Freedom in Learning

Whew!  I am finally on summer vacation and taking some time to reflect back upon our homeschool year. This was my first year as a homeschool reviewer for our community; I reviewed the curriculum and progress made in two different homeschooling families within our church.  It was a refreshing experience as I realized in a new way that homeschools can look very different from one another, but they can all be effective, rigorous, flexible, and fun in their own unique ways!

It seems so ironic to be a homeschool reviewer, because I still feel like a newbie in sooo many ways.  Each year, it feels like I am laying track ahead of a moving train. That is probably because in some ways I am: even if I have taught that particular grade level before, I have never taught THAT specific grade to THAT specific child before, nor have I ever taught all those grade levels at the same time, or with THAT particular curriculum. While some things feel like "old hat" to me, so many other things seem new and fresh.  That can be scary...and exciting!  

A few years ago, we took a step away from our weekly cooperative learning group and went "rogue."  (To read more about that decision, check out this post).  That choice has given us a lot of freedom to choose exactly what we've wanted to study and to learn at our own pace.  

It seems pretty fitting that on freedom week--the week of Independence Day--I am relishing my FREEDOM in homeschooling my children as I select our curriculum for next year.  What a blessing!

But as we all know, with freedom comes a HUGE responsibility and seemingly ENDLESS choices.

How do you make sense of it all, when you have so much curriculum and so many online services to choose from?

Well, that's what we are going to talk about today, dear friend.

Even if you don't officially "homeschool," I know that Covid has thrown so many families into a new learning situation.  How do we teach our children from home in this unprecedented season of life?

It's easy to get lost in the weeds of particular curriculum choices. What I'd like to do is just start with some basics, to hopefully serve as a help and an encouragement to you, whether you are just starting out on your homeschooling journey or are a "veteran" like me.

First, to borrow the words of business leader Stephen Covey, the best place to start is with the end in mind.

So I ask myself: What kind of students do I want to see at the end of the school year?

For me, it comes down to producing students who care more about God and the world, because I know that if they care, they will be self-motivated to work hard, learn more, and apply themselves to truly make a difference in the world!

Now, how do we get there?

Well, with every passing year, I become more and more comfortable with ditching the fill-in-the-blank and test-taking approaches to learning that were so ingrained in me through my own educational upbringing. While these methods help with memorizing and regurgitating facts (in the short-term), they do not nourish a children's desire to care more about the world.  So, in lieu of workbooks, we've incorporated the use of blank notebooks where the kids can journal, write, draw, record, and make their own personal connections with a subject and even between subjects of learning material. (The only exception to that is for a skill-based subject like math, as I have yet to find a rigorous enough program that does not include doing primarily workbook pages!).

Besides writing and drawing in notebooks, reading books is the backbone of our curriculum.  Through reading fiction books, the kids and I can enter into a different world through the eyes of various characters, helping us to understand and grow in empathy about the world around us.  In fact, studies show again and again that fiction writing helps to foster empathy for others.  Historical fiction books are wonderful ways to engage with the challenges of the frontier or understand about the tragedies of war.  We are even using more fiction science books as we learn more about sea life and birds, for example!  Books don't have to be dry and boring.  They can be wonderful gateways into our past and present world. (For more about how fiction books have transformed our prayer lives, check out this post, here).

Lastly, we incorporate LOTS of conversation.  (This is probably the area where traditional school lags behind the most).  We get to talk about what we are seeing on a nature walk, experiencing through a book, or while we watch a documentary together. Lots of our discussions happen over a lively board game or over a plate of delicious food.  In fact, for some areas of learning, I intentionally pair them with food, like "poetry teatime" or cultural food with history and geography. 

In short, these are the ways we grow in empathy and make a personal relationship with the subjects we are learning: through notebooking, reading, and discussing things together.

With Covid and the possibility of hybrid schooling and e-learning in the fall, I hope today's post may help and encourage many of you.

It doesn't have to be complicated!

Notebooking.

Reading.

Discussing.

And just see where it takes you!

  

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Holes vs. Hammocks

Source: walmart.com

Homeschooling is such a bizarre endeavor, when you really break it down.

With the help of books, curricula, and online resources, one tries to teach multiple children subjects ranging from Shakespeare's plays to conversational French, ancient Chinese history, to Leonardo's paintings at the Louvre (all things we actually did this morning, before I headed out with my son to mow the yard, unload the dishwasher, and thaw the meat for our dinner!).

