Category: learning

Posted on

The Revolutionary War… “close to home” (with a free homeschool resource)

As term 2 of our school year comes to a close, I get the exciting privilege of planning our end-of-year home learning trip!

Our history with A Gentle Feast centered around the Revolutionary War this year. Initially, I had grand plans of driving up through VA and up into the Philly areas, hitting several of the things and areas that we had learned about: Mt. Vernon, Monticello, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Betsy Ross museum… even up and over to Valley Forge. My brain was in high gear, planning all the things!

But then something else happened to hit a high, too.

Hello there, gasoline… I’m looking at you. :/

Between the high fuel prices and planning a long road trip to Texas later in the summer for a family wedding/reunion, it looks like we will be postponing that long trip for the next time we hit this history rotation. (My younger kids will be able to appreciate it more at that point anyway. Three is a little young to appreciate being in the same room that the Declaration was signed in, I think. Ha!)

Fortunately, my family lives in a state that was one of the original 13 colonies… so I started to really dig into the Revolutionary war close to home. I knew of a couple of battle fields quasi-close by, and knew that Nathanael Greene and the Swamp Fox had been up and around our state… but for living in this state all of my life (and going to state schools growing up), I was incredibly surprised about ALL of the Revolutionary history here in SC. (Truth be told, my memories in school of war and our state all seemed to be about the Civil War and fighting against our country vs. being a major contributor to its creation, but that’s another thought for another time.)

So now, my brain is back into high gear, plotting at least 5 battlefields and museums within an hour of our house… and planning an overnight closer to the coast.

I’m a huge fan of journaling and recording thoughts, questions, etc., as they come up… and find that my 3rd grader still needs a few prompts to help her write out her observations. I went ahead and designed some pages for our days out and about for her to use to help document what she learns along the way.

For fellow South Carolina homeschool/homelearning families, I’d love to have you use the pages I created to document your own trek of learning across our state. Just download and use the pdf below!

revolutionary-war-scDownload

I’m going to share a few super helpful links below if you are interested in plotting your own weekend field trips! (Click the images for more information.) The Southern Campaign Animated Map is great for a general overview/review… but the other links below are geared towards an Piedmont/Upstate focus of the state’s involvement. I’m hoping to do a part 2 of it with more of a midland and coastal focus, if/when we get around to doing that soon.

Piedmont/Upstate Areas of Interest

Ninety Six National Historic Site
South Carolina Museum of Revolutionary War History
Battle of Musgrove Hill State Historic Site
Kings Mountain National Military Park
Cowpens National Battlefield
Posted on

the right instructions.

Wendell Berry once said, “You mustn’t wish for another life. You mustn’t want to be somebody else. What you must do is this: ‘Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks.’ I am not all the way capable of so much. But those are the right instructions.”

I don’t know about you, but there are some days that I just love where I’m at and what I’m doing. The moments seem light and joyful, and I feel perfectly placed in my life.

And there are days I don’t.

I can blame it on a lot of things: the news. My lists. The worries on my shoulders. Grief. Extra fighting from the kids. Exchanged sarcasm. The toddler climbing into bed because a storm ignited her fears… making us all restless. And squished. And sleep deprived.

But the fact of the matter is: the biggest hinderance to my own happiness is my disconnect to the command to give thanks.

You know the verse, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” We just like to slap those words on anything tricky that we need some extra diligence for… but what, specifically, is it referring to? Paul is referring to being content— in every circumstance. He says that he has learned to do it, no matter what. How? He can do it “through Christ,” who gave him strength *to give this thanks.*

What do you need to give thanks for? What gives your heart pause, just thinking about hoisting it to heaven with gratitude on your lips? I can think of a few things that I feel are just too hard, too sad, too hurtful for me to be thankful for… but fortunately, we don’t have to do it alone. We have a Helper to lift our offering high, and intercede with perfect words we have an impossible time finding.

Christ.

He will give us strength.

Strength enough to offer gratitude…

and in the doing, we are placed in the perfect position to receive His grace.

And isn’t that something we can be oh so thankful for? 💛

Posted on

L is for the way…

January is fading fast, friends.

It’s super crazy how fast the month has gone. The stores went straight from Christmas to Valentines two weeks ago, bless it!

And even though I’m not going to buy the pink-iced cupcakes on the endcaps at the store, I can still take a hint: it’s time to start preparing.

