"Poor man's maple syrup" seemed like the best topic to focus on in a December nature journaling event! A few years ago I learned that you can make a syrup out of Shagbark Hickory wood! I thought my nature group would love tasting a smoky flavored syrup with some hot cinnamon tea on our December… Continue reading Shagbark Hickory
Hackberry nature journal time! We had a great time talking about the ways this plant benefits our world. In November last year I noticed an abundance of hackberries and service berries around our parks. I made a mental note that we would spend time during the fall harvesting some of "Nature's Candy" for our nature… Continue reading Hackberry
When I first saw this title and the book cover I was excited for the teen boys in our group that we would have a book with some sports content - I was pleased when I found that the writing was so well done and packed with important historical information during the Civil Rights era… Continue reading Strong Inside
I was not expecting this book to be one of my favorites this school year! From the moment we started reading Helen Keller's first autobiography I was caught up in how much her education resembled a Charlotte Mason education. This is truly one of the best books to read aloud with your children. I am… Continue reading Helen Keller – The Story of My Life
I was a little worried that I might be too late in our foraging for this plant as our nature study object lesson. As the days get cooler the pokeweed begins to wilt and many of the plants are picked over by the birds and animals that love feasting on the leaves and berries! One… Continue reading Pokeweed – Inkberry
Our nature study this month was all about the sassafras tree! One thing that I love about foraging is that it feels like a treasure hunt while out on the trails. I was telling the students in class that I first noticed sassafras several years ago and made a mental note of where to remember… Continue reading Sassafras
Our first book club of the 2024-2025 school year was a fun classic - The Phantom Tollbooth! This book was full of creative word play that inspired a lot of fun discussion throughout the month of reading. I remember reading this book as a homechool middle school student and falling in love with all the… Continue reading Phantom Tollbooth Book Party
I find it so fitting to begin a class that I am passionate about with the passion flower! Nature study, foraging, and getting together with friends has been a staple in our homeschool schedule for many years. When Christian was in kindergarten we would go to Bowie Nature Center (about 45 minutes away) for nature… Continue reading Maypop / Passionflower
We had so much fun at this book party. There are a lot of great food ideas in the book for your party but we kept it simple with goldfish (for the goldfish in the story), peaches (an important symbol of China), and dragon fruit (to represent the dragons in the story!) One of the… Continue reading Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
A great book for students - https://archive.org/details/cicada0000hutc/page/6/mode/2up We are in the crazy season right now where two broods of cicadas are currently mating and flying around everywhere there is a tree! I've even heard hilarious stories of lawn care companies that get dive bombed because of the sounds of their machinery - even a woman… Continue reading 2024 Cicadas
KIND + CULTIVATED 