Mary's Muse

Advent "Break"

I've always been a huge proponent of preparing for the birth of Our Lord by breaking from traditional schooling, cleaning the house, and focusing our souls.  But we never quite get around to a complete break from school.  We just do things differently.

For instance, last year, we studied birds.  We studied bone and wing structure, migration, what they eat.  We did experiments and projects.  And it took about a semester to burn through an Apologia Bird Book.  We're taking another look at birds through this break. 

This time, we're focusing on identification by observing habits, colors, and sounds.  To kids from 13 down to 5, I'm reading The Burgess Bird Book while they color pictures from a Dover Bird Coloring Book or from this Cornell site which offers free coloring pages.  They learn as they color what to look for in markings.  They must color each bird in accordance with what I read.  They use a Peterson Field Guide  to help visualize what I read, sometimes.

We just read about Flickers yesterday and lo and behold, there were several in our back yard.

 

Our math during break is reading Theonni Pappas books, beginning with The Adventures of Penrose.  It's stretching our brains in a whole new way!

We just happened to delve into France for an historical holiday.  I started reading a Junior Classics Three Musketeers during the school year.  We've finished it, but now we're watching the BBC Production (a little theatrical, but very well done as far as being faithful to the book).  We also have a children's biography of Richilieu from the library that the sixth and eighth grader will read.  Then we have the sequel: Twenty Years After.  If we manage to get through this fat tome, we do. If we can't, we don't.  Beyond this, our French history will focus on the French Revolution using The Scarlet Pimpernel as our springboard.

Religion is filled with Advent reading and activities that are sprinkled throughout my blog in previous Advents.  I may comment more on this later, but must tend to a crying baby right now. 

 

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Since my kids are studying Botany and today's weather is outrageously calm and sunny, but not too hot, I made up a scavenger hunt that the readers could all participate in to find nature right in our yard.  Two of our three readers teamed up with fledgling readers and they were off! Some things I listed, the kids really have to think about.  For example, dragon's head sedum, geranium, and astilbe.  Other things are fairly simple, such as leaves, maple leaves, birch bark, and moss.  I planted some Scotch moss down our rock stairs, so that was very easy to find.  And some were nearly impossible to find, such as a frog/toad and a caterpillar (in our area or at this time of year, anyway).

In our family, if anyone is a winner, everyone is a winner.  I believe we'll be having ice cream bars tonight.

Summer School at Our House

This summer, we're focusing on grammar, vocabulary, and math.  Botany is our science course.  And history?  Whatever the kids pick up to read, we'll plot on the timeline.

I think I've hit upon some fun coursework for the kids.  Changing things up a bit keeps it fresh, even though they're the same old subjects the kdis studied during the school year.  Here are some of the resources we're using to keep Compass Kid and Zookeeper fresh for next year's challenges:

The Language Mechanic for grammar

Word Roots for vocabulary

and Math Detective for math. I chose the CD version of this to allow for math to be more "fun" for this particular child.  It's a game and he has to make it through several levels to acheive the end.

Exploring Creation with Botany is our choice for core science text.  Additional titles include:  Trowel and Error, Botany in a Day, Kids Herb Book, Shanleya's Quest, Golden Garden Guide, and One Small Square Backyard.  

The Lazarus Experiment that Didn't Work

Poor Zookeeper.  He never seems to successfully execute a science project.  First it was the carrot top that never sprouted.  There was a physics marble run made out of recycled materials that never ... materialized.  Then it was the less popular bird food that he chose.

Compass Kid had just performed the same experiment with great success.  He drowned an ant and then resuscitated it by sprinkling salt over it.  Happily, he transported it back to the driveway, saying, "I resurrected him!"  When Zookeeper tried the experiment, the darned ant never revived.  "Come back to life!" he shouted at the ant.  When he realized that the dear, deceased ant was truly done for, he told the others who were watching this experiment unfold, "I need to be alone with this ant.  I need to be alone with him to explain to him why he had to die."  He sounded so forlorn.

It's Mule Deer Season!

On today's hike, we spotted several mule deer meandering through our nature reserve.  I noted the difference between the dainty, but actually taller, white tailed deer I grew up viewing. 

  

Mule deer have a curious, bouncing gait when they are running away from you.  It's as if there are tightly wound springs under all four feet.  The feet all move in tandem as the deer bound away.  White-tails have a fluid, forward motion and, if I'm remembering correctly, their legs move two-by-two.  The front two legs curl under as the back two push off of the earth.  The legs mule deer bound on are thicker than those of white-tails.  Mule deer's ears are bigger and heavier looking. I guess that's why they refer to them as 'mule' deer, huh?  They're altogether darker, stockier, and, well, less pretty than white-tails.  

But that's not to say that they're any less majestic to see.  Especially that eight-point buck protecting his harem.  Etu hummed her way through our hike and they didn't seem to fear her.  For the most part, the rest of us moved in hushed awe.  They stood like statues aiming their radar ears in our direction if anything alerted them of potential danger ~ for example, when Princess exclaimed, "Oh look! There's another one!"
 

Olga's Continuing Saga

When I was a child, I wished fervently to be a veterinarian.  I knew how long school would take and was committed to going to school as long as I needed to reach my goal.  I wasn't prepared for what I deemed inhumane practices on puppies for the sake of vain owners.  Docking tails and yanking out dew claws of pitifully squealing puppies was not my idea of what veterinary science was all about.  Oh, and did I mention the fainting part?  I didn't?  The cracking of the bones in the tails and the squealing finally got to me.  I hit my head HARD on that concrete floor.

