Gardens: A Harvest of Learning No Matter the Season

Gardens—spring, summer, or fall—harvest plentiful learning activities. Seems like every time we turn around we are enjoying another experience involving fruits and veggies. Here's a sampling of possibilities, and likely your learners will discover others. Enjoy the harvest no matter what the season.

Math

• Estimate the weight of a watermelon. Weigh on a bathroom scale. Figure out the price per paid per pound.

• Purchase a five pound bag of potatoes. Compare the quantity with a five pound bag of onions. Why the difference in quantity per pound? Younger children can weigh potatoes and arrange from lightest to heaviest.

• Buy a basket full of veggies. Sort according to what part of the plant is eaten: stem, leaf, seed, root, flower. Eat vegetables for snack or create a yummy soup.

Language Arts

• Read Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert. Make veggie soup for dinner.

• Read the Farm Alphabet Book by Jane Miller. Make your own fruits and veggies alphabet book.

• Identify the beginning consonant sounds of each vegetable purchased.

• Read Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert.

• Read Stone Soup by Marcia Brown (a traditional tale).

• Read Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens (a trickster tale).

• Read The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle.

Spanish

• Learn the Spanish words for common fruits and vegetables

Social Studies

• Tour the produce section of the grocery store.

• Visit a working farm, garden store, orchard, local U-pick or greenhouse.

Science

• Plant a garden.

• Build a grow box and sow the family’s favorite seeds.

• Spout seeds. Discuss vocabulary: seeds, seedlings, cuttings, sprout, germinate.

• Read The Vegetables We Eat by Gail Gibbons

• Read Green Beans, Potatoes, and Even Tomatoes by Brian Cleary

• Read One Bean by Anne Rockwell.

• Sprout an avocado seed.

• Grow or purchase a pie pumpkin. Open. Clean. Bake. Puree pumpkin and make bread.

• Read The Life Cycle of a Bean by Linda Tagliaferro.

• Read Foods from Farms by Nancy Dickmann.

• Read Plants on a Farm by Nancy Dickmann.

• Read Farming by Gail Gibbons. Discuss farming around the world.

• Read From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons.

• Read Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert.

• Read The Victory Garden Vegetable Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta.

Arts

• Make prints using tempera paints and fruits and veggies (potato, cabbage, celery, corn, and oranges)

• Read Linnea in Monet's Garden by Christina Bjork.

• Make a seed collage.

• Sing Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow. Act out the song with motions.

• Read How Are You Peeling? by Joost Effers and Saxton Freymann. Discuss the illustrations. Children may also enjoy Fast Food by the same authors.

Movement

• Play Hot Potato (hand-eye coordination)

The Collection-Learning Connection

Collections begin with curiosity, an interest in something. Questions. Wonder. Excitement.

Children, being natural scientists, are inquisitive, intrigued by discovery, inviting more questions. In the process, they often begin collecting objects that excite them, making comparisons and continuing experiments, learning always—counting, sorting, comparing, and drawing conclusions based on the discoveries made with their collections. Providing space for their collections and discovery is essential to their growth and development while also providing them with a sense of responsibility for their “belongings”.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been collecting leaves and rocks; large and small, different hues, unique characteristics. Providing bins for the collections kept items organized and “ready” for exploring and continued discovery. Along the way, I pulled a few field guides from our library shelves, accessible for identification and deeper learning. Our science discovery area grew as a result, leading to more questions. Curiosity, an interest in something, was the catalyst.

What interests your children? The petal patterns in flowers. Shapes of shells. Maybe which car in the bin moves faster down the plywood ramp. Step back and ponder the learning taking place. It matters and it will be remembered.

Common collection items

Pinecones

Marbles

Toy cars

Legos

Rocks

Acorns

Leaves

Shells

Insects

Pennies

Collections can be used as catalysts to studies in other content area.

Collections to science discovery centers

Our science discovery center (a small table near a window sill where light can shower any growing seeds and plants) expands every time a collection begins. The center is simple, yet offers great space for curiosity to grow. Adding our Magiscope and a magnifying glass foster that growth. Intentional and real.

If you are wondering about the nitty-gritty of setting up a science center, Cheryl discusses several ideas in her book Cultivating Curiosity.

What interests are growing in your children?

A collection of stamps given by a grandparent? A pile of rocks? A selection of leaves from a recent walk?

Oh, the possibilities! They will be engaged and learning.

Fast Parenting? Yes, Please!

There is nothing quick about parenting; growing child to adulthood. Though we often try or prefer to make parenting instantaneous through quick sound bites instead of face-to-face conversation and interaction, what’s instantly gratifying isn’t necessarily the most productive. For me, there were days when I wanted fast answers with practical tips and positive results, right now! They would have been highly convenient, but not necessarily helpful to our long-term vision for our family.

I admit, fast, immediate, no-fail solutions resonate with me, especially on full days with lots of commitments and needs. Hence, there were days when I searched and searched, scrolled Pinterest boards and read blogs. Surely someone had encountered my debacle and WON?

• The day dear daughter cut off all her bangs to the root and tried to tape them back on, only to find it would take months and months to grow out. I had no hair tonic to promote growth, though I wish I had. Life lessons noted.

• The morning 30 pounds of laundry powder poured atop three loads of dirty laundry sapped my energy and made me wonder if the entire day would offer similar treats.

• The day dear child asked questions about how to prepare for marriage and I knew the answer would be more than a pat answer or five-minute conversation. Instead, the conversations were many, over years, and eventually led to a beautiful marriage. Definitely not a one-and-done parenting recipe. Instead, the conversations were unique to the situation, nothing I could have borrowed from anyone else. I’m thankful for the times we sat and listened. It mattered.

• The evening, when after months of waiting and visiting, great-grandma passed away and there were a slew of questions. I didn't have the immediate answers we all would have prefered. Conversations and hugs healed hearts as together we remembered Grammy’s impact on our lives; years of togetherness and with-ness.

• The morning our van started on fire in the driveway and our children were concerned we wouldn't have a big enough vehicle to transport us all. I didn't have an immediate answer or a delivery service to provide another vehicle. The process of waiting grew our faith and provided just what we needed.

Fast forward some years with now grown adult children. It has become apparent that the best solutions had no easy answers. There are no quick, fast shortcuts in parenting. My adult children didn't become adults overnight (though at times I wonder where the years went) and the path, the journey, was a process. Their journey to adulthood and my adventure as a mom wasn't picked up at a drive-thru window.

The journey was an aged, slow-cooked process. 

Wright Brothers Mini Unit Study (and an Intentional Mom)

Looking for a new read-aloud, we headed to our home library.

Majority vote determined The Wright Brothers (from the Landmark series) by Quentin Reynolds would be our next read.

From the very first page, we were captivated—science, geography, life application. My mom heart also received needed encouragement. BONUS.

Susan Wright encouraged her boys to ask questions, to remain curious, to love learning. This thread wove through the book. Pages four through six impacted me greatly; in fact, I often quote from this passage when I speak to parents on the topic of little learners.

Susan Wright inspired her children with her ability to encourage questions and cultivate wonder. She gave them time to explore and discover. Her efforts changed history.

Susan Wright changed history with her intentionally.

I want to be an intentional mom. I’ve learned doing so can be hard. It takes courage to be different, to do things in ways that meet the needs of my children and fosters their development—their bodies, minds, and hearts.

---

“    What makes a bird fly, Mother?” Wilbur asked.

     “Their wings, Will,” she said. “You notice they move their wings and that makes them go faster.”

     “But Mother, “ Will said, not quite satisfied, “that bird that just swooped down didn’t even move his wings. He swooped down and grabbed a fish, and then went right up again. He never moved his wings at all.”

      “The wind doesn’t just blow toward you or away from you,” she said. “It blows up and down too. When a current of air blows up, it takes the bird up. This wings support him in the air.”

