Chicken Hatch Field Trip - Part I

Yesterday, we excitedly headed over to a beautiful farm on several acres, owned by a momma in one of our homeschooling groups to learn a bit about chicken hatching. What a perfect outing for spring!

I brought my small camera, only to discover that the girls had used up the battery on one of their many picture taking sessions that they love to do with their toys...so forgive these horrid quality cell phone pictures ;P

We met one of our friends there and headed in together...


This is a shot of the goat pen when you first come up the drive.

This is their home, next to which was an amazing playhouse with a deck (the photo didn't turn out well)...

And, of course, the "Field of Dreams"...it was so refreshing to see some little boys playing baseball in this huge lot. I couldn't help, but think of the movie, "The Natural" with Robert Redford - one of the greatest films of all time about America's favorite past time :D

A shot of part of the chicken coop...

We were blessed to see two male baby goats who had just been born this past Saturday (4 days old). I had never seen such tiny kids - they were so cute and frisky. We even got to see one latch on and try to nurse, though Mom would have none of it...I couldn't get a good picture with the delay on my cell phone, but wanted to put this shot in so you can see just how tiny these babies are!

We were divided into 5 groups since it was such a big turnout. This was our group getting the tour (playhouse in the background)...

After we learned a bit about the large variety of chickens that live here (including how they lay "Easter eggs", which have greens and pinks and sometimes speckles in their coloring), we heard a bit about the goats and will get to pet and play with them when we return in a couple of weeks. We then viewed more of the grounds and went into the chicken coop to hold some of the younger chickens...oh, the girls were in Heaven!

Then we went into the barn to learn about egg hatching. The children gathered around while they demonstrated the candling technique where a special light is held against the eggs to determine fertilization. Parts of the developing chicks (including the placenta) were identified and you could see those little cuties moving around inside the eggs!

We also observed two eggs - one fertilized and one not. When an egg is fertilized initially you can tell by the "bulls eye" that forms in the center. The egg on the right was fertilized. The yolks are different colors due to what the chickens ate.

The girls got to hold newly hatched chicks that were in a warmer...Both chicks fell right to sleep in the girls cosy arms (Charley insisted on wearing her favorite blue gloves the whole field trip). It wasn't that cold out - lol!

Then we had to go back to the chicken coop so the girls could hold more juvies. This pretty momma was keeping watch over some little ones...

We are excited to go back in a couple of weeks to watch some eggs actually hatch. By then the baby goats will be old enough for some lovin' by the kids and the kittens that were recently born in the barn will be ready for handling, as well! It was a lovely, long day with lots of play, fresh air, and now a seed planted within all of us of the joys of life on a farm (I might not actually have to move to Italy to get my mini-farm after all - lol!)

Maths Block II: Quantity of Numbers & Introduction to the Four Processes: Gnome Share (Divide)

"Divide is a kind old gnome.

With each one he will share.

The jewels which he gathers

He divides with greatest care."

~ from E. Fairman's Path of Discovery books

This morning, I set up the first section of the Land of Numeria on two end tables pushed together, covered with silks and natural materials.

The girls and I began with a review of the first part of the story, which can be found in the reviews of the summary posted here. I was very pleased to discover that they remembered the most important aspects of the story. Afterwards, I had each of them match the Arabic to the Roman Numerals again.

I then had them close their eyes while I led them to the scene and tried to capture their awe/smiles when they opened their eyes to see The Land of Numeria :D

We continued the story with the Old Crone leaving the children in the care of the Ancient Wolf who would keep them safe on their journey through the Land of Numeria to find their way home. We have now named the children Lucy and Phineas.

The Crone told the children that in this land, they would meet many others along their way, but that they must find four magical little beings that would teach them about numbers and how to use them before they could find their way home. The wolf would be their guide and protector. She told them a clue to start them off in the right direction and that was to find "Finger Rock" and follow the direction of the point...She and the bunny disappeared.

The girls searched the table until they found "Finger Rock"...

The children and the wolf went in the direction of the point and reached a rushing stream. They found a way to cross over a fallen log. The Ancient Wolf went first, to make sure it was safe for the children.

Lucy followed next.

Then it was Phineas' turn. The log was slippery and he fell into the stream!

