tires and math

Several times in the past month the low tire pressure indicator light has come on just as I pull out of the garage. I'd pull back into the garage and pump up the tire. It was always the same tire. Finally I got around to taking the car into the tire store today.

Turns out that God was really looking out for me. Although the tire with the slow leak was otherwise okay, the other three tires on the car were almost bald. Given the rainy weather we've been having I could have gotten into some serious trouble.

Anyway, what to do with a homeschooled child when stuck at the tire store for a couple of hours? The few pages of work that I stuck on a clipboard wouldn't last long. Instead, I decided to show Sparkle a real-life application of the math she finds so baffling. The salesperson had given me quotes on four different types of replacement tires. Two of the brands were offering rebates of differing amounts. Which set of tires was the best buy?

I explained the problem to Sparkle, and then had her pick out which tires would be cheapest, not including the rebates. Then we figured out how much the tires cost after the rebates. Finally we compared the final costs to determine which was the cheapest set overall.

It was a long process, and I had to guide Sparkle in baby-steps all along the way. (Hey, multi-digit subtraction with borrowing isn't typical first grade math.) However, the math program we use had introduced enough concepts that I was able to break the problem down into manageable chunks.

We didn't bother the other customers in the waiting room too much. The lady sitting next to us was kind enough to ignore our conversation while reading a book. Two other people had nice comments about homeschooling. Texas is great.

Oh, and when we walked out to the car when it was done, Sparkle was thrilled to see that the car sported the brand of tires she had calculated as the cheapest.

corners game

The math program that I use with Sparkle really promotes playing "math games" to practice doing math. Up to now I've skipped the math games in favor of easier to administer worksheets. Until now I've found the math games boring and Sparkle is unable to play them independently.

Then, we got to the point in RightStart B where we do the Corners game. It's a game with special cards with a different number from 1-10 on each side. You match sides to form sums that are multiples of five (5, 10, 15, or 20). The resulting sum is the number of points you score. It took me a while to figure out the game, and then to teach it to Sparkle. However, we're both thrilled with the game, and I even find time to squeeze it when I'm striking other activities from my list because it's almost suppertime.

Here's some features that I really like about the game.
- It's simple enough for a young child who understands single digit addition to play.
- It provides good addition practice.
- The cards are all played face up, so it's easier to play cards that will either help or hinder your opponent, depending on how capable he or she is.
- Even when it's not your turn, you can examine the formation of cards for possible plays.

library visit

There was a daycare visiting the library today on a field trip. All the kids had matching tee-shirts with the school logo and contact info. They marched through the library in a line with precision that our homeschool group could not duplicate. I felt horribly sorry for them.

Apparently the library was such an exotic place for them that it warranted a field trip. One of their teachers told them how they could borrow books from the library, but only if their parents took them. They sat in the children's area, and a teacher started to read a picture book to them, but had to stop in the middle because it was time to move on. To add insult to injury, the kids weren't even allowed to pick up and handle any books on their own.

Meanwhile, Glitter and Sparkle happily gathered books on their own. Glitter's meager limit of two board books seemed like a treasure trove in comparison to what the daycare kids got. While the teacher fed the daycare kids misinformation about the check-out process (the check-out machine doesn't take pictures of the books) and borrowing procedures (you don't have to be able to write your name to get a library card), Glitter got to actually scan her own books and hear the thump that indicated it was checked-out. She got to tear off the paper receipt listing all the books we were taking home. Sparkle got to use her very own library card, acquired long before she could read or write.

My girls don't have to half-heartedly listen to someone talk about borrowing books that they're not allowed to touch from a place that they may never visit again. My girls get to experience using the library first hand and in such depth that it is part of the fabric of their lives.

Sparkle, the poet

So, Wander and I were discussing going to the Renaissance Festival. We like to go every year. Wander even dresses up. This year we plan on going to one of their School Days. When looking up the info for School Days, I stumbled across their poetry contest. Hum. Sparkle likes poetry. She's constantly coming up with rhymes. Why not?