— The Wright Brothers, Quentin Reynolds

---

The story continues as the brothers ask their mother questions about what they were observing. Wilbur insists he could fly if he had wings; if he could make wings. The narrator invites the reader into the conclusion of the chapter.

---

“She knew that even an eleven-year-old boy can have ideas of his own, and just because they happened to come from an eleven-year-old head—well, that didn’t make them foolish. She never treated her children as if they were babies, and perhaps that’s why they liked to go fishing with her or on picnics with her. And that’s why they kept asking her questions.”

— The Wright Brothers, Quentin Reynolds

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We finished the book and our children wanted to learn more about the Wright Brothers and flight (thanks to the engaging plot). My children dug in and their interests led to asking the local butcher for Styrofoam meat trays from which we cut glider wings. Gliders led to creating a Science Fair project which hypothesized the effect of paper weight on the flight of paper airplanes. We folded, flew, measured, and compared. What a journey!

It all started with a trip to our home library.

I hadn’t planned on this mini unit study, it blossomed from a read-aloud. It was a welcomed treat, one fueled by the learner’s next question or idea. One thing led to another.

You may experience something similar, an interest that takes off. Ride the wave and embrace the moments. You will be surprised where the interests and questions lead.

It may be better than you could have imagined.

Let’s get started…

Books

Who Were the Wright Brothers, James Buckley, Jr.

Charles Lindbergh: Hero Pilot, David R. Collins

A is for Aviation: The ABCs of Airplanes, Spaceships, Rockets, and More!, J. H. Heitsch

The Wright Brothers by Elizabeth MacLeod

To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers by Wendie C. Old

The Airplane Alphabet Book, Jerry Pallotta

The Jet Alphabet Book, Jerry Pallotta

The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot, Alice Provensen

The Story of Flight, Mary Lee Settle

First Flight: The Story of Tom Tate and the Wright Brothers by George Shea

The Story of the Wright Brothers: A Biography Book for New Readers, Annette Whipple

Learning Resources

Wright Brothers unit study (includes instructions for making gliders

Another tutorial for making gliders

Smithsonian: The Wright Brothers and the Aerial Age

Parts of a plane

National Park Service Wright Brothers curriculum

Scholastic teacher activity guide

Search for online video clips about the Wright Brothers, the history of flight, or men and women who changed flight

Keep in mind, this study may launch interests to birds, rockets, engineering and more!

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Have a high school learner interested in flight? Check out David McCullough’s excellent, The Wright Brothers, published in 2016.

30 Ways to Celebrate Your Homeschooling Days Together

School is about to start.

Some families will be shifting educational gears and bring learning home. In that transition, children may be pondering (and even disappointed by) the special days they will miss; days or events they were looking forward to or older sibling had a chance to experience. Navigating this transition can be difficult; however, there are ways to celebrate the new and different—creating new favorites which may become annual traditions. Though our family has been a homeschooling family for over 26 years, we have looked for ways to make our days together, special, something to anticipate and look forward to. Homeschoolers do not have to miss out on celebrations—the festivities may just look different.

Special days can still be special and memories can still be made.

Consider

• purchasing new school supplies together; each child choosing his or her colors for notebooks or special pencils

• purchasing new glue bottles

• restocking art supplies—or creating a new art space—and allow each child to choose a new supply or medium he or she would like to experience

• choosing a new backpack or lunch box if attending a co-op

• purchasing new sneakers or outfits for the year

• taking pictures throughout the year of special events, friends, milestones, adventures, and memories to make a yearbook at the end of the year

• creating a special workspace

• taking a mid-day nature scavenger hunt

• having a game day (playing educational games listed here)

• allowing each child to purchase some new picture or non-fiction books of interest

• renewing your family library card and go to lunch afterwards

• taking back-to-school, first day pictures and do the same on the last day

• celebrating the 100th day of school-at-home (schools celebrate the 100th day of school) which requires counting the days beginning with the first—great for counting and calendar skills

• planning a field trip once a week or twice a month

• enjoying a picnic lunch out under a tree or by a lake

• surprising a child with an individual date with mom to do math at Chik Fil A (one of our favs)

• planning a family get-away after the first eight week, first semester, or at the end of the year

• doing science experiments with another family

• taking learning outside for the day (everything is outside—we love doing this the first sign of cooler weather)

• baking a cake for Dad just-because-we-can day

• allowing your child to make the schedule for the day

• preparing a special meal day—all purple meal, circle meal, square snacks, for example

• watching a family movie once a week

• inviting another family (or two) to do a park day or field trip

• participating in Pizza Hut Book-It

• visiting a nature walk area or preserve (picnic lunches are amazing in these venues—don’t forget a small brown back to collect treasures)

• making a treat-a-week; for example, Wednesday is baking day

• taking grandma to lunch or invite her over for a tea (good for everyone involved!)

• making mailboxes for each family member so that other members can send fun or encouraging messages or leave a small treat (another of our favorites, especially at Valentine’s)

• working with grandpa in his shop

• visiting a local U-pick farm

• declaring a clay day

6 Ways to Teach and Reinforce Spelling

This summer is beginning like the twenty-six before.  Mike and I get to spend time with amazing families who made the choice to home educate their children. Some are celebrating their first complete year; others are turning the tassel and sending in the last annual evaluation with us. A graduate! YAY!

As we meet with families, one question we answer frequently is

"What about spelling?"

It’s a common question with several potential right answers dependent upon educational philosophy, age, ability, and learning style.

In other words, as evaluators, we have seen many methods and curricula produce excellent spellers.

There is no right answer to this question. 

There are options.

1.  Purchase a traditional, grade-leveled spelling curriculum. This is the first answer which comes to mind for most parents. Easy-peasy. Buy the curriculum. Done. Works well for some children and parents, alike.

2.  Choose high-interest or frequently used words. This method takes a bit more work, but is pleasantly effective. It works well for active, hands-on learners as well as learners with interests which saturate their days (like the fisherman who sees a need to spell the words bait, tackle, license, trout, shrimp, brackish, hook, sinker, shore, catch, freshwater, captain, salmon, carp, permit, marsh, or wade).  With this approach, we’ve asked the child to help choose the words he or she wanted to spell. Words of interest often return the greatest reward because there’s purpose and motivation to spelling well—an email to Grandma, a note to the bait-n-tackle owner, a request to write an article for publication. 

3.  Use objects of interest. Another wonderful option for hands-on, engrossed-in-an-interest learner. Using Dolch words, commonly misspelled words, or interest-based words, learners can use objects (think acorns, Matchbox cars, cereal and sand boxes) to spell. Stickers and foam letters make great teaching tools as well. This has been one of the most beneficial to our family.

4.  Play a game. My children enjoy engaging board games. When there is a less-than-favorite subject to learn, games add spark to learning. Scrabble Junior and Scrabble have been big hits for us. Making games can be fun, too!

5.  Compile an "I want to learn these!" list. Where there is intrinsic motivation, retention is not far behind. Whether learning a new skill or reading a book with intriguing vocabulary there are likely words the child wants to know. Use the words of interest to compile a list, place it in a notebook, and whittle away at it each week.

6.  Use "commonly misspelled words" lists. This method has a few options. One option is to compare commonly misspelled words lists at a given level and find the most often cited misspelled words. The second option is to look over the learner's writing samples and compile a list of personal misspellings.  

Classroom and home educators have used a combination of the above possibilities (and more!). Be creative (kids have great ideas, too). There is not a tried-and-true method as each child receives, stores, and retrieves information differently, especially with spelling. Hence an individualized path is often necessary for the greatest retention.

And often, as with many subjects, spelling which is intentional, real and relational is remembered.

Every. Moment. Matters.

60 Nature Study Resources to Foster Curiosity in Your Children

YOU can teach science!

When I began homeschooling twenty-six years ago, one of the topics I felt least prepared to teach was science. What if I couldn’t teach my children what they were supposed to learn? What if I missed something important? 

Then came a realization.

Children LOVE being outdoors and they LOVE to ask questions—two factors providing a great foundation from which to work.