How is educating everyone even possible?  Especially in the face of endless laundry, sibling squabbles, and dentist appointments?

There are times during our homeschooling year when I stand back a bit amazed.  My 8-year-old has waxed poetic about the plot of The Taming of the Shrew on the way home from soccer practice.  My 12-year-old shows me a hand drawn map of Asia before she ducks her head in the refrigerator and starts to make her own lunch.  I look over to find my son engrossed in yet another novel.  I look around, and despite how inadequate I feel in any particular moment, I realize that YES, these young people are really learning.

And then...the VERY next day, mind you, I am sidelined with how little my fourth-grade son knows about serial comma rules.  Whoops!  We must have forgotten to cover that lesson!  Or my second-grade daughter asks me how many days are in the month of May...and I realize that she should have mastered that years ago in kindergarten.  What irony!  What madness!  Are they really learning...or am I irreparably messing up their lives?

This is the bizarre reality of homeschooling!  Ups and downs, turns and twists, it makes for a very wild ride!

But I recently heard, from an older and more experienced homeschooling friend, that what we are doing as homeschooling families is building our children a hammock.

Sure, there will be holes. (I'd argue that ANY school system/curricula has holes in it, my friend!)

But will our hammocks be able to support them and hold them up for life?

I think YES.

My children will have many, many years after their childhood years spent at home to fill in all those gaps and holes, on their own timetable, according to their own interests and desires.

I can model that for them today, as I reach for a Jane Austen novel I've never read until now (in my forties!).

I can encourage them.

I can inspire.

I can walk confidently in the path my Father has hewn out for my family and me.

I won't let those holes get me down, but I'll realize that all the while, they will serve as an integral part of the net that will serve to hold my children up, giving them areas to learn and explore down the road.

For, don't we all as God's children, always have a lot to learn?!

"Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way."  Psalm 25:8-9

**Hey homeschoolers! To learn more about the myth of a gap-free education, check out this article: 5 Myths of Educational Gaps to Reject for Homeschoolers

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Unexpected Learning

Public, parochial, private, and home education are all legitimate pathways to learning in most parts of the world these days.  However, when I first embarked upon homeschooling, almost seven years ago now, I never realized there was a whole lot more to learning at home than doing school subjects like reading and math.  Today, I'd like to share a few of the ways my children have grown in unexpected areas over the course of our homeschooling journey.  For those of you who might be exploring the possibility of educating your children at home, I hope this post will serve to bring awareness and insight into your decision-making process.

1. Learning time management
We recently had the kids' grandparents over for an extended visit and Grandma made a comment as to how often the kids ask about "the plan"--when we were doing a particular thing, voicing their opinion as to what we did next, or asking about how much time we had until we left to go someplace in particular.  I hadn't really given this much notice, but she commented that she could tell my children were not just shuffled from one thing to another, like most school-aged children are these days.  Instead, they have a say in when we do what, where we go, and think through for themselves how to manage their time accordingly.  I think this skill will serve them well when they are out on their own one day.  I have to laugh when we "synchronize our watches" to meet up for a science lesson or when my daughter asks to only watch half of a documentary show because she wants to pen some letters in her bedroom.  All the children seem to understand that they have some ownership of their time, and they seem to understand the importance of spending it wisely.

2. Unlimited questions
One thing I notice when we have other children over to play is how few questions they ask.  They seem to be content to hear the plan and comply with it.  At first, this made me want to resent my own children: why won't they just do as I say...the first time I say it? I'd wonder.  However, what I've come to understand over the years is the underlying motive behind many of my children's questions.  I've come to realize that they are not (always!) asking a question to challenge my authority or wisdom, but instead, they possess a genuine interest in finding a more efficient way to go about getting to the same end point. While the freedom to ask unlimited questions has led us into greater learning opportunities, I must admit that it has a downside: It can be downright exhausting!  I've been known to cut my son off from asking questions after 9pm, as he is following me into my bathroom so I can wash my face for the night.  NO more questions until the morning! I've had to tell his sweet face.  But no matter how tired I am, his interest always makes me want to smile and marvel at how inquisitive we humans can be!

3. Learning how to budget
This facet of learning has come about largely through giving the kids a weekly allowance, not so much from the fact that we have chosen to home educate.  However, I still believe it is linked with homeschooling because our family has the flexibility to shop and use money during the week as we visit stores together and run errands. When asking if he could check Amazon again (his third request in one day), I had to ask my son why. "With money, comes great responsibility," was his response.  He wanted to do a few more minutes-worth of researching various 3D printers and filaments, both of which he is saving up for over the course of the next several months.  I had to chuckle and willingly gave over my phone for him to peruse--I mean, how could I say no after that reply, right?

