

Next, X-man and Princess K happened to notice that a flower had recently appeared in our front yard.  A bright yellow flower had just shot up, almost overnight, in the midst of rocks.  Princess K thought it looked like a sunflower.  So we took some time during the little boys’ nap time to study the flower.  We took pictures of its petals, center, leaves, and from the back.  We noticed that it had triangular shaped leaves, a fuzzy stem and a brownish-yellowish center.  When we looked it up on Google, we came to the conclusion that we think our Princess is correct.  We think it is a common sunflower.  X-man took his nature notebook and crayons outside and added a page to his nature journal.  We were just amazed at this tough flower pushing its way through the rocks to bring us a little sunshine.

Our common sunflower

It was the picture of the back of the flower that convinced us that this truly was a sunflower.

Our last nature walk was in my mother-in-law’s field of wildflowers.  We went up to visit her last weekend.  I noticed that her field was full of yellow flowers and I got very excited.  While the kids were playing with their grandma, I took a walk outside closely studying the flowers I saw.  I found four distinct types of flowers: two yellow, one white, and one light purple.  I easily identified the dandelion, but I didn’t know the names of the other three.  So I headed back inside to do a little research on my mom-in-law’s computer.  After a little looking (I love birdmom’s wildflower website!) I found a picture of each wildflower/weed and had them saved on the computer.  Once the kids settled down and were ready for a nature walk, I pulled them into the study and had them look at each picture on the computer.  They described each flower’s appearance and then I told them the name.  We spent a little time studying these pictures and memorizing their names and then I told them that these flowers were in Grandma’s field.  We would go outside and go on a hunt for these four flowers:  the dandelion, the yellow poppy, the white bindweed, and the purple wild radish.

The kids were excited to have a mission and we went outside in the glorious sunshine and searched the fields.  We didn’t have to go far to find tons of dandelions.  The kids easily spotted these flowers and saw a bee crawling on one.  The next flower they found was the purple wild radish.  They were able to identify these by the color and the shape of the blossom.  They picked one dandelion and one wild radish flower and then we went off in search of the other two.  We found the yellow poppy (that has a bright orange center) next.  These were such cheerful, beautiful flowers.  After picking one of these, we found a couple of bindweed flowers and they marched to go show Grandma their bouquet.  They were able to correctly identify each of the four flowers in their bouquet and Grandma was very proud of them.  We didn’t have our nature notebooks, so we didn’t add a page, but the time outside was enough.

Dandelions

Wild Radish

Bright yellow poppies

Bindweed

What a beautiful month to be outside- though the last few days have been a little rainy and gray- the flowers fill the fields and the berries fill the bushes and little red fruits are beginning to ripen on our tree.  Truly the glory and majesty of our Creator can be enjoyed as we drink in the beauty of His creation.

 

Monday Musings: Preach the Gospel to Yourself

I Corinthians 15:1-2 “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you…”

Homeschooling is hard.  Yes, it is fun and rewarding and interesting and I am so thankful for this calling upon my life.  But honestly, it is hard work.  Though I love hanging out with my kids every day and they bring smiles and delight to my heart, it can be challenging to have them underfoot all the time.  There are moments when I want to scream, tear my hair out, or break down and sob.  It isn’t just homeschooling that is hard.  This whole parenting thing is a monumentally challenging endeavor.

One morning a few weeks ago when I was trying to begin school for the day, and so had a book in hand and my two older children settled on the couch and ready, I heard a suspicious sound from my kitchen.  When I arrived there, I had to pull my toddler out of the pantry where he was chugging down decorating sprinkles, then back in the living room I discovered that I needed to change the baby’s diaper and on the way I stepped on a lego (seriously… ouch).  I returned to find my toddler back in that pantry.  After cleaning up that mess, my older two had to be dragged out of what they had begun to do back to the couch to start our reading.

Charged with cleaning up the cinnamon he dumped out all over the kitchen floor… it is a good thing this kid is cute

Little episodes like this happen every day.  Sometimes several times in a day.  Closets I just cleaned and reorganized get dismantled by my two year old.  My four year old tracks mud throughout my freshly mopped kitchen.  My six year old has no thought whatsoever to clean up one game before getting out the next.  Then there are days full of disobedient, rebellious, selfish, angry hearts (and I’m not just talking about the kids here!) that are full of misery, tears, and frustration.

There are days when I feel like giving up.

Two months ago, at the local homeschool convention, I went to a seminar “Preschoolers and Peace,” taught by Kendra Fletcher.  She asked a very good question that I have been pondering ever since:  “How would your day be different if you lived out of the grace of the gospel?”

This question reminds me of the book A Gospel Primer for Christians by Milton Vincent a friend gave me a few years ago.  In it, the author exhorts believers to preach the gospel to themselves every day.  He wrote a poem that beautifully and powerfully lays out the truths of the gospel and every time I read it, I am blessed.

Milton Vincent says, “Over the course of time, preaching the gospel to myself every day has made more of a difference in my life than any other discipline I have every practiced” (p 6).