Maybe I could teach science?

Years later, I know I can. It’s not about me coming up with great plans and fancy curriculum.

It’s about me fostering the curiosity and providing engaging resources; being available to listen to ideas and help process information.

The same is true today as I embark on another year with a handful of learners, preschool through high school.  

Perhaps you face the same doubts and similar questions.  

You are not alone.

Your learners may be at different ages and stages. You may live in the city.

Again, you are not alone.

YOU can teach science!

This post provides over 60 resources you can use today!

But FIRST, here are some important starting points.

Starting Points for Successful Study

• Find out what your children want to learn, what interests them. Start there.

• If there are no hints, start with animals. Most children love animals, of some type.

• Add real experiences.  Many can be found around your home or community.

• Provide a field guide or two for found treasures.

• Gather a pile of inviting non-fiction and picture books.

Now for the resources

Nature-Related Picture Books

A Nest is Noisy, Dianna Hutts Aston

Miss Rumphius, Barbara Cooney

One Morning in Maine, Robert McCloskey

Owl Moon, Jane Yolen

Roxaboxen, Alice McLerran

Snowflake Bentley, Jacqueline Briggs Martin

The Raft, Jim LaMarche

Nature-Related Non-Fiction Books

Blooms and Plants

From Seed to Plant, Gail Gibbons

How a Seed Grows, Helene J. Jordan

Planting a Rainbow, Lois Ehlert

Stems and Roots, David M. Schwartz

The Carrot Seed, Ruth Krauss

The Tiny Seed, Eric Carle

Tops and Bottoms, Janet Stevens

Insects and Crawlies

About Arachnids: A Guide for Children, Cathyrn Sill

About Insects: A Guide for Children, Cathryn Sill

Ant Cities, Arthur Dorros

Are You A Grasshopper? Judy Allen

Bugs Are Insects, Anne Rockwell

The Ant and the Grasshopper, Amy Lowry Poole

The Honey Makers, Gail Gibbons

Tadpoles and Frogs

About Amphibians: A Guide for Children, Cathryn Sill

Frogs, Gail Gibbons

Frogs and Polliwogs, Dorothy Childs Hogner

From Tadpole to Frog, Wendy Pfeffer

Beaches

About Crustaceans: A Guide for Children, Cathryn Sill

A House for Hermit Crab, Eric Carle

Gulls, Gulls, Gulls, Gail Gibbons

Sea Shells, Crabs, and Sea Stars, Christiane Kump Tibbitts

What Lives in A Shell?, Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Fins

About Fish: A Guide for Children, Cathryn Sill

Feathered Friends

All About Birds, Cathryn Sill

About Hummingbirds: A Guide for Children, Cathryn Sill

Counting is for the Birds, Frank Mazzola, Jr.

Furry Critters

All About Mammals, Cathryn Sill

Field Guides and Resources

A Handbook of Nature Study, Anna Botsford Comstock

Florida’s Fabulous Series

                Florida’s Fabulous Waterbirds: Their Stories, Winston Williams

                Florida’s Fabulous Land Birds: Their Stories, Winston Williams

Florida’s Fabulous Reptiles and Amphibians: Snakes, Lizards, Alligators, Frogs and Turtles, Winston Williams

Take-Along Guides

                Caterpillars, Bugs, and Butterflies, Mel Boring

                Birds, Nests, and Eggs, Mel Boring

                Trees, Leaves, and Bark, Diane Burns

Peterson Field Guides  http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/peterson/

Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition, Powell, Conant, and Collins

Nature-Related Drawing Books for Sketchers and Creatives

Draw 50 Birds: The Step-by-Step Way to Draw Chickadees, Peacocks, Toucans, Mallards, and Many More of Our Feathered Friends, Lee J. Ames

Draw 50 Flowers, Trees, and Other Plants: The Step-by-Step Way to Draw Orchids, Weeping Willows, Prickly Pears, Pineapples, and Many More..., Lee J. Ames

How to Draw Flowers (Dover How to Draw), Barbara Soloff Levy

Supplies and Materials

Brock Magiscope https://www.cherylbastian.com/blog/2016/4/22/owl-pellets-and-a-magiscope-simple-discovery-science

Carolina Biological Supply Company  https://www.carolina.com/ (owl pellets)

Educational Innovators https://www.teachersource.com/ (dolomite samples and owl pellets)

 Nature Gift Store https://www.nature-gifts.com/  (ant farms and live ants, butterflies)

Celebrate Simple Blog Posts

Blog post: Vintage Science Books for the WIN!

Use what is available in the backyard, at the park or beach front, on the porch or pond’s edge—wherever you happen to be.

Porch Science  https://www.cherylbastian.com/blog/2017/5/31/porch-science

Citizen Science https://www.cherylbastian.com/blog/2017/10/22/citizen-science-get-real-with-learning

Puddle Fun https://www.cherylbastian.com/blog/2016/10/4/children-learn-from-puddles

MORE…

We live in a suburban area. Though we have a backyard and a neighborhood to explore, we have to plan and be intentional about visiting state parks, ponds and streams, or the beach. When we travel we look for opportunities which are not typical or available in our area.

We’ve enjoyed

• Bird sanctuaries

• Rainforest exhibits

• Arboretums

• Nature preserves

• State and national parks

• Factories and manufacturing plants

• Museums and displays

• State and county fairs

YOU can teach science!

And, in doing so, you will not only keep your child’s natural curiosity alive, but you will open doors for other discipline areas like math and writing.

Maybe you are thinking. “There could have a WHOLE podcast on nature-related study.” In fact, there is! Check out this conversation I had with Jenni and Jody over at From Cradle to Calling.

When in doubt, remember to remind yourself to look for what interests your child. Start there!

YOU can teach science!

How to... Use What You Have

Perhaps the current season launched you into a place you didn’t expect to be.

As this blog post is being edited libraries are closing. Where will we find materials and resources?

You may be scared, overwhelmed, unsure.

You are not alone.

Like you, other parents are trying to figure out how to navigate increasing closures and wonky schedules hoping to find new solutions.

We are in this together. Let’s help one another

• take a deep breath.

• be open to the possibilities which already exist and sit waiting to be discovered.

• find goodness in what is unfolding. It looks different than many of us envisioned. This happens. Different doesn’t mean wrong. Let’s help one another stick with it. We may find the outcomes are better than we imagined.

For the past three evenings, my middle schooler has been devouring a book she found on our shelf—The Young People’s Encyclopedia of the United States. Her excitement had been contagious as she’s proclaimed, “listen to this!” or “I forgot about that!”.

What we have is boosting what she knows!

The book went unnoticed on our shelves for years. This week, someone rediscovered it—considered it a treasure—began reading, and showed excitement. The excitement proved contagious. Currently, two learners are working together to figure out how to share the “high demand” book, and each wants to read aloud to me. Great problems!

The discovery was unplanned yet full of possibilities.

When I acknowledged the discovery and the interest, excitement escalated.

The book—something we already had—instantly became a means for learning.

I suspect there is something in or around your home waiting to be discovered by your child. When it’s found, embrace the educational moments it provides. They may be better than you could have planned or imagined.

How to use what you have

My daughter asked if she could read to me. Children need to read aloud to build fluency. We sat together (she loved that, too!) and she read. WIN all the way around. I wrote “read to mom” on our log of activities (part of what our state statute requires for home education). We learned a great deal and enjoyed the time together.

My daughter asked for clarification. As she read, she stopped to clarify. This is an important part of building reading comprehension. The ten minutes we spent talking about what she was reading proved valuable. Twenty-four hours later, we read related content and she discovered on her own how the information was related. Higher level thinking skills were utilized for the task. Another WIN! And, she was enjoying the process. Reading comprehension and summarization were noted both in our learning activities for the day.