Luckily, the Ancient Wolf was quick and dived in to save him. The wolf grabbed Phineas by the shirt collar and pulled him to safety.

It was very high and windy near this mountain and the sun was just about to set. Phineas was chilly and wet. The Ancient Wolf spotted a creature of the air element, the wise old owl.

The owl advised the wolf and the children how to safely start a fire so that Phineas would not be too cold in the evening.

Soon the fire was roaring. Phineas and the Ancient Wolf were dry, but the smoke from the fire was drifting into a nearby cave hidden in the deep green mountain. A moment later, a little red gnome appeared...

He introduced himself politely, telling the children his name was "Gnome Share". He welcomed the children and the Ancient Wolf, whom he seemed to recognize. He was a kind, friendly old gnome who explained to the children that he was busy working deep underground to find beautiful gems and stones that he divides up evenly among all the others. He loves to share! He pulled out a bag of crystal gems from the cave.

He told the children he had found a total of 72 gems that day and wanted to divide them up equally between the three of them. (One of the Waldorf goals of Grade 1 is to have the children practice the Four Processes using the numbers 0 - 24)...

So we dumped the bag on the ground and counted to make sure there were indeed 72 gems.

And then we divided them into three piles...

And counted to see that we each had 24 gems!

Gnome Share then gifted each of the children a lovely wooden box to carry their gems in as they will certainly be needing them along the way.

Then he invited them to warm by the fire and share in a feast of fruit and vegetables from the earth, while he told them some special stories. The stories would be about the numbers they learned in their previous lessons with the Old Crone.

Gnome Share brought out beautiful red fruits and vegetables - red strawberries, raspberries, apples, tomatoes, and peppers on a red plate.

The girls divided them up among the three of us...

And we ate our lunch!

Tomorrow, Gnome Share will be sharing a Grimm's Story for the Number 1 as we sit by the fire and he will teach the girls the symbol for Divide, as well as practice more sharing :D

This is the beginning of a Four Week Block on Number Quantities and the Four Processes. We will do one process per week and the gnomes will tell the children a Grimm's story for each number up to 12. I am also bringing the Four Elements in again with each gnome representing one loosely - tried to base it on colors. Gnome Share (red) is tied into the air element, being high up near the wind and the owls. I will post more this week as we continue learning about Division :D And I must give lots of credit to the fabulous Marsha Johnson for the inspiration to create and tweak what she offers for free in her files section on The Land of Numeria to make it our own special story! Hope you find it as enchanting as we have!

Beautiful Blogger Award

Thanks so much to the lovely Momma Nocton4 at http://abigsmile4.blogspot.com/ for passing this special award to me! I love the name of it. Every momma should be made to feel beautiful inside and out and this award gave me the warm fuzzies I needed when my baby was so ill last week. Thanks Nocton4!!!! (((HUGS)))

The award should be passed on to up to 15 newly discovered bloggers you find inspiring and you have to list seven things about yourself.

So I would love to pass this award on to (in no particular order) -

~ The lovely Meredith at http://www.waldorfreviews.com/ who, as a Waldorf teacher tapping into the Waldorf homeschooling community, has embraced both to build an invaluable blog where resources can be shared to the benefit of all our beautiful little *students*, no matter where they receive their education! Her open arms have been so appreciated by those of us who are homeschooling without a credentialed waldorf background as there is much mystery that seems to surround it and not all are willing to share. She truly encompasses the heart of Waldorf!

~ The poetic and amazingly artistic Marie at
http://softearthart.blogspot.com/ who creates the most beautiful wool tapestries and needle felted characters which are infused with her spirit and love. She completely blows me away and I always leave her site feeling inspired ~ as if I have just filled my imagination after visiting her magical world, and can face whatever is in store. :D

~ The earthy natural momma, Melissa, over at her blog
http://notesonanaria.blogspot.com/ who is in the beginning stages of her journey with her beautiful baby girl as they explore life and love together. She is already doing amazing things with her baby girl in a natural, holistic way!

~ The experienced momma, Cypress, over at http://bobbinsandbrambles.blogspot.com/. This momma has four children spread out in age who juggles it all amazingly well. She posts wonderful book reviews and I love to see the shots of her parent's farm with all those adorable spring babies...

