Morning Reading

We usually start our homeschool day with a quick breakfast, then we do a host of chores, then we dig in to schoolwork.

But the girls have started asking for permission to delay the start of their chores in order to have some quiet reading time after they wake up. 

And I'm tentatively letting this happen. 

I get up much earlier than they do, because I need less sleep.

So by the time they rise, I have already had my quiet reading time and usually more than one cup of coffee. 

But as the girls get older, I find they not only need more sleep, but they also seem to need more of what my husband and I need in the morning- some quiet time. 

So this is my way of honoring their humanity.

I tend to be very strict about our schedule and this serves us really well, because we get a bunch of rigorous, rich schoolwork done yet still have enough leisure time enough to converse about it and really enjoy ourselves. 

We even have time to follow rabbit trails. 

After a few days of this new accommodation, I find that we're still getting all the same work done, though the girls are often working a little later into the afternoon.

Striking a balance between work and rest is a pretty constant art for any homeschool mom. 

Apple Pandowdy

 I tried a new-to-me recipe for Apple Pandowdy using some of the apples we just picked. It was incredibly simple, since I was able to just put the apples directly into the skillet, no bottom crust needed.  The filling also used molasses, which was new to me. I liked the flavor so much, I think recipes with molasses will be my new preference for apple pie filling. Here's a link to the recipe online. 

Early October Wedding

My husband's best friend's daughter got married to her sweetheart early in October. 

 

We were grateful to be able to take our daughters and travel to Maryland the day before and settle into a VRBO, a sprawling farmhouse with abundant antiques, artwork, and quilts. The house even had horses that came right up to the back fence. We fed the horses apples every morning we were there. 

The wedding ceremony and reception were beautiful. It was a joy to be with many old friends and celebrate the covenant of Christian marriage and God's faithfulness to all the generations of our families. 

I saw so impressed with our friends' churches. They rallied around the family and helped put on the ceremony and reception, providing all the volunteer labor, thus allowing the family to focus on the event and the young couple to get started in life without so much of a financial burden. 

This made me think of the verse, "They will know we are Christians if we have love one for another."  If I were not already a Christian, I would want what these people have.  

Their churches are filled to bursting with all generations, young people, college students, couples with rows of children, pregnant women, and the aged, all speaking and laughing in community. What a testimony to their churches' obvious emphasis on honoring and supporting the family from start to finish. 

This was one of the first wedding's where my husband and I were solidly in the grown-up generation. Our kids were among the young people literally filling the dance floor, but it was a joy to just watch them celebrate, though we did go out and dance for one song. 

We sang a hymn of blessing over the couple before they headed to their honeymoon. As the minister said in the service, "Marriage is the foundation of society. It allows for the nurture of the young and the care of the old." My husband and I said "Amen" under our breaths and held hands at that moment. We are living that reality everyday, pouring ourselves into raising our daughters, and supporting our aging parents. We have abundant joy choosing to put an emphasis on those family relationships, since they matter so much to God. We are joyful and content to use our adulthood to support the generations that surround us. We say with God, marriage is not just good, it is very good! 

 

Beekeeping Continued

My middle daughter helps me keep our bees. 

Out of the three daughters I have, I am not sure how she ended up bee-ing the one to help. (See what I did there?) 

At first, I guess she was the helper because she was old enough to do the necessary physical tasks involved safely, and the extra suit wasn't too big or too small for her, and she also showed the most interest in helping. 

Now that she's been the helper for a while, she has the most experience and out of respect for all her effort, I have given her some ownership over the task, so she is now my official helper. 

We attend the bee club meetings together and it's nice to do something together "just us." 

She really pays attention and proves to a big help me when it is time to remember what was said and how things are supposed to be done.  

We did a hive check the other day. 

We pulled out an empty frame of wax to make room for a feeder. 

We processed that wax, saving it with other beeswax in a large zip lock until we have enough to make candles again. 

We started feeding the bees a 2/1 sugar syrup to help them gain stores for the winter. 

As it is, the bees appear healthy and numerous and have a lot of capped honey. 

But I am still a new-bee and it is often nerve wracking to think that my hive might have problems I can't perceive because of my lack of experience. 

But I remind myself that you can't learn without trying, so I keep on beekeeping. 

 

Apple Pie in a Jar Jam

With more of the apples we picked, I tried making "Mom's Apple Pie in A Jar" Jam. 

I got the recipe from one of my canning books. 

It is a combination of apples, dried cranberries, lemon, sugar, and pectin, of course. 

It tastes like apply butter, which happens to be one of my favorite flavors. 

I canned seven half-pint jars to use this winter or give us gifts.  

I filled a pint to go straight in the fridge for us to open and eat right away. 

An interesting note:

I took my middle daughter through the process of putting the lid on the canner, taking the lid off safely, putting it back on, taking it back off again safely, etc. 

I also gave her the instructions for the water bath timing and showed her how to take the jars out correctly. 

So she was able to finish the processing for me!

Note: I like to give my kids real and meaningful things to do to build their experience and confidence. 

My daughter was rightly very proud of herself.

And I was very happy with the results.   

After only a few bites, this is now my favorite jam. 

Let Them Make Pie!

We picked apples. 

The girls wanted pies.

But I didn't feel like baking any pies just then. 

So I told them they could make their own pies. 

It was a risk, but they are getting older and proving themselves capable in other ways, so I figured they could basically pull it off.

They wholeheartedly agreed. 

Pies are good motivation. 

I put the oldest in charge of finding a recipe and making sure the whole event wasn't a disaster. 

The apples in the first pie were a bit uncooked. 

They forgot to put butter in the second pie's crumb topping. 

But other than that, all the dishes and pots made it to the sink and they made two delicious apple pies together on their own without me. 