4. Off-roading
The longer I home educate, the more comfortable I am when the kids want to take an idea and run with it on their own.  This can be a source of frustration for those who like to plan ahead (I've been there!), but what I find has helped me most is to lay out a basic framework for our schooling day, see what the kids end up doing, and then write down what they actually did in my homeschooling planner after the fact.  Veteran homeschooler Julie Bogart calls this process "planning from behind."  I call it "off-roading." We are still on the path and not really going down a million off-topic rabbit trails, but we are not exactly doing what I had envisioned we'd do either.  One recent example of this is our history studies on China.  I had laid out picture books and history page assignments as my basic framework for educating us all about this giant eastern nation.  In one of the books, my son noticed a detailed entry about terracotta warriors that were recently (1970s) discovered near the tomb of a famous Chinese emperor.  Before long, I saw that he had taken out a tub of air-dry clay and gotten to work on his very own terracotta warrior creation.  Enjoying a bar of dark chocolate and coffee, I sat across from him at our school table, transfixed.  Learning at its core.  Off-roading again.  By following his lead, I realized at the end of the day we had not only covered history, but also art and archaeology. Score!

I could go on and on...about the benefits of spending more time outdoors, enjoying the freedom of movement throughout the day, growing in compassion as we make meals to deliver to friends or neighbors during the week, and interacting with multiple age groups as we interact with the community on any given day.  However, I must stop here!  As I mentioned before, this post will just cover a FEW ways that we have learned in unexpected ways in recent years through homeschooling.  What a journey!  What a blessing!

If you are on the fence about choosing the path of home education, please do not hesitate to reach out, drop me a comment or email, or meet up with me (for those local) to learn more about the joys of homeschooling your children.  I trust you will be encouraged and blessed, just as we have through the years, dear friend!

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Learning About Learning

Source: totalmasteryofsuccess.com

I've recently had the pleasure of talking about homeschooling with two new-to-homeschooling mothers.  One has started her homeschooling journey this school year, the other plans to embark on the journey this fall.  Both women had lots of questions to ask me about various curricula we use, how I plan out our school year, and what our typical learning day looks like.

It was interesting though--in both conversations, I found myself coming back to one central theme.  In fact, I'd like to take the time to share about it with you in today's blog post.

You see, I've found that there is something MORE important than curricula, planning, philosophies of home education, and teaching styles.  What I have found, over the past six years, is how crucial it is to have a clear understanding of how my children learn.  It is only when we understand how we learn, and how each of our children learn, that we can best choose curriculum and plan our days, weeks, months, and school years.

Whether or not you choose to home educate your children, we are all teaching our children and are involved (at some level) in their learning process.  Even if you don't have children, we are always learning as adults, and as God's children.  Understanding how we, and our children, learn best brings forth much clarity and peace to our days.

One book I recommended to both of these mothers is The Way They Learn by Cynthia Tobias.  It is a fantastic resource which discusses multiple learning styles and teaching approaches.  Some children are concrete thinkers, while others are more abstract.  Some are auditory learners--learning best through lecture-style teaching or reading aloud--while others are visual, understanding best through diagrams, charts, pictures, and graphs.  My son is a kinesthetic learner, doing best when he can keep his hands or legs busy as he listens and takes in the information.

I remember one section of the book was particularly helpful as it described four types of learners, presented in a four-quadrant chart.  I was surprised to discover that my oldest daughter, my son, and I were all in three different quadrants of the chart as it related to our learning styles and the questions we unknowingly bring to the table when we learn.

For example, my learning style involves wanting to know the answer to the following questions: What does this need to look like? and  When is it due?  Meanwhile, my son's style of learning is wondering How can this be done more efficiently? and How much of this is necessary?  Understanding how we both learn toward different ends, and freeing one another from unrealistic expectations, has served to ease the strain that often ensued when I would made demands of him and his time.  I've since learned that he does best when he can think of his own way to go about doing things (be it setting up a science experiment or crafting a paper) instead of having a concrete plan of mine laid out that he must follow.