Friday afternoon, instead of doing school work or taking a nap, I decided to have Sparkle write a poem. I start by reading her the info from the contest, which indicates that "poems should reflect Renaissance Period themes such as knights, maidens, royalty, fairies, dragons, etc." Hum, not exactly what springs to mind when I say "Renaissance," especially since we just read a biography of Leonardo da Vinci. However, Sparkle is much more familiar with dragons, fairies, and princesses than the actual Renaissance, so it's just as well.

Sparkle immediately starts coming up with rhymes about princesses, fairies, knights, and dragons. She even throws in some totally oddball rhymes (Rabbits, rabbits have bad habits.) I act as her scribe. (The contest rules say the poem must be the student's original work. I figure that as long as the words and arrangement are hers, I'm still within the rules.)

Next, I type up all of her rhymes and other random words (tuba!?) and print them. I tell Sparkle to get her scissors and she cuts up all the little lines. Next is the fun / torturesome part. I tell Sparkle to select which lines go together and re-arrange them to form a single poem. I say she can change words if needed to make them fit. Sparkle is willing to let go of the rabbits and tuba right away, but everything else is too precious to her. ("Eye, eye, you carefully spy.") She is at the stage of writing where the first draft is the final draft.

We have better success when Sparkle groups her lines according to subject. All the dragons get together ("Dragons, dragons, in the wagons"). The "Soldier, soldier, getting bolder" marches to join the knights. The "fairy, fairy, oh so merry" flies to the other fairies.

I slowly guide Sparkle to see which lines might match up with each other, and why some could use revising. Who is the knight fighting? Why does the princess need saving if she has lots of power? Sparkle ends up "setting aside" over half of her lines and changing a few words in the lines she keeps. Eventually, she has a version that makes sense, and I sternly tell myself not to bother with anything else. I print a clean copy of the poem, along with the title she has chosen. Then, I have her copy the entire poem onto a separate piece of paper.

Here it is:

*******************************
***The Knight and the Dragon***

Knight, knight
Trying to fight
Dragon, dragon in the cave
Breathing fire on him oh so brave.

Knight so brave
Trying to save
Princess in flowers
Who has no powers.
*******************************

I don't expect Sparkle's poem to do well in the contest. After all, she is on the young side in her age group (K-4th grade). However, it was a worthwhile experience that introduced her to the revising process.

I like sewing

My back aches. My fingers are sore. My eyes make everything look blurry. I have a burn mark on my forearm. My wrist has a sharp pain that is slowly going away. Why? I rediscovered that I like sewing.

I'm not very good at sewing, although I can muddle my way through a simple pattern. I'm horrible at making things fit, which is why I like quilting - no-one cares if a quilt is a few inches too long or too short (anyone who would doesn't deserve a homemade quilt). However, ever since kids happened, I haven't had time to sew.

This weekend, I got to make a single, simple apron for Sparkle. And making the apron was fun! More fun than dinking around on the computer. More fun than reading a book. More fun than eating. I know this because I voluntarily put off doing all those things to get more sewing done. I also put off doing a boatload of chores and other stuff that I ought to have been doing.

Much thanks to Wander for taking care of the family so that I could sew.

Oh, and obviously, the apron is done, because otherwise I would still be working on it instead of being on the computer.

Here's a picture of Sparkle helping to pin the pattern pieces to the fabric.

Nature loving Daddy

My girls have a nature loving Daddy.

Tonight, Wander took the girls on their nightly walk. Glitter was bummed that it was too late to catch the sunset, but went along all the same. Upon their return, Wander insisted that I look at Sparle's find. A toad. A noisy, croaky toad. Sparkle would pet its throat to get it to sing. Then it jumped out of her hands, and I screamed. Once she caught it again, I made her put it outside.


