Last night we had fun over supper remembering all the stories we had read with pigs in! The conversation flowed from there as we darted from rabbit stories to mice and onto cats. It was the children that suggested we jot them all down and added “Put the books on the blog Mummy.” So over the next few weeks you can have a browse as I publish various animal instalments from pigs to rabbits to foxes. Continue reading
The summer holidays are on their way. A wonderful chance for us all to get stuck into a book for that bit longer each day. So, if you are looking for ideas for your children, Continue reading
“Just living is not enough,” said the butterfly, “one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.”
— Hans Christian Anderson
With spring in full bloom here in Oxford, the bees and butterflies are now out in the garden. They add a wonderful sense of beauty, productivity, life and purpose. When it comes to butterflies, we are very much amateurs, but loving learning all the same as we spend time outdoors.
Every child should leave school with at least a couple of hundred pictures by great masters hanging permanently in the halls of his imagination . . .
— Charlotte Mason
Last term our ‘artist of the term’ was the magnificent Michelangelo di Ludovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564). This was a treat, if a little brief for such an artistic giant – sculptor, painter, architect and poet.
The fine arts find their origin in God, the Creator of language, color and music. Fine arts reveal within us an intrinsic need for beauty that is a part of God’s image stamped on our being.
— Clay and Sally Clarkson, Educating the Wholehearted Child
The Ballet
Tchaikovsky’s ballet of ‘Swan Lake’ is coming to our city next week. Continue reading
Our 8 year old daughter was given a beautiful doll for Christmas. She is absolutely besotted with her, and takes great care dressing her, brushing her hair and including her in all that she is up to. It’s very special to watch. She has even written a story all about her. Of course now she is scouring the bookshelves at home and at the library for stories about dolls. So I thought I’d share those that she has enjoyed in case there are other readers out there that would appreciate them too.
Observing
We have been studying birds this term – learning names of garden birds, spotting them wherever we go, listening out for the ever increasing bird song as spring takes up residence, learning about their homes, nest making, migration and more. We are total amateurs and our garden’s most common visitors are wood pigeons, blackbirds, robins and magpies, but all the same we have delighted in having time to actually observe them carefully. As well as enjoying the birds around us, this morning we visited our local RSPB Nature Reserve, where a delightful retiree took time to point out oyster catchers, herons, a yellowhammer and some grass snakes!
Having grown up in a Russian Orthodox home, Lent and Easter was a time filled with traditions (mostly involving food!) that we enjoyed year on year. I have warm memories of these and have continued many on with my own family as well as adding some more along the way.
Here are some of our Easter traditions:
CLASSICALLY CURIOUS 