Now, please don't misunderstand me--I still struggle at times to find the patience to allow us all to learn in our most preferred styles!  But I find that when I do allow us all to learn in our preferred way, at our own speed, and in our own time, things go MUCH smoother, and we find the connection we enjoy as we learn and grow together as a family.

If you are homeschooling and are hitting the February blues, or if you are new to homeschooling or considering it for next year, I hope you will be encouraged by today's post.  Perhaps a good solid look at each child (and yourself!) and the ways in which they learn best will breathe new joy into your homeschooling days, or place you on solid footing when you do embark on your homeschooling journey!

Whatever our age or stage, may we always be learning, dear friend!  What joy awaits us when we discover and grow, and be in wonder of it all.

“The world is so full of a number of things, I ’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.”  --Robert Louis Stevenson

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Literary Matchmaking

One of the most important jobs I have as a homeschooling mother is to foster the love of learning and reading in my children.

All three of my children learned to read in different ways: one seemed to effortlessly pick up the skill of reading and was zipping her way through chapter books (written on a fourth-grade level!) in kindergarten.  Another learned to read by SHOUTING words, and it took many years of "buddy" reading until they felt comfortable reading a book independently.  Still another learned to read on their own terms.  I call this the "cat" method--reading many pages one day, not wanting to the next--learning how and when they wanted to.  To be honest, I am glad we are past the learning to read stage of homeschooling!

But my job has really just begun.  It is one thing to know how to read--the decoding of symbols to make sense of words and sentences; it is quite another to love to read and choose to do it over more alluring things, like video games and screen time.

“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.” --Mark Twain

I like to call this process "literary matchmaking," a nod to blogger and author Anne Bogel (but I believe she uses the term in a different way).  I see myself as a matchmaker of sorts, helping to bring my children into the arms of a good book, almost like making a dating match!

To foster the love of reading in my kids, I have come to realize that I practice a few "literary matchmaking" habits which I'd love to share with you today.  I hope they will serve to encourage and inspire you in your household, whether you homeschool or not!

Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Make reading THE MOST enjoyable experience of your child's day.

If I see one of my kids reading on the couch, I grab the closest warm afghan and cover them up, tucking in the sides and snugging them inside.  I offer to serve them a mug of hot cocoa (if it is cold outside), or a tangy glass of lemonade (during the summer months).  I bring over the cat and put him on their lap.  I prop their feet up on a pillow.  I turn on a lamp, light a candle, or remove distractions in the room (like open magazines or nearby electronic devices) and I seriously set the mood.  Chocolate always goes over BIG too--add brownies, chocolate chips, or cocoa to any setting with a book, and it instantly makes a GOOD memory!

Reading is always GREAT with a kitty and a cozy afghan

Notice the chocolate chips!

“There is nothing more luxurious than eating while you read—unless it be reading while you eat.” – E. Nesbit

2. Incorporate reading into everyday life.

If we are hiking in the woods, I bring along a book.  Heading to the pool?  I pack a few books in the pool bag (in waterproof zipper pouches).  Sitting down to lunch? I bring over a book of poetry and read one or two poems before we clear our dishes.  I am forever amazed how often the kids are open and responsive to reading when we are out and about, or just doing mundane things throughout our day.

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” – Lemony Snicket

3. Let your kids see YOU enjoying books and reading.

Okay, I hate to admit this, but I literally pant and bark out loud with glee when a new book arrives in the mail from Amazon.  It always gets a few giggles from the kids, but they can't help but know that Mama loves books.  Some mornings, they find me snuggled in bed reading a book in the early morning hours.  Oftentimes, I sit down with a book in the afternoon or after dinner dishes are cleaned up in the evening.  We try to prioritize going to the library as a family a few times a month, and the kids know that I am NOT ready to leave until I have scoured the stacks in the adult fiction and non-fiction sections!  Like with all things, YOU are a model for your kids!  If they see that you love to read, it will overflow into their hearts and lives.

4.  Have more than one book going at a time

We have a lot of different books--and book formats--going on in our household at any particular time. The kids each read their own books (as do I).  Then we have shared read-aloud books.  We also listen to audiobooks and stories at bedtime and on car trips. (We love Hoopla, a book streaming app, free through our local library, but we check out books on CD often, too).  It seems that the plot lines and characters never get mixed up in their minds--they are so adaptable and jump from story to story, even in the same day.  This always keeps us excited about reading and never bored!

