Strawberries and Jam!

I love strawberry season! I love to pick berries, although I haven't had time this year. A friend of mine brought us a bunch, though, so we ate lots and made JAM!

Now, I'm a fan of strawberry freezer jam. My Grandma Rosen made strawberry freezer jam and put it in little butter tubs. I could eat it by the spoonful! We did make some freezer jam this time, too, but the majority was cooked jam. I wasn't sure I had space in the freezer for a lot of jam, and this way I can give it away as gifts if the occasion arises.

If you've never made jam, it's a bit labor-intensive, but it's not difficult. And, if your family eats jam (in spite of all the sugar-haters), it's worth it to know exactly what's in it. Many jams you can purchase at the grocery store have high-fructose corn syrup in there, which we try to avoid.

I thought I'd tell you just how easy it is to make jam. First, you have to sterilize your jars and lids. I run them through the dishwasher. My mom used to boil them, and Isaac thought that sounded like all kinds of fun. Nothing says "I LOVE SUMMER!" like heating your kitchen, when it's already hot and humid, with boiling water, am I right? We boiled one batch in the canner, but the rest went in the dishwasher. Never say I'm not a fun mom. The reason you do this first is, if you forget, you will be very sad when your cooked jam is ready to be put in jars and they're not clean.

Then, you prepare the berries. First, you have to clean them. All I do is soak them in the sink with a bit of vinegar, then rinse them. (I wash all my produce in vinegar; it kills bacteria and removes pesticides.) Once they're clean, I cut off the tops and cut them into halves or quarters, depending on how big they are.

After they're cleaned and cut up, you get to squish them! I like to put them through the food grinder on my mixer. I will tell you that the instructions inside the Sure Jell (one brand of pectin) say that you should mash the berries with a potato masher, one cup at a time, because "jam should have chunks of fruit." That's personal opinion, as far as I'm concerned. I have people in my house who don't care for chunks in anything, so I grind the berries. I've never had a problem getting the jam to turn out. This is me, thumbing my nose at the person who thinks jam needs chunks. My middle child loves to use the grinder, so I had a willing volunteer for this part.

Once the berries are squished, you're ready to make the jam! First,

get your canner and lids ready. You will need enough water in the canner to cover the jars by one or two inches, and the water needs to boil to process the jam, so you want to get that started. Also, the lids for the jars are supposed to be hot, so you want to put them in a little pan with water and heat them.

Once you've got the canner and lids ready to go, you can cook the berries. For this last batch, of which I took pictures, I used liquid pectin. That was a first for me. The only difference I can tell is you add liquid pectin at a different step in the process than powdered kind. First, I put the berries in the pot, then stirred in the sugar. Then, I brought the mixture to a rolling boil, and added the pectin. It had to cook for exactly one minute, then I removed the jam from the heat and put it into jars, topped them with lids and screwed on the rings.

Once the jam is in jars, you put it in the canner. My canner is kind of special to me. It looks like any other canner, honestly, but my in-laws found it in the attic of the house on their family farm, and brought it to me, along with some beautiful old blue canning jars. It's the same speckled blue enamel that still comes on canners. You can see the jar lifter, which is what allows me to lower the jars into the hot water and get them back out without too much trouble. You just put them down into the water, boil them for ten minutes, and then take them out. You can listen for the lids to "pop," which is how you know they've sealed properly. All of mine sealed this time. Woo hoo!

That's really all there is to it! You should get 7-8 jars of jam from a single batch. Once they're done, you, too, can make a jam pyramid!

I have used both kinds of pectin, powder and liquid, and the instructions are a little different, but they both make excellent jam. With powder, you add the fruit and pectin first, bring it to a boil, and then add the sugar. With liquid, you mix the fruit and sugar, bring it to a boil, and then add the pectin. I don't know that I have a preference between them. They're both easy. The only thing is that you need to be exact with your measurements of fruit and sugar. I'm no cook, and I frequently have to backtrack and try to fix things when I'm cooking, but I follow the directions for making jam and I've never had a problem getting it to set.

