Blog Archives

This week's bird visitors

4/28/2014

Below is the image for one of our science books for this first grade school year -that we are nearly finished with, and I can hardly believe it!
As good old Aesop reminds me, "Slow and steady wins the race."
So, now that spring finally seems to have arrived, we're enjoying the chorus outside our door and the little peeks into the beautiful feathered world out there.

We hear him often, and this day he decided to peek out of the fence line to show off for us.

This little one is not a frequenter to our feeders, but stayed for the larger part of 15 minutes for my boys to watch while they ate breakfast.

Burgess himself says that his book "was written as a labor of love--
love for little children and love for the birds.
If as a result of it [the book above] even a few children are led to a keener interest in
and better understanding of our feathered friends,
its purpose will have been accomplished. "
- T. W. BURGESS

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One more snow & Easter-y things

4/23/2014

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growing our own Easter grass in the house, and watching dew! collect on it in the mornings

lettuce= fun to watch re-grow so quickly, but bitter as anything to taste!

brothers on a snow-dusted walk in the woods

Spring left an icy diamond caught in sprouted green

back in the warm for lunch, nap and lessons

on to the Easter traditions

little boys' plaid ties :)

Peter Cottontail popped out of the bushes while we were hunting eggs!

Another day... we watched eggs hatching!

some of the chicks were out and drying off

others found a happy home in the fresh air

and there were baby turkeys

baby ducks and geese

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sugaring notes

4/13/2014

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From snow to rain and hail to wind with sunny skies...

April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.
William Shakespeare

homemade evaporator- cinder block and fencing

the golden phase

finishing off the syrup indoors

5 gallons of sap later...

and we just ran out of store-bought. Homemade is no comparison!! And the smell... o wow!

Notes:

- not as daunting as it seemed! (if I can boil water, read a thermometer and light a fire, I can do this!)
- with kids it is more work, but more fun too!
- if boiling down sap alone outside with wood fire & a 2yo- request assistance :)
- save up milk jugs to use for storage and collection
- can bungee the jugs right to the taps (if no hose)
- south side of tree runs more -find healthy trees!
- a few trees is really all you need to start, even birch, walnut or boxelder too!
- store sap in refrig. in between collection days or pack in snow in a safe spot outside
- getting a fire lit w/o lighter fluid is the hardest part of the day
- look for a non windy day
- homemade evaporator is better than 4 gal. of evaporated water in the kitchen!
- heavy duty aluminum roasting pans work great = no clean up!
- large tin can (from fruit) works great as a ladle = no clean up!
- coffee filter works better than cheese cloth (lay inside a strainer with a handle)
- brush the surface with a stick of butter if sap's about to boil over
- this book is a great help! -practical, non-technical
- read aloud to the kids the story Miracles on Maple Hill during sugar season
- Definitely trying this again next year (maybe a sugarin' par-tay with friends!)

grill an open-flamed supper afterwards for a picnic

For our sugaring adventure intro post click HERE

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perceiving a miracle

4/7/2014

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Winter's last hurrah... maybe

A missing boy at breakfast and a mysterious note: "I went to play out in the fresh [air.]"

Children should be brought up, too, to perceive that a miracle is not less a miracle because it occurs so constantly and regularly that we call it a law; that sap rises in a tree, that a boy is born with his uncle's eyes, that an answer that we can perceive comes to our serious prayers; these things are not the less miracles because they happen frequently or invariably, and because we have ceased to wonder about them.
- Charlotte Mason 6/148

Think you, my lord, there is no sensation in being a tree?
feeling the sap in one's boughs, the breeze in one's foliage?
-Herman Melville

Hunca Munca came scurrying across the doorstep of the old shed as we were checking our sap jugs...

"It's really sweet, Dad!"

Crossing our fingers and hoping this works:
April 5 @ 7pm- Five taps set (28 degrees overnight temp)
April 6 @ 10am- checked trees but no sap yet (32 degrees)
5pm- checked again; half a gallon! (42 degrees)
April 7 @ 4pm- checked again, 3 gallons! (60 degrees-ish)
and still running...

We liked the info for tapping trees found here.
And a short how-to video for the kids here.

For our sugaring update post click HERE

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Welcome!

"I am recording this so that future generations will also praise the Lord for all He has done." -Psalm 102:18

I am a mama to 2 sweet brothers who aspires to a "thinking love" toward my children.

Take a peek into our journey towards a living education inspired by the writings of Charlotte Mason.

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Previously...

Our Story

Our Year 1 Rhythm

Cloth Diapering

Century Chart

Learning to Read

Wool Felting

Nature with Little Ones

Playful Learning ABC

Living Math

Raising Tadpoles

Homemade Cleaning Recipes

From Caterpillar to Butterfly

Beginning a Foreign Language

Animal Tracking with Kids

Beginning Preschool

First History Lessons

Maple Sugaring with Kids

Children in the Garden

Sloyd handwork

Monarch Miracle

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"In this field small efforts are honoured with great rewards, and we perceive that the education we are giving exceeds all that we intended or imagined.”
- Mason