Last night, Wander came bursting in the back door, telling the girls to "drop everything, get your shoes, and meet me in the front yard right away." Ever eager for "outside" time, Sparkle stepped into her flip-flops on the way to the door. However, Glitter doesn't have slip-on shoes, so she ran out the door, clutching her sandals to her chest. Turns out there was a particularly spectacular sunset going on.

Last weekend Wander took the girls to a playdate at a local nature preserve. They met up with several other families and played in the sand and water. When they got home, Wander had to hose them off in the backyard. They liked it so much that they did it again this weekend, meeting up with slightly different kids.

And where was I during most of these exciting adventures? Alas, I'm an inside sort of gal. I can happily spend an entire weekend without ever stepping outside my home. I'm glad that Wander is able to make sure that our kids don't suffer from nature-deficit disorder.

Cuddly Family

Here's Wander, Glitter, and Sparkle all cuddled up and sleeping on the sofa.

The girls woke up all giggly, but Wander was still tired.

Fine Arts and Nature Clubs

Friday was the first session of the new Fine Arts and Nature Clubs for our homeschool group. I was really nervous about the day, but everything turned out okay.

The day started early for us because Sparkle had to go to the dentist to fix a lost filling. I wasn't sure if she would need an oral sedative, so I didn't let her have breakfast, and Glitter and I went on a sympathy fast. Luckily, Sparkle was able to get by with just laughing gas, however, I forget that her mouth would be numb. We made a quick stop at the grocery store for some yogurt and pudding for her to eat before heading to the park.

Along the way, we could see the dark clouds raining. I just kept praying for better weather. It was drizzling as we set up and there was a light mist of water on everything.

Then the families started coming, and coming, and coming. I had no idea how many people to expect, and I totally underestimated the amount of chaos that many kids creates.

Thankfully, all the moms helped out and the picture study for Fine Arts club was a success. One mom was really helpful sorting the kids out by age. (Oops, when separating the kids by grade, I forgot that some homeschool kids don't know what "grade" they're in.) I got to listen in as some moms (who are way more knowledgeable about looking at art that me) led some great discussions.


One mom took the preschoolers in hand.


Here's Glitter with her back to the group, doing her own thing.


One mom brought a boombox and played music by Vivaldi in the background. Although we didn't make a big deal of the music, I caught Sparkle singing snatches of the "Themes to Remember" lyrics for the Four Seasons that we've been listening to during morning music that week.

Yet another mom helped take notes on things to do better next time. (I need to email her to ask her for the list.)

By lunchtime, the weather had cleared up, and another mom led the kids in old fashioned games and dances.


After lunch, Nature Club was much more informal. Basically the kids broke up into family groups and walked around looking at stuff. By now the weather was getting hot. Many families chose to walk the nature trail across the street, but we stuck with the families that didn't roam as far. Another family found this wasp. Sparkle hooked up with one of the older girls and they roamed the hill together, making lists of things they saw.


Here Sparkle and Glitter show off their clipboards. Sparkle ended up listing 15 things on her paper! (Maybe she didn't draw anything because she got worn out drawing during fine arts.) Glitter's paper was the usual mish-mash of scribbles. She's still at the stage where she decides what she's drawn after she's drawn it.


Here Sparkle checks out a member of the "mint" family of plants: square stalk, opposite leaves, and aromatic. It's fun smelling the plants.


After the girls got tired of looking at nature, they played on the playground for a while. Then we went home and Glitter and I took a nap. Sparkle was supposed to take a nap too, but didn't. I was still asleep when Wander got home, so he made supper (he's awesome). Then he took all of us to the free concert featuring Chopin and Tchaikovsky.

Science classes at the museum

Sparkle is in first grade this year. That makes her old enough to take science classes at the museum. Our homeschool group joins up with another homeschool group to make these monthly science classes very affordable, and fun. (I'm totally surprise that the group still has lots of openings for more students for these classes. The trip filled the day, and the experience was so worth it.)