This was a fun jam-making session for me. My berry-squishing volunteer was interested in making jam, so she made an entire batch all on her own. I'm so proud! I felt a little guilty that we weren't doing something related to school work, but you know, now she can make her own jam, and that's important too. She's really proud of herself, and I know she will feel a real sense of accomplishment when she sees us eating her fabulous jam.

Review: Kinder Cottage Publishing

I love to see vintage children's books back in print, don't you? Kinder Cottage Publishing is a publishing company started by a homeschool family, and they have republished ten Peter Rabbit books, originally published by the Henry Altemus Company in the early 1900's. I had a very difficult time narrowing down which books we wanted - it was hard to pick just two! We received the following books to review:

The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit at the Farm

The Tale of Peter Rabbit is one that every child should know. It's one of those classic stories I treasure from my own childhood, and my children love it, too. Peter is such a naughty little rabbit, and has all kinds of adventures in Mr. McGregor's garden, but does eventually escape. His naughtiness isn't without consequences, though; he loses his new clothes and ends up with a nasty cold for his troubles.

Peter Rabbit at the Farm is a fun story. Peter starts out by running into Pollie Possum and spilling her basket of persimmons, but he helps her pick them up and is quite sorry for not looking where he's going. Then he is able to help Goosie Poosie figure out why all the water has drained out of her pond, and enlists all the animals to help fix it. He gets himself into a "spot of bother," but he comes out on top. I like seeing Peter's helpful side in this book - he works hard to help his friends resolve their problems.

Isaac really enjoyed these books. Who doesn't love Peter Rabbit? I had never heard of this series, and found the two books we received to be delightful. I love the vintage illustrations, and the stories are so much fun. That Peter is always in some kind of trouble, and my sweet little boy who often finds himself in unexpected sticky situations could identify with Peter's predicaments. And, while Peter is often naughty, he does his best to make things right, and that was also good for my son to see.

As for age level, these are picture books, so intended for younger children. They're not really "readers," though, and are probably better suited for read-alouds, depending on your child's reading level, of course. Here is a sample from The Tale of Peter Rabbit:

And here is a sample from Peter Rabbit on the Farm:

These are small books, the perfect size for a child's hand. Isaac loves looking at the pictures, even when we're not reading the books together. They're also great to tuck in my purse if I know we're going to be waiting awhile somewhere, and want something to keep Isaac busy. They're nicely bound hardcovers, so I don't worry about them getting messed up as we tote them around. My girls, who are teenagers, enjoyed reading them to their little brother, so they were nice family read-alouds for us.

The available books in the Peter Rabbit series are:

Hey look - they're getting along!

• The Tale of Peter Rabbit
• Peter Rabbit at the Farm
• Peter Rabbit's Christmas
• How Peter Rabbit Went to Sea
• Peter Rabbit Went A-Visiting
• Peter Rabbit's Easter
• Peter Rabbit's Birthday
• When Peter Rabbit Went to School
• Peter Rabbit and the Little Boy
• Peter Rabbit and Jack the Jumper

These Peter Rabbit tales, are available from Kinder Cottage Publishing for $4.00 each. Also, they're offering my readers a 20% discount, and all you need to do is use the coupon code TOS at checkout! These are lovely, affordable books and worth adding to your library. Kinder Cottage has also published some Wizard of Oz books, Advent calendars, and have other exciting projects in the works that are worth checking out!

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Thoughts from the NCHE 2014 Conference

This was my first year attending the North Carolinians for Home Education (NCHE) Conference, other than the book fair. I had a wonderful time hanging out with old friends and making new ones. I was especially grateful to have my friend Pam as my roomie. She picked some Japanese honeysuckle and brought it to brighten our little hotel room, because she's awesome like that. I just love her and had the best time talking to her, far too late into the nights. I also had a lovely time meeting the other conference bloggers, and putting faces with the names of the lovely women I've worked with for the last few months, getting the word out about the conference. I'm so grateful for the opportunity!

