Circle the week of November 29th

St. Nicholas Verse

Upon his snow white steed
With wind and lightning speed
St. Nicholas leaves the sky
And comes a-riding by

Illustration from Santa Claus Comes to Americaby Singer & Baldridge, 1942

The little hare hops nigh
And lifts his nose up high
The stag with pointing horn
Leaps over bush and thorn

And all the creatures dear
Are drawing quickly near
Before St. Nicholas bow
Their little heads so low

And we will learn a tune
Of sun and star and moon
And sing our happy lay
Sing on St. Nicholas Day!

Thanksgiving

This morning as I rolled my pies with the other early risers in my house, I was so filled with gratitude for the spirit of celebration that has become a way of life.  Yes, it did take focus and years of self-work, but now joy is a natural part of life.  This pies are an example of that celebration

for the farmers that produce of food

for the skills I learned from my mother and grandma

for the people I have to feed and love

for the home that lives and breaths around me

for the joy I find in being me

wife, mother, teacher, friend, lover, daughter, my true, true self.

As I rolled these with my grandma's rolling pin, I could feel her hands on mine, hear her words.  I am thankful for all those generations of men and women who worked so hard before me, that I may have a life I love.

 Happy Thanksgiving, 

may your hearts and bellies be full.

November

January has mentioned that she misses my posting the circle time rhythm and songs. I realized that without the weekly rhythm of posting them, I'm not very good at journaling all our fun. So here are some notes from the month of November. And I promise to be a better record keeper, starting right after Thanksgiving.

For the month of November 

Lyra has been learning Native American Fables. She also is reading some animal fables on her own and working on multiplication. We are reading The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, by Kathryn Laskey, as our bedtime reading. It is a journal of a young girl on her way to America and during the settlement of Plymouth. This historical fiction is providing us with lots of opportunities to understand the sacrifices made by previous generations. We also are learning a lot about the geography and ecology of the eastern shore back then.  This of course ties in with all those beautiful animal fables, and our science and social studies lessons.

Circle has been about teaching the littlests what Thanksgiving is all about.

I cannot find any notes as to where I found these poems, if you know please post for me. 

Little Pilgrim dressed in gray 

on that first Thanksgiving Day, 

Little Indian dressed in brown

came to visit Plymouth town,

They both came to eat and pray 

on that first Thanksgiving day.

Pick the corn and pick the beans, 

Pick the squash and other greens,

It is harvest time you see,

Come and share a feast with me, 

Bring your family out to play,

We'll call this Thanksgiving Day.

We've been working on our Farsi book. I have found that Lyra does very well when I hang our work that we are actually working on, about the house. Not just things we have finished. We do not have a school room, but do different types of work in different parts of the house. So work is on display everywhere.

Our cherished friend, Chiara, brought us thousands of worms from her compost to add to our bin. They are doing a beautiful job, amazing how fast they work!

                                                           Making Martinmas Lanterns.

celebrating baby and mama

This weekend we celebrated one of our favorite mamas and her new baby boy. We are all so excited to meet him, and I have to admit part of the excitement is that he is a BOY.  So many little girls, all the time, but little baby Rhys is going to have lots, and lots of little mamas.
It was so much fun planning and preparing for the celebration, in the truest sense, of love. And honoring a woman for the wonderful gifts she brings not just to her own children, but to all of our children and to us as other mamas and friends.  January has been my friend since before she was a mother, but she is not just my friend, she is my children's friend as well.
open heart, compassionate mind, patient temper- these are all things I love about you January, and you deserve every bit of light and love that reflects from all of us back to you.  But most of all, what I value, is the fact that you understand me and my girls. I can talk about my feelings or thoughts, but I need not explain them.  You give me a place to take off my coat and shoes, outside my own home.

much love always.

fun thanksgiving

wonderful link to thanksgiving stories and songs

Lyra turns 8 in January, so I have stayed with the fairytales of first grade until now. We have progressed to a second grade work level, but stayed with the stories of first grade.  This month we are using the Thanksgiving Holiday as our entrance into the second grade literature with Native American animal fables. This is the official start to our second grade topics in language arts, science and social studies. Luckily both my girls have winter birthdays and I can adjust our school year accordingly. So Hazel will start her official kindergarten lessons in the spring of next year.