Homeschool
It has been ridiculously hot this week. In the 90s and humid. Yesterday afternoon we went swimming but the other days I've been working to get life in order for the new season. Organizing for the school year and wrapping up my buying club commitments along with my usual daily tasks.
While I've been busy the kids have been busy also. Sewing.
Inspired by some etsy research they each sewed stuffed critters this week. Celine stitched little Clover, a mouse 3 inches tall. An entirely independent project.
Cheerio hangs from my diseased sunflowers
With a bit of help from me Brienne and Laurent made bats with wired wings and feet for hanging upside down. Cheerio is Laurent's creation, inspired by the Latin name for bats Chiroptera. Lavender belongs to Brienne, named of course for her purple eyes.
When life is a tad busy (slowing down though) I am very grateful for my children's creative groove. I'm always amazed at what they can do with a little inspiration, hot glue, fabric and thread.
If you need some creative inspiration the fall publication of Rhythm of the Home has some great handicraft ideas. I am especially eyeing the Making A Playscape project. This is something my kiddos would love.
How about you? Any crafty projects to share?
I always feel a bit out of step with the schooling/homeschooling world this time of year. The buzz, even in homeschooling circles, is back-to-school. And my mind is just not in that space this time of year.
Like I've written earlier, this is our first year of summer homeschool. But we have always been year round learners and for the last few years we've done our state required assessments in mid August to reflect that. This week I am sending the necessary paperwork (2 pages in all) to the state education department for next school year along with the just-completed assessment (with a copy to the local school board).
Then I breathe a big sigh of relief and rest a bit.
The end of summer is certainly a time of new beginnings and marks a new year for me just as much, if not more so, than January. Even so, we like to ease our way into September's changes and I don't think too much about that until we've maxed out our enjoyment of summer.
So while the rest of the homeschool world is buzzing with back-to-school excitement (not those unschoolers of course who are motoring on as they usually do, unstructured and free) we're in an in-between space right now. Thinking about a new school year but still enjoying summer. And taking a break from morning math et al. for mommy to rest and get organized.
The kids are busy these days devouring library books and engaging in messy and creative work. Making silly putty has been a recent activity that is an easy, safe chemistry project.
I wrote about this project a couple years ago and this is the link, Homemade Silly Putty. This is an experiment/craft that my kids have loved to do over and over again and keeps hands and minds engaged for hours. All you need is borax, water and white glue.
Buying extra bottles of white glue for this project has been the extent of our back-to-school preparations.
Is anyone else in an in-between time or are you all on the back-to-(home)school bus?
Studying caterpillars and butterflies is part of our summer science. A beautiful part of summer science. (You may have noticed monarch photos showing up in posts this month).
Each summer for the past few years the kids, predominantly Laurent, have collected and identified caterpillars. The kids keep the larvae in jars, determine their diet and feed them until they develop into a chrysalis or cocoon (chrysalis for butterfly, cocoon for moth). Alternately, the kids will keep a critter for a short time, research its natural habitat and observe its behavior then return it to our backyard.
We have had the most success with studying monarch caterpillars and keeping them till they emerge as beautiful butterflies. Two years ago Laurent wrote How to Keep Monarch Caterpillars and How to Feed Them. That same year I wrote Raising Monarchs with photos of the complete life cycle, minus the egg stage which is minute and could not be photographed with my camera.
Each summer we are inspired by these beautiful creatures and their marvelous transformation, not to mention epic migration.
If you'd like to read more about these amazing insects and butterflies/caterpillars in general we recommend the following books:
An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly
The Journey: Stories Of Migration
Now if you'll indulge me a bit here's some photos from this month of monarchs flitting through our backyard, doing what appears to be a dance. Perhaps mating?
Some days there have been three at a time sucking nectar from the butterfly bush (Buddleia), a plant I highly recommend for it's intoxicating fragrance that attracts beautiful butterflies.
I've taken hundreds of photos trying to get a clear, crisp flight shot but I think these soft movements are beautiful and tell the story just as well.