One of the most powerful sessions I attended was the first keynote, given by  Dr. Anthony Bradley from Kings College in New York, titled "Teaching Children to Live as the Image of God Rather than Society's Definition of Success.". I had never heard of him before, and I'm glad I had the chance to hear him speak. It was worth going to the conference for this session alone. He talked about the ways our culture creeps in and keeps our children from living the lives God created them to live, not least of these being the expectation that everyone should be doing something "extraordinary." He said we are already extraordinary, because we are created in the image of God, called to love God and love our neighbors wherever God puts us. He quoted 1 Thessalonians 4:11, which encourages believers to live quiet lives, mind their own business and work with their hands. Doesn't that give you a sense of overwhelming peace? I am able to do that - I can love God and love my neighbors where I am, and I can show my children how to do that. Dr. Bradley has an interesting website called What Is Your Salvation For?

I also attended several sessions given by Andrew Pudewa from IEW, and the only talk Andrew Kern from Circe Institute gave. Both of these men spoke words I needed to hear about how to be a better parent and teacher to my children. Mr. Kern reinforced the message Dr. Bradley gave, saying that God doesn't call us to make a difference; He calls us to love Him with all our heart, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor. Mr. Pudewa gave a talk about the differences between boys and girls, and gave great ideas for building bridges between them - letting them know God made them to be who they are, and sometimes it might annoy those of the opposite sex, and to learn how to live together because they
might grow up and marry one day. He was so much more eloquent than I am, but you get the gist.

The final session I heard was given by Diana Waring, and it was called "Things I Wish I'd Known." She gave us three challenges: to pray for ourselves, our husbands (she had all the men leave the session), and our children, every day. As I'm typing this, I realized I'd already forgotten the challenges, and I have renewed my intention to carry them out. I believe praying over my family every day will make a huge difference to all of us, and learning to be thankful for myself (not in a "look how awesome I am" way but from a "God made me who I am on purpose, and I am created in His image" perspective), while a challenge, is important. She reminded us that "Days drag, but years fly." I am facing my oldest child being in 9th grade next school year (I can't even bring myself to call it high school) and that struck a chord in my heart. It reminded me to be thankful for the time I have them and not waste it. After I heard her speak at this session, I wished I'd gone to all of her other ones. She is a beautiful woman, inside and out.


I also spent a fair bit of time checking out the book fair - who doesn't love looking at all those beautiful books? My very favorite vendor, Books Bloom, was there, and I managed to snag a couple of books even though my funds were limited. My friends Liz and Emily from Living Books Library were there, as well as my friends Lisa from Yesterday's Classics and Hilda, another homeschool librarian, helping out in the Books Bloom booth. I had a fabulous time talking with the folks at the CiRCE Institute booth, and learned that they are only an hour from me so I could go hang out with them if I wanted!

I'm so glad I went. I learned more than I expected I would, and it's always lovely to hang out with other homeschoolers, because they understand this often crazy life we've chosen–the good, the bad, and the ugly. God had a lot to say to me through the speakers I heard, and I will share more about that later. If you're within driving distance of Winston Salem, I encourage you to consider coming to the conference next year! You won't regret it.

REVIEW: What on Earth Can I Do? from Apologia

We have recently had the opportunity to review a book from Apologia Educational Ministries' Christian worldview curriculum series, What We Believe. The intended age range for these books is 1st-6th grade.We received the following items to review:

• What On Earth Can I Do? Hardcover Text ($39)
• What On Earth Can I Do? Notebooking Journal ($24)
• What On Earth Can I Do? Junior Notebooking Journal ($24)
• What On Earth Can I Do? Coloring Book ($8)

The text is a nice hardcover book, and the notebooking journals are spiral bound, so the pages lay flat as you work on them. The coloring book is a typical softcover coloring book with pictures for your very youngest students. All are very nice quality, as I've come to expect from Apologia. The course is broken out into 16 weeks of 3 lessons, or 48 days, so about half a school year if you use it 3 days per week.

My girls are 13 and 14, and were fine with the length of the lessons. My son, who is 6 and a half, had a hard time with the longer readings. He started out listening, but it worked out best to let him play with Legos or blocks while we read the lessons aloud. Honestly, for something I'd like to use as a morning time activity, the readings are too long.