Let's fast-forward to the recent past.  You may be tired of hearing stories about our guinea pig, Olga.  She was recently sick with what we took as a respiratory infection and lost five ounces.  We went on vacation, entrusting friends to give her medicine.  I didn't realize at the time that she still wasn't eating heartily.  When we came home, she was thinner than ever.  All bones and fur. 

Currently, I'm recalling my calling to be a veterinarian as I syringe feed her mashed pumpkin and a little baby food dates.  She can eat tiny, tiny bits of cut up broccoli (a favorite), cauliflower, and carrot from a bag of steamed vegetables.  This takes a ton of effort on her part.  I also thawed frozen peas and peeled the rind off of a slice of cucumber, more favorites.  My intention is to feed her favorites until she turns into the buttery sleekness that her cage-mate, Tessie, is.

I'm hoping to pass on my love for the more redeeming aspects of medicinal science (no plastic surgery here!) to my kids.  We're not only learning veterinary science while we care for Olga, but compassion and patience.  Math is a side benefit, as we weigh Tessie in one hand and Olga in the other.  At this point, the scale is completely unbalanced.  It is our hope that the scale balances more evenly with a lot of tender care.

DRAMA under our DECK

The way creation interacts mystifies me.  It was a gorgeous day outside, so I let our rabbit, Carrots, lippity lippity (to use Beatrix Potter's words) around our deck in the back yard. He found his way indoors so that I had to close the screen door.  He found his way down the stairs and UNDER our deck.  That's when the drama started.  You see, we also have two cats.  And two dogs.

The dog that would've really caused trouble for Carrots was thankfully tied to a tree where, most of the time, she's quite content.  The other dog, our 10-year-old German Shepherd, was so intent on playing with his ball that the rabbit was an irritating distraction.  He barely knew that Carrots existed, rather like the rabbit was a mosquito that's buzzing close, but hasn't landed yet.

Now for the cats, on the other hand, Carrots was an object of great excitement and interest.  They stalked him, from a distance.  The small cat, Oreo, keenly watched pivoting on his hindquarters in a 180 degree arc from the safety of bushes.  Shasta, our big cat (only slightly larger than Carrots), pounced on Carrots once.  It was a soft, clawless attack.  The rabbit was unaffected.  Carrots didn't even budge.  I think this might have baffled Shasta.  On the other hand, the pounce appeared to be a soft, clawless attack.  Why would Shasta do that?  Did he know (not using his instinct, here) that I would've been upset had he hurt Carrots?  Was this just a practice pounce and would the real one come later?  Was he wondering what this creature was?  This was also the cat that, when he was more kittenish, jumped into Carrots' hutch and sat in a corner while Carrots intermittently attacked him (being a territorial creature) and hid. I had to take Shasta out so he wouldn't get hurt. 

In nature, the dogs or cats would have made short work even of a rabbit that attacked back.  Domesticating them has taught them manners, attention to something other than where their next meal might be, and perhaps more caution.  If nature mimics the nerved-wracked rabbits of Watership Down, our rabbit does not mimic nature.  He is unafraid of anything.  He hops, not at great speed, crunching on dry leaves, pulling up new grass and nibbling pine needles, discovering the unfrozen earth.  Though his ears lift when he hears suspicious noises close by, he continues to graze and lazily hop from one leaf or patch of grass to another.  He seems to delight in foiling his enemies (me, mostly) by skittering in this direction and then that when I am ready to put him back in his hutch.  He only hops fast enough so that I can't catch him.  He seems to be a great believer in conserving energy ... his own energy, that is.  The cats are barely noticed.  The dogs, while much bigger than the cats, seem to pose just as minute a threat as the cats.  Maybe we misnamed this rabbit.  Maybe we should've called him Fearless.

Still Homesick

Is this crazy or what?  I'm a tried and true red-blooded American.  So why am I homesick for England?  Well, there are several reasons.  First, it was incredibly family-friendly.  Let's just do a quick scan of some of the fun things we did that I miss.

• Warwick Castle includes authentic period indoor tours, outdoor trebuchet demonstrations, archery shows, birds of prey, jousting, iceskating.  Full of history.  Tons of fun.
• Leeds Castle we had so much fun outdoors that we never made it inside!  This castle has gorgeous grounds with two mazes and gardens galore.
• Ickworth House has an outdoors almost as fun as Leeds.  We walked a long path that led to a little chapel in a sheep field.  They also had a shaded place for kids to play close to a picnic area.
• Oxford Museum of Natural History was so much fun and free to boot!
• Pitt Rivers Museum was another museum we visited in Oxford.
• Walsingham has Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Shrine and the Slipper Chapel.

When we moved back ot the U.S., we thought that we were moving to a child-friendly, family-friendly state.  Not true.  *Family* activities for which you can buy a membership here include three people.  If you have any more than one child, you pay ... MASSIVELY.

While driving in England can tax your brain and your patience, gardening does not.  I so love that.  Basically, you buy some seeds and plant them.  The earth is rich.  Rain waters seeds steadily.  And you have a lush garden before you know it.  Yes, weeds can take over if  you're not careful.  They'll take over no matter where you live.

I would so like to be relocated to England again, even if it means letting go of half of what we own.   We missed Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and ever so many little things. We never managed to navigate through Cambridge. We never ice skated at Warwick.  We barely missed the Jane Austen Centre in Bath.  Oh, and to think that I had a chance to see Mr. Darcy's house from Pride and Prejudice and missed it!  Three years was not enough.

Sowbug Killer

We finally identified a sowbug killer after having seen it over a month ago.  I can't manage to get a picture of it, but it's got a red head and legs and a white body.  They are harmless, thank goodness, because one attacked my son's army man.  Maybe it thought the army man was a sowbug?

We used What's That Bug? website to help in our search, since this spider was *not* found in any of our field guides.