My daughter asked questions. Fostering curiosity is always time well spent. One question leads to another. Again, interest is key. If the learner chooses a book and wants to read more, retention follows. On one particular quest through her new found treasure, she read explanations about sports. Some of the information was review, other tidbits were new. Along the way she reviewed alphabetical order and used study skills. I logged the sports information as well as study skills for our record keeping.

My daughter learned new vocabulary. There were times when my daughter asked me to read to her. As I read, I paused to explain words I presumed to be new. We talked about the definition of the word and I used the word in a sentence. When I logged what we accomplished, I wrote “discussed new vocabulary”. Another WIN.

Additional learning ideas

If a learner finds a resource and is engaged,

• the time may be ripe to use words of interest as spelling words. Children desire to learn to spell words they want to use. For example, a book about baseball may turn on an interest to learn baseball related words—base, player, glove, catcher, outfield. A printable list of frequently misspelled words is included on this post.

• there may be an opportunity for creative writing. Let’s say a child finds a book about dog breeds and suddenly wants to purchase a particular breed. Writing a persuasive piece including the pros and cons of buying that particular breed may be a possibility. For learners who prefer to create a visual, maybe a designing a brochure or flyer would be a better option.

• ask questions and connect. People appreciate when others take notice and interest in what they are doing. Consider open-ended questions which require more than yes, no, or nothing.

  • “It seems like you are really enjoying that book. What was the most interesting thing you learned today?”

  • “Which topics do still hope to investigate?”

  • “That’s a great book! I remember reading it. What’s been your favorite scene or point of action?”

  • “We have other books related to that topic. I’d be glad to help you find some if that would be helpful.”

• ask the child to keep a list of items he or she has studied. For some learners, having a visual of accomplishments is helpful. For others, it allows an opportunity for the child to take personal responsibility for what he or she is learning. I use this list to add details to our activity log.

• use the resource as a springboard for application or experiential learning. For example, if the learner chooses a field guide or identification resource, perhaps he or she could us the guide to identify species in your area—the backyard or on a walk in the neighborhood. Some of my learners have enjoyed making a tally chart of items on a scavenger hunt. For children with a creative gifting, sketching may be a great lead to science.

• consider using that interest as a springboard to learn another skill. For example, if a learner chooses a book about space, review syllables and then ask him or her to make a list of three- or four-syllable words—Jupiter, galaxy, telescope, constellation. If the child is younger, one-or two-syllable words would be more appropriate—star, planet, Mars, Saturn, moon.

Time together is priceless. Often the best takeaways aren’t readily measurable and don’t fit neatly on a log of activities. That’s okay. Relationships matter and are worth the time spent to build. In the slower, unique pace of the season, taking time to sit and listen to a familiar voice read or tell a story is soothing to the soul. In addition, in circumstances where handshakes, hugs, and high fives are cautioned due to social distancing, children need our physical touch. Truth is, we all need a few extra hugs—parents and children. I can’t think of a better time to pull closer, snuggle, and learn together!

My mom placed a set of encyclopedias on our family bookshelf. I’d go to the shelf and pull off a few volumes—usually my favorite letters and settle on the couch. I also remember going to my grandmother’s home and finding books of on her shelves. I’d make selections and find myself lost in the “newness” of the content. Likely, it wasn’t new information, but it caught my attention and was presented in mode different from I was doing in school. New was appealing. And, it was in my grandmother’s house! In both cases, at my home and in my grandmother’s house, I had time to linger, time to digest the content.

In this unique season of our history, we all have resources and time. I wonder what “new” is waiting to be discovered.

What is a Picture Book?

A picture book is a work which combines literary eloquence with artistic merit--words and illustrations--working together to tell a story. Generally, picture books are written with 200-800 words (depending on the age of the targeted audience) on 28-32 pages. Historically, picture books have been written to the preschool through mid-elementary audience, yet these masterfully crafted gems speak to the hearts of readers of all ages. 

Wordless picture books. A wordless picture book is just that, a book without words. The illustrations alone tell the story, unless, of course, the person holding the book chooses to imagine and craft the text. One of the Bastian's favorite wordless picture books is Jerry Pinkney's extraordinary The Lion and the Mouse, a retelling of Aesop's classic tale. This treasure won the 2010 Caldecott Medal for its illustrative excellence. 

If your younger readers enjoy visual storytelling or prefer to create their own storylines based on provided illustrations, these wordless picture books may add some spark to your morning read-aloud time. 

• Briggs, Raymond, The Snowman

• Spier, Peter, Noah's Ark

• Spier, Peter, Rain

Concept picture books. Little learners devour information, especially if content is presented with a twist of fun or catchy repetitive phrases and rhythmic rhyme. With this engaging, low-stress presentation, picture books can teach age-appropriate concepts (colors, numbers, opposites, and letters) to eager, curious littles. 

Children ages 2-8 enjoy learning concepts through topics of interest, for example, cowboys, insects, or construction vehicles. Concept picture books make this possible and do so through relaxing moments with resources which foster both early learning and literacy.

• Alakija, Polly, Counting Chickens

• Carle, Eric, 10 Rubber Ducks

• Demarest, Chris, The Cowboy ABC

• Demarest, Chris, Firefighter A to Z

• Emberley, Barbara, Drummer Hoff

• Krull, Kathleen, M is for Music

• Laroche, Giles, If You Lived Here: Houses of the World

• McMillan, Bruce, Jelly Beans for Sale

• Pallotta, Jerry, The Icky Bug Alphabet Book

• Schnur, Steven, Spring: An Alphabet Acrostic

• Wadsworth, Olive A., Over in the Meadow: A Counting Rhyme

Traditional picture books. I remember the librarian reading Blueberries for Sal as I sat imagining the smell of fresh muffins cooling in the kitchen. Through the unfolding plot of the the book, I could feel the fear Sal felt as she wandered off in the field and could no longer see her mom. Sal became my friend. I hoped she would find her mom, cheered her on as she met a mama bear. This is just one of the classics I associate with read-aloud time and school library visits. As a young mom, I couldn't wait to introduce my children to my literary pal, Sal.

Traditional picture books invite readers into the story, into the lives of the characters. While reading, listeners develop empathy and understanding of others' feelings and circumstances, almost without knowing the transformation is taking place. For this reason, picture books become a child's first experience with the power of story. Together as a family, we've jumped into the plots of Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens, and Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina.

Should you be a time and life season where you are building your home library, here are some must-have picture books to brighten up your shelves. 

• Ackerman, Karen, Song and Dance Man

• Brett, Jan, Town Mouse and Country Mouse

• Brown, Marcia, Stone Soup

• Burton, Virginia Lee, Katy and the Big Snow

• Burton, Virginia Lee, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

• Burton, Virginia Lee, The Little House

• Cooney, Barbara, Miss Rumphius

• Estes, Eleanor, The Hundred Dresses

• Galdone, Paul, The Gingerbread Boy

• Gramatky, Hardie, Little Toot

• Hoban, Russell and Lillian, Bread and Jam for Frances

• Keats, Ezra Jack, The Snowy Day

• Keats, Ezra Jack, Whistle for Willie

• Krauss, Ruth, The Carrot Seed

• LaMarche, Jim, The Raft

• McCloskey, Robert, Lentil

• Newberry, Clare Turlay, Barkis

• Swift, Hildegarde, The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge

• Ward, Helen, Unwitting Wisdom: An Anthology of Aesop’s Fables

• Ward, Lynd, The Biggest Bear

• Yolan, Jane, Owl Moon

Biographical picture books. Our older picture book readers (which includes mom!) enjoy reading about real people who solve real problems. With biographical picture books, young readers don't have to wait until they can read chapter books to read about and meet some of the world's most significant history changers. Our favorites have included

• Dooling, Michael, Young Thomas Edison

• Moses, Will, Mary and Her Little Lamb

• Martin, Jacqueline Briggs, Snowflake Bentley

“Every child ought to know the pleasure of words so well chosen that they awaken sensibility, great emotions, and understanding of truth. ”

— Gladys Hunt, Honey for a Child’s Heart, Zondervan, 2002, p. 18

What is a picture book?