The notebooking journals add a lot to this program. The reading schedule is in the front of both the Junior Notebooking Journal and the regular Notebooking Journal, so you know which pages to read in the text and which notebook pages correspond to the reading. I think it would be a key component for a student reading the text independently. And, although my son was not terribly interested in listening intently to the readings, when he and I worked on the activities in the junior journal, we were able to talk about the lessons, and I could tell that he picked up on more than I thought he would. He might not have been quite ready for all the things in the junior journal, but he enjoyed working in it - even when he did his copywork in crayon. He can do word searches with help, too. We had a good time.

What we liked:

• The parables are rewritten in an engaging style with cultural information that explains a lot about the stories.
• We enjoyed reading stories about people like Winston Churchill, Corrie ten Boom and Charlie Chapline, and historical places and artifacts like St. Paul's Cathedral and the Apocalypse Tapestry
• There are of images of beautiful, historical artwork.
• All the stories and biographies relate to World War II, and it was interesting to watch that unfold as we went through the lessons. They worked well to illustrate the ideas of time, talents and tithes, or stewardship, which is the goal of the book. 

What we didn't like:

• Bible verses were presented in versions that best presented the concept in the text. That is a pet peeve of mine. Apologia is certainly not the only publisher to do this, and I've even seen it done in sermons in church, but I don't like it. 
• The lessons are long for younger children to sit through. They were longer than I'd prefer for a family devotional. The readings range from three to fourteen pages, and the pages are large, textbook-sized pages. Three was good; fourteen, not so much. You could certainly read less in one sitting; one of the benefits of homeschooling is having a flexible schedule.

If you are looking for a christian worldview curriculum, this is a good option. It clarified for me that my children are already developing a solid Christian worldview, because we read the Bible together and talk about it. We have great discussions about the way we live our life and the reasons behind it, without using a curriculum. I was concerned that we weren't doing enough in that area, and now I know we are.

Connect with Apologia on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+.

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REVIEW: Micro Business for Teens

My children would love to earn their own money. I haven't provided ways for them to do that, simply because I wasn't sure what to tell them until they were old enough to babysit. I have one child who has been interested in earning her own money for several years, and I have not known how to guide her in that process. I jumped at the chance to review curriculum from Micro Business for Teens, aimed at children ages 10-18, hoping it would help us both with ideas for getting started and staying in business. The author, Carol Topp, is a CPA, and helps people start their own businesses. She put this curriculum together because she found the books available on the topic for kids were either too childish, too focused on entrepreneurship, or were adult books "repackaged" and sometimes unrealistic for teens.

The curriculum includes three books: Starting a Micro Business, Running a Micro Business, and Micro Business for Teens Workbook. We received a printed copy of each book to review.

The first book, Starting a Micro Business, takes you through what a micro business is, and what it is not. I was delighted to learn that it is NOT an entrepreneurship - no one has to come up with a brand new idea. You work with what you already know how to do. The book takes you through the steps of creating your own micro business, gives LOTS of ideas for possible businesses, discusses potential problems and pitfalls, writing a business plan, financing (no debt!), and encouragement for how to keep going with your business.

The second book, Running a Micro Business, teaches the nitty-gritty of what needs to happen to have your business make money: sales, marketing, and customer service. It also discusses keeping track of your money: record keeping, bookkeeping with examples of a simple way to do that, and whether or not you might want to use personal finance software or accounting software for your business. You will also learn about legal issues, such as whether you need to register a name for your business and if you need a tax ID number or insurance. Finally, you will learn about TIME MANAGEMENT, which might just be the most important part of the course!

The Micro Business for Teens Workbook is a great way for a teen to work through the ideas presented in the books on starting and running a micro business. My oldest daughter likes to think things through on her own, so she took the books and workbook and went through them on her own. It was interesting to read her answers and see how she evaluated herself. She hasn't come to me with ideas for her own business before reading these books, but now she can see that she'd be a great babysitter, and photography is a possibility for the future.

My younger daughter has a business mind, and has knitted several scarves with the hope of selling them to help fund her trip to Europe this summer with her youth choir. As we went through these books, we saw lots of ways to improve her business, as well as several mistakes we've made. For example, we haven't kept good track of how much money we've spent on the yarn for her scarves. We have a general idea how much a skein costs, and we price the scarves accordingly, but we haven't saved receipts or kept track of sales. We also haven't done any marketing. We have lots of room for improvement!

