A year of progress, 5 minutes at a time

We have been homeschooling for a little over a year now. It has been an amazing journey. One of the things I have liked the most is being able to see the steady progress the Nuthatch has made. One of the most remarkable areas of improvement has been his handwriting.

Writing has been a difficult task for him. I didn't worry too much about it, they say printing skills often take longer to develop in boys than in girls. Also, as this was his Kindergarten year, I kept my expectations low. We have just worked away at it, for 5 minutes a day. I didn't want him to do any more than that, I knew it would only make both of us frustrated.

Here are photos of his work, one picture per month. I apologize about the quality of the photos, they're a little dark.

I was having trouble convincing him to write at all.

He agrees to trace a few uppercase letters and try a couple on his own. He turns 5 years old.

He tries to write simple words several times.

I read about the technique of copywork and tried having him write from his easy readers. It was too hard for him and he was very frustrated.

I'm still stubbornly trying the copywork, despite the fact that it isn't working well. He hates writing.

I back off and we start tracing individual letters. I find the Handwriting without Tears website.

More tracing. Lots of stickers for positive reinforcement.

We start working on correct letter formation. I discovered Charlotte Mason and her focus on forming one perfect letter per day.

I learn about Charlotte Mason's idea of erasing poorly formed letters. He writes a few letters each day.

Now he is able to write a word somewhat perfectly.

He writes one word a day.

I think it's time to move on to the next step, when I figure out what that is. He will be 6 years old next month.

As I scroll through the photos I can hardly believe that the last four photos were from the same kid. I showed Nuthatch his work from a year ago. He couldn't believe that was the way he used to write. It was a great moment. Looking back, I can see not only his growth as a student, but also mine as a teacher. We have learned how to work together to find that magic spot where he is challenged but the work is not too difficult.

Getting to know a place

We live in the suburbs. For most of our 'nature' time we need to drive somewhere. There is lots to explore within walking distance of our house, but we live near a very busy road which can be a stressful experience to negotiate.

One thing I have been trying to do is to visit a few natural areas often. I have several parks on my list of places that we return to again and again. I want the kids to see how these places change through the seasons. I want them to develop a map of these areas in their minds and be able to find their way around. I want them to get to know these places well.

There is a lovely small forest not too far from our house. It is just a bit too far for the boys to walk, so we end up driving there. I had chosen this place as our 'main' area to focus on. I liked that it was near our house, and that while there is a lot of human impact, there is still quite a bit of diversity and natural growth.

We went this morning to explore our small forest. I parked in the neighbouring high school parking lot. Unfortunately, someone from the school came out to tell me that only teachers were allowed to park there, and my car would be towed.

Feeling rather frustrated and thwarted in my great 'get to know a place' plan, I loaded the kids and the stroller back into the van and we left to explore a park that we had not been to before.

It turned out to be a wonderful spot. It was quiet and it had a variety of habitats. I could tell that there were lots of 'nature stories' to learn about (I'll write another post about nature stories). It was also quite safe. The kids had just the right kind of morning.

The Nuthatch played 'lion in the grass'.

The BlueJay thought this rock looked like a sandwich. It was getting close to lunch, was he hungry?

There was a shallow stream, perfect for throwing rocks into and for jumping from rock to rock. It was shallow enough that if they fell in they would just get wet.

Sometimes I wonder what value this outdoor time has for my youngest. She was trapped in her stroller all winter since she couldn't walk wearing her snowsuit. Now she can get out and explore too, and she loves it! I bring the stroller along just in case she gets tired, but she spends most of her time following her brothers. She finds little sticks and rocks and dandelion fuzz to investigate. It is a wonderful thing to watch.

I think I have found a new spot to put on our 'short list' of places to explore. We'll be back next week to get to know this place a little better.

Preventing bird window collisions

Earlier this week we had a black and white warbler die in our backyard because he collided with our bay window. We made some hawk silhouettes and posted them inside the window. The next day we went out to look at the window and the Nuthatch pointed out that they didn't help with the reflections at all.

I looked around online for suggestions to help us with this problem. Many of them would have cost money or would have changed the amount of light coming into the window. One suggestion was to hang something that would move in the breeze. So, I came up with the idea of putting some ribbon in front of the panes. It was free and easy and it didn't change the amount of light coming through the window.

My husband thought it looked like we were going to have a wedding in our backyard. It does look a little overly festive. Perhaps if I used cloth strips instead of ribbon it might look more decorative and less like we are permanently having a party.

If you look closely at the second photo you can see the bird silhouette on the centre pane. I still might try to go the bird silhouette route, but they will need to be laminated and placed on the outside of the glass.

Nature Notebook with a 3 year old

Mommy: "Now, I want you to draw a picture of something we saw today on our walk"

5 min later

Mommy: "That's a lovely picture. What is it?"

the BlueJay: "It's a whale!"

Mommy: "Did we see a whale on our walk today?"

the BlueJay: "Umm. No... Can I have a new piece of paper?"

