Preserve the Nature Table

This time of year, many of us begin to consider how to alter our nature table to reflect the change of seasons.  Throughout our many season of having a nature table, we tend to take several days to move our nature table from one season to the next.  This summer, our table was filled with treasures collected from our Pennsylvania back yard, to the squares of Savannah, to Florida's Blue Spring State Park.  (It is amazing how much a 3 year old little boy can fit into his, and my, pockets!)

Now as we begin to transition to a fall nature table, the pebbles, twigs, shells, etc. need to move.  Usually we put them in a basket to look over and toss out the items we will not need for the next season, but this time we decided to preserve some of the special bits and pieces in a plaster of paris keepsake.

It's easy.  All you need is a small amount of powdered plaster of paris, water, paper bowl, and nature's treasures.

In the paper bowl, mix 1 cup of plaster of paris with 1/2 cup of water.
(An adult needs to begin the process as the powder is bad to breathe in.)  

Let the mixture set for about 1 minute then set in your treasures,
 pressing them just hard enough for them to be part way in the plaster.

After an hour your keepsake should slide out of the plate and
ready for your family to enjoy remembering the fun of the past season.

Looking to Days Ahead

Our home is still abuzz with summer fun, but I am looking toward autumn with excitement as we begin our homeschool adventure.  As my friends find out we have decided to homeschool our second grade son, they usually have  two questions: "Why?" and "How are you going to do it?" 

To the first, I explain that our good-natured, fun-loving son is waaayy too stimulated in the public school classroom and we want to take time to teach him skills that will help him learn to focus.  (My husband is a behavior therapist and will be a big help in achieving this goal.)  To the second question, I start off by saying that we are going to use the Charlotte Mason philosophy and incorporate Waldorf techniques.  At that point, most people just stare at me and blink, not having a clue what I am talking about.

To sum it up:

Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) was a British educator who created an education method based on the ideas that education has three aspects:  A child's home is a powerful learning environment that can be used to teach the whole child, the importance of instilling proper character and behavioral habits, and that we should encourage the child to love learning as a lifestyle, not just during study time, by presenting education as living thought not simply rote facts.  Some of the unique aspects to Mason education that drew me in include the variety of subjects taught, short lessons, narration, using living books, copywork, nature walks, keeping a nature notebook, hand crafts, and habit forming.  

While there are many things I like about the Mason method, I simply cannot let go of some wonderful aspects of Waldorf education such as chalkboard drawings, fairytales, festivals, wet-on-wet painting, math gnomes, and main lesson books.  I look forward to  incorporating them into our Mason education.

So in September, we will shift from carefree summer fun to creating a daily rhythm that includes homeschooling our 7 year old, and a encouraging a nurturing environment for our 4 year old.  I look forward to writing about the how-to aspects, my rambling thoughts, and our many adventures. Stay tuned, more is to come.

In the meantime, I have a big summer party to plan and am drawing deep from Naturally Fun Parties for Kids and will include a few ideas of my own.

My Sons, My Students.
Little bodies with big characters!

Fairy Garden

For the past two years we have joined Donni at The Magic Onion creating little fairy habitats. 

We recreated last year's World Within a World in our front flower garden.  The fairies, and my young son, are delighted!

See what the fairies left us!

The fairies have left tokens of affection - baskets of flowers, acorn caps and tiny sea shells

Bright stones lead to the fairy ring where they dance at dusk.

Fairies rest on a bed of moss in the shade of London Plane tree bark.

Simplicity - Bringing it Home

The notion of simplicity has been on my mind lately.  It started a little over 2 weeks ago when we had our carpeted first floor and stairs in our home replaced with hardwood.  For the job, we  cleared our living room, kitchen, dining area, and bathroom of all furniture and major appliances.  Now that it is done, we are delighted and my dear husband spends weekends painting walls, ceilings, and trim.  In the meantime our rooms are sparse and I like it.  The children like it too.  There is room to play, or lounge without constant visual distraction.  It seems the family is more calm as a whole.

One of my favorite parenting books is Kim John Payne's Simplicity Parenting.  How wonderful it is to have a reminder that our children, and ourselves, thrive in a simple, calm, rhythmic environment. 