Both my girls love to bake, and are considering ways to start a baking business. They would like to raise money for their youth group to pay for shipping Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes this year. They make me so proud.

I am so grateful for this resource! It has shown my girls and me some great ideas for businesses they could start, and how to manage their money and time. If you have a teen who is looking for ways to make money, this is a great place to start. It offers simple, clear direction for you and your teen and their business.

You can purchase Micro Business from Teens directly from their website.

• Starting a Micro Business: $4.95 PDF ebook, $9.95 paperback
• Running a Micro Business: $4.95 PDF ebook, $9.95 paperback
• Micro Business for Teens Workbook: $9.95 PDF ebook, $14.95 paperback

Connect with Micro Business for Teens on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

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Nature Club Findings

We had our most recent Nature Club meeting at South Mountain State Park on Wednesday, and it was so much fun! We had beautiful weather, and found all kinds of neat things.

We're currently studying wildflowers, and our illustrious leader, Cheri, brought a daisy plant, complete with roots, for the kids to draw. That was pretty cool. I didn't think to take a picture of their drawings! Next time.

We found this nifty little caterpillar. See it there on my finger? One of the kids called it a "toothbrush caterpillar." I tried looking it up, and most caterpillars referred to as toothbrush caterpillars are some kind of tussock moth. I couldn't pinpoint this one; the closest I could come was a definite-marked tussock moth, and I'm not sure that's quite it. If you know, please tell me! When I read about tussock moth caterpillars, the information I found said if we touched them with a bare finger, it would feel as though we'd touched fiberglass, and some of them can sting, too. I didn't try to touch it, I guess, just encouraged it to crawl on my finger, and I didn't have any issues.

The kids also found some snails on a tree. I believe they are Anguispira jessica snails. I'm sharing a video of them because you can see one moving - faster than you might think a snail can go - and the other one comes out of his shell, and it's fun to watch. I won't be offended if you skip it. :-)

Tree Snails

Once we started our nature walk, we looked for flowers. I found the mandrake (mayapple) we saw last time, but we missed the flower. It has fruit now! I still didn't pull any up to check for screaming babies. Sorry. Heh.

Check out this American Holly. Isn't it lovely?

Another plant we saw was yellow wood sorrel. I have a memory of my mom calling this plant sheep sorrel, but that is an entirely different plant. I am not sure if she called it sheep sorrel or if my memory is faulty, but this plant is fun to munch on. The leaves are tangy. It makes me smile, remembering finding it every summer as a child in Michigan.

I saw these nifty little plants, which I believe are non-flowering. I have no way to prove that, of course, but I will keep an eye on them when we go back. If you know what they are, please fill me in. I have tried to identify them, but I don't have a good source for non-flowering plants.

We think these little flowers are primroseleaf violets (Viola primufolia). The name reminds me of something Edward Lear would have used. 

My favorite find was what Cheri called "hearts a-bursting." I had never seen the flowers before, but when I looked it up, I realized the girls and I had seen it years ago with fruit on it along the trail around Lake Pine. Someone walking by told me it was a "strawberry bush." I'm looking forward to watching the progress of these flowers into fruit! 

We walked up to Shinny Creek, which is pronounced "shiny," ate lunch, and played in the river. I found so many pretty rocks! They all had mica in them, and were, well, shiny - hence the name of the creek. 

On our walk back, another child, not with our group, found an American centipede. It was huge. I thought those only lived at the science museum. Ha. Anyway, after the little boy dropped it a couple of times, it curled up in a coil and was very still. I showed it to some of the folks in our group, and then dropped it into a plastic container to take its picture - at which point it decided to reactivate itself and try to escape. Can I tell you how glad I am it waited until I was no longer holding it? (Insert shudder here.) 

I'm looking forward to our next trip out to the park! We didn't get to stay and play in the river when we were done with our nature walk last time, but I hope we can next time. They found a salamander after we left, and Isaac has been dying to find one!