Today was our first class. My first challenge was waking up early, because the second challenge was driving downtown to get to the museum. I gave the kids bagels with cream cheese in the car for breakfast. Then I zoomed down the HOV lane. Wow, the HOV lane totally rocks. There were hardly any cars on the HOV lane compared to the main lanes, and I didn't have to worry about changing lanes or passing. Then the HOV lane dumped us downtown, and I got briefly lost, because it is extremely difficult to read a map while simultaneously driving down strange one-way streets that are filled with pedestrian college students. However, we got back on the proper road, and made it to the museum with twenty minutes to spare.

Shortly after we arrived, I met the coordinator who was super friendly and helpful. Then the rest of the families started pouring in. I was really glad to see a few familiar faces among the other moms. Being new to the whole experience, I attached myself to them, and let them guide me around what to do and where and when to meet up. Sparkle got in line for her class, and I watched her bravely march off.


Sparkle had two classes: one about the weather, and another about the Chinese Terra Cotta soldiers. She was pretty excited about the subjects and chaperones told me that she did fine. (I suspect that she was one of the younger students in her class of first through third graders.) There was a brief break between the two classes, and at first she was anxious when she didn't immediately see me with the other moms, but then she returned to examining the exhibit, barely looking up to say hi to me.

During Sparkle's classes Glitter and I hung out in the main exhibit halls with other moms with preschoolers. We got to see a chemistry demo, and Glitter got to pretend to be a chemist and stir stuff. I was surprised at how quickly and pleasantly the time passed.


After the second class, the families gathered outside for a picnic lunch. The kids ate and then ran around enjoying the beautiful weather.


After lunch, the group got to see the Terra Cotta warriors exhibit. Sparkle's eyes popped to see the actual terra cotta warriors all the way from China, not just imitations. She started explaining different things that she had just learned in class: the size of the tiles on the armor indicated the importance of the soldier, and the height of the bun of hair also meant something. Oh, and the first emperor became emperor when he was only thirteen years old.




Halfway through the exhibit, there was a small table with a volunteer and some small Chinese items that the kids were allowed to touch. That was big for Glitter. She was tired didn't like being led through the halls and having her big sister scold her whenever she touched the glass cases. Both girls stopped at the booth and chatted with the docent for a while. They had a silkworm cocoon, chopsticks, a small model of a terra cotta soldier, various coins, fans, and some powders used to paint pictures.

We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside the exhibit. (One of the guards got very firm with a group of teenagers who were texting next to us .) However, there were no prohibitions against drawing. I didn't have the girls' clipboard or colors with me, as I didn't want to lug the nature bag with me through the museum. However, I did have my personal clipboard with me in my purse. I gave Sparkle the clipboard and a pencil. I took out one piece of paper and dug out something flat from my purse for Glitter to draw on. Sparkle promptly fell to drawing the horse and warrior in front of us. Glitter just drew. It was a pleasant interlude, and I notice another older girl from the homeschool group also occupied with a clipboard and observing the horse.

The exhibit was much smaller than I expected, and I felt that I hardly got to see anything or read anything. However, Glitter was near meltdown stage, and dance class for the afternoon was looming.

We left the exhibit and made our way slowly back to the car. Sparkle hadn't gotten to see any of the main exhibits during her classes, and she wanted to browse a bit. Then you have to go through the gift shop to get to the parking garage, and Sparkle was attracted to some giant bugs in display cases for sale. Sparkle barged in front of a gentleman observing the same bugs, and when I had her apologize, we had a pleasant conversation with him. Turns out he has a granddaughter the same age as Sparkle who also likes bugs.