So how can being daily reminded of the gospel and living out of its grace make a difference in the day of a homeschool mom?

The baby and the toilet paper- totally cliche

1.  Instead of blowing up at my children who complain, spill, and/or destroy, I am reminded of the power that is available to me through the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the grave and is able to grant me the patience to relate to my children with kindness and peace.

II Peter 1:3-4 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

2.  Rather than being internally impatient and frustrated with my children’s repeated sins, I am humbled by the reminder of my own condition and then can fully sympathize with my children’s struggles.

II Corinthians 1:3-4  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

3.  Instead of too much focus on all the seemingly more urgent academic demands, rehearsing the gospel to myself reminds me of what is really important and leads me to want to share these amazing truths with my children.  Thus I will look for opportunities throughout my day- and in every subject- to tell them about Jesus.

I Timothy 4:2  “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

Gladness & Fun

4.  Rather than being grumpy, irritable, or anxious, I rejoice in thanksgiving toward Jesus who gave His life for me.  A thankful heart is a very happy heart.  A happy-hearted mom fills her home with gladness and fun.

 I Peter 1:8-9  “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

5.  Instead of being discouraged by the feeling that my life seems to be filled with meaningless mundane details, I can rejoice in my renewed sense of purpose the gospel gives me. It reminds me that as I faithfully execute my daily tasks and pour into my children every day, I am ministering to them and thus to the Lord every day.

Matthew 25:34-40  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink… Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? …And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”

My new habit to work on this summer is to read the gospel poem or gospel Scriptures every morning so that instead of trying to do all things through my own feeble, failing strength, I can live daily out of the grace of the gospel.

I Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Olallieberry Picking

Olallieberries

We did a new thing a few days ago and I have decided to make it a June tradition: olallieberry picking.  Earlier this week, with a few friends, we went to Gizdich Ranch to pick olallieberries.  We had so much fun!

I have never previously had olallieberries, so on our way there, I did a little research and found a few little interesting facts about them:

1.  Olallie is Chinook jargon for “berry” so we went to Gizdich to pick “berry berries” which is pretty awesome.

2. The olallieberry is a cross between the loganberry and the youngberry.  The loganberry is a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry and the youngberry is a cross between a blackberry and a dewberry which is a wild variety of blackberry.  So basically, the olallieberry is a whole lot of blackberry with a little raspberry tossed in for good measure.

Picking berries

3.  The olallieberry is primarily grown in California.

The ripe ones look like large blackberries and are quite juicy.  They assigned us to a row and slowly worked our way through the vines and by the time we were done, we all had red stained fingers and a wheelbarrow full of olallieberries.  The berries we sampled from the vine as we picked were amazing.  The kids had a great time, though they got tired by the end.  I kept finding just one more irresistibly plump and beautiful berry that I just had to have.  That day, we all shared a delicious pie my friend baked and then we took several pounds of these delectable berries home with us.

I used some to make olallieberry crisp (which is great with french vanilla ice cream) and then used cookie sheets to freeze the rest for smoothies, treats, and future pie/crisp needs.  My sister has declared that some must be saved for a dessert when she visits in a few weeks.  I hope we have enough left!

A berry-bucket-hat

The kids really got into it

Shortstop enjoyed a sampling of the berries picked off the vine

 

The red stain of olallieberry juice

 

I guess he got tired

A wheelbarrow full of berries

 

Freezing berries and Olallieberry Crisp with ice cream

Yep, definitely my new June tradition!

Memorable Moments: Weeks 28-30- Africa

Life is slowly getting back to normal after illness and other challenges disrupted our routine.  We have had a great time these past two weeks in our studies of Africa.

Here are the highlights of our last two weeks:

Z-urchin is holding the leader of the Ammonites and Mickey Mouse is the leader in Jabesh-Gilead. R2D2 was sent to King Saul as a messenger.

Bible- Last week, we did several stories about the birth and times of Samuel.  I’ve been putting a little more effort in my lesson preparation (that is, I have started writing my Bible lessons/curriculum for next year, and I am using the same principles to prepare these lessons) and it has been producing good fruit and has been very rewarding.  Our discussions and the narrations the kids give me have been much improved.  This week, we focused on Saul.  Mostly, I have used flannelgraph to tell the stories, but on the day that I read the story of Saul coming to Jabesh-Gilead’s rescue, I used our blocks box as my city and the kids’ action figures and little dolls as citizens and soldiers.  They loved it.  And then, the next day by way of introduction and review for the daily Bible reading, I asked what they remembered from yesterday’s story.  Their retelling was impressive.  We’ve started to learn the hymn For A Thousand Tongues to Sing and memorizing John 15:7, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”  We have had many good conversations about abiding in Christ as we have been working on this verse.

“Trip Around the World”- Each day we focused on a different country and read (or really, looked at a lot of colorful pictures and read a few key points) a book about the country and then a tale from that country.

Africa- David Livingstone: Courageous Explorer (Heroes for Young Readers).  This story, told in rhyme, was a good introduction to David Livingstone’s life for young kids.