I’ll admit: we do like to stretch our holidays a little bit over here– even more so with this one, since we felt like Christmas fun was cut short. (Thanks, Covid.)

Anyhoo, I’ve gone ahead and compiled a week’s worth of activities and ideas. Use one or use them all– totally up to you! The underlines link up to videos, recipes, and suggested items to check out, in case you don’t have random craft stuff jammed in drawers like we do. Ha!

Want the actual links to work? Ha! Here’s a pdf download with all the clickables!

Week of ValentinesDownload

I’ll be bluntly honest; we might not do every thing I have on this little weekly calendar, but I do plan on doing several. A sure-thing though, is our “I love you” fondue. We have done that every Valentine’s Day for 3 years now, and we are keeping that for, oh, forever. (My husband and I don’t actually like to go out on the actual date because it’s just too crowded and all of that. Instead, we celebrate love together as a family on the 14th– and the hubs and I head out the weekend after, when it is a bit easier to find a sitter and a seat at a restaurant. 😉 #worksmarternotharder)

Here’s wishing you a day, a week, a whole month full of sweet moments and memories of loving well. ❤

Posted on

memories > dreams

“It’s realizing that a great dream is not as good as a great memory. The dream can be had by anyone. The memory – must be made.” Eric Thomas

I will admit to the past couple of years being one of waving grief. With so much changing, and with the promise of normalcy being pushed back further and further, I’ve lamented the fact that maybe I won’t get to make the memories I want with my family the way that I dreamed. The Swiss Alps will be my own experience, and not a shared one. Florence, Italy will be my own words, and something I can share in snapshots and story snippets… not hand-in-hand. The Black Forest is some place I can tell my kids I’ve been, and the trees won’t be something we will see together.

It makes the world a bit sadder, and heaven a bit sweeter.

And it’s true— that my grief might all be for nothing and the cloud of COVID and all the junk surrounding it will lift, and we will have the most amazing field trip in the world when they are older.

But the point of this post isn’t really a lament… so let me get back on task.

The point of the post is exactly what the quotation says in the beginning… that memories made are more valuable, precious, deserving because they have existed beyond the walls of our imagination. We have made something real and weaved it in the fabric of our lives and our story— and the stories of the people that were with us.

Our little family was late to the mountains this year— we couldn’t escape earlier for several reasons. We bought apples in bags instead of picking them off trees. But that didn’t damper the beauty of the leaves around us, and the wonder of a random bamboo forest, the sweetness of fall treats, and the laughs over goofy pictures with street bear statues.

(On a side note, how are my children growing so fast?! I’m afraid to blink and breathe anymore.)

Here’s to dreams: that they become memories. But here’s to memories: that we make them in our backyards and slightly beyond… and delight in the simplicity and joy they bring to our moments.

Posted on

Loop scheduling: how we ensure family culture and our “gentle feast”

Each day, we spend a chunk of time learning together. Our mornings always include Bible time, hymn/folk/foreign song singing, and Bible memory… and we loop through other subjects. Right now, we loop through habit training, poet/poetry study, etiquette, fables, composer/music study, and art/artist study.

Yesterday morning, we talked about the etiquette of making others feel welcome— through simple acts like smiling, waving, saying hello, and introducing ourselves well to new people we meet.

We practiced hellos and introductions… and then made tasty smiles, just to be funny. 😂

Days don’t hold enough time to do all.the.things. Incorporating a loop schedule in our morning together time gives me the assurance that we will slowly and surely cover things that are important to the “gentle feast” I want to offer to my children, as well as foster a family culture that (I hope 🙏🏻) will have a lasting impact.

What’s important to you and your family culture that you weave into your days?

Posted on

A Handicraft Halloween Guide

With October in full force, Halloween will be here before you know it! We typically do more fall-themed things in general vs. “Halloween specific,” but it is fun to pull out a couple of specifically themed things for this month.

If you have it, that is…

The only Halloween decor we have is the leftover spider rings and webs from my son’s arachnid-themed party last week, ha!

Instead of going out and buying things, it is a perfect time to apply those handicraft skills, both in ourselves (hi there, Mother Culture, looking at you!) and for our kids.