5.  NEVER have a bad thing to say about reading and books!

Lastly, I always say POSITIVE things about books, reading, libraries, bookshelves, and all things related to books!  Let's say it is raining outside: I will announce, "Rainy days like today are PERFECT for books, tea, and snuggling!"  Or if one of my children has come upon a boring book, I let them set it aside, and pick a new one right away.  No need to belabor it; sometimes it is just not the right fit for this particular point in time.  I will mention how good books smell, how amazing they feel, what exciting adventures they might take us on...it is always positive.

“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” – J.K. Rowling

Don't misunderstand--reading is never perfect around here--I mean, what is?!  But overall, I am amazed at how often my kids choose to read, where they choose to read, and how many books and stories they read, when we look at an entire academic year.

Reading together can especially serve to *reset* crazy days!  I am so thankful for books and reading, and how it has positively impacted our family and our homeschool.  I hope it will do the same for you and yours, too, dear friend!

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Games for School? Heck Yeah!

One sure-fire way to keep the learning going in our household when my brain is *fried* is to whip out some educational games.  I always keep gameschooling (yes, it's a real thing) in my back pocket for days when we need a hard RESET because of math tears, sibling squabbles, or when we all just need a break from traditional curriculum and workbooks.

In today's post, I'd like to introduce the concept of gameschooling (if it is new for you) and give you a myriad of ideas involving some of our favorite ways to incorporate games in our homeschool learning.  There are many blog posts (like this one by Caitlin Curley, the gameschooling queen) that speak at length about this if you want to learn more!

One of my favorite ways to incorporate gameschooling is with the subject of math.  This works great for days when my youngest just can't stomach doing another page in her workbook or completing a computer assignment, and yet I don't want her to go a day or two without practicing her math skills.  Some of her favorite games include Sum Swamp, Math Dice Junior, and Money Bags.  These games are a non-threatening way to practice arithmetic, counting money, and making change.  My older kids really enjoy Prime Climb, which helps them practice factors, multiples, and prime numbers.

Money Bags

Prime Climb

The kids also enjoy logic games that can be played by one person; these are a great choice when the kids need space apart from each other, or when only one person is in the mood to play a game. Two of my son's favorite one-player logic puzzles are Rush Hour Junior, and IQ. (These games also make fantastic and portable options for doctor's office appointments or for waiting times at restaurants!).

Another way I love to use games in our homeschooling is to introduce the kids to different cultures.  While there is nothing particularly *educational* about some of these games (although, I'd argue that every game includes a wealth of learning opportunities, such as learning how to take turns, follow directions, exhibit good sportsmanship, etc), they do the important work of introducing the culture of a particular country--its native animals, food, geography, etc--to the kids, making it less foreign and more approachable to them.  Games in this category include Takenoko (set in Japan--don't let the panda fool you!), Tokaido (also set in Japan), Istanbul, and Ticket to Ride Asia, among many others.

Speaking of the Ticket to Ride games, there are many games that help to introduce and reinforce geography in our homeschool!  We play the United States, European, and Asian versions of Ticket to Ride (there are many more versions available), and we are currently enjoying the game Roar: King of the Pride, since we are studying the continent of Africa this year.

Roar: King of the Pride

History is another subject that is just brimming with gameschooling possibilities.  My son loves Blue Max, a World War 1 aviation-themed game, and Memoir 44, which is set in Normandy Beach on D-Day.  (Side note: I was amazed at how many aircrafts my kids recognized when we took a field trip to the Udvar-Hazy Center a few years ago, all of which were in the Blue Max game!).  One fast and easy (and nostalgic!) game is The Oregon Trail card game.  We also plan to pull out Egyptians again as we study Africa this year (it worked well for our Ancient History studies a few years back).

I also use games in the area of science, as well.  We are currently studying birds, so these bird-themed games have been an easy go-to when we need a break from the books or outdoor nature study. (Games pictured: Birds of a Feather, Bird Bingo (series), and Backyard Birds)

Much to my surprise, I have been pleased to see the kids make up their OWN games this year!  We have enjoyed playing them (full disclosure: some have more straight-forward and sensible rules than others...) as a family, too.  

Sunshine's Game (11 years old)

Princess's Game (7 years old)

This past weekend, my husband and son hand-crafted a Chinese checkers game set out of wood.  They had enjoyed playing on my parents' set during a recent visit with them, and decided to work together to build one using scrap wood and left-over stain from another project.  (Glad I didn't throw out those marbles when the kids were tired of them!)  The entire project came together quite beautifully, in my opinion!  Way to go, guys!
 