~ The wonderful reminders of Raelee over at her blog http://www.noblemother.com/page/1/ are so needed in this hectic world. Raelee has a wonderful series about calming our lives down. She has an amazing bio and is a wonderful writer with a lot to share. I am so happy I recently found her blog!

~ The gorgeous, smart, and creative Dr. Aurore at http://beyondnaturalcureshomeschool.blogspot.com/ gives an amazingly holistic and fresh look into her loving home. She has three beautiful children, is an established author, naturopath, and has written a chapter found in Melisa Nielsen's A Little Garden Flower Curriculum (Grade 2) - her children and crafts are also pictured in the Grade 1 book. She also penned the music program (AMHC) that we use in our house that I blogged about here. She is a beautiful painter and artist and I have so enjoyed glimpsing her blog (which I heard of thanks to Jenn at Our Little Nature Nest - another favorite listed below)...

And I have five more I'd like to mention - though I have to say that in all honestly, I have been following them for a while now - certainly not "newly discovered" to me, but they are five of my very favorites blogs from wonderful homeschooling moms that have enhanced my homeschool in one way or another! Most of you will probably already be familiar with them, but if not, they are not to be missed!

~ My dear friend, Donna Ashton, over at School for All Seasons homeschools her beautiful 7 yr old twin daughters in waldorf inspired education. She and I met through the Earthschooling group and bonded over the fact that we both have twin girls the same age. We started discussing our lesson plans and the rest is history. Donna also runs both The Waldorf Connection and now the brand new The Mindful Connection which offers FREE lectures/workshops brought to your computer or phone. All of Donna's efforts to bring knowledge to those of us who live remotely or can not afford the high price of conferences and seminars can not be underestimated. She is a lovely, genuine person and I'm so happy to be able to call her a friend.

~ The amazingly gifted Tan family at Syrendell has to be noted, as well. Jennifer has become another dear friend to me and has one of the kindest hearts I've ever known. The whole family is amazingly talented which makes them absolutely fascinating. Rick, her husband, is a waldorf teacher and artist and his awesome blog is called The Waldorf Way. They offer glimpses into their family life and share amazing resources, tutorials and make beautiful things for their etsy shop, Syrendell. Most of our silks have been hand-dyed by the Tan family.

~ The knitting queen, Linda, over at Natural Suburbia who makes the most wonderful knitted animals ever. Her blog is full of beauty, with tutorials galore, animals and nature through and through, and her homeschooling is absolutely amazing. I've been blown away by several of her projects on Roman history, among others. She makes me excited to get to the later grades!

~ The nature loving Lynn over at her blog, Raising Little Shoots, who does a wonderful job sharing her circle time almost every month (hint...hint...Lynn) :D Lynn just opened her new etsy shop called, The Princess Rooms, so she has been busy with her creations. I love the simplicity and calm that Lynn brings to homeschooling her two lovely daughters.

~ And last, but absolutely not least, is my very favorite blog of all, from Jenn over at Our Little Nature Nest. Jenn's blog will completely blow you away. She takes such time and attention with homeschooling her beautiful daughter and then takes more time to share such amazing details with her readers. She is an amazing artist, as well, and grasps the heart of Waldorf to the nth degree. I can't imagine even the most well trained/certified waldorf teacher could bring more to her daughter than Jenn does. Having her lead and resources will make our future journey so much easier and I so appreciate the inspiration and time she takes to keep up with her blog. She does just about everything from scratch - no doll kits for this momma! She jumps right in and inspires like no other!

Yeegads this is long...SORRY!

Now I'm supposed to list 7 things about me...

1) My sister introduced me to Waldorf and I had some big time chuckles about it when I first read about what goes on in a typical day at a Waldorf school - now I'm hooked :D
2) Music is what brought my soulmate and me together in college.
3) I didn't plan on homeschooling my girls - it just kind of happened as a result of our Attachment Parenting bond.
4) I am an animal lover who has allergies to many animals which prevents me from having the household of my dreams (I'd take in any stray and be overrun with beautiful, needy animals otherwise)...as it is, we just have one dog and four pet ratties...
5) I give myself weekly allergy injections and will do so for many more years due to allergies that affect my ears...
6) I majored in applied theatre in college (directing, playwriting, dramaturgy)
7) I am a huge fan of Mark Twain and am in love with the words of Shelley and Byron, with the heart of George Sand and what she did for women, and (sigh) Morrissey, who just deserves his own category...

