HomeSchooling
That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not alone and isolated from anyone. You belong. - F. Scott Fitzgerald
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The National Gallery
Did I even mention the National Gallery of Art yesterday? I don’t think I did. Growing up, my parents never really talked about art. At least, not that I remember. I’ve come late to the Art Appreciation Game. But I married a good-looking artist and we’re raising a handful of creators so I am educating, learning and teaching. And I am realizing – I love art. It’s personal and subjective. And it’s really fun. My friend Hilary is a committed Andrew Wyeth fan. His art is highlighted at DC’s National Gallery. Man. It was incredible. Just like all of DC, we just scratched the surface of the museum. (And we…
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The Keigleys Go to Washington
Can I just type Washington, DC and let that suffice? Ya’ll. There is just way too much going on in that city. My sister-in-law said that when her sons were younger and she was homeschooling them that she had always wished she could live in DC for six months just to really get acquainted with the Capitol. It would take that long. (Actually, isn’t that a great idea? To live in a place for a few months? To really become familiar and to try to squeeze all of the educational value right out of a city? Is there a kickstarter for that? A way to crowdsource my life? I think…
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Field Trip: WNC Nature Center
What a gem! Incredibly beautiful location outside of both Black Mountain and Asheville, North Carolina – you simply couldn’t drop this Nature Center into any prettier spot. Kevin had a meeting in Black Mountain last week and our local zoo membership offers reciprocal passes at the Nature Center. It was a Thursday and we already had a field trip planned for Friday but it seemed like an opportunity too rare to pass. And we were right. The day’s temperatures couldn’t have been better – a chill in the air just perfect for crunching leaves and walking outside. Prior to departure all of the kids loaded their backpacks with their nature…
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Journal Entries
Well. I may never have to think of an idea to write another blog post again. I realized today that I have a treasure trove of ideas in three little wide-ruled notebooks sitting right in our kitchen cabinets, directly under the shelf that stores our pottery bowls. We’ve been doing journals in school on and off for a few years now. They’ve always been endearing to me – but this year they seem to be downright entertaining. I don’t know if it’s the kids’ older ages or their improved wit and writing skills or what. But I am just getting such a kick out of these entries. Sometimes they make me laugh. Sometimes…
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Making Terrariums
After we finished reading The Magician’s Nephew (which I just love, by the way – remember Digory our dog? That’s the book his name came from. Like so many other names, I tired first to name one of our children Digory but with no success) the curriculum suggested several ways to create your own magical world. We landed on terrariums – a project I’ve actually always wanted to try. Any jar or glass container with or without a lid will work. It’s seriously super simple. We chose a jar that belonged to my mom – I think it held sugar once upon another life. The idea is basic, although of…
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Afternoon Tea Like Tumnus
Last week, in our daily readings from the The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Lucy entered the magical woods of Narnia. She met Mr. Tumnus and enjoyed a tea at the faun’s cozy home. In honor of that special fictional tea, we too celebrated a tea with friends who are also reading their way through the Narnia series this school year. We served what Tumnus served – sardines on toast, soft boiled eggs, hot tea and sugar dusted tea cake. Dining under the hemlock tree in the front yard our table was overflowing with old fashioned tea pots and tiny vases filled with wildflowers and eager children lining up…
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Sunday Night Preparations For a Better Week
I imagine this is true for every home that includes young children. Or old children. Or any number of humans dwelling within its walls. Sunday night often determines the pace of rest of the week. When I’m on my game, when Sunday afternoon is free and affords me time to look over my list and my lesson plans and my menu and our family’s schedule, then the whole week is better. It’s an effort. A decision. A priority. And sometimes it breaks down. But when it doesn’t break down, when I make the effort, when I look ahead a few days – you guys – the entire week’s dynamic is…
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Pinterest Projects With the Ones
My Pinterest board entitled Projects With the Ones is flooded with ideas with which I rarely follow through it seems. Recently I decided to set my talented children to task to accomplish some of these fun tasks. London was first to be given the challenge. I asked her to peruse the Pinterest board and to make a choice. She was instructed to gather all of the necessary supplies at our home or to make a list of what would be needed to complete the project. She chose an art project that is as simple as it is sweet. Using pages from a discarded book, we all drew designs of our…
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Maple Syrup Video Cuteness
Last spring we had the opportunity to accompany Kevin on a business trip which included Pennsylvania and New York visits. It’s precisely one of the reasons I have loved this season of Kevin working from home coupled with home schooling. Kevin’s main work purpose for that trip was to get video footage for Cornell University and the New York Maple Producers for a project they were tackling to promote maple syrup education. One video had been completed before the journey and now a second one is finished. My personal favorite bits are the ones that include our kids, of course – particularly the cute eye-widening expression of one young Otto Fox Wilder. …
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Wildwood Halls of Ivy: Let The School Year Commence
Hello school year. It has arrived. This will be the year I teach five children at our home. That’s a lot of one-room school house learning. (I’m sure there are homeschool moms who teach more.) On our first day we did a little pantomiming with friends. And there were costumes worn to class because, uh, homeschool. Last year, of course, our curriculum was based on The Little House on the Prairie novels. This year we’re moving to the Chronicles of Narnia novels. (Kevin keeps joking that next summer, instead of visiting the Laura Ingalls sites in the west, we are all going to Narnia. He should be careful with that…
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and speaking of …
Somehow I still feel like I’m catching up to myself after our trip this summer. Which wasn’t like two months long or anything so you’d think I should be just fine and all caught up. I still haven’t even taken the time to write a post about my second favorite stop on our trip – Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Mansfield home, where she actually penned (literally – penned) the entire set of nine novels. And I think all I’m talking about lately is how I am off track on all courses. I have felt some comfort in the fact that I am not alone. Maybe it’s just the season – it…
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Prairie Adventure: The Wilder Pageant at Walnut Grove
Walnut Grove had lots to offer the Laura Ingalls fan. I’ve already told you about the museum and the sweet campground and the Laura Look Alike contest and, of course, one of my personal favorite stops – Plum Creek. But what I did not tell you about yet was the summer’s big evening event – The Wilder Pageant. The pageant is performed only six times every summer and the tickets for next year’s pageant nights will already be on sale this fall. It’s performed every weekend in July except the July Fourth weekend. The performance doesn’t begin until 9 p.m. to accommodate the sun being allowed to set – but…
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Prairie Adventure: The Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society in DeSmet, South Dakota
DeSmet. South Dakota. In regular life, DeSmet is this one street, not much to talk about kind of town. In Laura Ingalls terms, DeSmet is a big deal. Like a mecca. I don’t even know where to start or how to wade through the two hundred and fifty four pictures I took while we were there. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote nine books. Five of the novels take place in or around DeSmet, South Dakota. See? A big deal to Laura fans. In DeSmet, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society offers guided tours of the four buildings they manage. I guess that’s a good place to start. And you guys, of…
