What's so great about a vernal pool? A lot, it turns out. For us, it all started with a picture book. A beautifully illustrated picture book by Kimberly Ridley called The Secret Pool. It's a book that is absolutely packed with information about vernal pools, seasonal ponds that provide a habitat for a variety of … Continue reading Homeschool Nature Study: What’s so Great about a Vernal Pool?
Spring is coming. Although it's still cold and damp, it has been raining rather than snowing. Patches of bare ground, barely visible a week ago, have now almost completely taken over. Mud and hope scent the air. It's the promise that new life will come. It has been a few weeks since I've written … Continue reading The Week in Review
Happy belated Valentine's Day! I hope your week has been filled with sweetness. In honour of Valentine's Day, the girls and I have been memorizing some verses about love from 1 Corinthians 13. It's so precious to hear them talking about that passage throughout the day, although we all need to work on living it … Continue reading The Week in Review
Here's this week's update from The Grace-Filled Life. Have a wonderful weekend! ~Mary-Ann This Week on TGFL Spreading the Feast: Nourishing Your Homeschooler’s Body and Soul - In this article, I share all about our favourite Monday routine, one that gathers us together, sets the tone for the week, and helps my little ones learn. This … Continue reading The Week in Review
I've been quiet this month. I've put blogging on the backburner for the past few weeks. However, I have a few posts up my sleeve for the coming months that I'm excited to share. And one that I've shared earlier this week. You can find a link to it below, along with other inspiration … Continue reading The Week in Review
I gently lay a cloth over the table and set out the tea things. On the wall, our back-to-school banner hangs above the plate rack. The sideboard proudly sports a display of Eastern European-flavoured objects: matryoshka dolls, an accordian, brightly embroidered clothing, little felt and cardboard figurines that I picked up on a trip out … Continue reading The Week in Review
It's our last weekend of Christmas break! Have you enjoyed your holidays? We sure have! It has been a lovely few weeks of relaxation that has left all of us feeling so refreshed. I love Christmas break. I also love the fresh, unspoiled canvas of a new year. Do you have any exciting plans as … Continue reading The Week in Review
"Mom, look!" She stoops beside a rotting log, her voice loud with excitement. "Look at the way this fungus is growing — it's shaped just like a rose!" We stop in our tracks, all four of us. Even the littlest one bends low to look close. I've been asked before just how it is … Continue reading Charlotte Mason and Richard Louv: Nature Study and the “Powers of Observation” (Thoughts on “Home Education”)
The first day of autumn. The milkweed is beginning to puff with seeds. It won’t be long now before they brazenly burst, and the breeze will carry wisps of white bearing kernels of life. Everywhere, the asters are blooming boldly—purple New England and white heath. There’s chicory, too, first brought by the early settlers as … Continue reading Goldenrod Days: New Seasons and Letting Go
My girls love getting mail. And they love magazines. Even the ones who are not yet reading fluently love to look at glossy magazine photographs. They also love nature. So when I stumbled across Nature Friend last year, I was ecstatic. All the things they love bunched into one monthly subscription? Sign me up! Nature Friend … Continue reading Product Review: Nature Friend Magazine
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