REVIEW: Heroes and Heroines of the Past

Did you learn much history when you were in school? I didn't. Not that I remember, anyway. The class I remember best included copying down notes from an overhead projector as my teacher read them to us. Scintillating stuff. I *love* that as homeschoolers, we can make history more engaging. When I had the opportunity to review the Digital Heroes and Heroines of the Past: American History Curriculum from Golden Prairie Press, I was interested to see what it was all about. Amy Puetz, the author, loves history and writes books to show history at its best from a Christian viewpoint.

This elementary American history program contains the following items:

Heroes and Heroines of the Past, Part 1 (TOC and Introduction)(Sample) and Heroes and Heroines of the Past, Part 2: These two books make up the "spine" of the program. They cover the Discovery of American (Vikings, Columbus) through the Obama administration. This course provides a one-year overview of American history.

Additional Materials CD - Lots of great stuff here! There are timelines, maps, and games, among other things. When you read about Columbus and his coat of arms, you can print off a copy to color and discuss. There is also a file containing all the pictures used for picture study, so you can print them off in a larger format if you like.

Historical Skits PDF ebook - There are 19 skits, some written by Amy, some by other authors. (TOC and Sample Pages) Skits are a fun way to encourage your children to connect with what they're reading, although I confess mine are not fans of acting anything out. Alas.

Sing Some History CD - We received this CD as a download. There are 20 songs, scheduled throughout the spine books. These are a lot of fun! Isaac loves to sing, and enjoyed learning "All the Pretty Little Horses," "Lavender's Blue" and "The Old Hundredth" during our studies.  I learned that the version of "All the Pretty Little Horses" I learned from Kenny Loggins is not terribly historically accurate, and the version of "Lavender's Blue" I know thanks to Burl Ives is also quite different from the historical song. We also noticed that "The Old Hundredth" has the same tune as the Doxology we sing in church every week. (Technical note: some of these audio files are MP3 files and some are WMA. The WMA files created a little bit of technical difficulty for me. We have Apple computers, and iTunes won't import them, so I couldn't get them onto my phone or iPad. I am sure there is a way around this, but I haven't figured it out. It's not a big deal to listen on the computer, but it would have been nice to have all the songs as MP3 files.)

Listen to Some U.S. History CD - This also came as a download, and contains 20 MP3 audio files. Some are historical documents read aloud, like the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. Others are documents of faith, letters, poems, and speeches.

There are literature books that go along with the program as well, which are intended for 5th and 6th graders to read as they use the program, and are optional as read-alouds with younger children. Also, at the end of each time period there is a list of recommended resources, which are mostly living books you can read along with your studies to add more interest.

This curriculum was written for children in 1st-6th grades. There are 30 weeks of daily (5 days per

week) readings. If you went with 4 days per week, it would stretch into 37.5 weeks. The readings are divided into two sections: the first has one page with larger font presenting a general overview for younger students (1st & 2nd grades), and the second with more in-depth information for 3rd-6th graders. Lessons take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, and you could choose to do fewer activities depending on your child's interest and how much time you have. Isaac, for example, at just 6 years old didn't do the writing assignments, but he had a great time making a teepee, making a canoe out of play dough, and making succotash. The questions at the end of each section were helpful as a way of introducing him to narration.

When I originally looked over the curriculum, I wasn't sure how I felt about the portion written for younger children. Even at age 6, Isaac is capable of understanding the language in the section for older students. However, he was not interested in listening to a long reading and then going on to activities, so the shorter, 1-page readings for younger children worked out to be a good fit for him, particularly since there were readings scheduled every day.

This is a well-done curriculum. I liked the narrative style of the readings, and I love that we read lots of biographies of historical figures. Amy has obviously worked hard to make this easy for parents to use. Within each lesson, there is clear direction to any resources you might need, such as the play dough recipe and instructions to make a canoe, or a recipe, or a song or other audio file. It's very simple to follow and the curriculum comes with everything you need to complete it.

For my own homeschool, I wouldn't necessarily choose a one-year overview of American history. I follow a more Charlotte Mason-inspired schedule, which would go at a much slower pace and study each topic more in-depth. However, if you're looking for a one-year overview of U.S. History, this is a great option! I've had friends ask about just such thing recently, and I've pointed them to this curriculum.

Digital Heroes and Heroines of the Past: American History Curriculum is available from Golden Prairie Press for $98.99. 

