Lets play in the snow

A while ago I came across a blog called 1000 hours outside, and the title in itself was enough to make me want to read more. when you think of spending 1000 hours outside per year the number all the sudden looks like a huge mountain, but if you think about it this way: 3 hours a day times 6 days a week you would have spend 18 hours outdoor then multiply that by 52 weeks then you have 936 hours in a year, not far from a 1000 anymore right!

Charlotte Mason recommends for children from birth to seven to spend 4-6 hours outside daily. I agree that outdoor time is so beneficial for young growing minds and body, but London's winter are much milder then our Canadian one I am sure. We can easily get many hours outdoor during spring, summer and fall, but our long winters can be a bit more challenging.

On those days when the weather permits us, we go out and play. Skating, sledding, going to the parks or just taking a walk in the wood are a few of our outdoor activities. Of course, we bring along some hot chocolate and a warm coffee for mama.

With all this snow we had this winter, I am ready for spring and warmer days. Reading this post gave me a few more ideas of what we could do as we spend time outside

1. Picnics
2. Free play in open space
3. Sight seeing
4. Picture painting
5. Games like : Follow the leader, riding bike, jumping rope, tag, riding bikes etc
6. Nature walks
7. Camping 

Are you ready for spring???

Science girls

We hare a big fan of Charlotte Mason's "living books" approach here, but there is a place for textbooks, like in science. I always enjoyed science particularity Biology and Biochemistry. Physics, on the other hand, is a whole different story.

Playing around with a microscope 

One thing about knowing what motivates your kids curiosity is that you don't have to limit their learning experiences restricted to a grade/age related information. When they are willing and ready to learn, little learners are like sponges, soaking all the information available to them. No need to worry about if the information is "too advance", teach them the correct information, ask them questions and see how much they have grasped. You might be surprised on how much they have retained, analysed and understood.

The girls learning about photosynthesis, and experimenting with growing herbs (basil and parsley ) in their miniature green house 

How do you stimulate your children's curiosity? Please share in the comment below.

The cure for cabin fever

Canadian winters are not always fun, and cabin fever can happen really fast with kids that are used to spend most of their days outdoor.

Just for fun, here was one of our cure for cabin fever

The girls have been enjoying watching "Despicable me" movie a lot lately. Last night after they were in bed, I choose an outfit inspired from the movie for each of the girls.

Complete with the unicorn.

They loved it. They have acted out their favorite part of the movie all day long.

Now, leave in the comment what our next movie inspired outfits I should try to make for the girls???

Learning some handicrafts skills

Handicrafts, I must admit, were a bit scary for me. Just thinking of adding one more things into our busy schooling routine, one that would require skills that I haven't mastered, was indeed a bit overwhelming.

What are handicrafts you may ask?

   They are life skills that 

• should not be employed in making futilities such as a pea and stick work, paper mats and likes,
• should  be taught slowly and carefully what they are to do
• slipshod work should not be allowed
• therefore, the children work should be kept well withing their compass  ~ HomeEducation Vol 1pp 315, 316

There are many types of handicrafts like: baking, knitting, sewing, clay sculpting, spool knitting etc...When one of the little girls mention at few occasions in the last month, her desire for learning to knit, I took her hint seriously.  

I went to the store to get the biggest needles I could find. Since I taught myself how to knit, I was pretty clueless on how to teach someone else to do so. Did what I do best when need help in a hurry, and sat down and watch some youtube videos on "how to teach children to knit" Seriously, youtube is a great source of information when it come to thinks like this! 

Then pick up that little big girl on my lap and we slowly knit together, her hands over mind and she following each movement while I explained what we were doing. After a while, I let her hold the needle and helped her with the tricky part of "not loosing a stitch". Little by little she gained enough confidence to try all by herself.

Then I realized, I don't need to be an expert knitter (or any other handicrafts) expert to be able to teach the skills, I just need to know a little bit more then they do! 

 I am certain that, in the future, I'll be the one learning some skills from them.

Knitting was a skill that my big girl was interested in and wanted to learn, it made it easier to sit down with her and teach, because she was willing to learn. My 2 other little goose did not share the motivation in learning how to knit, at least not at the moment, but still needed to work with their hands to keep them busy.

I always say "If kids are not busy doing something productive, they are busy doing something destructive"

Got our buckets of beads out and asked them to create necklaces to giveaway to some of their little friends. Why not use that time of being busy with their hands, to create something to bless others, and they did for hours. Busy and happy.

How about you, are you teaching any type of handicrafts at the moment?

Books to read in 2014

I always loved reading, if it had words I would read it. Yes, I am the type of person that reads the back of the bottle of shampoo when I can't find anything else to read in a certain room!

For the last couple years, finding time to read was more challenging. Sleep deprivations and the constant interruptions made it almost  impossible to finish a book. I am still having some sleepless night and the girls are still needing my attentions, but I am finding more time to sit down and read after they are in bed.

a book lover in her natural habitat. Now I see where the girls get their weird sitting habits!

I wanted to list here the books that were read in 2013. Since I didn't write them all down, I'll share those read since October.

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
3. MockingJay by Suzanne Collins
4. Delirium by Lauren Oliver
5. Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
6. Requiem by Lauren Oliver
7. The Friday night knitting club by Kate Jacobs
8. Knit two by Kate Jacobs
9. Knit the season by Kate Jacobs
10. Desperate: Hope for the mom who needs to breathe by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson
11. Grace for the good girls by Emily P Freeman
13. Loving the little years by Rachel Jankovic
14. Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet by Jamie Ford

I have a few books that I will be reading in 2014 (the list will be revised during the year)

1. To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Finished Jan 08)
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (currently reading)
3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
4. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
6. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (currently reading)
7. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
8. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
9. Drum in Autumn by Diana Gabaldon
10. An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
11. Divergent by Veronica Roth
12. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
13. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
14. Charlotte Mason companion by Karen Andreola (currently reading)
15. Home Education series by Charlotte Mason 

This is my list so far. 

If you could have me read 1 book in 2014, what would it be?

And the year was 2013

As the new year has begun, I decided to take a bit of time to reflect of the past year.

 Here are a few highlight of what happened in 2013

• The mountain of dirty laundry made a disappearance once of twice. 
• Spend many days at the beach, slash park, playgrounds and wood. 
• Homeschooling has had it's share of up and down, but mostly ups.
• Someone got a new bedroom.
• Lots of books were read.
• Tea Parties were part of our daily life.
• Got a hint of what my fashion style is but still have room to experiment.
• We could all have used a bit more sleep.
• One little girl lost her first tooth, and her second and third and forth and firth!!!
• The girls took cheerleader classes.
• First year with 3 little girls fully potty trained. 
• Made new friends
• Drank lot of coffee
• Enjoyed watching Dr Who, Downton Abby and Breaking Bad on netflix
• Feed chicken and pigs.
• and many more...

How about you, how was your 2013?