Egypt- The Egyptian Cinderella.  My daughter loves anything having to do with beautiful princesses and she loves it when we read Cinderella tales.  We’ve read quite a number of Cinderella tales from around the world.  It has been very neat for me to see the similar threads in the stories and each culture’s distinctive values and flair shining through these stories.

Nigeria- Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears.  This was a funny little tale we all enjoyed.

Sudan- My Great-Grandmother’s Gourd.  This was a great story about blending old ways with new ways and seeing the value in both progress and tradition.  The kids were very interested in the story and remember it well a week later.

Ghana- Anansi the Spider.  This was quite the fun and simple tale, and the kids enjoyed the spiders’ various superpowers in this story.

Uganda- Gorilla Walk.  This was a recounting of a couple who goes on an adventure into the Impenetrable Forest to see the mountain gorillas.  It is fascinating and very well illustrated.  We broke the reading into two days and really enjoyed the story.

Kenya- Mama Panya’s Pancakes.  A village tale about sharing and hospitality.  We enjoyed the story and of course, ate pancakes after we read it!

Botswana- Honey Honey Lion.  This was an excellent story about a badger who does not share honey with the bird who led him to the honeycomb.  She shows him how important her role is and he learns a valuable lesson.  The kids loved this story.  They loved the pictures and we had a great conversation about kindness and sharing and discussing who did well and who did not.  At snack time, the kids asked for honey.  So I gave them honey on toast. For lunch, we had honey on cornbread.  The next day, the kids asked for a snack and I gave them a cornbread muffin and Z-urchin (who had just awoken from his afternoon nap) said, “I want… lion.”  So I got him some honey and he was happy.

Zimbabwe- Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters.  We loved this story.  It is another Cinderella tale- beautifully illustrated and beautifully told.  This was Princess K’s favorite book this week!

South Africa- Gift of the Sun.  We have not yet read this book about a lazy man who learns his lesson, but I plan to read it this week before starting on our South American studies.

We also ate a few meals inspired by our African unit.  One dinner, we ate Egyptian inspired chicken kebabs with rice, pita and hummus, with plantains fried in coconut oil sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar for dessert.  One lunch, we ate beans and rice with cornbread.  Even Shortstop loved the cornbread.

Honey Honey Lion

Chicken Kebabs, Pita & Hummus, Fried Plantains

Beans and Rice and Cornbread

Phonics, Math, & Copywork- We’ve been working through the story Billy and Blaze and X-man is delighted to be able to read out of a book.  On one day, we will go through one sentence in the story and learn the new words of that sentence.  The next day, we will take one of those words and do word building with our magnetic letters.  We do that twice per week and just review the book on Friday.  We also do a Victory Drill Book page once in awhile (though I’d like to do this more often) and X-man loves the challenge of trying to get 30 words in a minute to “win” the page.

We’ve been working through Delightful Handwriting a lesson per day and RightStart Math a half of a lesson per day.  Copywork continues to be exciting for Princess K and Math continues to be X-man’s favorite subject.

Phonics

Adventure- On Friday, we took a trip to the Animal Shelter where Daddy is currently working to meet him for lunch.  He took us inside to see the adorable dogs, cats, and the rabbit.  The kids loved seeing the animals and really, really wished we could take one home.  Not this month.

As our final activity for our African Unit (other than that book I still want to read!), we went to the zoo with the purpose to find as many animals from Africa as we could.  We did pretty well.  We found and identified 16 animals from Africa and had a great time on our African Animal Scavenger Hunt.  Next week, we are studying South America and the following week will be Australia.  So I think I will send the kids to the zoo again with daddy after those two weeks to find Amazon rain forest animals, kangaroos, and koalas!

Perplexed

We also went to a friend’s pool.  This was Baby Shortstop’s second pool adventure.  He hung out quietly in my friend’s baby pool flotation contraption for over an hour, but he was wearing quite a perplexed look on his face the whole time.  The kids had an absolute blast and I got burnt to a crisp.  Note to self: sunscreen is a good thing.  Use it.  Use it often.

One thing that has been missing for the last month is our regular nature walks/studies.  I have been seriously missing doing my Outdoor Hour Challenges.  With my illness, Shortstop’s cold/pneumonia, car trouble, birthday celebrations and other stressful situations this month, I have not been able to get back into that groove very easily.  I have sent the children outside and they have come back with tiny ants crawling on their fingers, with rocks of various sizes, with stories of seeds they planted (so they could grow a bird again), and with a variety of sticks they wish to use to start a fire.

However, I have not done an intentional nature study with them in awhile and I have noticed the difference in my heart.  It could be due to the illnesses and other stresses in life right now as well, but I have noticed that I have been more easily overwhelmed and a bit less enthusiastic about school lately and I think getting outside to really look at God’s creation would refresh and delight me and help my heart refocus.  This last week was back to almost normal (finally!).  So I am hoping that a return to nature study will soon follow!

African Animal Scavenger Hunt at the Zoo