A picture book invites readers into learning and into the stories of others, gently, peacefully, and purposefully. There will be pondering. There will be wonder. There will heart-changing impact, sometimes so subtly it will go unnoticed for a bit of time. 

Some of our most treasured family read-aloud moments and discussions have come from the pages we've turned together. With each book selected, read, placed on our shelves, and the read again, a legacy formed. That legacy is sweet, precious, unique to our family, as it will be yours. That story legacy is a gift, a gift which will continue to span generations. It is just one benefit of keeping learning real and relational. 

Every. Moment. Matters. 

I recently presented Picture Book Treasures at the 2018 FPEA Convention. If you would like more information on picture books and building a home library, the MP3 can be purchased in the FPEA store. 

When Curriculum Looks Different

People often ask what we use for curriculum.

The short answer? We use anything which will help our children learn what it is they are trying to learn. And, if it involves real life, even better.

Sometimes our curriculum looks traditional, like a math textbook.

Other times our curriculum is a stack of Living Books.

A few months ago, my middle schooler initiated a flower bed renovation project. She wanted a flower garden to call her own, a place she could eventually grow cut flowers. A few visits to the clearance section of the local garden shop and she had rescued several very nice—but wilting—flowers (aka curriculum). With a little research in a field guide and a how-to online tutorial (more curriculum), the plants were thriving.

Today we added a few more resources to the curriculum—a collection of solar garden lights. Before placing them in the bed, we experimented with them in a dark room. So fun! The littlest learners were enthralled!

“Flashlights without batteries!” one shouted.

Curriculum incorporates all that a learner uses to learn the content of a specific subject. Though we are often tempted to stay within the means of what we know or have experienced as curriculum, in real-life the definition of curriculum broadens to include any materials used to foster a student’s understanding.

The possibilities are endless.

Consider broadening your sense of what curriculum includes. Maybe it’s

• Front porch wonders
• Stickers, a Scrabble board, and some acorns
• An ant farm
• An Olympic runner and her friend
• DYI projects and a grandfather
• 4-H studies
• Field trips
• A stack of Living Books
• Owl pellets and a Magiscope

When learning is real, relational and intentional it's remembered! 

Every. Moment. Matters.

REAL-LIFE Spelling

I had a hard time spelling when I was a child. It was hard. Red marks plagued my weekly tests. 

Though I understand the reasoning behind word families and traditional methods--I learned the pedagogy as an educator--I've been reminded that theory and practice are not always instant friends. Like any teaching means or method, nothing works for every child. 

It didn't work for me. It hasn't worked for all my children. 

Several of my children and I learned to spell by seeing correctly spelled words--and using the correctly spelled words in written context--over and over.

In other words,

repetition in real-life context returned the greatest retention. 

Perhaps you have a child who learns best by experiencing the written word in real life, in context in the environment.This post is for YOU! 

Yesterday as I prepared to visit the grocery store, a young learner asked to make my shopping list. I accepted the offer. She made the list and later spelled a few several times in her spelling book. The list provided access and practice to high-frequency (used often), real-life words, words which would be used over and over in her lifetime. The result? Spelling for the day. And, it mattered. 

Learning wasn't just a list, it was life! 

Today my daughter asked for more grocery words. I stopped what I was doing and quickly looked for a grocery ad to help us develop a list of words she thought were important. Her perception of what words mattered or would be helpful to her later in life fueled her desire to learn. Ultimately, she realized the words would one day help her make lists for shopping visits and the correct spelling would be important. She had taken ownership of her learning. 

A desire to help + real-life need = learning with purpose

Grocery words may not interest your child. Instead, words of interest may be might be tied to simple machines, clothing, computers, or art. Start with an interest to discover learning with purpose. 

If food words are of interest to your learner, here's a leveled list we created. 

Grocery spelling for beginning spellers

• pie
• tea
• bag
• pea
• ham
• nuts
• can
• corn
• apple
• fish
• leek
• beef
• beet
• salt
• ice
• rice
• pork
• meat
• milk
• beans
• pita
• cake
• roll
• egg
• oil
• dip

Grocery spelling for intermediate spellers

• blueberry
• strawberry
• banana
• pumpkin
• ketchup
• sushi
• fruit
• water
• yogurt
• celery
• peanut
• dairy
• butter
• cream
• juice
• sauce
• pasta
• grain
• cereal
• olive
• carrot
• apple
• squash
• grapes
• orange
• juice
• lemon
• pepper
• coffee
• muffin
• cookie
• cheese
• bacon
• steak
• roast
• mango
• salad
• lettuce
• crackers
• onion
• pudding
• pizza
• biscuit
• turkey
• chicken
• lentil

Grocery spelling for advanced spellers

• fillet
• burrito
• lasagna
• mushroom
• cucumber
• pierogi
• detergent
• charcoal
• sandwich
• pastry
• salami
• cheesecake
• mozzarella
• grapefruit
• asparagus
• raspberry, raspberries
• avocado
• pineapple
• potato, potatoes
• tomato, potatoes
• broccoli
• sausage
• salmon
• tilapia
• shrimp
• tenderloin
• margarine
• edamame
• vegetables
• batteries
• sirloin
• bakery
• expresso

Extended Learning

• Use a weekly grocery ad to make a list of foods needed for three meals a day, for seven days. 
• Write words on index cards. Choose ten of greatest interest and copy those on a white or chalkboard, twice a day. Younger learners may enjoy writing the words with chalk on the driveway or with a finger in a sand tray. 
• Make a word search. There are word search generators online. 
• Play grocery Scrabble. Only food or grocery words are eligible for play and the weekly grocery ad may be used during play. 
• Take a behind the scenes tour of your local grocery store. 
• Take a factory tour of a milk product processing plant near you. Our local grocery store has a processing plant an hour and a half from our home. It is amazing! 
• Visit a U-Pick farm. 

Read Grocery-Related Picture and Non-Fiction Books

Hearing grocery-related words spoken and used in context--builds knowledge of vocabulary and sentence structure as well as provides a means by which math, science, and history content can be gained in a relaxed setting. Hearing content in context often keeps curiosity engaged and wonder active. 

• Milk: From Cow to Carton, Aliki
• From Milk to Cheese, Roberta Basel
• From Tomato to Ketchup, Roberta Basel
• Eating the Alphabet, Lois Ehlert
• Growing Vegetable Soup, Lois Ehlert
• The Fruits We Eat, Gail Gibbons
• The Milk Makers, Gail Gibbons
• The Vegetables We Eat, Gail Gibbons
• From Seed to Plant, Gail Gibbons
• Bread and Jam for Frances, Russell Hoban
• Blueberries for Sal, Robert McCloskey
• The Vegetable Alphabet Book, Jerry Pallotta 
• Tops and Bottoms, Janet Stevens

If the interest in everyday food words grows to an interest in farming, check out this post on our favorite farm books! 

Spelling can be real, relational, and intentional.

It matters! 

Portfolio Possibilities: What to Include

To keep track of the volumes of work samples for four learners, I am trying something new this year. Well, it isn't really new. I tried it before, but unsuccessfully. 

I decided to give it another try. 

Different season. It's working...so far! 

In our state, statute requires parents to keep work samples for their children. With four learners, the pile of completed work on my kitchen table grows daily. Books read. Papers completed. Field trip brochures.

If I don't tame the pile, it can get the best of me. 

This year, I am keeping my log of activities (another statutory requirement for our state) on the kitchen table where I can log conveniently. After logging, I place the samples in a plastic tote. Then, sometime over Christmas break, we will have a family sorting party. Each child will receive a binder for their samples. I pass out plastic sleeves for odd-shaped treasures. At the end of the sorting party, each child's portfolio begins to take shape. To lessen the stress, second semester work is placed directly in the binder after it's been logged. The end result will be a portfolio ready for our annual evaluation. 

What is a sample? 