I wanted to take a moment to compile some themed ideas for the 31st that– in my opinion– harken to some of the “authentic” handicrafts that most Charlotte Masony people recognize… versus toilet paper holder Frankenstein construction paper projects. (Note: if you like those, do those! No judgement here, I promise!)

Anyhoo, let’s get started!

Cross Stitch

I love several of the different cross stitch ideas that open when you click the pic below! What’s great is there are several simpler ideas for those kiddos, like mine, who are still learning the basics of stitching.

Origami/Paper folding

If you are familiar with tradition Charlotte Mason handicrafts, you know that she advocated teaching/learning “paper sloyd.” Paper sloyd uses simple tools to measure, cut, and construct things from paper and cardboard.

Origami captures the same spirit without the cutting… and if you currently have several books going at once, you will need just as many bookmarks. These cut little bats are just the thing to add some enchantment in an unexpected place— your page corners.

Click the image to snag the instructions. (This instruction will be true for each handicraft, btw.)

Sewing

Isn’t this garland just so cute?! The Etsy shop that offers the patterns for this banner has so many other cute ideas for decor, too. The best thing for me is that you don’t have to use them on a garland if you don’t want to. They can act as little ornaments, or can simply be made into palm sized toys for play. So fun!

Carving

When most Mason families talk about carving and handicrafts, they mean wood… but aren’t pumpkin just perfect for practicing these basics? I think so! Tackle a big pumpkin or lots of small ones!

Painting

Just like pumpkins are great to carve, they can also make pretty awesome canvases to practice painting skills on. In fact, I have fond memories of my living room when I was little, being covered in painted pumpkins. My grandfather had a fruit and vegetable stand, and during this season, my parents would hand paint hundreds of pumpkins for people to buy from him at his stand! It’s one of those things that you didn’t realize at the time would be one of those nostalgic memories that would make you smile in remembrance decades later.

I’ve included a dual carved/painted idea here, but the sky is the limit: characters, landscapes… whatever floats your boat! (I think an Edgar Allan Poe pumpkin would be fun, surrounded by smaller raven and black cat pumpkins!)

Crochet

For those kiddos (or mommas!) learning and practicing the skill of crochet, these little imaginative play puppets looks so cute! They would be fantastic to pull in for narration after some seasonal read alouds! The best part is, the pattern for these puppets are free! Just access by clicking the photo below.

Baking & Decorating

Obviously baking and decorating are two different skills, but I’m lumping them together here because they cross apply so often. For beginning bakers who might not be ready for piping, etc., this pumpkin sheet cake is easy to make and would make a fun addition to any poetry tea time!

The recipe linked below is all about making this cake from scratch… but I’m assuming that if you are more of the pre-fab boxed cake type, you can simplify it a smidgen. However, I think this cake offers perfect practice for more advanced/fine piping! Check out the intricacy of the spider web! So cool!

Other options (aka Non-handicraft, ha!)

As much as I love handicrafts, I will fully admit to not having them work so well for younger kiddos. I have a 3 year old that doesn’t have the fine motor skills to truly attempt to decorate cakes or sew a stuffie… but she simply loves to color and hang up her pictures on the string on the wall down our hall.

If you can’t quite squeeze a new handicraft in before Halloween (or simply like to color during read alouds), no worries! Click on the button below to download and print 2 free Halloween pictures for those in your house to color.

Click here for a larger picture and to print

If you are wanting even more sheets, or even want to print your own coloring book, head over to my Etsy shop and snag 50 pages of print outs for you to use! It’s normally $2.50, but use this coupon code and get another 15% off. 🙂

Here’s to weaving in imagination and enjoyment into all of the education and encouragement we plan and do with our families this month!

***

For more Halloween-inspired fun, including school day plans, check out the links below!

Skeletons post: includes read aloud, physical movement, anatomy & science!

Pumpkins post: includes read aloud, a game, a math “roll-a-pumpkin” game, science/pumpkin dissection, and art (painting pumpkins!)
Posted on

The gift of handicrafts. Literally.

Charlotte Mason once said, “The child is only truly educated who can use his hands as truly as his head.”

I will admit: as an adult, there have been many times that I have felt handicapped… not by my lack of knowledge (because I know how to get more of it if I need it), but my lack of skills. I wish I was more “handy,” and find the learning curve a bit harsh at times. (Leaky roof and broken fence, looking at you.)