Finally we were in the car on our way back to the freeway. This time I was able to navigate the streets (I only thought I got lost, but didn't really), and we were back on the HOV lane, this time headed outbound. Did I mention that the HOV lane rocks? The HOV lane totally rocks. There was a huge accident on the main lanes that had all traffic diverted completely off the freeway. We flew by, and were back on our side of town with over half an hour to spare. Both girls fell asleep in the car, so I drove straight to the dance studio, even though we were early for dance class.

Right now Wander is outside taking the girls for a walk. I'm exhausted and the only reason I'm typing this now is because I'm afraid that I'll forget if I wait.

Studying Chinese

Both Sparkle and I are using the computer program Anki to learn Chinese. (Well, I also take a class, but I use Anki to help me remember the vocabulary.) I recently came across an old idea made new again, in my new Chinese textbook: copywork. I'd previously avoided copywork in Chinese because I thought it would involve copying the Chinese characters. I'd totally overlooked the idea of doing copywork of the pinyin.

Here's Sparkle doing her Chinese. I've taken the vocabulary from the book "Chinese for Children" which I got in China. Anki presents her with a word or phrase in Chinese characters. She tries to remember the pronunciation and meaning. Then she uses her right hand on the mouse/trackball to click "show answer." Then the computer shows the pinyin for the pronunciation, the English meaning, and says the word or phrase. Then Sparkle's job is to copy the pinyin, including tone marks, using her left hand. Finally she marks the word or phrases as "again," "hard," "good," or "easy." I'm blessed that Sparkle's handwriting is up to the task.

I had been warned to not introduce pinyin too early for a couple of reasons. (1) Because the letters are the same as English, but make slightly different sounds, pinyin could confuse a beginning reader of English. (2) When learning pinyin early, students tend to become dependent on the pinyin and don't learn the characters. I think that Sparkle's grasp of the English language is strong enough that I don't need to worry about (1), and I think that a continual presentation of the Chinese characters without pinyin will take care of (2).

I have started a similar process to Sparkle's with my Anki deck. I'm really horrible when it comes to remembering and pronouncing the tones. The rest of my pronunciation is really bad too. However, I'm hoping that I can learn to reproduce the pinyin correctly (at least the letters, if not the tones), and thus have a mental model of the differences, even if I can't produce them.

Have I mentioned that I love Anki?

Glitter dresses by halves

This morning Glitter picked out a pink shirt and pink skirt to wear. She also grabbed two pink socks, as it is a school day.

First she sits down and puts the shirt over her head, but doesn't pull it down yet. Then she tries to put one sock on her right foot. But the shirt gets in her way, so she takes it off. Then she puts the sock on her foot. The other sock lying beside her is ignored in favor of the skirt. She sticks both feet in the skirt and pulls it up to her knees. There it stops. Now it's the other sock's turn. She starts to put that sock on her right foot (that already has a sock). Oops. That's silly. She then puts the sock on the left foot. The skirt is still only half on, but she is still sitting, so she turns her attention to her shirt. She puts the shirt on over her head, and this time pulls down to her neck. Then she abandons the shirt, half on, to stand up and pull her skirt up. Next, she twirls the shirt around her neck to find the tag, then twirls it more to put the tag in back. Finally, she thrusts both arms through their respective armholes at the same time.

Ta da! Glitter is now dressed.

Here's a picture of her outfit taken later in the day.

Minor Tragedy

Both girls are used to having unlimited access to paper for drawing, cutting, and crafting. They simply go to the drawer with all the paper and pull out as much as they want. Their "art gallery" of clothespins is chock full of their creations. Wander's work satchel is stuffed with drawings. Their "special boxes" contain little cards, notes, pictures, envelopes, and booklets, that they've made for each other. When it's time to clean up, there are always snips of paper that need to be thrown away.

I kept the drawer stocked with paper that had already been used on one side. When I need a map to someplace, I print it out, and after I get back, the map goes into the paper drawer. When we finish a worksheet for school, if it isn't worth keeping, it goes into the paper drawer. When I empty Glitter's backpack from school, I read the little notes from the teacher and then put the paper in the paper drawer.

