We went on a field-trip to a local Fire Station, that was definitely geared a little more to the older children in our group. The fire station tour leaders talked about basic fire safety and how the fire station operates, but also covered topics such as area jurisdictions, insurance restrictions and how it effects how a company runs, sex equality, electrical safety, maps, and the social responsibility the station has for caring for those in need. It was pretty fantastic!
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A good friend and I started a local Nature Co-op this month, aimed at providing children with hands-on time out in nature, with a range of topics we hope to cover over the course of the year's meetings. This month we started with outdoor safety and what to pack in a daypack. Our initial meetings also provided plenty of social time for all our members to get to know each other, so there was plenty of running around, climbing trees, and rock scrambling. Good stuff!
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Hawkeye started a new Ecology class for homeschoolers this month too. This is a year long class, and will meet twice a month at a local botanical gardens, led by a Biologist. During the first class, the students discussed the physical needs of different animals, and the basic ecological properties of water.
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He also attended a class on Trees at our local Wildlife Conservancy group; Hawkeye particularly enjoys these monthly classes! This one was led by a Botanist, and we covered a large amount of information, including native vs. non-native trees, invasive plant species, trees as insect habitats, strata of tree canopies and the different light/water needs of those varying trees, what characteristics to use in identifying different trees, how to use a field guide, the life cycle of a tree, and the differences between male and female trees. It was really fantastic! We came home eager to look up more information on trees, and spent time walking our own neighborhood with a field guide to ID our local trees. One of the trees discussed during the class was the Paw Paw; as chance would have it a neighbor overheard our tree discussions, and gave us a couple of Paw Paw fruit that she had collected that morning. We waited until they were ripe, and then Haweye and his siblings were able to sample them. They were a huge hit, and we now look for Paw Paw fruit whenever we are out and about!
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Hawkeye also attended a library class on Snap Circuit electronics; through this he was able to experiment with solar panels, electrical flow, sound waves through voice, and see Bernoulli's principle of balancing a ball over a flow of air. Although we have several Snap Circuit sets, Hawkeye really enjoyed seeing more complex sets with different projects to build.
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During September we also continued several Ambleside Online inspired studies; we listened to the music of Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina and learned about his life, studied the art and life of Hans Holbein the Younger, and read several picture book versions of Shakepeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
We also began the Brave Writer Jot It Down curriculum, with month one of the Fairy Tale Project. This month we focused on Rapunzel, with book reading and narration, discussion and art.
Hawkeye also expressed an interest in learning about Japan, so we spent some time learning about Japanese culture through picture books, atlas study, reading about Japan in some fantastic reference books (Material World and Children Just Like Me), and making sushi. We also tried our hand at Origami and Kirigami (which led us to watch the fascinating documentary, Between the Folds) and looked at calligraphy, haiku and pictographs. It continues to be a fascinating rabbit hole to explore!
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We had a fantastic field trip with friends to a local Colonial era farm, where Hawkeye had the opportunity to try a variety of hands on skills, including candle dipping, wool carding and using a drop spindle to make yarn, pounding dried corn, and playing colonial era games. We then visited the farm as well, seeing a smoke house and a root cellar.
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We started several new curricula this month as well:
Waldorf Essentials, Grade 2 - we practiced form drawing, and read stories about the lives of Saints (St Francis, St Christopher and St Jerome). We verbally narrated each of these stories, and then Hawkeye dictated his own summary of each to me.
We also did a week long study of St. Michael and St. George (both famous for their dragon stories!) in preparation for Michaelmas. We made sewed and dyed capes, made shields and swords (out of cardboard), made dragon bread and painted huge dragon banners. So much fun!
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Exploring Nature With Children
- week 1. Seed distribution, through wind, air, water or by animal. We collected seeds and divided them into the different distribution types. We also read a few books about seeds, how they develop and how they grow, and did a seed germination experiment.
- week 2. Mini-Beast Hunt; we looked for a wide variety of 'mini-beasts' outside, and then identified them as gastropods, molluscs, insects, isopods ... We read about the identifying features of insects, made clay models of our favorites and wrote our very first Acrostic poem!