Right now, I feel it’s so important to teach my children 1) handicrafts (skills that merge both beauty and usefulness) and 2) that generosity and gift giving isn’t just about using money to buy stuff.

When E (my 8yo girlie) began talking about Christmas, we sat down and talked about the gift of creating… and she has decided to put her growing skills in hand sewing and loom knitting to work to make things for her brother and sister (like we read about in Elin’s America).

And together, we are learning the process of scenting and designing goat milk soap with essential oils, mica powders, and flowers.

One day, I’d love to actually learn the processing of making and curing soap from scratch, but the chemicals and storing for the entire process isn’t something we can do right now.

So here is to learning and creating what we can, without waiting for all.the.things to be perfect to do so.

(What do you know… another life lesson. 😉)

Here is the Orange Juniper Goat milk soap we made!
We also made lavender rosemary soap… E’s favorite! 💜

(To see what we used for the soaps, go here, here, and here. 😀 I’m obligated to say that these are referral links, which means our family gets a small smidgen of a boost to our budget if you use them. There is no additional cost to you at all, though. So yay!

Note: the mica powders and essential oils I already had on hand from other projects and needs. Also note… we got the 2lb soap base because I didn’t know how much each bar would make, and how much we would want to do it. We will probably order a 5lb bulk next, to reduce the cost of making it per bar and to give more as gifts this Christmas.)

Posted on

A glance through our Pioneer/Homesteading Summer

This summer, we had a fabulous time incorporating all kinds of homesteading and pioneering fun!

I will be honest— we didn’t get to all the things my brain had planned. But we enjoyed the slower pace and worked with the realization that learning comes in all shapes and forms and in moments not jammed full of all the things.

I am sometimes better documenting the day-to-day on Instagram; so you’ll find this post to be a one-stop-shop on the smatterings of homesteading moments I have shared over there.

Here we go!

Cheesemaking

Although they made a version of a hard cheese in The Little House in the Big Woods, we did an easy, faster version at home!

Listening Ears and Busy Hands

We did a lot of reading aloud this summer, learning all about the Big Woods and then how life looked on the Prairie before packing up and moving again. Here’s how we spent a good chunk of time: making fun messes on the patio while joining the Ingalls on their journey.

Tracking our Travels

Because we embrace a Charlotte Mason approach to literature, we want to fill our time and minds with living books. Although “school” wasn’t happening in “full,” we liked to narrate the chapters as we read them and write our progress down on our chalkboard.

Life skills

A large chunk of our activities focused on life skills: we learned how to wash and hang clothes by hand. We made cheese, sourdough bread, and cookies. We used our Daybook to track meal planning, planting, and other skills. And although I doubt Ma Ingalls ever made this simple version of oatmeal cookies, she definitely used the few ingredients she had to make something delicious and filling.

Science

After reading about the prairie fire, the kids had a lot of questions about how starting a fire actually helped keep their home safe from fire. (Good question, huh?!) So we chatted and did a little experiment, learning about what fire needs to actually stay a fire. Once we learned those few little things, the kids could figure out the answer to their own question! Learning at work!

The Highlight Reel

To see the highlights of our summer, check out our InstaStory HERE. You’ll find cross stitch, life skills, snack ideas, cabin building, cornbread making, and more! We actually didn’t document a lot this summer because we were in the middle of doing… but that’s okay. 🙂 Just because no one sees it doesn’t mean we didn’t have a lot of fun doing it.

Resources

If you are interested in Little House Copywork that we did (print & cursive), the Daybook that was designed and used and/or the beginning piano book that my husband arranged… check out the freebies and links by clicking on the image below!

Because so much of our summer was developing good habits surrounding life skills, I decided to help my kiddos visualize some of their tasks and organize how they want to structure their time and plan their work. My kids– especially my oldest– really like working with these care task cards!

Home Care Cards

Homesteading Cards

Homelearning Cards

(Also, as a thank you for reading and checking out the resources, click HERE for 15% off the resources mentioned in this post. 😉 )

Since the summer, our schedule has started picking up… as it always does. Music lessons and kindermusik are back. I began teaching debate for our homeschool community again, and coaching our communication club. Our birthday season is in high gear.