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Happy Mother's Day!

Mining for Gems

We are fortunate to live near several gem mines in North Carolina, and one thing we've enjoyed doing as a family is going to the mines to see what interesting things we can find. We've been to Hiddenite Gems' Emerald Hollow Mine a few times, and we went there again today. My dad is visiting, and he took Isaac there on Friday, thinking they'd dig their own dirt and look for gems that way. Previously, we've purchased already-dug buckets of dirt and rinsed through them in the sluices, which are long troughs with running water. Unfortunately, Friday turned out to be a field trip day at the mines, so there were too many school kids there for them to be able to dig, so we decided to try again today.

We wandered back through the woods as we looked for a likely-looking spot to start digging. My dad and my husband did most of the hard work. Dad did find a vein of rock, but it wasn't quartz and mica, which is what the folks who run the mine had told us are associated with finding gems. Todd found a little bit of mica, and so did Abbie, but the dirt was so soft we felt it had probably washed down from digs up higher on the hill and wasn't indicative of a vein.

Isaac was happy as, well, a boy in dirt while we were in the woods. There are holes where others have dug all over the place, and he was able to dig anywhere he liked as long as he stayed inside the white tape telling us we couldn't get any closer to the river. He jumped in all the holes he could find and then found a "digging stick" and was digging for all kinds of things - he described the magic crystals he was finding as he poked around. I kept an eye out for wildflowers, and we found some lovely ones, which I will post about soon.

We dug for a while, but when it started thundering, and then raining hard, we decided to head back up to the sluices. We ended up getting some buckets to wash in the sluice, which is always fun. We found a beautiful garnet, and we're having it made into a cabochon so we can have it set in a necklace or ring or something.

I had an idea while we were there. Have you ever seen those little cards you find at tourist places, with small rock samples from the state you're in pasted on them? I have one from Michigan, but have never come across one for North Carolina. I would like to start a collection of North Carolina rocks. I'm going to ask the people at the Hiddenite mine the best way to go about that, I think. I've never looked for rocks intentionally, just picked them up along the shores of Lake Superior (every year - I have buckets and buckets of pretty Lake Superior rocks), but really haven't seen anyplace here that makes for easy rock collecting. I do know there is a local lapidary club, though, so I'm going to try to get in touch with them, too.

Have you done any local rock collecting where you live? I have a friend whose son is trying to get rocks from all 50 states, and I sent him a lovely Lake Superior rock last summer. That's a cool idea too.

New-to-Me Wildflower - Violet Wood Sorrel

Do you know about wood sorrel? I remember my mom showing me little plants with shamrock leaves and yellow flours, and having us taste it. It's tangy and a bit sour, and I still like to munch on a leaf when I find it. I learned from a local friend that people around here call it "sourgrass." I had never heard that term before. I seem to remember my mom calling it wood sorrel, but that's an entirely different plant, so perhaps I'm remembering incorrectly.

What I did not know is that it comes in different colors! I've purchased green shamrocks and purple shamrocks around St. Patrick's Day, but as I was driving through our small town one afternoon, I saw these tiny pink flowers and had to stop and see what they were.

Aren't they lovely? I picked some for my herbarium, which I will share with you soon. We've been studying wildflowers in our nature club, so I've been keeping my eyes open for things that are blooming this spring. It's been a lot of fun.

What's blooming in your area these days? Anything fun?

REVIEW: Maestro Classics

I love music. My kids love music. We sing a lot, listen a lot and make up our own songs. Like many homeschoolers, we study different composers and learn about all types of music. It's pretty common to see "Peter and the Wolf" by Prokofiev recommended as a good way to introduce young children to classical music, and it's been a favorite at our house, for sure. Maestro Classics offers a great series of music CDs for children (generally ages 5-12) and families called Stories in Music™, and includes a fabulous edition of Peter and the Wolf, along with several other titles, which are a fun and educational way to bring music into your home.

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review two fabulous CDs from Maestro Classics: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and Casey at the Bat. It was difficult to decide which titles we wanted to review, because they all looked excellent, but I went with the ones I thought my youngest child, who is 6, would enjoy most. He did love them, and so did my girls who are both teenagers, and so did I! In fact, we may have enjoyed them even more than Isaac.