Samples. Every family interprets the meaning of samples differently. In 24 years of doing home education annual evaluations for other families, we've seen the full range of freedom in terms of samples. One family will bring 5 work samples for each subject while another family brings every.single.paper for every.single.subject. That's the freedom of the law. Parents decide what is needed for their family.

Sample examples. Traditional math lessons come to mind for many. It is what we remember from our school days. Yet, when considering other subjects in light of the variety of educational philosophies held by parents, the possibilities for samples grows. For families with a Charlotte Mason philosophy, there will be book lists and sketches, maybe a nature journal. For traditional textbook families, there will be notebooks of answers and solutions and lists of spelling practice. And those who learn on the road? They may have photos and travel brochures to attest to their learning highlights. 

Over the years, parents we've evaluated saved: 

• math lessons and scratch work
• writing or poetry samples
• journal
• research papers
• article critiques
• reading lists
• magazine subscription listing
• book reports or summaries
• primary source document listing
• documentary listing
• lab reports
• dissection reports and sketches
• nature notebook
• sketches
• theater tickets 
• movie reviews
• photography
• video clips
• graphic arts samples
• sports stats
• sports videos
• recipes
• URLs from independent studies
• community service hours
• achievement award certificates

Some families happily eliminate paper, capturing everything digitally. In recent years during evaluations, we've swiped I-pads to view scanned work and flipped through PowerPoint presentations of field trips. Other families design digital scrapbooks. In our digital society, portfolio possibilities continue to grow. Be creative! If your family is learning on the go or on the road, consider how you might take advantage of digital technology. 

What about high school portfolios? 

I get this question often, especially since families come back to us year-after-year. As those families move into the high school years, they begin to feel the pressure of credits and college admission. To ease the pressure, I remind them that the types of work samples saved really doesn't change. The point of the portfolio is to show that the learner has made progress at a level commensurate to the ability (at least in our state).

Though the work samples saved during the high school years is generally the same as the elementary and middle school years, I do encourage parents to take special care to log titles and authors of books (in a digital document for easy interfacing to other documents) as well as community service hours (documented on company letterhead). Doing so can save time in the late junior and early senior year when families begin gathering college application documents.  

Taming paper trails doesn't have to be a full time job. I found doing a little bit each week helps keep my long-term sanity. I know you can tame yours as well. Perhaps keeping work samples in one place is a next right step in the positive direction. 

Citizen Science: Get Real with Learning

We like real learning. Learning which is practical, hands-on, experiential, with purpose. 

Becoming a Citizen Scientist is one way children and young adults can immerse their studies in real science for real purposes. And, the projects integrate into almost every curriculum or can be used to create an independent study. Budding scientists dive in and dig as deep as their interest takes them. 

One of my high schooler learners participated in a local bird banding experience with an ornithologist who worked in a local park area. This particular learner is not a science guy. However, when he arrived home he couldn't stop talking about the experience. The opportunity brought his biology unit about birds, alive; and my son took part in real scientific research. 

Citizen Science projects can be found online. Simply type "citizen science projects" in a search engine. Here are a few to get started and jump start creative ways to integrate real science into the day. 

Citizen Science- Cornell Ornithology 

Science Buddies

National Wildlife Federation Wildlife Watch

10 Popular Citizen Science Projects

PBS Kids- Citizen Science

National Geographic

To enhance the study, think outside the box. 

• Interview a scientist in the field of study.
• Visit an aviary, aquarium, or arboretum and talk to the caretakers about what their work entails and what education was needed to work in the field.
• Start a collection--rocks are a favorite--label and categorize.  
• Start some porch science.
• Talk with scientists at a local Audubon facility. 

And, as always, read a few good books! You never know when a little learner will grab ahold of an older learner's current study. Some of our elementary and middle learners love these hard-to-find science readers. 

Over the years, we have enjoyed: 

Are You A Grasshopper?, Judy Allen

All about Sharks, Jim Arnosky

Look Out for Turtles, Melvin Burger

Ant Cities, Arthur Dorros

Frogs, Gail Gibbons

Owls, Gail Gibbons

The Honey Makers, Gail Gibbons

Frogs and Polliwogs, Dorothy Childs Hogner

The Life and Times of the Bee, Charles Micucci

The Bird Alphabet Book, Jerry Pallotta

The Frog Alphabet Book, Jerry Pallotta

From Tadpole to Frog, Wendy Pfeffer

The Ant and the Grasshopper, Amy Lowry Poole

Cricketology, Michael Elsohn Ross

One Small Square: Backyard, Donald Silver

Sea Shells, Crabs, and Sea Stars, Christiane Kump Tibbitts

What Lives in A Shell?, Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Middle and high school learners may want to read a Living Book or biography to bring a personal connection to their Citizen Scientist project. Some of our favorites have been: 

Luther Burbank, Plant Magician, John Y Batey

Louis Pasteur: Founder of Microbiology, Mary June Burton

Ernest Thompson Seton, Naturalist, Shannon Garst

The Story of Louis Pasteur, Alida Sims Malkus

The Story of Marie Curie, Alice Thorne

Beating Afternoon Boredom

Who doesn't battle afternoon boredom?

Let's not take a show of hands. Rest assured, my hand would be raised. 

You know the story. Three o'clock. Children squabbling. A high schooler STILL needs help with Algebra. And dinner? It's frozen on the counter! 

Afternoons can be hard. Yet, after years of beating afternoon boredom, I know the efforts I made toward defeating "I'm bored" syndromes--in myself as well as my children--mattered. In fact, hobbies launched and rediscovered interests became catalysts for entrepreneurial pursuits, high school courses, and career choices.

Beating afternoon boredom is worth every ounce of time and energy we can muster. 

At a recent mom's event, a group of ladies gathered after to ask me how our family beats the afternoon wearies. 

Our strategies varied with life seasons. 

When we had two eager, active boys, we: 

• spent many afternoons outside. 
• visited local parks. 
• had Popsicle and wading pool parties--adding measuring cups, a bucket, and garden hose to change things up--as long as the weather allowed.
• ran around outside playing with squirt guns.
• played in the lawn sprinkler. Notice the hose and water trend?
• read a book together while sitting on a blanket outside or on the couch inside.
• took an afternoon bath with bubbles and wrote with shaving cream on the walls (great for practicing letter formation).
• took nature scavenger hunts. 
• played hopscotch or jumped rope. 
• created with sidewalk chalk on the driveway. 
• painted the garage door with water and paint brushes. 
• tossed bean bags. 
• bought a basketball hoop and gathered children from the neighborhood to play. 
• played wiffle ball in the dead end street.
• created with watercolors.
• encouraged outdoor adventures and independent studies. 

When we had lots of littles with a few bigs who needed afternoon help, we:

• sat on the floor in the hallway across from the bathroom so I could supervise littles in the tub while also helping an older sibling with math or editing papers.
• spread a blanket under a shade tree for afternoon tutoring while the littles rode bikes around the driveway or played hide-n-seek. 
• listened to audio books, our favorites being Jim Weiss recordings and Your Story Hour, again while mom worked with the bigs.
• offered play dough, pattern blocks, old magazines to cut, or watercolor paints. 
• enjoyed playing in the sandbox while mom and older siblings sat nearby and completed math or mom edited papers. 
• used masking tape to create a "village roadway" on the carpet so littles could build houses and garages for their toy cars and play "village". 
• made a masking tape hopscotch on the carpet for littles to be active when weather wouldn't permit us to be outside. 
• asked bigs to go on a date and take learning to new surroundings. 
• discussed the plot and characters of a current read while running errands or taking a sibling to practice. 
• encouraged bigs to work on independent studies. 