5 min later

Mommy: "What are you drawing now?"

the BlueJay: "It's a great big dinosaur!"

Mommy: "sigh..."

A warbler's death

This evening we found a bird lying in the grass in our backyard. Unfortunately, it was dead. Even more unfortunately, it was a warbler.

The spring migration has begun and these beautiful little birds are making their way to the boreal forests in northern Canada. They eat insects and as such they are not birds you would see at your bird feeders. Each species has its own specialized niche in the forest. Some stay close to the trunk, others feed at the tops of trees and still others tend to forage in the underbrush.

The boys were quite sympathetic with the bird. "We didn't wanted him to be died, we wanted him to be alive." was the BlueJay's sentiment. It was mine too.

It was a female black and white warbler. They creep along the trunks and branches of trees.

Here is the cause of her death. Birds see the reflection of the sky and the trees in the glass, and don't realize there is a window there. It doesn't help that we have a small tree near this window. A number of birds have met their end at this window.

This happens on a much larger scale with the windows on the large office towers downtown. If the lights are on at night, the birds don't see the glass and fly right into the building. This is a short article about FLAP, the Fatal Light Awareness Program. They have recorded over 41,000 bird collisions in Toronto since 1993.

I suggested to the boys that we could make hawk silhouettes to put on the window, hoping that this would help.

The boys enjoyed the activity. It is always good to feel proactive. I was a little disheartened when I read on the FLAP website that they don't really work. They did have a list of suggestions, (look under the section 'Being Bird Friendly'). I'll talk about them with the boys and we can decide on the best one for our yard. Hopefully we can learn from this and the black and white warbler's death at our window will be the last.

Treasure hunting for books

I spend a lot of time hunting for and evaluating resources to use for our homeschooling. The curriculum that I have chosen uses many older books that have been reprinted or the text is available online. You can purchase most of these books on Amazon for ten to fifteen dollars. I started ordering a book here and there for when the Nuthatch starts grade one. Then I read a suggestion that you can often find these books at used bookstores.

I have long had very romantic notions of used bookstores. I didn't shop in them much, mostly because I always used the library or I never knew what I was looking for. When I was young I dreamed that I would meet my future husband in a bookstore as we perused the shelves side by side, looking for the same classic novel. It would be a rainy fall evening and we would go to a little coffeeshop afterwards and talk until they closed.

In reality, I met my future husband in a student house at university, where I kept flooding his basement room with the washing machine. He is a computer guy, and the water would pool underneath his computer workstation where the web of cables, cords and wires connected all of his devices together. It was true love.

Anyways, back to the books. I finally had a good reason to search the used bookstores, so at Christmas time we headed downtown together with my list. My very patient husband waited, bored to tears, while I looked through their entire children's section (it is still true love, 15 years later). I found a few good items, especially a lovely hardcover copy of 'Make Way for Ducklings' by Robert McCloskey. The books were still $10 a book, although now they were hardcovers instead of paperbacks.

My searching was yielding good results, however my greatest discovery came quite by surprise to me. I had been decluttering my house of the toys and outgrown clothes. I boxed and bagged the stuff and drove to Goodwill to drop it off. On a whim, I decided to go inside the store and look around.

I suspect that the store I go to is not like most of the other Goodwill stores. They have all of the stuff in large shallow blue bins that are on wheels. There are bins of clothes, bins of toys, bins of household items and bins of...books! I started rummaging around to see what I could find.

I'm not sure what I picked up that day, but I knew I was on to a good thing. On my next trip to drop off stuff I went in again, and this time found a very nice hardcover copy of 'Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare'. I was so excited, what were the chances that I would find this book here? I snatched it up quickly, certain there were others on the prowl for the jewel I had just found. I took it up to the cashier, not sure what this find would cost me. Fifty cents! I could not believe it. I had found a goldmine.

Now I was addicted. I was also spring cleaning and conveniently finding more items to go to Goodwill so I could look for more books. On my next trip I found the complete set of Winston Churchill's 'A History of the English Speaking Peoples' and a 6 volume set of his memoirs of WWII (for myself, not for the Nuthatch). There was also another copy of 'Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare' which I picked up for a friend. My bill came to five dollars.

I wondered who was dropping off these great books at Goodwill. I would read the names written on the inside covers and picture an older gentleman or lady who had passed away, and their children had taken all of their beloved books to Goodwill, not appreciating what they were worth. Not from a monetary perspective, but from the richness of the language and ideas that were inside, the words of good writers.

They are in good hands now, on the shelves of our small but steadily growing library. I will need more space for these books soon. Perhaps I should clean out my closet and make a trip to Goodwill.

Mixed up blog

Then comes a Mixed-Up Day.
And WHAM!
I don't know
who or what I am!

from 'My Many Coloured Days' by Dr. Seuss

It appears that my blog has a personality disorder. It does not know if it wants to be a photography blog, a homeschooling blog, a travel blog or a nature blog.

My husband pointed out that perhaps I could separate out these personalities into their own blogs. However, as I am having difficulty managing more than one library card, I think that having multiple blogs is just too much responsibility for me.