The music is conducted by Stephen Simon, a well-known symphony conductor and father of six. The Stories in Music concerts premiered at the Kennedy Center! On the CDs, the music is performed by the London Symphony. It is narrated by Yadu, who is actually a professor of humanities at Minnesota State University-Moorhead, and has narrated performances at the Kennedy Center as well as for the Young People's Concerts with the Washington Chamber Symphony.

Maestro Classics' lineup includes both classical music selections, and well-known stories for which Mr. Simon has composed musical accompaniment. We reviewed two of the story-telling CDs. We popped them in the CD player in our car and listened to them as we drove around. They made our car time lots of fun!

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel is one of our favorite books, and one Isaac requests to hear over and over again. The CD began with the story narrated alongside the original musical accompaniment – we even heard a bit of Irish brogue in Mike Mulligan's voice. Then we learned about the author, Virginia Lee Burton. There is a special "Mike Mulligan Song," and Mr. Simon talks about how the music came together. The is also a 24-page booklet containing fun puzzles and more!

Casey at the Bat is such a fun poem. The music and narration created quite a picture; I could see the story playing out in my mind as we listened. We loved learning the story behind the poem (no spoilers - you'll have to get the CD!). There are also some tracks on this CD about the ways music can tell a story without using words. It's great stuff. The booklet that comes with the Casey CD includes the complete text of the poem, as well as more fun puzzles and other information.

Maestro Classics also has homeschool music curriculum guides to go along with many of the CDs. The information and links provided are excellent. Maybe your child is like my son, a Mike Mulligan fan, and they will want to know all about how steam shovels work. Perhaps you're studying the Industrial Revolution and want to find out more about how steam shovels fit into the picture. Maybe you're interested in math and want to know just how much dirt a hundred men can dig in a week! There is lots of great information there for all kinds of rabbit trails.

Casey at the Bat and Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, as well as the other titles, are available from Maestro Classics. They are $16.98 for a CD or $9.98 for an MP3 download. These are an excellent music resource for any family, and I hope you'll check them out!

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Nature Study - Iris

In our little Charlotte Mason co-op, my friend Sara had us look at iris flowers. I have lots of iris in my yard, and they are lovely, but I pretty much take them for granted. I wouldn't say they are a favorite flower, although my dad used to have several different kinds in his garden and it was interesting to see how many different varieties there are. I had no idea.

Sara had us go out and identify the parts of an iris flower, and let me tell you, there are more than I ever thought there would be! First, we found the obvious parts: 

• Standards, which are the three upward arching parts of the flower;
• Falls, which are the three downward-curving lower petals, or sepals; 
• and Beards, which are thick, bushy hairs on the upper part of the falls. (I thought the falls were the beards. Huh.)

Some iris have a signal, which is a spot of different color just below the beard on the falls.

Then we looked inside the flowers. I feel as though I should remember more from learning about the parts of flowers in junior high, but it seemed as though most of this was brand new information to me, too. I had heard most of the terms, but couldn't have told you what parts of the flower they named. In the picture a the right, you can see the stylearms, which are stiff segments in the middle of the flower, shielding the base of the falls, and which hold the stigma.

 In this picture, you see the stigma, which is the flower's reproductive organ, and the stamen, or male reproductive part, which produces pollen.

Here, you can see the spoons, defined as "small horn-like growths with small petaloids protruding from beards."

And finally, in this picture, you can see the spathe, the papery-looking cover over the base of the flower, which is also the ovary; and a branch, which is a lateral extension of the main bloom stem that produces more flowers. See the iris bloom that's all curled up a dried out there on the left?

I had no idea there were so many parts in one flower! Isn't that amazing? I see iris in a whole new light after getting up close and personal with some flowers. I even tried to draw one, which turned out to be harder than I thought it would be. Once I get some color in the picture, perhaps I will share that too.

I don't usually think of garden flowers as nature study topics, for whatever reason, but I'm glad we took a look at the iris. What do you have in your flowerbeds that you could consider more closely?

(We found descriptions of iris parts on this page.)