Now, I realize that games can be a big financial investment, but you'd be surprised at how quickly your family can build a *great* collection when you give other family members birthday and Christmas gift ideas, or when you scourer your local thrift shops and yard sales.  Your community might also have a local game shop where you can play open-copy games regularly.  We make it a priority to go to our local game store for their monthly game-and-cookie nights (or you can always invite a few friends and neighbors over and start your own regular game night!).  (*Note: many prices associated with the game links in this post are NOT what we paid! Watch Amazon for fluctuating prices, as well as other suppliers, especially near the holidays)

Well, I hope that this post has provided you with lots of ideas about incorporating games into your homeschooling days, or just into your family life, in general!  Games are a GREAT way to build memories together as a family, cross generational barriers with the grandparents, and as I hope I've thoroughly explained, introduce a lot of fun and meaningful learning into your day!

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The Homeschool Joys of NOW

"Spider sliders" with hand-cut fries from Chef Princess

When you are homeschooling, it is easy to think about all the should/could/woulds:

We should be doing this...

We could be doing this...

What would happen if we did this...or go there...or read that...or do those things...?

So what I've been aspiring to do this year is to just enjoy what IS.

What we ARE doing.

What we ARE enjoying.

Right here.

Right now.

Because it won't always be like this.

The kids will be older.

Our interests might be different.

We might have other responsibilities.

We might have different time or budgetary constraints.

So, we are going to enjoy the NOW.

Today, I'd love to share with you just a few things that are rockin' our homeschool world right NOW.  I hope and pray it would not only serve to encourage and inspire you, but that it would also be a catalyst for YOU to look at what YOU are currently doing in the now and appreciate it for all that it is, too!

So, here they are--our homeschooling joys--in no particular order:

• Raddish Kids Cooking club

We have enjoyed this cooking club for nine months now, and all I can say each and every time one of the kids cooks something up is, "YOU HIT IT OUTTA THE BALL PARK!"  This month's kit was especially fun, being Halloween themed!  We've made the chocolate creature cookies TWICE already and the month is not even close to being over.  Each kit comes with a cooking tool, laminated instructional recipe cards, educational activity cards (so you can expand the learning about the food's region, culture, etc), an apron patch, and a themed Spotify playlist (also especially fun this month!).

Chocolate creature cookies

• Nana's FREE chalk pastel classes

Nana's chalk pastel classes have inspired even my most reluctant artists to try their hand at something new with AMAZING results!  I love how Nana's classes span the range of history to nature and everything in between, including good 'ole Charlie Brown and The Green Ember.  Definitely check out her classes and her Facebook page (You ARE an Artist or chalkpastel.com), where there are always a ton of FREE classes to chose from!  We enjoyed this blue jay class last week--the video is already up on YouTube (here) if you are interested in joining in, too!

Turbo's Blue Jay (10 years old)

Sunshine's Blue Jay (11 years old)

• Comic books

We have all been inhaling Garfield comic books as of late.  We have checked out almost a dozen different books from our local library, and each one is better than the last!  It keeps the humor in our day, and encourages even my most timid reader to read late into the evenings until bedtime.  Definitely a great way to reset the day or offer something fun to enjoy instead of screen time!

• Audiobooks

I'm forever amazed at the volume of books my kids are plowing through with the help of audio books.  My littlest one (7 years old) is over halfway through the Harry Potter series, while my older two are nearly through with the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series (one of my all-time favs!).  While they are all reading other books, I feel like audiobooks have allowed them to "read" a wider variety a books, while also freeing up their hands to cross-stitch, build with Legos, draw, or sketch, giving them some built-in creative time in their day.  Our favorite way to listen to audiobooks is still the old-fashioned way: checking out audio CDs from our local library and playing them in CD players in the kids' bedrooms.  However, we do use Hoopla digital streaming on our portable devices through our local library upon occasion.

• Nature study

While most times our nature study is more formal (curriculum-based like this one), lately we've been enjoying the nature we see around us--even the spider outside the den window!  Yesterday morning, we watched as the house spider came toward a struggling hover fly in the web, inject it with venom (we could see the dew-like drop hanging off the fly), and then wrap it up.  Gross...but cool!  My oldest daughter has also enjoyed watching the Downy woodpecker at our feeder.  She painted a picture of him last week, and then penned a poem about Downy woodpeckers today.  Very special...and very organic.  I LOVE to see self-directed and inspired learning like this going on this! 