I intend to center our home toward simplicity over the next few weeks.  This new focus will play out in both obvious and hidden ways.  To begin, I need to think about our homeschool space - we have decided to homeschool our sons next term using the Charlotte Mason method with some Waldorf techniques - more on that later.  There are so many charts, pictures workbooks, etc that tempt me to make it a busy space, but one of the reasons I am homeschooling my 7 year old son is the fact that he is over stimulated in the brick and mortar school.  He simply cannot settle his little mind on one thing when there is soooo much to look at. So our learning space in the dining room will remain simple with 2 desks, a bookshelf and a line to clip on special drawings and paintings.

One of the biggest challenges in simplifying our home will be in the land of toys.  Soon the boys will share a bedroom - a place to be enjoyed with a dreamy aspect with bunk beds, a few bookshelves, favorite stuffed animals and the much loved indoor swing.  The second room will turn into a playroom that will hopefully inspire hours of imaginative fun with a train table, lego stand and a special place to hang dress up clothes, and play swords, bow and arrows and sling shots.  Arranging that room will require a toy purge.  Our oldest is all for it as long as we keep the legos and dress up stuff - an unexpected compliance from a child who use to pile toys all over himself and smile content to be surrounded by all his stuff. The youngest wants no part of it! If something is missing, he knows and makes it clear that he wants it back. Now!

With the challenge of establishing a more simple environment before us, we will look for day-to-day opportunities to...

Slow Down

Enjoy Simple Pleasures

See Simple Beauty

and Simply Be.

Blowing Winds... Cracking Limbs... New Toys

This evening I am sitting on my deck listening to the soft chirps of robins and finches in our willow tree.  Within the hour, they will settle down for the evening.  The scene was quite different just a few days ago when the willow branches were whipping in the wind as a fierce storm moved through our area causing damage & frustration from to power outages and uprooted trees.

Having two young sons, when I see the downed branches, I see opportunity for imaginative play, creative building, and toy making.  Our home is strewn with bits of wood, some for our nature table, others make great swords, and others wait for a rubber band to turn into a hero's slingshot.

My in-laws live in upper rural Connecticut on forested property.  We often come back from a visit filling our car with wood limbs, rocks or little items for the nature table.  After our last visit, we came home with a pile of birch limbs with which little Shane made a shelf.  We also came home with one of our favorite homemade wood toys made by my father in-law: Walking Stilts.  

To build stilts, all you need are round branch cuts and two six foot cuts of  rope.
We cut a birch trunk 3 inches tall & 4 inches in diameter to make the stilts.

-Drill holes 3 inches apart with a small drill bit.
-Using a larger drill bit over the small hole, drill in the bottom of the
stilt 1/4 inch so the knots of the rope do not stick out at the bottom.
-String the ends of the rope through each hole and tie them off.

There you are.  A fun new toy.
 Have your child put the ropes over their shoulders. 
(Tie them off at the top if the ropes are too long.)
Put their feet between the ropes on the stilts, hold the ropes, and take a walk.

Back Again

As I look over old posts, I realize just how long I have been out of the blogging world.  It was not entirely purposeful, I simply did not have the energy to post.  So many emotions have come my way over the past two months that I am quite exhausted.  Emotions ranging from profound grief at deep loss to unbridled joy at renewed love.  From sadness watching a loved one suffer to gratitude at seeing healing. It is true what the Proverb (13:12) says: "Hope deferred makes the heart grow weary, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."


Some time ago I posted about Embracing Life.  Oh, how that is hard to do in the depths of suffering. During these times, I turned inward finding solace in the depth of my relationship with God, my husband, and family.  I am on the other side now and renewed.  (A fun-filled two week vacation certainly helped!)


To start off my return I will share our most recent addition to our summer nature table. A pile of Spanish Moss my sons found on our recent trip to Florida and Savannah.

The flower peg people took off their hats and, thanks to the help of
a certain three year old, frolicked in the Spanish Moss right away.

Transit of Venus

If you have young ones interested in space, don't miss the transit of Venus tomorrow evening.  Here on the east cost, Venus will cross the path of the sun beginning shortly after 6 pm.  Although it will appear as a tiny dot, it is a great time to explain to children how the planets move and how very far away they are.

Several museums are featuring the transit including The American Philosophical Society and Independence National Historical Park.

Needless to say, don't let your little ones look directly at the sun.  You can take a pair of binoculars, let the light of the sun pass through them onto a sidewalk.  if you look at the sunshine on the sidewalk, you will see a spot move across it - that would be the shadow of Venus.  :)