November 4, 2009 - November Lessons

Dear Friends,

The Liturgical Calendar holds such treasure to inspire our children this month. Themes of gratitude, remembrance, and preparation help our hearts stay open and receptive to the needs of others. I've assembled some of my family's favorite resources and traditions here.

Please help yourself to anything that might be nourishing to you.

On The Liturgical Calendar for November:

All Saints Day ( Nov. 1)

Commemoration of All Faithful Departed (All Souls, Nov. 2)

A beautiful reason to make a Saints & Souls Tree

(This is nice way to decorate the dining room for Thanksgiving, too.)

St. Martin (Nov. 11)

This is one of my favorite days of the church year. Here's an especially lovely version (thank you, Lisa) of the story of Martin, Bishop of Tours.

Today, the children and I will be culling warm layers from closets and dressers and taking these donations to the thrift shop, making soup, and lighting our lanterns to enjoy on the supper table.

Advent Begins (Nov. 29)

From the archives:

Advent Inspiration

Advent, Part 1

Advent, Part 2

Advent, Part 3 

Advent, Part 4

Lighting the first candle

St. Andrew (Nov. 30)

 Another beautiful story to share with your children.

Poetry: Poetry For Young People Series: Walt Whitman

Geography: European countries and capitals

Natural History & Science:

These topics are combined this month as we finish up Biology class with a project; Kevin has chosen to study the garden spiders who are weaving amazing orb webs all around our yard these days. So far, he's been creating art in several different media and taking lots macro photographs. We've found a chapter in this book to be very helpful:        Discover Nature Close to Home by Elizabeth P. Lawlor

Oh, and honey bees! Our art teacher's husband is a beekeeper. His delicious honey won a prize at The State Fair this year. It was so kind of him to share his knowledge and enthusiasm with the children yesterday. We read about bees beforehand in Jean Henri Fabre's, Storybook of Science. The bee stories come near the end of the book-- so wonderfully told and informative-- a must read for Charlotte Mason-inspired folks like us.

Math:

Continuing Saxon 6/5

Book Club: Our theme this month is "Hard Times". And who knows hard times better than Dickens? We're reading The Cricket on the Hearth,  Librivox has a free audio version that is very good-- grab a cup of cocoa and read along!

Picture Study:

Yesterday, we toured the Picasso exhibit at The Nasher Museum of Art. The docent was wonderful and our small group of children was very engaged. They allowed us to stay and sketch for a bit after the tour which was very cool. Kevin ended up sketching a study of the child's feet that Picasso had done for this painting:

First Steps, 1943

I love the face on this baby ♥

Happy Learning, Dear Ones.

xo Ann

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November 2, 2009 - November Abiding

Well now. If I were able to stop time, I would do it today.
Our pretty little town is nicknamed "The Southern Part of Heaven," a name that suits it well.
When we first came for a visit many years ago, my husband warned,
"If I take you there, you will never want to leave."

That was, and still is, true.

As daylight savings time ends, I relish this downshifting into "the slow time." The mornings are misty
and chilly; the afternoons are brief, golden, and ripe.  Long evenings are the time to pull on a sweater and inhale the ancient smell of woodsmoke and fallen leaves. I want to walk fast and far,
on and on-- forever-- in the damp forest. Instead, I come home and kiss my sweeties, stir the soup, light the candles, and feel a longing for something that I cannot name.


Since I can't stop time, I promise to savor every single hour.
And I hope that you are happy, well, and soaking up the blessings that rain down all around us
every golden day.

xo Ann

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October 16, 2009 - true

You can understand and relate to most people better

if you look at them ~

no matter how old or impressive they may be ~

as if they are children.

For most of us never really grow up or mature all that much ~

we simply grow taller.

O, to be sure, we laugh less and play less and wear

uncomfortable disguises like adults,

but beneath the costume is the child we always are,

whose needs are simple,

whose daily life is still best described by fairy tales.

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October 21, 2009 - October Lessons

This post has been quietly waiting (and waiting) for me to add the hyperlinks.

I'm so glad that the major holy days fell later in the month this time.

As always, help yourself to anything useful here.

On The Liturgical Calendar for October:

St. Luke ( Oct. 18th)

Lectionary Readings

Information about St. Luke

 St. James ( Oct. 23rd)

Lectionary Readings

Information about St. James “The Just”

Help sorting out all those Biblical references to “James”

St. Simon and St. Jude ( Oct 28th)

Lectionary Readings

The Twelve Apostles by Marianna Mayer (pp. 18-20)

Traditionally, Christians used to begin making soul cakes on this day for the coming feast of All Souls.

Poetry:

Poetry For Young People Series: Edgar Allan Poe

Geography:

Europe: Try this fun and effective game to help you memorize the countries and their capital cities.

Natural History:

Walks in the gorgeous autumn woods...oh, heaven!

Barb inspires us to use Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study to its fullest—

you must go visit her beautiful blog.

Science:

Biology & Drawing

This class is being taught by two wonderfully talented moms from our local homeschool group. I am forever grateful to them. It's just another example of the generosity of our community.

My hope is that these Wednesday afternoon explorations will help to foster Kevin's curiosity and wonder for the world of science. The time with friends is always a lovely treat for him, and I enjoy a little tea break in the pretty village nearby.

Math:

Saxon 6/5

Book Club:

This is biography month and I'm leading the discussion for the older kids. Kevin has chosen to read about a wonderful man... here's a snippet from Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children:

Wishing you joy as you share these autumn days with your children... xo Ann

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Friday, October 2, 2009 - (Trying to) Get my act together for the holidays (again)...

So, in light of trying to "get my act together" ONCE AGAIN during the holidays, as I sit here writing this post, my printer is feverishly at work making my Holiday Planner that will give me some direction and guidance to the holiday season I've always dreamed of... or, at least, that's what I'm hoping for... tee hee...

I posted on this last year... and honestly, I even got some of it done, but "life" got out of control and I didn't do as well as I'd hoped... so, I'm at it again this year... giving it my best shot and another try knowing that if at first you don't succeed... TRY, TRY AGAIN!  (Which is probably more of my "life verse"... tee hee)

If you struggle through the holidays, please feel free to join me by buying your own copy of Sheri Graham's Holiday Planner (which includes Ann Voskamp's Jesse Tree Devotional that I LOVE), or stop back here and read how things are going on my blog... maybe through some encouragement, we can make it through the holidays together!

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