If you made it to the end of this post, I commend and thank you :D

Friday Book Review: The Last little Cat

This is the story of "The Last little Cat" by Newbery Award winner Meindert DeJong, who won for "The Wheel on the School" in 1955. DeJong has an interesting biography found here.

A list of the Newbery Awards can be found here.

This book was originally published in 1961 and the slow pace and simplicity of the times shines brightly throughout, making it a wonderfully refreshing read. It was then out of print for many years, but has been brought back thanks to Whole Spirit Press, who specializes "in renewing out-of-print books that help the reader learn from the inside out...Our primary markets are private and home schools around the world". I highly recommend taking a lookey-loo at their lovely titles.

Back to the book...I originally purchased this book for my animal loving girls, who are so fond of cats, though due to my severe allergies to them, we shall never be able to welcome one into our family... : (

I read a nice review of it on Bob & Nancy's site here and figured it would be a wonderful addition to our library. This book is so incredibly sweet and simple.

The story is about a tiny black kitten born in a dog kennel, of all places! One of seven kittens born to the cat who roams the dog kennel, the Last little Cat is so tiny that it gets neglected and accidentally falls down into the cage of an old blind dog, right onto its head. The old dog's head falls directly into the bowl of milk it had been lapping up, spilling the milk everywhere. The hungry and innocent kitten instinctively begins to lick the milk off the chin of the dog, who had lost most of his senses in his old age. The dog's strongest sense is the sense of touch and the feel of the rough little tongue on his fur, licking, loving, and needing warms the dog from the inside out, soothing the old dog to sleep. His chin comes to rest on the little cat, who, feeling warmth and a full belly for the first time in his life, the Last little Cat begins to purr under the dog's woolly chin. From that day on, they loved each other.

Until one day, in the spring, the kennel owner, who happens to own and love the old blind dog, takes his crate out of the kennel to enjoy the warm sun. The owner doesn't even see the little black cat under his furry dog's chin.

New smells and sights beckon to the little cat and he ventures out into the world, not realizing that once the sun goes down, the dog will be returned to the barn for the night, the door will be locked, and no milk will be waiting for the little cat. The night falls.

The poor cat, hungry, cold and alone - missing his surrogate momma, wanders the night, looking for a warm place and perhaps something to eat. He encounters six houses on his journey. Each house turns him away or he flees from it until at last, exhausted, lost and hungry, he reaches the last house - the seventh house - just as the sun rises. On the porch of the house is an empty bowl and a clean dog bone. The cat curls up in the spot of sun, feeling lost and alone - only 7 houses away from his beloved barn and best friend.

The cat is wakened by the sound of a man, happy to see *someone* was waiting for him. He scoops up the kitten, takes him inside and feeds him warm milk, happily exclaiming that it is actually the man's birthday! The Last little Cat came to him on his birthday! In pure delight, the man excitedly exclaims that he wants to give the cat a birthday present in return. He runs out...past six other houses to the barn and back again with a wire cage. Inside the cage is the old_blind_dog!!! The man tells the cat that now that the little cat is living in the house, the old blind dog won't be lonely in the empty house. That is why the old blind dog *lived* at the kennel with the other dogs, so he'd have some company.

When he opens the wire cage to let the dog out, to the man's surprise, the little cat walks inside and settles down lovingly into his old spot, under the dog's chin. He starts purring and the dog and cat snuggle together, reunited at last.

Finally, the Last little Cat is home...

This book is so wonderfully simple and touching. It makes a sweet read-aloud for ages 4+ and can be an early reader for a child reading around a Grade 2 or 3 level. There is a lot of repetition in this book, making it appealing to the pre or kindy age child. The book is balanced with the themes of abandonment and loneliness the cat feels with the nurturing tenderness it receives from the old blind dog and the kennel owner.

In the dedication, it simply reads,

"For Mohammed, my cat.

For Mohammed came to me."

I found it very sweet and innocent, even more so because of the dedication. And yes, it made me cry a few times...