August 2016

We celebrated Lammas on the 1st of August (the beginning of the Harvest season). For the occasion we made Lammas wreaths for our front door (with fruit cut and sundried by Hawkeye and his siblings), and homemade spiral cookies (which they made with some help from me). We also talked about the coming seasonal change, and what harvest time means to farmers, both now and in the past.

l to r: Seal Pup, Buttercup and Hawkeye

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A county adjacent to ours has been offering a fun event again this summer; visit eight out of their twelve County Parks and win a goody bag; this has encouraged to visit several parks that we might not have done. Recent park visits have included Nature Centers, working farms, parks rich with Native American points of interest and a small museum, and parks featuring lakes (with boat rides!)

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We escaped the heat on a recent day to visit our Children's Science Center; Hawkeye loves this center! We had the opportunity to extract DNA from wheatgerm at the Lab Bar, program a robotic arm, use an electron microscope and explore, explore, explore.

Hawkeye extracted DNA from wheatgerm! (Its that tiny white dot on the end of the skewer)

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On the way back from this particular Science Center trip, we stopped for a picnic lunch at a local park. It turned out to be the site of a Civil War battle, complete with information boards and a small cemetery. We had just wrapped up our study of Abraham Lincoln, so this gave some deeper understanding to the events around the Civil War, how local they were to where we live, and the events as they happened outside of Lincoln's life.

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On a particularly hot day, I broke out the wet-on-wet painting. This is a painting technique popular in Waldorf classrooms, where the focus at the elementary level is more of exploring color and the shape of the paint on the paper in relation to the paper itself. This was something Hawkeye had done before, but it had been a while and he had forgotten some of the techniques used; namely, that the paper (at nearly $1 a piece) is precious, rather than usual painting projects where the children can dash through a dozen pieces each in a single session!

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A local park with a Colonial era home on the grounds, held a Colonial Living day that we attended. This is a regularly hosted event, that we have been to before, but it is a firm family favorite! Hawkeye had the opportunity to try his hand at several of the different hands on activities, including grinding corn, splitting logs with a fro and axe, aided by a wooden hand hewn mallet (it was really hard work, he said!), working at a shaving horse with a backing knife (again, hard work!), helping to tend a fire and cook pottage in the 'summer kitchen' (aka outside!), learn about spinning and using sealing wax, and play period games such as grace sticks, skittles and hoop trundling. As we studied the Colonial era through our Beautiful Feet history curriculum, Early American History, last fall and winter, I love that these events help bring history off the page, and give Hawkeye a glimpse into everyday life.

Working on the Shaving Horse and the Backing Knife

Hoop trundling!

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After a suspected siting of a hummingbird in our neighborhood, we hung our hummingbird feeder up outside, in a spot that we could easily see from our living room. we were soon rewarded by many visits from a pair of hummingbirds. This sent Hawkeye to his much loved copy of  Sibley Field Guide of Eastern North America, to look up the birds and identify them (Ruby Throated Hummingbirds). We looked up some additional information on the birds online, such as feeding frequency (every five to ten minutes - goodness!) and nesting habits.

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We went to an evening lecture on Bats towards the end of the month, held by our local Wildlife Conservancy group. We learned about the two main types of bats, mega- and micro-bats, their habitats, feeding habits and how they use echolocation. We also had the opportunity to see two rehabilitated bats up close, and then spend time outside at dusk with sonagram trackers, to locate bats. Fascinating!

Hawkeye using a sonogram tracker to detect bats

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After reading a chapter book we often like to do a simple book report on the book; a picture from a scene that we particularly enjoyed and a little bit about the book and what we liked about it. Hawkeye really enjoyed our recent reading of The Green Ember, by S. D. Smith and asked to write a book report, which we (of course!) did. I happened to post a picture of it on Instagram, and it was spotted by the author himself who wrote Hawkeye a lovely note: "Wow! This is excellent! Please say hello to this amazing kid for me." Needless to say, Hawkeye was just thrilled to get such feedback from the author of his 'favorite book ever'!

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At the end of this month we also started some new projects. We began using our Waldorf Essentials curriculum (Grade Two); the focus for this year is on Heroes and Saints, and Hawkeye is enjoying the work very much so. He also had his first try at form drawing, a Waldorf method of introducing the various shapes used in cursive writing.