However, the influx of half-used paper has not kept up with the girl's insatiable demand. The stack of paper in the drawer has gradually gotten lower and lower. This weekend it hit bottom. There was no more paper. Tragedy!

The girls didn't know what to do when they found the paper drawer empty. They wandered around, forlorn, looking for scraps of usable paper left out somewhere. They acted like tv addicts robbed of their screens, facing withdrawal.

I finally decided to open a new ream of copy paper and just give it to them. When I presented it to them they were so excited you would have thought they were getting candy. They were thrilled with the idea of having fresh clean paper that was white on *both* sides!

Sparkle promptly made this drawing of Mary Poppins, based on the movie which we watched on Friday evening. Jane and Michael are near the tiny house on the left side. The scene is from when they jumped into Burt's chalk drawing.


Glitter drew a picture too, but she decided that cutting was more fun than drawing before I got my camera out.

P.E.

One of the moms in our homeschool group co-ordinates P.E. days twice a month. I didn't attend last year, but I want to get more involved this year. Our first P.E. day featured playing kickball.

For starters, although I might wear non-sporty footwear for P.E. days, Sparkle needed sturdy shoes. Sparkle's normal footwear is flip-flops, and her feet have long since outgrown her last pair of tennis shoes. So, the day before, I took Sparkle to buy new shoes.


Then, the next morning, bright and early, we were off to the park with our balls. The mom in charge is really encouraging to the kids, and does a great job managing such a diverse bunch. She wisely separated the kids who knew how to play from the ones that didn't. Sparkle, Glitter, and I joined the group of mostly preschoolers who weren't quite sure what was going on.


Sparkle got to be a roller ...


However, when the fielders and the kickers changed sides, the game ended up being too bewildering for the girls and they both ended up pouting on the sidelines ...


After the official P.E. activities were over, I let Sparkle take her shoes and socks off and run around barefoot. Suddenly she was all happy smiles again. It's amazing what a difference a change shoes can make.

First First Friday

Here's some pictures from our homeschool group's first "First Friday" of the year.

After I dropped Glitter off in the preschool classroom, I took Sparkle to her "Little Flowers" class, where I was one of the parent helpers. The mom teaching the class this year is excellent. She could really put things in terms the kids could relate to. She also had great ideas for activities. Sparkle enjoyed the class, and I loved that it is a mixed age group.






After the mornings classes, the group met at a local park to play. One of the moms arranged this beautiful cupcake rosary to celebrate Mary's birthday. You can see many of the kids in the group in the second picture. Sorry for the wonky camera angle. We have a really great bunch of kids, and there are even more families in the group who weren't able to make it to the park.




This homeschool group has been a real blessing. I don't think that homeschool would be nearly as much fun without them.

Just a fun pic

Here's the girls re-enacting the nativity.

Glitter is an angel. The blue ball is the Star of Bethlehem. The horse is one of the animals in the barn. Jesus is a baby doll wrapped in blankets and laid in a wooden box. Sparkle is Mary. Sorry, no Joseph - the girls said he went out to run an errand.

Pix from the free concert

Here are some pix from the free concert last Thursday.

Lazy mommy makes her girls carry everything ...


But at least mommy wasn't too lazy to take the girls over to the far side of the pavilion for the free craft ...


The girls were into string instruments at the instrument petting zoo this time ...


Ah, we finally settled on the somewhat soggy ground and ate McDonald's food for supper.

School Dictation

During my first year of homeschooling, I became a big fan of copywork and dictation for teaching language arts. Sparkle constantly amazes me with her grasp of English, and copywork and dictation are wonderfully easy to adapt to whatever she needs work on.

I actually stumbled upon copywork and dictation before becoming a fan of Charlotte Mason. When we started a formal spelling program, sentence dictation was my primary method of practicing and testing spelling words. Then it became a natural method to teach about capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. Susan C. Anthony's website inspired me to do short dictations every day. As Sparkle's abilities grew, we gradually moved to longer dictations, and then from multiple unrelated sentences to short paragraphs.

