Poetry Post and Read-Alouds

There's an interesting new post on the ChildLight USA blog about composing poetry and having children write narrations (exams, actually) in poetic form. The author, Bonnie Buckingham, includes two examples of the poems produced by students in grades 11 and 12.

I've been reading a lot from Jim Trelease's book "The Read-Aloud Handbook", and I'm so encouraged to keep on keeping on with lots of reading, lots of reading aloud, lots of literature time, lots of poetry. These can be dark days of discouragement as we enter into the full impact of the new school year, the changing season, the burden of all our responsibilities coming to bloom. Reading something that is affirming what we do in a CM education, that validates so much of what we believe and know to be true about how children learn has been vital to me as I flounder around with "What am I doing" and "Why am I doing it" kind of questions. (Also vital has been interacting with other home educators and being honest about how overwhelmed and inadequate we are feeling right now - if that describes you, know that you are not alone!)

"The Read-Aloud Handbook" is in our WHHE library and is worth the time it takes to read. Part One builds the case for reading aloud to children, even very big children, providing the theory and research in a really readable form - very engaging, very thought-provoking, very well-written. Part Two is a "Treasury of Read-Alouds" covering Wordless Books (yes, for reading aloud!), Picture Books, Predictable Books, Reference Books, Short and Full-Length Novels, Poetry, Anthologies, and Fairy and Folk Tales. He includes several themed short lists as well, such as "Jim's Favorite Kindergarten Novels," "Out-of-Print Novels Too Good to Miss," and "Jim's Favorite Dog Stories." This book is a treasure.

It's a Boy!

Our third monarch emerged this week. This one is a male. You can see in this first photo that there's a distinct spot along one of the marking lines on his open wings; that is the scent gland that is specific to males.

In the second photo, where his wings are folded and you see the underside, the spot isn't visible. Because of that, we thought we had another female for the first couple of hours after he emerged, as none of us saw him with his wings spread. It wasn't until I tagged him that I saw the scent spot. And it's a good thing I did take a closer look, otherwise he would have been labelled female on our tracking form, and who knows what that might have done to him!

This robust little fellow took to flight within minutes of being taken out of the rearing cage and tagged. I was about to transfer him to Brown Eyed Boy's fingers when he took to wing and soared into a nearby maple, at which point we lost sight of him. He must know that time is getting short to make the journey south to Mexico.

Careful fingers held crisp morsels, dipped them in richness. These treats, now gently placed to harden, have been prepared for the Day of Thanks.

Life-Cycle

Since the dry-brush session at the WHHE meeting, The Ones I Love have been keen to add entries in the Nature Journals. Here's a quick sample:

Monarch life-cycle by My Girl (12). She identified
each stage with a number and then wrote about the stages on the lined page
beside the mounted dry-brush work.

Monarch life-cycle by Little Man (6). He took My
Girl's advice and used numbers as well, then dictated his narration about the
life-cycle while I acted as scribe.

Monarch chrysalis hanging from a Tropical Milkweed leaf, by My Girl, a few hours
before the butterfly emerged. It had changed from jade green to transparent with
the black and orange markings completely visible. In this painting My Girl is
trying to use some of the shading tips that S gave at the WHHE meeting.

Little Man's chrysalis.

Observant Eyes

Last week we went for a long overdue walk by the river. The usual nature observations were made: mallards, male and female; mute swans and cygnets; black swans; seagulls and Canada Geese. But as we had our eyes ahead and downward, My Girl's eyes were turned upward, and her gaze was directed to two groupings of cormorants, one with two birds, the other with three, perched in the nearly leafless branches. As we watched them, trying to determine whether they were cormorants or not, a couple walked by and looked as well (how does one resist looking into the sky when there's a family standing there with their eyes upturned, after all?), and then a woman walking alone paused and confirmed that they were indeed the cormorants we thought they were.

About three years ago I saw a bird on the water and was confused - it looked like a cormorant, I even drew it in my nature journal and checked it out in the field guide - but it didn't seem to belong here. I had seen cormorants on the lakes, perched out on the breakwaters, but I had never seen them inland along a river before. Well, now I know. My eyes were not playing tricks on me, but the cormorants really do come to our river!


It is interesting to me how many things My Girl sees that I miss. Sure it happens the other way sometimes, too, but it warms me to know that her eyes are open, that she is looking, watching, and that she recognizes the unusual around us. A blessing indeed.

God Gives Nothing But Gifts

176. Spirit-filled meetings which reveal You to people.

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177. Boundaries, set for a child, accepted.

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178. Conversation shared across distance.

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179. "Primitive paintings" by eager students.

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180. Times of holiness. Holy times.

Click here to view my One Thousand Gifts list.

Parable Memory

Since we have been working on this passage for a little while, I decided to write it out and see how much I already know. I typed it as best I could remember it, and then I went through and made corrections. The things I did wrong I have (bracketed in tiny red), and the correct version is beside it in red. I hope that's clear enough to you as you look it over, but even if it's not, I know what I was doing, and it's clear to me!

For the (The) kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the
morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius
for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

About the third hour he went out and (found) saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He (said to) told them, "You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right." So they went.

He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. (At) About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, "Why have you been standing here in the marketplace all day doing
nothing?" (he asked them.)

(They said to him,) "Because no one has hired us," they answered.
He said to them, "You also go and work in my vineyard." (he told them.)

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, "Call the
workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going
on to the first."

(When those who had been) The workers who were hired at the eleventh hour came (, they) and each received a denarius. So when (the men came who had been) those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But (they) each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. "These men who were hired last worked only one hour," they said, "(but) and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day."

(The owner) But he answered one of them, "Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the (one) man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what(ever) I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?"

So the last (shall) will be first, and the first (shall) will be last.

Matthew 20:1-16 (NIV)

So I can see that I have the flow of the story pretty well down, but there are little style and language differences that I need to pay more attention to. Now I know what to focus on over the next week. I'll see how I do next Monday.