What I’m Reading: Spring Magic by D.E. Stevenson
What a delightful read. I saw this book mentioned in a book subscription and put it on my TBR. I ended up getting a copy while I was ordering school books. I found out that D.E. Stevenson is related to Robert Louis Stevenson of Treasure Island. What a neat connection!
Frances goes to Cairn for her first real holiday. Her choice isn’t to do anything in particular but because she once saw a picture of Cairn and thought it would be a nice place to visit. That’s my kind of travel! She goes there at the same time that troops are coming in (WWII) and befriends several of the wives. She also befriends some locals, but there isn’t very much a focus on them as a particular young gentlemen who is stationed in Cairn. It’s definitely a love story, but I found that there was so much more depth as she described the places and people.
I was pleasantly surprised at the richness and recommend this book wholeheartedly. (I read a couple of the Miss Buncle books about a decade ago when one of them was free on kindle. I enjoyed it very much but have never read anything else by Stevenson thinking they may all be too light.)
What I’m {nature} Journaling: Baby blue birds and irises. The baby blue birds have hatched in the bird house. I saw mama bird bringing a worm while papa bird looked on from the fence. My irises are blooming too. I thinned them out in the fall, so it’s so nice to see them growing all nice and straight and sans aphids.
Fourth Grade Highlight
Right now my son is reading about Paul Revere in his independent history reading. I like hearing him make some connections to other people we’ve discussed.
I’ve noticed in the past with other assignments that my son’s reading comprehension isn’t always spot on. I’m not sure if it’s a maturity thing or something we need to focus on a bit. Narration is helpful for me to hear what he knows, and I try not to ask too many leading questions. This summer we’re participating in the library reading challenge but I’m also setting up a reward system of my own for the kids. I’m hoping this will help me better guage where my son is with his independent reading comprehension.
Kindergarten Highlight
I’m having so much fun listening to my daughter learn how to read. She really likes Bob books and is not going to be left behind in our reading challenge this summer. We finished one of her nature books this week, so she asked when she can start picking her chapter books like her brother does. I told her she’ll get to do that more as she learns how to read, but it’s also coming up in the next school year and I bought a few for to choose from this summer.
Mom Highlight
We (mostly I) needed a school reset this week. We are half way through our semester (not counting exams), but it’s feeling like February. And technically, we should have been where we currently are by the end of February. We have had quite the school year. I drastically reduced our school load, but it seems like we haven’t made any headway. I’m sure by the time I do our evaluation, I’ll feel differently, but I’m in a will we make it through the hump funk. We have also received some discouraging news about a close family member who has a cancer battle in the upcoming months. It’s been a lot.
Thus, a reset in the form of a nature walk. I realized while we were at our favorite nature preserve that’s been a year since we’ve been. I can’t believe it. We enjoyed a slow walk, stopping at every bench to eat snacks. We saw so many things that we’ve been studying in recent years. We saw mushrooms, wildflowers, spring blooms, working ants, butterflies, a caterpillar, nesting birds, chirping birds, bees, deer, nuts. We also brought along a picnic. The kids always love running around afterward looking for pecans and walnuts. You know what we didn’t see? Squirrels and chipmunks. That’s a first.
I felt far better after our morning out. We still took it easy with school work since I had to be away for a day and we needed a work day to go through all the kids’ clothes. I’m not sure how my attitude is doing going into the second half. I’m still feeling a little discouraged that we aren’t farther along, but I also don’t feel like we have so much that we can’t make it through. I’ve been trying to look on the bright side that school going into June at least gives us some routine. I would love to just be done, but I also really think our curriculum is worthy of our time. I wouldn’t be soul satisfied if we were to leave things undone. It’s too good to neglect.
A day has passed since I wrote that. I received a message from a(nother) friend who is researching Charlotte Mason. I kept my affirmation brief in reply, but it’s so hard because that’s how much I love CM. I could talk about all the things we do and the philosophy and the soul feeding we’re doing every day. My little explosion of how lifegiving our schooling is was enough to encourage me for these upcoming weeks. Yes, it’s not been a breezy season of school, but school isn’t a burden. If we were to set it aside right now, it would be a break but we would just be seeking these same things to fill our days. When we miss tea and poetry or art or nature walks or our variety of books and subjects, the kids are sure to be asking when we’re going to do it again.
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