When we had a menagerie of ages, we: 

• enjoyed front porch read-aloud time. 
• created with Lite Brite.
• went to visit great-grandma. 
• sat together on the couch and read books of interest. Farm study was always a favorite. 
• took a teen or young adult on a date to talk about things that mattered to them. 
• used a coupon and bought five pounds of clay at a local craft store. 
• spent time at a local park or community swimming pool. 
• made brownies for the elderly neighbor and went to visit. 
• built a fort outside. 
• dug a hole in the backyard (not my favorite or my idea, but it was sibling generated and encouraged collaboration and working together). 
• made impromptu afternoon library runs. 
• created something yummy in the kitchen, often to "surprise" Dad when he returned from work. 
• made cards for family member's birthdays.
• enjoyed spin art. 
• cared for our porch science projects. 
• spent the afternoon creating with watercolor. 

Go ahead! Beat the afternoon boredom. YOU can do it! It will be worth your time and effort. 

And, in the process, your children and young adults will learn valuable life skills: time management; collaboration; communication and conflict resolution; work ethic; teamwork; working independently; and caring about others ideas, thoughts, and feelings. 

Porch Science

In my recent FPEA workshop, I was speaking to parents about science little learners love. In the course of our time together, I mentioned the amazing wonders we had flourishing on the front porch, most of for which I cannot take any credit. The marvels were the treasures of my children, their purchases, their discoveries, their experiments. Indeed, my learners have gathered quite a menagerie and it is fun to watch them take responsibility for their projects. 

I told attendees I give them a sneak peek of our porch projects when we returned home. 

These are the science wonders little learners love! 

Rooting project. A friend blessed my budding gardener with some clippings from her favorite plants. My daughter listened as my friend explained how she rooted her plants and how some of the plants went to seed. Clippings in hand, my learner dreamed of the garden which might spring forth from the cuttings. Expectation was rooted in intrinsic interest. Since that day, my daughter has cared for the plants, watering them every day, each day growing fonder of her project. Today we have good sized plants which are transplant ready.

Our favorite planting books:

The Carrot Seed, Ruth Krauss

Tops and Bottoms, Janet Stevens

Grasshoppers. Likely you can't see them in this picture, but I promise they're there. Big eastern lubber grasshoppers, romalea microptera, find their path to our porch. Their appearance prompted curiosity and independent research. Those grasshoppers, as destructive as they can be, are incredible creatures. When we found a dead grasshopper, we placed it on the stage of our Magiscope to take a closer look. Fascinating! 

Our favorite insect and wiggly wonders books: 

Are You A Grasshopper?, Judy Allen

Ant Cities, Arthur Dorros

The Ant and the Grasshopper, Amy Lowry Poole

Flowers. The day before we left for the FPEA convention we made a clever discovery at a local garden shop--$1.00 plants! We purchased a few plants to bring beauty to our booth and now those plants have found a home on the porch until they are transplanted. In the meantime, these flowers attract butterflies and learners notice differences in petals and leaves. In addition, each day an eager little learner heads out to the porch with a spray bottle to water the flowers. Another means by which to foster responsibility. 

Our favorite books about blooms: 

The Tiny Seed, Eric Carle

Planting a Rainbow, Lois Ehlert

Sprouts. Several weeks before convention my little learners were on a "grow everything you can" frenzy. We grew beans in a baggie and beans and marigolds on peat pods. A few days later, an older learner researched how to harvest snap dragon seeds which she eventually harvested from a plant she had purchased on a clearance rack. Those seeds sprouted, too! Our porch began to be a haven of color, beckoning learners to stop every time they passed in or out the front door. 

Our favorite books about sprouting wonders: 

From Seed to Plant, Gail Gibbons

How a Seed Grows, Helene J. Jordan

Stems and Roots, David M. Schwartz

Tadpoles. Friends--bless them--gave us a container FULL of tadpoles! What an amazing wonder! Our littlest learner sat and watched and watched, marveling. Our tadpoles are still young--no legs yet--but every day we observe, hoping to see some soon! I know this will launch questions and even more discovery! 

Our favorite frog books: 

Frogs, Gail Gibbons

Frogs and Polliwogs, Dorothy Childs Hogner (pictured below)

From Tadpole to Frog, Wendy Pfeffer

Other things we have had on the porch in the past: 

Rocks. Children love rocks, especially ones they find on their own (digging them out is a bonus, too)! 

Our favorite reads about rocks: 

Pocket Genius: Rocks and Minerals, DK

Shells. Summertime trips to the beach bring shells! Not only is it fun to discover what animals live in shells, but shells make great items for counting, adding, or writing letters and numbers in the sand. 

Our favorite shell books: 

A House for Hermit Crab, Eric Carle

Sea Shells, Crabs, and Sea Stars, Christiane Kump Tibbitts

What Lives in A Shell?, Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Abandon Hives. No bees, we made sure! What a wonder these creations are! Once we knew the hive as safe, it fueled further learning. One hive = many days of questions. 

Our favorite bee books: 

The Honey Makers, Gail Gibbons

The Life and Times of the Bee, Charles Micucci

What wonders have landed on your porch?

What marvels might find their way to your porch tomorrow? 

Please share your pictures in the comments.

Let's encourage one another as we keep our eyes open for the science little learners love! 

Math Meets Art: Watercolor Square Collage

Have a creative learner who loves color?

If so, the black and white page of the math book may not be the WIN of the day.

I learned that lesson the hard way about thirteen years ago.

I told myself if I had another creative I would be intentional about offering math experiences which would nurture the artistic tendency of his or her brain. 

Guess what? God gave me another creative! 

Lesson learned; I get a do over! 

Squares--black and white lines of equal sides on a page. Or, squares--colorful cut outs with sides of equal lengths. 

Math matters to a creative, after all math and art have some of the same elements--shape, line, space. Add a bit of color, some construction paper, glue, and scissors and math may become of the highlight of the day! 

Yesterday, math was the highlight in our house! 

After talking about rectangles--two short sides and two long sides, four in all--and squares--four sides of equal length--we did a quick look around the living room and dining room for rectangles and squares.

Windows.

Glass panels in the kitchen cabinet.

Cloth napkins.

Pages in a book. 

Checks in the tablecloth.

While hunting an older learner asked, "What do you call the distance around the window? I forgot."

Perimeter. 

Another discussion ensued; children were curious. I had their attention. 

I excused myself to the junk box (who doesn't have one of those!) in the laundry room and returned with a measuring tape and a tape measure. We talked about the differences between the tools. One was flexible, one rigid. Reviewed how the tools were used. Each had advantages and disadvantages depending on what was being measured. 

Learners asked to play with the measuring tools. 

They 

• measured the perimeter of the math book
• measured the height of the dining table
• measured the length of the computer keyboard
• measured the width of the window sill
• measured the circumference of my coffee cup

After moving and measuring with excitement, I introduced my idea. 

Let's combine math and art! 

I gathered a watercolor tablet of paper (rectangular!), the watercolor box (it was rectangular, too!), several brushes, a napkin for blotting (square!), and a cup of water to clean brushes. 

Handing each learner a sheet of watercolor paper, I instructed them to paint, anything, anyway they desired. Once painted and dried, we cut squares. 

The squares became a mosaic.

My artist met math, and spread her enthusiasm to others in the room!

I am thankful for a second chance at teaching a creative learner. 

Interests Fuel Life-Long Learning

Dogs.

It's everything dogs for our littlest learner. 

She's curious about what dogs eat (getting eye level--but not too close--to watch ours furry friend eat). She's curious about how why they pant, how they feel to touch. She wants to know everything about every dog she sees, large or small.

Sitting in the dentist office last week, waiting for big sister to finish her appointment, I found a treasure--an attention grabbing-just-what-we-needed-at-that-moment treasure. 

A book featuring photographs of dogs. 

I handed it to our youngest. I knew it would keep her attention. 

It was a "mom hung the moon" moment.

She looked at me. Her eyes seemed to say, "Thank you for caring about my interest!"

The excitement on her face. The eagerness in her learning. The pure joy!

As she paged through the book, I engaged with her about the pictures on each page. She'd look at me and smile. With every smile, I thought about two workshops I have been writing for an upcoming speaking engagement; one workshop for parents of elementary learners and one workshop for parents of middle schoolers.

