Waxing Poetic

B loves to be outside. He's my nature boy. Every morning when I open his shades he asks to go out to play. "Not now, B. It's only 7am" I reply. His first word was "water". He cries whenever it's time to go back inside. D, on the other hand, has a less obvious love of the outdoors. His body often becomes overly sensitive to all the sensory stimulation the out-of-doors provides. It's too cold, too windy, too wet, too muddy, his hat doesn't fit right, he's got the wrong shoes on, his gloves are too big, too small, too tight. While his body is screaming with sensory overload, his sweet little heart longs to be surrounded by nature. He jumps out of bed each morning and stares out his window for awhile, commenting on how blue the sky is or how it looks like a storm is headed our way. He's the first one to suggest going for a walk in the woods, or up the hill to see the horses. He collects rocks and twigs along the way and saves them for weeks after, each treasure latching on to a piece of his soul. He sits quietly on the porch to watch the leaves fall from the trees, and takes notice of the birds and squirrels who visit our birdhouse every morning. He befriends caterpillars and toads, and uses the word "beautiful" to describe the day.

He's got a poetic nature, one that doesn't always rhyme and is sometimes difficult to decipher, but also one that leaves a lasting imprint on anyone who takes the time to understand each carefully chosen word.

Wordless Wednesday

Constructive Boredom

D looked forward to Friday all week, waiting for a playdate with his good friend J. It has been awhile since they've been able to play together and he simply could not wait. By late Thursday night I knew it wasn't going to happen. I was coming down with a horrible cold, and knew by morning I'd feel even worse. Needless to say, he wasn't at all happy with me when I broke the news to him. Instead, we all had a "pajama day" and passed the hours with painting, drawing, stories, and (too many) videos. It's days like this that D seems to be at his most creative. Boredom-bred creativity. His big experiment of the day was to make a handful of boats and surf boards made out of anything he could find~ empty grape juice bottles, popsicle sticks, craft sticks, all with sails made out of either feathers or paper and straws. He was so excited to see if they'd float, so we filled the tub with some water and crossed our fingers as he prepped them all to "set sail". All but one succeeded in floating across the water, and D was ecstatic.

Boredom has also been a blessing for me as well. We're going to use our living room as the "learning room" for homeschooling, and I have been trying to come up with a plan to make the room more user-friendly. It's a room with an odd layout, and we've had trouble making it feel warm and cozy up until now. On a particularly cold, snowy day a few weeks ago, I suddenly found my mind filling with ideas, almost quicker than I could process it all. By the time DH got home from work that night, the room had been completely reorganized. It now has a more useful "flow" to it, and I believe it will serve us well once we begin school this fall. I'll try to remember to post some pictures. I'd really love love love to give the walls some fresh paint, but I'm not sure we're up to adding any more house projects to our already growing "to-do" list. We'll see. I think it would be worth the hassle and would make such a huge difference in giving the room a completed look.

Wordless Wednesday

Winter Wanderings

After too many days avoiding the frigid temperatures and ice-laden driveway, the boys and I ventured out for some serious fresh air yesterday. They wanted to "dig for dinosaur bones" so we grabbed a few shovels and made our way into the woods. We didn't find any bones (maybe next time) but we did make a few discoveries along the way. Peeled-back birch tree bark revealing a pinkish skin underneath; "soft like carpet" tree moss and lichen; animal tracks (something "fast, and dangerous like a coyote or a fox"....or our neighbor's dog); and some eye-catchingly bright orange fungus growing on a stack of logs.

Plans For Social Studies Decided

Originally I planned to begin Story of the World 1 this fall, but decided to wait until first grade as intended. Before diving head-first into something as complex as ancient history, I'd like to give D a more "gentle" introduction to the world. An introduction to the globe, to maps, to the continents, to the many different cultures and customs around the world. And I want to accomplish this through children's literature, which I feel is the best way for D to personalize, understand, and absorb what he's learning. I found the following book on Amazon, and am hoping it will guide me towards a decent selection of book ideas as well as other resources:

Discovering World Geography With Books Kids Love (Eleanor B. English) http://www.amazon.com/DISCOVERING-WORLD-GEOGRAPHY-BOOKS-KIDS/dp/1555919650/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203443559&sr=1-1

Now if only Mr. UPS Man would be so kind as to deliver a package to me today!Once it arrives, I'll be able to get a better feel as to whether or not this will fulfill the geography/history needs for D's Kindergarten year.

Memories of a Summer Friend

In summer-noon flushes
When all the wood hushes,
Blue dragon-flies knitting
To and fro in the sun,
With sidelong jerk flitting
Sink down on the rushes.
And, motionless sitting,
Hear it bubble and run,
Hear its low inward singing
With level wings swinging
On green tasselled rushes,
To dream in the sun.

(Lowell, "The Fountain of Youth")