(My mother-in-law's window sills would never be this dirty LOL!)

Sunshine's Downy woodpecker

• Handicrafts 

Most recently, this has been in the form of making shaker cards.  These super cute cards were made from this *uber* easy kit by Close to My Heart (easily purchased here, through my consultant, Lisa Stenz).  They made for a fun "crafternoon" in which all three of my kids got involved, with no need for a paper trimmer or liquid adhesive (it uses punched out paper shapes and foam tape), and therefore, resulted in no mess and easy clean-up. Score!

Holiday Sparkle Cut Above Card kit (makes 12 cards)

• Fitness App

It is a struggle for me to be consistent with exercise when school starts back up (and if I'm honest, this summer was a struggle, too!).  Lately we've been enjoying Seven, a workout app where you go through various prompted exercise drills for seven minutes.  It just seems very doable in a busy schedule and doesn't require a lot of planning or thought.  I started doing it just for myself, but the kids have really enjoyed joining in, too.  Another win-win.

So, there it is!

Just a few things we are enjoying...right here, right now.

I hope this post finds you and yours doing fun things, too, even if you are just enjoying being in the moment, and not necessarily doing a lot of "productive" things!

May you, too, enjoy where you are at, RIGHT now!

Not where you NEED to be...

Not where you COULD be...

But right where you are! 

God bless!

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Nature Journaling El Salvador

source: flickr.com

When we went to El Salvador for our mission trip with Living Water, I expected to be moved spiritually and challenged physically. However, I didn't expect to be totally blown away by all the amazing flora in the area!  I was able to take some time this week to complete a few nature journaling pages, and thought I'd share them with you on today's post.

While we were driving to and from the drilling community site, I kept encountering this amazing tree throughout the countryside.  It was of a magnificent scale and had a high, spherical canopy that was quite delicate looking.  I later learned that it was what the locals call a "conacaste tree," but it is known throughout Latin America by various names: guanacaste, caro caro, and the elephant-ear tree (named after it's strangely-shaped seed pods).  It is actually the national tree of Costa Rica.

Conacaste tree (source: en.wikipedia.org)

One of our national team members mentioned that the wood of this tree makes beautiful, heirloom-quality furniture.  A quick internet search showed me that the seeds found inside the pods make beautiful Mayan-inspired jewelry.

Conacaste wood  (source: maeco-maexpo)

Conacaste seeds (source: amazon.in)

Another unusual tree I saw in El Salvador was the morro tree.  Its trunk and branches were covered in fruit that had a "stuck on" appearance, and it had relatively few leaves.

Morro tree

We were served a sweet iced drink, horchata, made from the ground seeds of this fruit that was quite tasty.  The gourd-like fruit can be dried and used to make cups and bowls, too.  (The fruit pulp seems to be fed to the horses and only the seeds are used for human consumption).

Horchata (source: leannebrown.com)

Morro cups (source: zoom50wordpress.com)

Another tree that caught my eye was the mango tree.  While I am very familiar with this juicy fruit (my son's favorite in smoothies), I had no idea that the ripened fruit hung off the branches from red tethers!  And did you know that it is a member of the cashew family?!

Mango tree (source: amazon.in)

Mango fruit (source: istockphoto.com)

We were also served coconuts with straws as a refreshing afternoon drink (or you can just chug-a-lug, like I did!).  The coconuts were large and yellow-green.  This got me wondering about what the difference was between these coconuts and the brown, hairy ones I am more familiar with from home (at the grocery store, that is).  I found out that they are one and the same, just at differing stages of maturity.  The yellow-green ones are more immature and contain a lot less meat and more water, while the brown-hairy ones are more mature and contain less water, but thicker, firmer meat.

And finally, I was quite taken with a fringy, broad-leafed tree that I saw all throughout our travels in El Salvador.  This was quickly identified by our guides as the plantain tree.  I researched a bit about the difference between plantains and bananas, and learned that plantains must be cooked before eaten and are quite starchy, not sweet, like our "dessert bananas" back home.  I enjoyed them a few times during our time in country, cooked up warm with some cinnamon.

Plantain tree (source: pri.org)

source: bananaprocess.com

I hope you were able to learn a few new things, like I did, about God's wondrous creation in today's post, dear friend!  I also hope you are inspired to look around you, when you are traveling for work or pleasure, or even in your own backyard!  You just might be surprised, like I was, to learn more about a new-to-you plant or tree.

To Him be the glory!

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