Relationships and curiosity fuel learning.

Like adults, children need relationships. Couple that with natural curiosity--questioning anything and everything--and there is a recipe for building a love for life-long learning. 

How do we keep a person's natural curiosity aflame for life?

Ask questions. When the art of questioning is modeled, it is readily available for learning.

I am not natural questioner. I like to teach; to tell. As a consequence, the parenting years hit me hard. The more I told and commanded, the more frustrated my children became. And, I noticed they stopped asking questions and waited to be told to do things--waiting to do school work and chores until they were told. Stepping back from the situation (and asking for Mike's input) I realized my children had valuable ideas, valid questions. They needed a mom who listen and then ask questions; a who would practice the art of questioning. At that point, I decided to be intentional about asking more questions and encouraging my children to to the same. I asked questions like:

• I wonder how that works?
• I wonder why the hermit crab needed a new shell?
• I wonder what will happen if we add more soap?

I had to work hard at replacing my teaching/telling bent (saving it for where that bent was really needed) with an intentionality to listen and engage my children in thoughtful questioning. Though it took a bit of time to turn the cart around, I began to hear my children returning to their natural bent of asking questions. Definitely worth my effort.

Find answers. With questioning comes the need to find answers.

If I was going to be intent on encouraging critical thinking skills and the art questioning, I would also have to purposeful in helping my children find answers. And, as the children grew we had to have conversations about where to find accurate information; to ponder whether an author had the knowledge and experience to speak to a topic. 

We began to build a home library of reference and resource materials--field guides, a Magiscope, a heavy-duty magnifying glass, kitchen scales, history books, classic literature. In some cases, we found apps to be the best resource, for example Sky View and Sky Map. We talked to our children about the importance of primary source documents and role played how to carry on conversations with people--should they want to ask questions of someone. In addition, as our children entered middle and high school, we discussed volunteering and job shadowing. These opportunities encouraged our young adults to answer their questions about career interests by talking to professionals in the field.

Be observant. Interests are not always obvious.

Some interests are obvious, like my daughter's curiosity with dogs. Others are a bit more hidden, sometimes even unknown to the beholder! To discover the interests of some of my children, I had to watch, listen, and be open to how they spent their time (versus controlling every minute of their day).  In my watching and listening, I began to ask myself questions. 

• Was my child wanting to take things apart and put them back together?
• Was a particular career intriguing to my child?
• When we were at a church event or field trip who did my child gravitate toward certain people--children or adult?
• What did my child do to fill extra time in the day?
• Did my child have an ability to put together colors, lines and shapes or craft inspirational poetry?

My littlest learner is not yet old enough to verbalize her questions, yet her curiosity is evident in her facial expressions and gestures, through her hand clapping and dancing. Her reaction--her joy in learning--invites us to ask her questions, interact with her excitement, and fuel her curiosity by providing resources (like finding her dog books at the library). In doing so, her siblings, Mike and I are learning to help her dig deeper into her interest. As a result, our curiosity about how she learns is fostered. It is a cycle of interest-fueling learning. 

And it is a beautiful life-learning cycle. 

It's intentional, real, and relational. 

Most Popular Posts of 2016

2016 is marked as significant.

Why? Because every moment of our days mattered--the triumphs and the trials. We lived and learned together being intentional about using what was real and relational--from cradle to shingle--toddler to adult. Thank you for walking that journey alongside us! We are grateful for you, our readers! 

As a recap of our year together, I compiled our top 15 posts of 2016. ENJOY! 

The Many Possibilities of High School Success

Just as there are many potential pathways to successfully completing high school--the end result of helping a young adult develop his or her divinely-created strengths and giftings--there are also many different avenues to the young adult's future; the years beyond the turning of the tassel.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also be encouraged by Real-Life for High School Credit: Care and Concerns for the Elderly.

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Preschooling, Naturally

Preschool is foundational for life and learning. In fact, it is during the preschool years that little learners master foundational skills which serve as a base for later learning. More importantly, attitudes and temperaments toward learning are set during the preschool and early elementary years.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also be encouraged by "Let Me Do It!" Helping Little Learners Become Independent

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5 Comments I Don't Regret

Words are remembered, taken with us through our days. This is true for us and it is true for our children and young adults.

If you found this post helpful, you might also enjoy Legacy: Learning Alongside

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The Possibilities of Elective Credits - Part II

When I wrote the first edition (who remembers that first spiral-bound resource?) Celebrate High School I included a sample list of potential course titles--both core and elective. When I published my extensive revision in 2015, I expanded my list based on our experience and the experience of those with whom we work.

If the information in this post was helpful, you might want to continue on and read Part III.

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32 Ways to Learn from Real and Relational 

Some of my children love making lapbooks, others prefer unit studies. Still others learn best when we incorporate field trips into our days. And, our middle and high school young adults? They have learned at co-ops, through online courses, and with personal independent study. 

If you are being intentional about keeping learning real and relational, you might also be encouraged by the practical life lessons (and history!) in this post-- Living History: 30 Questions that Bring History to Life

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8 Skills Children Practice in Puddles

There was much to learn in the puddles. Each learner carried a small fish net, sand bucket or shovel. They were off on an adventure.

Rainy days are natural wonders which intrique little learners. If rain is falling at your house and you are waiting for a safe pause in weather, try this indoor art activity--Torn Paper Rainbows

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Grades...In High School

"How do I give grades in high school?"

If designing a transcript is your next step, this post may be helpful--Transcript Matters

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Using 4-H for High School Course Content

"Our high school learner is very active in 4-H. Can we use any of what the student is doing toward high school credit?" 

If you have middle school learners and are wondering how you can help them manage time, organize belongings, and pursue interests, this post--Magnificent, Make-A-Difference Middle School--might be helpful. 

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Preschooling, Intentionally

Learning is the natural outcome of everyday living, especially for little learners. With a few intentional questions here and a purposeful explanation there, preschoolers can learn naturally from walking alongside older siblings and significant adults. Through everyday experiences, preschoolers gain a jump start to mastering foundational cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and spiritual life skills.  By the time the young learner blows out six candles on the birthday cake, significant progress toward mastery of foundational skills has likely been made.

If you are seeking ways to help your little learners do what they can, 3 Things They Can DO on Their Own, might be helpful. 

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Living Books and Independent Studies

An interest evolved into an independent study, a year-long learning adventure. 

Science--especially animal science--is particularly interesting to little learners. If you have little learners with a zest for all things living, check out the book list in Vintage Science Readers for the WIN! 

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Nature Adventures Made EASY- A Glimpse into Part of Our Day

Ten minutes later, peering out the bedroom window to check on the adventure, my heart smiled--three little learners discovering, wondering together. Co-laboring in learning. 

Looking for a way to learn math outdoors, in nature, where children crave? Check out Math Adventures!

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Using Living Books in High School for Credit

We have used several approaches to formulating classes based on strengths, interests and the future plans of the young adult.

Interested in earning credit for writing college essays? This post--High School Made Simple: College Essays for Credit--might offer some insight. 

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SIMPLE Prepositions for Little Learners

Keeping early learning active and fun!

Picture books can encourage learning. Read Aloud to Foster Counting Skills lists some of our favorite math picture books. 

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Intentional Cursive Handwriting

Oh yes, there is good reason to teach cursive, teaching correct strokes and rotations. Proper letter formation does make composition easier. However, once initial instruction is complete and letters are formed properly, practice begins. Practice.

Interested in hands-on, real-life, spelling activities? This post--What About Spelling?--has lots of practical ideas. 

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Helping Learners Foster Strengths and Interests

A trip to the electronics store. I was hoping to go alone. You know, time to enjoy quiet; time to think without questions. After all, it is ONLY the electronics store. 

If this post made you curious about interest-based learning, The Benefits of Interests: Motivating Learners, may answer a few more questions. 

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