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We are also gearing up to begin our new 4H year; this will be Hawkeye's fourth year in 4H, and his first a project leader himself. He has chosen to lead two different projects: Board Game Club and Stream Exploration. Although I will be on hand to support him throughout the year, this will mean that he will be communicating with the Club leaders on dates for his meetings, arranging meeting venues, and organizing the meetings themselves. In addition he will need to discuss his projects with other club members. Although it is typically parents and other adults who lead Club Projects, younger club members do have that option; Hawkeye was really excited to try leading these Projects. I'm excited to see him continue to grow in his role as a 4H member this year! 

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We also began our Composer and Artist Studies for the year. We are following the recommendations of the Charlotte Mason Ambleside Online curriculum for this area.  In art, we are studying Hans Holbein the Younger; Hawkeye is not overly impressed so far, although he did enjoy catching the 'clues' in the pictures, that the artist was depicting a long-ago era. For Composer Study we are listening to Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina; Hawkeye enjoys the gentle dreaminess of his music and was very proud of himself for learning to repeat his name!

Reading
We continued daily reading (Easy Reader, Level 1 books) and played on the Teach Your Monster To Read app.

Math
Completed Life of Fred: Edgewood
Began working our way through Life of Fred: Farming (we average two chapters each week)

History
We completed the Beautiful Feet Early American History (Primary/Intermediate) curriculum, and began History of the Horse, also from Beautiful Feet

Ongoing Reading
My Book House, In the Nursery (daily)
Aesop Fables (daily)
The poems of Walter de la Mare (daily)

Fifty Famous Stories Retold, by James Baldwin
     -The Bell of Atri
     - How Napoleon Crossed the Alps
     - Julius Caesar
     - Socrates and His House
     - The King and His Hawk

Seabird, by Holling C. Holling
     - chapter 22
     - chapter 23
     - chapter 24
     - chapter 25
     - chapter 26

The Burgess Bird Book for Children, by Thornton W. Burgess
     - The Purple Linnet and the Goldfinch
     - The Mourning Dove and the Cuckoo
     - The Shrike and and the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
     - The English Starling and the Cedar Waxwing

Among the Forest People, by Clara Dillingham Pierson
     - The Story of the Cow Bird's Egg
     - Mrs Mourning Dove's Housekeeping
     - The Young Blue Jay Who Was Not Brave Enough To Be Scared
     - Little Rabbit Learns to See

Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling (completed)
     - The Crab That Played With the Sea
     - The Cat That Walked By Himself
     - The Butterfly That Stamped

Chapter Books Read
The Green Ember, by S. D. Smith
Ramona Forever, by Beverly Cleary
Clementine, by Sara Pennybacker
Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell
Schoolhouse in the Woods, by Rebecca Caudill
The Black Star of Kingston, by S. D. Smith


History Books Read
Meet Abraham Lincoln, by Barbara Cary
Abraham Lincoln, by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire
Buffalo Bill, by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire


Picture Books Read
Fishing in the Air, by Sharon Creech
Rumpelstiltskin, by Paul O. Zelinsky
Zoom Broom, by Margie Palatini
The Twelve Dancing Princesses, by John Cech
Gizmo, by Barry Varela
Owly and Wormy - Friends All Aflutter, by Andy Runton
Owly and Wormy - Bright Lights and Starry Nights, by Andy Runton
Through Granpa's Eyes, by Patricia MacLachlan
King Midas and the Golden Touch, by Charlotte Craft
Frankenstein's Fright Before Christmas, by Ludworst Bemonster
Appelemando's Dream, by Patricia Polacco
have You Heard the Nesting Bird, by Rita Gray
The Glorious Flight, by Alice and Martin Provensen
Flicka, Ricka and Dicka Go To the Market, by Maj Lindman
Our Nest, by Reeve Lindbergh
Pete's A Pizza, by William Steig
Grandpa Green, by Lane Smith
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and the Strawberries, by Maj Lindman
The Bear That Heard Crying, by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock and Helen Kinsey
Long Night Moon, by Cynthia Rylant
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and the New Dotted Dresses, by Maj Lindman


Movies Watched
Myth Hunters: The Quest for Noah's Ark

Nature: Animal Homes - The Nest
72 Cutest Animals: episodes 1 and 2