So I will attempt to stick to the title of the blog and post about Kids and Nature.

Brain: "Focus Pinky! Focus!"
Pinky: "What are we going to do today, Brain?"
Brain: "The same thing we do everyday! Try to take over the world!"

from the old cartoon TV show "Pinky and the Brain"

But it all

turns out all right,

you see.

And I go back

to being...

me.

My Many Coloured Days

Banff Springs Hotel

I'm back to writing about our stay in Banff in April. While we were there for the international programming contest we stayed at the Banff Springs Hotel.

We have had the opportunity to travel and stay at some nice hotels through my husband's involvement with this event, which takes place at a different fantastic location every year. This hotel was by far, the finest one we have stayed at. If you happen to be very, very wealthy I highly recommend staying here.

View of the hotel from a lookout on tunnel mountain

View of the hotel from the top of Sulphur Mountain

The hotel was a sprawling complex of the main hotel plus wings with more rooms and a giant conference centre. You can see the beginning of the golf course in the top right of the photo.

Here's our rental car parked at the front entrance of the hotel. We were treated to valet parking during our stay. It was lots of fun to pull up to the front entrance and have the valets open the door for me, help me unload my stuff, and then drive off with the car. When I needed the car again I just called the main desk from the phone in my room and they would appear with it again. Magic!

We had asked for an economy car at the rental place and they gave us this luxurious, fully loaded Volvo by mistake. We did not complain. It took us a few days to figure out how to use all the features. By the third day we could open the sun roof and adjust the power seats properly. I never did figure out how to program the personalized settings.

This is a view of one wing of the main lobby. When we arrived at the hotel we were actually whisked back to their secret celebrity check in at the back of the hotel.

This is one of their many banquet and reception halls. The conference used ALL of them at one point or the other. The above room was used for registration. The room in the photo below was where all the meals were served. The food was amazing. The chef at the hotel could make hot dogs into a gourmet meal for 700 people. He might just charge you $25 a hot dog though.

This hotel is very old. It originally opened in 1888. It has burnt down once or twice, and many wings and additions have been added over the years. You can take an historical tour of the hotel, ask at the concierge desk for times. The tour I took was with Tony, a Jamaican who wore a scottish kilt for the tour. He was an excellent guide. Unfortunately I only heard half of the tour as the Chickadee was simultaneously conducting her own very noisy tour of the hotel.

On the tour I learned that this ornate set of brass doors, leading to one of the many banquet halls, was worth 2 million dollars.

Our room was in the conference centre. We were in the top of the right turret.

This is our room. The Chickadee spent a great deal of time climbing up and down the stairs to the turret. I have always wanted a turret. I dare not mention this secret desire of mine to my husband, he would probably run out and start constructing one on the side of our suburban home. Then he would build a moat just to complete the look.

The view from our room.

The hotel has a large heated outdoor swimming pool that used to be fed by a nearby set of hot springs. The national park is preserving these springs and no longer allows the hotel to pipe water down to the swimming pool. It was amazing to be outside early in the morning and see the mountains through the mist created by the pool. The air was cool, it was early April, but the water was quite hot.

When we returned home I wandered about the house, lost and forlorn. Who would make me gourmet meals? Who would make my bed, twice a day? Who would park my car? Reality was there to greet me with open arms.

Rose breasted grosbeak

Rose breasted grosbeak Pheucticus ludovicianus

Yesterday we were treated to a visit from a rose breasted grosbeak. This is the second grosbeak we have seen in our yard in the ten years we have lived here. This is the male, the female (which we did not see) is brown and looks quite different.

He came to eat from the new feeder my husband made. He stayed for most of the day, and sat up in our tree and sang his lovely song. All his singing attracted two other rose breasted grosbeaks and by the afternoon we had three of them, all male, munching at our feeder.

The birds were a little crazy yesterday. I had a male cardinal divebomb another male cardinal, the goldfinches were flying circles around each other, the housefinches were crooning songs together, and the house sparrow was collecting material for their nest.

House sparrow Passer domesticus

Here is the grosbeak (centre) with a male and female cardinal near one of our feeders.

Random backyard photos

Spring is in full force. Along my back fence I have a woodland native plants garden. It is a rather understated garden, I have gradually been filling in the bare patches as my plants produce little seedlings. It also is full of spring ephemerals, which means that it looks really nice right now, and then it dies when the heat of the summer comes along and the trees leaf out and shade the plants.

These trilliums are in my garden. When I first planted it there was only one blossom. One year a critter ate my plant and I was worried it was gone forever, but it recovered the following year and now I have two.

I have several of these small trees in my yard. They are some variety of ornamental plum. I should try and figure out what kind they are.

This is the real reason I was outside with my camera. Every year I give the grandparents a nice 8x10 of the kids for their respective mantlepieces. This year I have been sadly negligent at getting these photos taken, so I was out trying to remedy this situation.

Here is my sweet Chickadee. I managed to take this picture just before she covered herself with sand.