I've gradually refined my method for doing dictation over the past year. (Unlike Charlotte Mason, I prefer cold dictation to studied dictation.) Here is what it currently looks like. (I'm recording it now, because it will likely be totally different in another year.)

The first time I read the dictation passage, I have Sparkle just listen for meaning. Then I check if she understands it. If she doesn't understand a part or is just curious about something, we discuss it. For example, if she's wondering why a character does a particular thing, that makes it hard for her to think about what the exact words are, so we get that out of the way first.

Then I read the dictation again and have her concentrate on remembering the exact words. Then I have her repeat back as much as she can remember. If she can't remember at least the first phrase, I re-read until she can, possibly reading a shorter portion of the passage.

Once she can remember at least the first phrase, I have her start writing. When she can't remember what comes next, I have her re-read what she's written. Often that will jog her memory. If it doesn't, I continue reading the dictation where she leaves off.

If a dictation contains words that I know she can't spell, I write those on a scratch piece of paper for her to refer to when she gets to them.

After Sparkle is done writing, I re-read the dictation a final time, for her to check her work and make any last minute corrections. Only then do I check her work.

I have Sparkle write on every other line, and she isn't allowed to use her eraser to correct mistakes larger than a single letter. If she needs to correct a word or more, she draws a single line through whatever is incorrect and writes the correction in an empty line.

I currently create her dictations from her spelling words, but I'm about to change all that. Sparkle has so many spelling words each day that it is too hard to come up with daily paragraphs that use all of them. However, the benefits of paragraph dictation have been so overwhelming that I don't want to give it up. So, I'm thinking of using dictation passages from regular books.

My kids, the mooches

My kids were such mooches yesterday.

The girls' dance classes are back to back. So, one girl is always stuck waiting during her sister's class. Sparkle didn't mooch much because we did school during her sister's class. However, Glitter was the big mooch. When her class was over, there were lots of other kids in the observation room. Lots of other kids with lots of toys. Lots of friendly kids that graciously allowed her to play with their blocks, and their other blocks, and their coloring books, and their puzzles.

Then in the evening we went to the free concert. The weather had been drizzly all day, and the lawn was damp, but we sat on the hill anyway. Not long after we settled down, we saw another family we knew, and the girls were off to play with them. They ran up and down the hill and were eventually joined by some other kids. Then the glow sticks started appearing. Before long, I could seen Sparkle running around with a glow stick. Then it was two or three glow sticks. Then the other families left, giving Sparkle their glow sticks. Sparkle ended up bringing home a dozen glow sticks!

{Insert mommy brag} When the family with the glow sticks first offered them to Sparkle, she came over to me, explained what was offered, and asked me if it was okay. Yay, those talks about not accepting gifts from strangers had some effect. {end mommy brag}

picture poems

Sparkle has gotten into poetry recently. One day she actually said that she wanted to be a poet when she grows up. Wow, that's a big change from her recent aspirations to princessdom.

Here's a rhyme that she made up when looking at some pictures she drew. (Sorry, I don't have photos of the pictures. )

These pictures both have blue.
They are pictures, pictures too.

Here's another one. Imagine Sparkle pointing to two similar drawings of girls.

She has a yellow gown.
She has a yellow crown.

my nature bag

Last spring the mom who ran the nature club in our homeschool group became too busy to continue it. So, late one night another mom and I (both quite sleep deprived) somehow got roped into volunteering to co-ordinate nature club.

In the interest of making things easy for everyone, we decided to keep things simple. I'm hoping to duplicate the Charlotte Mason inspired nature study that my girls and I do after our weekly library visit. We enjoy some time being outside. Instead of simply being with friends or exercising our muscles (although we do both), we focus our attention on the world around us. We let the natural world around us direct our conversations and drive our pencils.

