Author: raisinglittleshoots

The Winter Sale is now on & runs until the 26th of January!

All products are discounted by 20% in the shop, no code needed.

Happy exploring!

Some helpful links for next week’s Moon Study in Exploring Nature With Children:

Moon Phases Calendar January 2020

Lunar Sketching by Daniel Mounsey PDF

Moon Phases Demonstration ~ video

Do We Need the Moon? BBC documentary

Moon Map printable

Happy exploring!

It’s almost Winter Sky Week in Exploring Nature With Children.

It’s a lovely week to ease you back into a nature study routine. Here are some links to help with your nature study:

The Snowflake Man ~ A short film about Snowflake Bentley

How Do Snowflakes Form? ~ video

Drawing Fog, Rain, Snow, and Dew ~ video workshop by John Muir Laws

What is Precipitation? ~ video

Happy Exploring!

Wishing you all a happy & peaceful New Year!

I hope that this New Year Nature Note finds you well! 

Many of you have written to me to let me know that you are just starting out with Exploring Nature with Children, and are joining us for the first time this month. Please jump right in, you can begin ENWC at any point in the year, and what better time to get started with the habit of nature study and journaling than in the New Year!

If you began back in 2019, my hope is that you and your child are enjoying your studies, and learning about the natural world around you.

This month, I should like to share this smashing quote from Miss Mason with you:

Meditate on these words of wisdom & remember them as you pursue your nature studies together. Never be afraid to allow your child to just watch, linger, and learn. Your child does not always have to be ‘productive’; whatever that may mean. Allow them to practice the habits of patience, observation, of thinking quietly, and mulling things over. They will make the most unexpected connections! Dare I say: even allow them to get bored. Boredom is an incredible tool to allow the brain to make connections, and digest & form new ideas.

For those of you who are using Exploring Nature With Children, the weeks fall as follows:

6th ~ 12th Week 1: Winter Sky Week

13th ~ 19th Week 2: Moon Study Week  

20th ~ 26th Week 3 Winter Tree Week 

27th ~ 2nd Week 4: Winter Pond Study Week (Please bear in mind Candlemas falls on the 2nd)

There’s a free calendar for the year to download here.

As always, please work the weeks to suit your own circumstances best; these are just my own suggestions!

If you’re over on Instagram, do pop over and say hello! The Instagram page is very much about community; think of it as your virtual home school co op! Our community uses the #exploringnaturewithchildren hashtag, & also specific weekly hashtags to enable you to connect with other families working through ENWC this year

Seasonal notes:

January was named after the Roman god Janus, the god of beginnings, transitions, gates &, doorways. Janus is shown to have two faces, looking both forward to the coming year, and back to the year just passed.

A penumbral lunar eclipse will take place on 10 January 2020

In the garden, you may want to begin making plans. January is the perfect time to peruse seed catalogues, and depending upon where you live, you may even want to begin chitting potatoes.

Wishing you a peaceful & happy New Year.

Happy exploring!

The Charlotte Mason Homeschool Planner is now half price! It is reduced from $10 to $5

The planner runs from August 2019 ~ August 2020, and  contains 104 printable planning pages for you to choose from, so there’s plenty of pages still to use to enable you to custom build your own planner for the rest of the home school year. 
Written for the Charlotte Mason inspired home educator, the planner will help you to create your own personal road map for the year, and to be faithful in carrying out those plans on a daily basis. Make planning your year a simple and straightforward task, with minimal additional planning time through the year.

You can find out more & download the sample here.

I will honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.

Charles Dickens

To my very dear readers; I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a peaceful new year.

Today’s reading

Luke 2: 7-20 ESV

And Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 

 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Today’s activity

Today is often a busy day for mothers; food to prepare, last minute wrapping, excited little people to keep busy. If at all possible, find time for a brisk walk in your favourite nature spot, to rid the wiggles from little bodies and rejuvenate older bodies!

This evening, just before bedtime, take your children outside to enjoy the wonder of the night-time sky. Remember the Magi who followed the most famous star of all to Bethlehem.

365 Starry Nights says this:

“Was there a real Christmas star, and if so, what was it? There have been many theories. Guy Otterwele has a nice discussion of the possibilities in his book The Astronomical Companion. Jesus was probably born sometime between 7 and 4 B.C. During this period a splendid candidate for the Star of Bethlehem was the conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars in February of 6 B.C. An equally dramatic grouping of the three planets occurs only once every 800 years. the prospect of the planets blazing and dancing together on the western horizon might have seemed an omen of a great event.”

Do try to find a few moments to write a memory from today, in your mother’s advent journal. It will be a treasure for years to come.

Thank you for joining me for my nature-themed advent calendar. If you would like some more ideas to carry you through Christmastide, Exploring Nature With Children has a whole chapter devoted to The Twelve Days Of Christmas.

May I take the opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a very merry Christmas and a peaceful new year x

Are you hoping to keep a Phenology Wheel in 2020?

Once your wheel is set up, it’s a minimal time investment once a month, and is perfect for families who have children of different ages and stages as everyone can work together, but at their own level. They make such wonderful keepsakes, and { whispers } wouldn’t they make gorgeous Christmas cards!

The Raising Little Shoots Phenology Wheel Guide is a 33 page, photograph heavy guide, to help you step by step, in setting up your own phenology wheel for the year. You can find out more here.

Today’s reading

Luke 2:4-6 ESV 

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

Today’s activity

Give your child a surprise tonight: after they are bathed and in their pyjamas, instead of reading a story, bundle them up in their snowsuit or warm coat, and mittens and bonnet, then take them for a drive around your neighbourhood to see all the festive lights and dressed-up homes.

Only two more sleeps!

See you tomorrow for more advent fun.