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Beautiful Feet: The History of Horses
We are beginning by reading Marguerite Henry's chapter book, The King of the Wind. Through this we have been encouraged to research Morocco, the Islamic faith, Arabian horses, thoroughbred horses and purebred lines, stud books, family trees, King Louis the XV, the palace of Versailles, 18th Century travel and parts of a horse.
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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) completed
The poems of Eugene Field
Fifty Famous Stories Retold, by James Baldwin
- Doctor Goldsmith
- The Kingdoms
- The Barmecide Feast
Seabird, by Holling C. Holling (completed)
- chapter 27
The Tree in the Trail, by Holling C. Holling
- chapter 1
- chapter 2
The Burgess Bird Book for Children, by Thornton W. Burgess
- The Chickadee
- The Canada Goose and the Loon
- The White-Breasted Nuthatch and the Brown Creeper
- The Tree Sparrow and the Junco
Among the Forest People, by Clara Dillingham Pierson
- The Little Bat Who Wouldn't Go To Bed
- A Swarm Leaves the Bee Tree
- The Haughty Ground Hog
The Story Book of Science, by Jean Henri Fabre
- The Six
Chapter Books Read
Seabird, by Holling C. Holling
Ramona's World, by Beverly Cleary
All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown, by Sydney Taylor
Non-fiction Books Read
How a Seed Grows, by Helene J. Jordan
From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons
Ten Mile Day: And the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad, by Mary Ann Fraser
John Muir: America's Naturalist, by Thomas Locker
Picture Books Read
Puppies and Piggies, by Cynthia Rylant
The Teeny-Tiny Woman, by Paul Galdone
Sarah's Unicorn, Bruce Colville
A Sick Day for Amos McGee, by Philip C. Stead
The Egg, by M. P. Robertson
Happy Birthday, Good Knight, by Shelley Moore Thomas
A Good Knight's Rest, by Shelley Moore Thomas
A Cold Winter's Good Knight, by Shelley Moore Thomas
Wabi Sabi, by Mark Reibstein
Rapunzel, by Paul O. Zelinsky
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and Their New Skates, by Maj Lindman
The Warlord's Beads, by Virginia Walton Pilegard (a picture book about math concepts)
Take Care, Good Knight, by Shelley Moore Thomas
Princess Super Kitty, by Antoinette Portis
Wait, by Antoinette Portis
A Time to Keep, by Tasha Tudor
Babushka's doll, by Patricia Polacco
The Warlord's Fish, by Virgina Walton Pilgard (a fictional picture book about scientific concepts)
Cupid and Psyche, by M. Charlotte Craft, illus. by K. Y. Craft
Pony Island, by Candice F. Ransom
Obelix and Co., by Goscinny and Uderzo
Johnny Appleseed, by Jane Yolen
Applesauce Season, by Eden Ross Lipson
The Paper Crane, by Molly Bang
Not a Stick, by Antoinette Portis
Leaf Man, by Lois Ehlert
Rain Makes Applesauce, by Julian Scheer
A Penguin Story, by Antoinette Portis
Not a Box, by Antoinette Portis
The Apple Pie That Papa Baked, by Lauren Thompson
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf, by Lois ehlert
Froodle, by Antoinette Portis
Grandfather's Journey, by Allen Say
Flora's Very Windy Day, by Jeanne Birdsall
The Busy Little Squirrel, by Nancy Tafuri
We Gather Together, by Wendy Pfeffer
Ox Cart man, by Donald Hall
The Bicycle Man, by Allen Say
Movies Watched
Nature - Animal Homes
- Location, Location, Location
- Animal Cities
Reading Rainbow
- Ox Cart Man
Between the Folds
Podcasts
Tumble Science
- How Ants Conquered the Earth
- The Code of the Flashing Firefly
But Why?
- How Long Does it Take for a Baby Cheetah to go From a Fluffball to a Hunter
Sparkle Stories
- The Dragon and the Unicorn
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