We had a Daisy Girl Scout troop Thanksgiving party. The Daisies made turkey cupcakes and turkey hats after reading our favorite turkey book, A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting. After the party, our troop brought Thanksgiving pies, muffins, and breads, made by the girls, to our local nursing home. The troop met a lot of nice people and wished them all a Happy Thanksgiving!
We have been reading fairy tales as part of our school day. We read a fairy tale and one thing we do after reading it, is use it to practice our handwriting. For the fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel, we practiced the letter H for the house made of cake and candy that belonged to the witch. Audrey and Ethan loved acting out the story too. You can see from our pictures, that Audrey is dressed up as Gretel. Later we baked our own Hansel and Gretel house cake with our friends. Audrey, Ethan, and Sophie couldn't wait to get outside and play in our first big snowfall of the season. Sophie especially enjoyed eating the snow!
We spent the past week reading Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. It is a wonderful book about a little girl that goes owling with her father. We tried owling out for ourselves a few nights too. We learned so much about owls. We read Owls by Gail Gibbons and learned about the different kinds of owls. Audrey and Ethan made their own owls with paper and feathers. Audrey made a Great Horned Owl and a Snowy Owl (her favorite). Ethan made a Screech Owl. Audrey made an entry into her nature book after learning about what makes an owl a great hunter. We learned about the surface of the moon by making our own moons out of white paint and flour. We made our own craters by dropping "meteors" into the wet paint. We also learned about the phases of the moon and used oil pastels and watercolors to represent each phase. Audrey and Ethan also started their own Moon Books. Every night, we go outside or just look out the window, if it is really cold, to observe the moon. Then they record it in their books of black cardstock paper with metallic crayons.
The days are getting shorter, the darkness and cold of winter are coming. We celebrate Martinmas this time of year to remember that we can be the light in the darkness. We can shine our light, the light of love given to us by God, so that others may see.
To celebrate Martinmas this year, we got together with our homeschool group to make lanterns with jars, tissue paper, and glitter. I told the story of St. Martin and the beggar. This story tells of a military man who rides through the gates of the city on his fine horse. As he does, he sees a beggar man shivering in the cold. Instead of just passing him by like all the other people had done. Martin stopped, took the warm red cloak from his shoulders and cut it in two. He gave half of the cloak to the beggar. We also made horseshoe cookies and sprinkled powdered sugar on them to represent the horse that St. Martin rode on through the cold snowy night. On the night of Martinmas, November 11th, we had our lantern walk outside. As we walked along in the darkness with our lanterns lit, we sang "This Little Light of Mine". Audrey and Ethan could not wait to carve their pumpkins this year. They had been planning out their jack-o-lantern faces days ahead of time. They turned out just right...silly, spooky, and super sweet!
Audrey went with her Daisy Girl Scout Troop to a horse camp. She absolutely loved it! She was very excited about riding the horses, learning about them, and grooming them. Grandma was able to do the camp with her too! Now Audrey would like us to get the little farm we have been dreaming of so that we can have a few horses of our own!
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WelcomeHi! I am Allison. I am a happy homemaker, wife, and mother to four sweet babies. I am also a Classical, Christian homeschooling mom trying to make every day a celebration of love and family. I love to bake, cook, garden, read, do art, and spend time outdoors with my amazing family. Archives
October 2017
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Our story of loving and learning at home...
"Let them be little, 'cause they're only that way for a while. Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day. Let them cry, let them giggle; let them sleep in the middle, oh, let them be little."
- Written and Sung by Billy Dean