Honestly, I find it teaches kids humility to let them do things (and even mess up things.) 

They gain perspective and experience that tempers them.

I also find that letting kids do things teaches them a healthy pride, since they were able to do something real that really matters to themselves and others in their family. 

We enjoyed their pies for days.

Let them make pie! 

Fall Chores and The Firepit

 

Every fall, we get a load of wood delivered. 

That way, we have plenty of wood to burn in our fireplace all winter. 

The girls have to help their dad stack it all. 

We make them do this work, even though it's hard, because it's so good for their bodies to get that exercise. 

It's also practically too much work for the grown ups to do alone in the time that we have to get it done, so we actually need their help.

And the girls have able bodies, so it is right they they use them and it would be wrong for them to sit around while others do all the family labors for them.   

Note: The girls used to complain about this kind of work, but I haven't heard that much complaining in the past few years. 

Interestingly, I think it's because we have seriously limited their screen use and they are spending more time outside in general. 

They seem able to appreciate all the subtle stimuli the natural world has to offer them now, now that they aren't so addicted to screens. 

It might be a good litmus test for parents to take your kids outside to play or ask them to do something totally reasonable like help with yard work. If they complain and keep complaining, if they have no endurance, if they can't see anything or appreciate anything beautiful or interesting outside, they are probably spending too much passive time inside in an artificial environment on screens.  

Now our girls just accept that fall chores are part of what is required and part of what's right for them to do since our family needs and uses the wood all winter. 

They even seem to enjoy the work now. 

I think it's enjoyable for several reasons:

We are all outside together and it's beautiful outside.  

The cool air and warm sunshine feel lovely. 

The living woods and the dry wood they are stacking smell lovely. 

There's always something diverting to see in or about the yard- mushrooms, turkeys, bees, jays, etc. 

And the physical work is wholly engaging. 

Several odd pieces of the wood are often too small to stack, so these go into a big pile to be burned. 

As the weather continues to turn, leaves, sticks, and even entire branches have started to fall off the tress and into the yard. 

So while we are all outside stacking wood, there's also an abundance of woody debris to clean up and pick up, too.

Graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars have been moved to the end caps at the local grocery stores, so we usually have those on hand already. 

The hard work finally gets done, the sun starts to set, it starts to chill, everyone is really ready to sit down. 

So naturally, it's time to light up the fire pit. 

I usually make a chili or something else that's hearty. 

This year I made hopin' johns. 

We eat in front of the fire or eat inside and then go sit in front of the fire. 

And once the fire has burned down to hot coals, we make s'mores...

and then some more s'mores. 

This year the girls also roasted an apple to share since that's what Peter, Edmund, Susan, Lucy, and Trumpkin did in Prince Caspian, our most recent read-loud. 

Fall chores and a big burn in the fire pit is another way we find ourselves moving with the seasons, sharing the workload, living in and appreciating God's natural world, and making memories together. 

For Nature Study, Simply Pick What's in Season

We usually pick whatever crop is in season and then try to make or bake something with it. 

Strawberries, blueberries, peaches, apples... 

It's one way of doing nature study on a regular basis. 

You don't really have to plan anything.  

You just look outside and follow the seasons.

Then you can take advantage of the abundance that nature provides at the time it is given.

Right now, it's time for apple picking, naturally, because the apples are ripe!

The orchard where we've been going to has an adorable store with an assortment of jams. 

We usually purchase several jars in addition to the fresh apples we pick.

Then the girls can enjoy jams with their breakfasts through the winter. 

The rule is that they have to finish one jar before opening the next. 

They work together to make it happen. 

It's all about teamwork. 

These jams along with all the jams I make myself means we usually have enough to open a new jar approx. every week until spring. 

Then it isn't long until the strawberries begin to ripen again and then we will start the whole process over again. 

The Lost Tools of Writing Helps in Other Subjects

My Challenge A student and I sorted her ANI, chose her thesis, and arranged her proofs into an outline with main proofs and sub proofs for the very first time on Wednesday. 

On Thursday, that same Challenge A student used her new skills to arrange her science research into an outline with three main sections. Then she quickly, easily put all the information she had gathered into one of the three sections, wherever it fit.

I knew from my previous experience with The Lost Tools that the skills students learn in that program can help in every other subject. 

Students learn to ask questions about a topic, think thoroughly and critically, consider authorities, etc. 

They learn to arrange their thoughts in a logical format that can bring their readers along.

I could go on and on about the ways the skills they learn in The Lost Tools transfer to other areas of learning and life.  

But I was still amazed to see the skills transfer so quickly!

I glanced down at her outline and saw how the arrangement skills my daughter learned in her Lost Tools lesson on Wednesday afternoon translated to her science research paper on Thursday morning!

 

Unplanned Enrichment

I'm directing Challenge 4 this year, so as I was working in the kitchen one afternoon, folding laundry, doing dishes, etc., I was also listening to Wes Callihan introduce The Iliad on CC Connected.

The girls were working on their schoolwork in the living room. 

The youngest (Foundations and Essentials) was working on a math lesson from her math book. 

The middle (Challenge A) was making an outline from her science research notes. 

Apparently, the two of them could hear enough of what Mr. Callihan was saying to get really interested. 

So they quietly moved their stuff into the kitchen to position themselves to hear better as they worked. 

In this way, I often find that what I am doing to prepare for directing Challenge 4 or whatever I am doing simply out of my own interests to learn something can enrich my daughters' homeschool days (and their lives) in ways that are totally unplanned, but very natural. 

My lectures on The Iliad, podcasts about Shakespeare, Classic novels or poems on audio, sermons about the Bible, etc. all tend to become a part of the background in our homeschool and the content often enriches our lives in amazing ways I could never plan.