sorghum gathering...(10.21)

last year our friends received a grant to build a sorghum processing set-up. everything is man/animal powered...it is awesome!

we are blessed to know so many families that are "keeping it real" the simple, old-fashioned way. it is inspiring to be surrounded by like minded families, each doing their best to integrate a bit more homemade, self-sufficiency into our lives...

friends...

the sorghum canes being ground (juiced)...

more friends...

the children get a go at cranking the mill...

aaaahhhhhh...the fiber fair

we recently attended the southeastern animal fiber fair (saff), hosted by our local ag center every october. it was amazing & inspiring...and WOW!

i could spend an entire weekend there...i love it all! thankfully though, i have four children & thus a time limit of about 2 hours max (it was a good day :)

i love this one!

handmade felt...

ditto...crafting potential, no?

my feelings exactly...

just a taste...

my favorite angora, hands down...

someday...

grade 1, block I: letter introduction (week 7)

monday, november 2nd


main lesson: form drawing, "the pregnant belly" (that's what we call it anyway), Form Drawing Grades 1-4, Enrst Schuberth & Laura Embry-Stine , p. 4 (fig 7 a)


*introduce with a short story,

i told the story of both my pregnancy with evyn (our youngest) & her birth. aydin was an a very amazing part of that journey...he knew i was pregnant before i did, he was 3 days off with his his estimation of her birth date, & he attended her birth. that is a very special memory that we share & i wanted to relive it all with him today...

lesson b:

outdoor nature hour; we spent today's hour cleaning out the garden & the boys hunted for (fallen) bird's nests in the woods... they found two...

*also finished our michaelmas salve (it needed a month or so to cure)

tuesday, november 3rd

main lesson:

*tell story, part #7

introducing bear & fawn & 'u' (uuuhhh)

*project: make homemade (natural) play clay

the turmeric & the cocoa (yummy!) both turned our great. the turmeric we tried twice, but the color wasn't as bright as pictured & it was a bit grittier than the the two.

we made a list on the board of words that begin with 'f', then aydin chose two to model with the clay...

(foot)

(face)

(fire)

then we made a list of words that begin with 'b', again aydin chose two to model...

(bird)

(bowl)

lesson b:

begin knitting...learn & practice casting on, begin to learn/practice knit stitch...

wednesday, november 4th

main lesson:

(recall story, together)

*draw a picture of fawn & bear in main lesson book, add a gold star w/the letter 'u'

lesson b: baking, granola

thursday, october 5th

main lesson:

(recall story, on own)

*write short summary (together) & copy into main lesson book

*painting: "by the water"

lesson b: continue w/knit stitch

BACK POST grade 4, block II, math (week 4)

(we took the previous week off as "fall break")


monday, november 2nd
(read on own, zorro, 45 min)

orin finished "sea of trolls" last week & dove right into an old (like 1950's of so) version of zorro, this may be his 4th time reading it!


main lesson:


*copy work:

"harvest", by maria de havas (fourth verse)


"now we load the great farm wagons
working till the field is clear.
stubble soon must turn to ploughland
ready for another year."



*math, spelling, and general ed practice/workbooks


*nature study...

on our morning walk, the boys found 2 bird nests! on the ground. when we got home they wanted to scout around in the barren trees for more. they also worked on clearing a few downed trees in a bit of woods behind our house...i think for a secret fort (shhhh...;)




lesson b:
form drawing: learn to tie & draw the double overhand knot (the pocket guide of knots, p. 39)






tuesday, november 3rd
(read on own, zorro, 45 min)


main lesson:


*copywork:

"necessity is the mother of invention."


*spelling, math & general ed practice/workbooks


*introduction to common denominators, om grade 4 math (p. 113-120)

*project: origami, parrot & star box from origami (klutz)

lesson b:

handwork, continue working on (spiral) friendship bracelets

wednesday, november 3rd

(read on own, zorro, 45 min)

main lesson:

*copywork:

"never judge a book by its cover."

*continue work with common denominators...

today we begin wrapping up our fractions math block with a few projects to really bring these ideas into a different light. today's focus is practical application, and we turn to melissa neilson's math book for her 'design-a-garden' idea. i loved it & so did orin.

first, draw out a 12x12" or perhaps larger plot of land (we cut a piece of poster board in half, and used that as our guide)...now for the fun part...what to plant?? well, there are several types of crops that we need to grow, right?? grains, fruits, vegetables, and how about some flowers as well. so, that is 4 crops, so we much first divide out garden into fourths (break out the ruler & measure!). then we take the grain plot & hmmm...well, we'll plant three different types of grain (oats, corn & wheat). so we measure & divide the grain section into thirds. next, fruits...we love fruit, so let's plant six different types...so divide the fruits section into sixths, and so on.

this will take a bit of time & depending on how he/she is 'feeling' you might save part for tomorrow's lesson. orin got very much into looking up what he would like to plant, getting out garden books & everything, so we got the plots measured & labeled & will color/decorate our plans tomorrow.

lesson b:

baking, pumpkin pie (yum!)

thursday, november 4th

(read on own, zorro, 45 min)

main lesson:

*copywork:

"never put off until tomorrow what you can have done today."

*spelling, math & general ed practice/workbook

taking another page from melissa neilson's math book for today's lesson (and it sounds like it is a common waldorf activity for this age, as she mentions steiner specifically)...the jist is to solidify the concept of whole & parts with a living image...a tree.

a tree is a whole, but its branches are parts. so we start with a single trunk (a whole) and as we draw, we branch out into two limbs (1/2s), these two limbs then each branch out into two new limbs (1/4s), etc...we will be working up to 1/16s

we drew the tree, both the trunk and it's branches with crayon, then added a beautiful watercolor background...