Enjoying nature requires no equipment but eyes, ears, nose, hands, etc. However, a few props make the experience more memorable, more enjoyable, and more educational. Since you are out in the field, you need a bag to carry said props, so for our nature club, I requested that everyone provide their own nature bag.

"Ah," asks one of the moms, "but what to put in the nature bag?" Then she started to dissect the contents of my bag. Then she took some pictures of the bag, told me she would label them, and told me to write this blog post.

If you have nothing else in your nature bag, I think having paper and something to write or draw with is essential. If your paper is loose (instead of in a bound journal), you also need a clipboard, as nature doesn't often provide a table. Recording your experience helps focus your attention and provides a tangible reminder of the experience.

Anything else in the bag is highly personal, depending on what you happen to have on hand, your budget for new items, how much you want to carry, the age of the user, and how scientific you want to be. That said, here's what is currently in my nature bag. (The contents change from time to time as I discover new things or realize that I never use other things.)

The bag is an old green canvas bag that I scavenged from Wander. It has multiple pockets for storing smaller items, and a large pocket for dumping the majority of the stuff.

The heart of the bag is the paper/clipboard and colored pencils.

I chose a 6"x9" clipboard. It perfectly fits a piece of paper cut in half. I chose the smaller size because it is easy for little hands to manage. I also prefer loose paper to a pre-bound journal. Whatever happens in the field, any previously drawn entries are safe at home. On the back of the clipboard I taped little paper rulers to make it easy to measure things on the spot. I also include a reminder of essentials to include on the paper (name/date/location/etc.) and suggestions for what to drawn and label.

My colored pencil caddy is a homemade affair. I used to use a simple plastic pencil box, but I am now trying out this new stand, as it makes it easier for the kids to find individual colors. I also include regular erasable pencils for labeling. I find I prefer colored pencils to crayons or markers, as they are better for detailed work and provide a wide range of colors.

Here's some other stuff in my nature bag.

The bug jar is simply an empty peanut butter jar. The jar has no air holes on purpose; I want the girls to release the bugs. The magnifying glasses are fun for the kids and help focus their attention on whatever they are viewing. The binoculars do the same. The monocular was a splurge purchase for its small size. The measuring tape and folding ruler are for measuring objects that are larger than can be measured by the clipboard.

Not pictured is my field book. It is a homemade field book of sorts. It contains things like names of types of clouds, the a diagram of the life cycle of a frog, a diagram of an insect, a list of different leaf shapes, etc. When we came across tadpoles in a pond, I was able to show the girls the diagram of the frog's lifecycle. When we look at a flower, a diagram reminds us to count the number of petals and to look for stamens and pistils.

Finally, I also carry some items in my purse which are also nature bag items. I like to carry a small first aid kit, which consists mostly of bandaids. I also carry plastic bags in various sizes. These are good for taking home small samples. I have a small compass, (even though I haven't figured out how to use it). A camera is also one of my personal everyday carry items.

My nature bag has evolved and grown over the past year since we first started doing nature study. It started with a small notepad of paper and a few colored pencils thrown in a box. I expect that it will continue to change as the months and years go on. If you are starting a nature bag, hopefully you can get some hints from here. But don't let the lack of anything prevent you from simply getting out there!

Miss Manners Picnic

Here are pictures from the picnic that Sparkle's Miss Manners class held on Wednesday. The kids did formal dances, played old-fashioned games, guessed riddles, and recited poetry. It was awesome fun.

Playing Blind Man's Bluff ...




Not sure what game this is ...




The younger kids got to play on the playground ...


Yummy food ...


Guessing riddles ...


Dancing ...


Glitter wanted Sparkle to be her partner, regardless of gender ...


Doing the Virginia Reel ...


Video of dancing ...


I tried to get video of the girls reciting their poetry, but it didn't work out.

Hunting for toads...