I’ll be honest; I do love fall. Autumn has, and probably always will be, my favorite season. But I’m so glad that our days were spent in the Woods and on the Prairie during our warmest season… and I look forward to next summer of learning and doing and going a step further in our small version of homesteading. ❤

Posted on

Summer roadschooling: Charleston edition

(I know, I know… I still haven’t done the Historic Triangle posts! It’s coming. 🤞🏻)

This past weekend, we down to Charleston, SC to sneak in some history, science, and cultural studies in the middle of fun and family time.

Day 1

We started off with a downtown Charleston history tour and carriage ride. Maybe it is because I’m gearing up and buying books for our Revolutionary War study, but I was particularly drawn to how SC was influential in the Revolutionary War— instead of the Civil War, which is what I naturally think about due to Ft. Sumter being right there.

We hung out at the Old Slave Market before heading to our hotel. Interesting Sidenote: they didn’t actually sell slaves at the slave market. It was where the slaves (and other household workers) would go to get groceries and other sundry things. (Charleston, tragically, was a major import and contributor to slavery, but most of the selling/trading occurred on the docks of the city.)

Day 2

My husband has been wanting to go to Rodney Scott’s BBQ ever since we saw the documentary about Scott and his delicious craft on Netflix. Father’s Day in Charleston was the perfect excuse to go!

After indulging in delicious ribs and the like, we spent a few hours at the SC Aquarium, learning about sea turtles, ocean life cycles and ecosystems, and even got to feed the sting rays! It was very fun and we learned a lot… although I will say that the price point for the aquarium was a bit inflated. If you live nearby and snag the annual membership, though, it would be very cost effective after a few trips! (We probably would have spent the afternoon at the beach, but the weather didn’t cooperate… so Plan B it was!)

Day 3

After checking out, we spend several hours at Boone Plantation. Definitely check out the website for what all it has to offer! I didn’t tell the kids about the tractor tour before we got there, and I’m super glad I didn’t because they had to cancel it due to all the mud from the rain the day before. BUT even without the ride, the time at Boone was worth it!

My 5 year old loved the Butterfly room (we had to go in several times), my 8 yr old loved seeing the horses… and all of the kiddos loved climbing on and in the secret spaces of the gorgeous “Gone with the Wind” oaks.

I appreciated so much how each of the still-standing slave quarters had been turned into mini-museums, documenting the atrocities of that dark time in our nation’s history… and following the timeline to the Emancipation and beyond.

Boone also offers a unique opportunity to learn about Gullah culture, and we got to listen to and watch a wonderful lady speak to us in and about Gullah, sing beautiful spirituals, and give us the gift of learning more about her heritage. If you get an opportunity to go to Boone, please check the times of when the presentations are and fit it into your tours and time there. ❤️

The sun was high and hot by the time we were done at Boone… so we finished out time at Charleston at the fountains downtown. We got to watch our kids get hit by water coming at them at who-knows-how-many-miles-an-hour.

(Yes, the same children who can’t stand to have their hair washed and get water in their eyes. Those ones. 😂)

Like I’ve said before, we aren’t “roadschoolers” in the full extent of the word. We have a mortgage 😂, and can’t take long extended trips, due to an 8 to 5 “normal” job.

But we find firsthand encounters and experiences essential for us in our home learning— so we do it how we can, when we can.

And right now, it’s perfect for us. ❤️

Posted on

Summer Rhythms! (Free Summer checklist download!)

Hello there, friends!

I had a tab working on these already when a friend posted about how her summer checklist with her kiddos is working wonders for their rhythm… and I was like, “I need to hurry and finish these so we can get the benefits, too. Ha!

I’ll be honest; I’m not going to “stress” over whether or not this get fills out completely each day. That’s the great thing about charts and lists and things like this: they are meant to serve you, NOT you serve them.

Can we say that a little louder for those in the back?!

Lists are made to serve you, not you serve them! 😀

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy these freebies. I’ve made 2 versions: the list we will use over here with what we are planning on doing, and then a blank list for you to customize what you need with what’s essential at your house. Print out as many as you need; laminate them; do whatever you like. 😉

I’m probably the only homeschool mom on the planet that doesn’t have a laminating machine. I stick my lists in plastic sleeves and use wet erase markers (which I totally prefer over dry erase, so my kids don’t wipe it off by accident with an elbow).

Download, save and enjoy! 😉

Prefer pdfs over images? Here you go!

summer-checklistDownload
summer-checklist-blankDownload