The start of our Nature Journals...

Today We started Nature Studies, I bought each of the children their own sketch book to start a nature journal, the ones I originally wanted were from an art shop and cost around £7 each, I wouldn't mind if it were just for the one, but when you have 3 children to buy for, as you can imagine it's not cheap.  So we found some in What! for £2.50, and insha Allah they'll do the job :)

(excuse the funny colour on the hand, occurred post processing!)

We started close to home today.... in the back garden, Ds5 did get a little distracted along the way, and started drawing vampires! but along with his magnifying glass he seemed to enjoy the exploring.

I came across a lovely site today, which inspired me to get started with the nature journals, and hopefully insha Allah we can work on them regularly.

I printed some leaf and flower i.d sheets for them to stick in the back of their journals, for later referencing, and also printed off a 'blackberry hunt' worksheet to go out and do either this week or next week.

Charlotte Mason would say about Nature Study.....

This is all play to the children, but the mother is doing invaluable work; she is training their powers of observation and expression, increasing their vocabulary and their range of ideas by giving them the name and the uses of an object at the right moment,--when they ask, 'What is it?' and 'What is it for?'
(Vol 1, II, Out-Of-Door Life For The Children, p.46-7 )

All this is stale knowledge to older people, but one of the secrets of the educator is to present nothing as stale knowledge, but to put himself in the position of the child, and wonder and admire with him; for every common miracle which the child sees with his own eyes makes of him for the moment another Newton.
(Vol 1, II, Out-Of-Door Life For The Children, p.54 )

As soon as he is able to keep it himself, a nature-diary is a source of delight to a child.
(Vol 1, II, Out-Of-Door Life For The Children, p.54 )

Mothers and Teachers should know about Nature.--The mother cannot devote herself too much to this kind of reading, not only that she may read tit-bits to her children about matters they have come across, but that she may be able to answer their queries and direct their observations.
(Vol 1, II, Out-Of-Door Life For The Children, p.64)

New post on 'Capturing the beauty'

I've just updated my photography blog with some recent photos I've taken, feel free to go check it out! :) 

http://capturingthebeauty.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/while-i-was-gone.html

Homemaking inspiration....

I wanted to share a really inspiring site that I came across recently called A bowl full of lemons , you'll find inspiration & ideas on organising & cleaning your home, definitely motivates me to try harder with mine! Go check it out, you won't be dissapointed!

And so the journey re-begins...

Well  it certainly has been a while since my last posting! life has been busy and the blog was placed on the back burner for a while.  There's been a few changes here recently, I am back to homeschooling, this time with my 2 boys, ages 5 & 11 and eldest daughter who is 12. My youngest daughter attends a small girls learning centre and is very happy there, and insha Allah (God Willing) my eldest daughter will also start there in September. So that means I will then just be homeschooling my two sons. 

Since we discontinued our homeschooling a couple of years back, I've missed it so much, and have always yearned to start it back up again.  So alhamdulillah the chance finally came, and I can't describe the feeling within it gives me having them home, and having more control over their education, I now feel I'm back more fully in the role Allah has given me, alhamdulillah.

We're slowly, slowly easing back into the homeschooling, it all happened alot quicker than planned, but for now with my eldest daughter & son we're just working through some workbooks, and have signed back up with conquer maths, which is a fantastic website, and highly recommend. Insha Allah in September I'm thinking of starting my son with Oxford Homeschooling , probably not every subject, but at least science, IT and maybe Geography.

With my youngest son, I plan to follow the guidance in The Well Trained Mind  insha Allah, and incorporate some ideas from Charlotte Mason's methods, such as nature study. I recommend A Charlotte Mason Companion  by Karen Andreola for some insight into her methods, it's a great book & perfect for bedtime reading! :)

So we're currently in the process of de-cluttering and organising our front room which our structured learning will mainly take place in, when we're finally finished I will try & get some pics up,  hopefully won't take too long!