Wordless Wednesday

UPDATE: Polyphemus Moth Eggs

I am sorry to say that our moth eggs had a bad end. A few days ago, Mark and I were surprised to find that the eggs had hatched and we had tiny little larva crawling all over the box they were in and all over the books and papers next to the box. We tried to round them all up and put them into an insect house that we previously used for hatching butterflies. Then we went around gathering leaves that were supposed to be their favorite. They seemed to like the leaves; so we had hopes that they would grow and eventually go into their cocoons and hatch as the beautiful Polyphemus moth.

Well, last night we had to go and pick up Mark at the airport. He was just returning from the Together For The Gospel conference. While we were waiting at the airport a huge storm blew through our city and neighborhood. When we arrived home our insect house was nowhere to be seen. We searched the yard with a flashlight, but found nothing. Today we will have to scout the neighborhood and see if we can find any clues about our missing larva.

Wordless Wednesday

For Sweet Lilly

HOMECALL
By Amy Carmichael

Out of the heat and out of the rain,
Never to know or sin or pain,
Never to fall and never to fear-
Could we wish better for one so dear?

What has she seen and what has she heard,
She who has flown away like a bird?
Eye has not seen, nor dream can show
All she has seen, all she may know,

For the pure powers of Calvary
Bathe little souls in innocency.
Tender, tender Thy love words be:
"Dear little child, come home to Me."

Polyphemus Moth

Mark is busy writing a paper for his Aramaic class. Therefore, to be a help we have gone to visit family. The boys are having a great time playing outdoors almost all day long. My mother lets them dig holes in her backyard, which she says will one day be a fish pond. I am not sure what it will be, but they are loving it.

Last night we were having dinner at my cousin's house and she showed us a moth that had made its way into her garage and was laying eggs on the cement! It was a beautiful Polyphemus Moth, like the one in the above picture. It was a very bad place to lay eggs (right in the driveway). So, we gently loaded them into a box and hope to see them hatch. I found that the usual host is "A wide variety of trees and shrubs including oak (Quercus), willow (Salix), maple (Acer), and birch (Betula)" I found the information and picture here .

This will be a fun way to tell the story of Odysseus and Polyphemus. I think the moth is much more beautiful than its namesake, don't you?

THE AGE-LONG MINUTE

By Amy Carmichael

Thou art the Lord who slept upon the pillow;

Thou art the Lord who soothed the furious sea;

What matter beating wind and tossing billow

If only we are in the boat with Thee?

Hold us in quiet through the age-long minute

While Thou art silent, and the wind is shrill.

Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, art in it?

Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?

Paper Kite

Idea leuconoe

Wordless Wednesday

Spring Break Is Over

We had a lovely Spring Break. We spent it in the mountains with family. And now it is back to school and back to work. Therefore, I may not be posting very much until we get back into our routines (and I get all the laundry done!) But maybe I will post a few lovely photos that we took for our Nature notebooks.

Wordless Wednesday

Pakistani Kima

This is one of our favorite meals. So, I thought I would pass it along!

Saute in skillet:
3T. butter
1 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced

Add:
1 lb. ground beef
1 1/2 t. salt
dash pepper
dash each cinnamon, ginger, and tumeric
2 c. cooked tomatoes
2 potatoes, diced
2 c. frozen green beans

Cover and simmer about 25 minutes or until the potatoes are done. Serve over rice. Just before serving sprinkle shredded coconut on top. Serves 5-6

FOR OUR CHILDREN

By Amy Carmichael

Father, Hear us, we are praying,
Hear the words our hearts are saying,
We are praying for our children.

Keep them from the powers of evil,
From the secret, hidden peril,
From the whirlpool that would suck them,
From the treacherous quicksand pluck them.

From the worldling's hollow gladness,
From the sting of faithless sadness,
Holy Father, save our children.

Through life's troubled water steer them,
Through life's bitter battle cheer them,
Father, Father, be Thou near them.

Read the language of our longing,
Read the wordless pleadings thronging,
Holy Father, for our children.

And wherever they may bide,
Lead them home at eventide.

Homeschool Research/Reading

I really don't remember how we decided to homeschool. It seems like we just always planned on it. Regardless of how we got the idea, we were certain we wanted to do whatever it took to educate our children outside of government schools. When our oldest was just a baby I began to ask homeschooling mothers, "What is your favorite homeschooling book?" In this way I began to read about different methods and models. My goal was to read one book per year. I have found this to be very helpful and I continue this practice even today.





Here is the list that I was given before I began homeschooling (and I think this is the order I read them)-

1. Better Late Than Early, by Raymond Moore
2. The Christian Homeschool, by Gregg Harris
3. The Well-Trained Mind, by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise
4. Educating the WholeHearted Child, by Clay and Sally Clarkson
5. Homeschooling for Excellence, by David and Micki Colfax
   Books I have read since beginning to Homeschool:
   
6. For the Children's Sake, by Susan Schaeffer MaCauley
7. Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning, by Douglas Wilson
8. Home Education, by Charlotte Mason
   

This has helped to both shape our homeschool and keep me inspired as a home educator.

Wordless Wednesday

Redeeming the Time

I would be surprised to find any shower that looks quite like ours. These are Mark's vocabulary words for Aramaic hanging on our shower walls.

This all began with one ziploc bag and one of those hooks with a suction cup. Originally we just had a really small ziploc with one memory verse inside, but that seemed to work so well that it has grown to giant ziplocs and a library of memory work!! So, if you are needing to find time to memorize Scripture- here is one way to use your time wisely.

Classical Music for Preschoolers

I am not a fan of television. Yet there are times that I am grateful to turn on a movie for the children. I am very particular about the content of a movie, and for young children I am pleased with the Baby Einstein movies. One of the best is, Meet the Orchestra.



As a result of using this movie the boys are pretty good at picking out different instruments when they hear them. Even while listening to music when riding in the car my 5 year old will say did you hear that violin? and even my 2 year old always informs me when he hears the guitar in a particular song. Baby Einstein not only uses classical music in all of their videos, but they have Baby Bach, Baby Beethoven, and Baby Mozart which focus on that particular composer.



Not only do we watch these movies, but we listen to their soundtracks. When my oldest son was a preschooler he called classical music, his music.

Composer Study

A performance of Handel's Messiah was a treat after studying him for 12 weeks.

Once a week we take time for Composer study/music appreciation. Our school year is divided up into three 12 week terms. The ideal is to study a new composer each term. This year we are only studying two composers because that is simply all we could manage. Our first half of the school year we studied Handel, and currently we are studying J.S. Bach.

Ambleside Online has compiled a huge list of composers and their works to be studied. They have plenty of helps to get you started. We use much of their information, but shape it to fit our family.



This is all new to me. In my college days, I took a music appreciation class and was quite overwhelmed. I had never before studied anything like it. I grew up on Seattle grunge and Rock music. Thankfully, I am not passing that legacy onto the children. Rather, I am attempting to train their taste from a young age. This, like Nature Study, is giving us wholesome pleasures to pursue.

Love through me, Love of God,

Make me like Thy clear air

Through which unhindered, colours pass

As though it were not there.

Powers of the love of God,

Depths of the heart Divine,

O Love that faileth not, break forth,

And flood this world of Thine.

by Amy Carmichael

Wordless Wednesday

Nature Study

Step One: Observation

The vast majority of our Nature Study is delight-directed. If something grabs their attention we study it. There are times when I choose the subject; for instance, we learned the names of the trees in our neighborhood. Yet more often than not, they are the ones who coming running to tell me what they have found.