When my parents were here, we took them to a sugar bush where maple sap is collected and syrup is made. This is a modern operation, full of pipes, vacuum pumps, test plots, and interesting innovations. Of course, the traditional way of collecting sap is also interesting. This is how they used to do it. Rather than [...]
Simple Joys
Sense and Sensibility Week
Two hundred years ago, plus a week, Sense and Sensibility was published, and now Miss Georgiana Darcy is hosting a blog event to commemorate the occasion. She posted a great list of resources and is planning activities and excitement all week. If you love Jane Austen, come join in the fun! Here’s yesterday’s list of questions: [...]
A Perfect Gift for Little Girls
I have four girls. That’s a lot of little friends’ birthdays. It’s always hard to find the perfect gift on a budget, but there’s one gift that has been a hit each time: artificial flowers. We discovered this with our older children. They loved their flowers and used them all the time, to decorate their [...]
Another Day of Summer!
Here’s our forecast for today: 27oC and mostly sunny! Or, in Fahrenheit, 81oF. Usually the late September high is around 16oC (or 61oF)—real jacket and rainboot weather! We’re planning to spend as much time outside as possible: harvesting, hiking, and probably also picnicking. Wishing you a happy day, regardless of your weather.
Real Life Learning: Insects and Harvests
We had no time for bookwork this afternoon. Instead, we harvested. The children picked two wheelbarrows of tomatoes, all the red and orange ones in our patch. Then they discovered a tomato hornworm. It is huge and oh, so beautiful. I tried to feed it a tomato leaf, but didn’t realize that the horn was at the [...]
Goldfinch Update
Remember that goldfinch nest full of tiny eggs that the Little Misses found in a purple loosestrife plant? They’ve hatched! We hate to disturb the birds, but this morning we went with my camera and got this shot. Miss 8 was disappointed because she had expected brilliant yellow hatchlings, not half-naked ones. According to our bird book, [...]
Goldfinch Nest in a Purple Loosestrife Plant
One of the simple little things our homeschool does for the environment is to keep the invasive plant purple loosestrife off our three-acre property, about half of which is wetland. Although purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is beautiful, it can harm native plants as well as wildlife. Purple loosestrife was introduced into North America over 200 years [...]
Summer Plans Part 1: Dream Lists
Summer happens. Days pass, one by one. Some are memorable and enjoyable. Some are boring. And then, suddenly, it’s all over for another year, and all we’re left with are memories. We want those memories to be happy, so every year our family plans the summer. The first step is to brainstorm our dreams. It’s [...]
