From the recent archives: All Creation Waits (Book Review)

First posted November 2016. Check out this week's Mason Jar podcast for an interview with Gayle Boss and Megan Hoyt!

"Every single creature is full of God and is a book about God. Every creature is a word of God. If I spend enough time with the tiniest creature, even a caterpillar, I would never have to prepare a sermon. So full of God is every creature." ~~ Meister Eckhart, quoted as a preface to All Creation Waits

In his review of All Creation Waits, writer Brian Doyle refers to it as a "sidelong" book, which I take to mean indirect, something like a parable. In twenty-five short readings, accompanied with woodcut illustrations, Gayle Boss takes you on an early-winter walk around Lake Michigan, with stop-offs to visit skunks, foxes, porcupines, and other local inhabitants. What are they doing at this time of year? As "all creation waits" for the Advent of the Saviour, animal activities are lyrically described, but without much added-on interpretation. This is not a book of prayers or Scriptures; the animals are not analogies; they do not think of much beyond shelter and food, and they have no imagined sense that Christmas is coming. It reminds me more of Prayers from the Ark, or some of the Christmas readings that take the viewpoint of the cow and the spider; or the muskrat scene at the beginning of The Long Winter.

A sample from the chapter "Whitetail Deer":

"Gliding through the woods in groups of two, three, or four, their coats the color of brush and bark render them nearly invisible to us. So when, in October, we see herds of them out in the open, it seems a curtain has been pulled back on a secret society. They know the cold is coming. Banding together against predators, they forage widely in the fields before their food freezes, or vanishes under snow.

"But then, a drive deeper than feeding seizes them. By November both bucks and does, restless, verge on reckless. Trumping food and wariness, the primal urge to reproduce one’s self and one’s kind surges with the winds of the coming, killing cold."

This book would be most suitable for families with children, who perhaps are looking for something non-commercial but also not directly Bible-related for Advent reading times. [One possible note of caution: there are occasional references to mating which might or might not be appropriate for some families.] It could be useful for homeschoolers, or for those who need a set of readings for less-usual, out-of-church situations. It is a good reminder that the animals are (still, thankfully) all around us. Their stories are a (sidelong) glimpse of the way God creates and sustains them--and us.

Statement of disclosure: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book for purposes of review, but I was not otherwise compensated for this review. All opinions are my own.

From the archives: A Natural History Treasure

First posted August 2007

(Update, September 2012:  Yes, Natural Science Through the Seasons has been reprinted!) 

(Update, December 2010: Thanks to Ann at A Holy Experience for continuing to post the nature calendars on her blog--and welcome to visitors coming from HE!]

For all the would-be Miss Stacys out there...

I bought a book this spring from someone in our local homeschool group, and it turned out to be such a treasure for anyone doing nature study that I have to tell you about it. The only problem might be getting a copy: there are only seven right now on Abebooks, so it seems a bit scarce. But once you know it's out there, you might find some other copies floating around, especially if you're in Canada.

The book is Natural Science Through the Seasons: 100 Teaching Units, by J.A. (James Arthur) Partridge. It was published by MacMillan in 1946 and 1955 as a year-long teacher's resource. Each month has a variety of activities that might be suited to what's growing or hatching during that time (at least in Ontario). Each month has a sample day-by-day calendar with natural things to look for that you can build up "on your blackboard" (or on a regular calendar, for homeschoolers). Each unit has suggested activities, divided into those that are especially suitable for younger and older grades. There are experiments, questions, little verses to learn (or maybe to use for copywork), charts for identifying evergreens, and more things to draw on the blackboard.

And then each one also has a reading list, including suitable pages from Anna Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study; books such as Parker's Golden Treasury of Natural History and Dorothy Shuttlesworth's Exploring Nature with Your Child; and books by other authors whose books are still available: the D'Aulaires, Milicent Selsam, and Roger Tory Peterson. How cool is that?

Keep your eyes open! (The book has a green spine with red printing, it's 9 x 6 inches, and it's over 500 pages long.)

From the archives: Dolls and violets

First posted April 2014

We are in the peak of violet season.

Eyes Open in Advent (Book Review of All Creation Waits)

All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings by Gayle Boss (Paraclete / ISBN 978-1-61261-785-5 / 112 pages / Paperback / $17.99)
www.paracletepress.com

"Every single creature is full of God and is a book about God. Every creature is a word of God. If I spend enough time with the tiniest creature, even a caterpillar, I would never have to prepare a sermon. So full of God is every creature." ~~ Meister Eckhart, quoted as a preface to All Creation Waits

In his review of All Creation Waits, writer Brian Doyle refers to it as a "sidelong" book, which I take to mean indirect, something like a parable. In twenty-five short readings, accompanied with woodcut illustrations, Gayle Boss takes you on an early-winter walk around Lake Michigan, with stop-offs to visit skunks, foxes, porcupines, and other local inhabitants. What are they doing at this time of year? As "all creation waits" for the Advent of the Saviour, animal activities are lyrically described, but without much added-on interpretation. This is not a book of prayers or Scriptures; the animals are not analogies; they do not think of much beyond shelter and food, and they have no imagined sense that Christmas is coming. It reminds me more of Prayers from the Ark, or some of the Christmas readings that take the viewpoint of the cow and the spider; or the muskrat scene at the beginning of The Long Winter.

A sample from the chapter "Whitetail Deer":

"Gliding through the woods in groups of two, three, or four, their coats the color of brush and bark render them nearly invisible to us. So when, in October, we see herds of them out in the open, it seems a curtain has been pulled back on a secret society. They know the cold is coming. Banding together against predators, they forage widely in the fields before their food freezes, or vanishes under snow.

"But then, a drive deeper than feeding seizes them. By November both bucks and does, restless, verge on reckless. Trumping food and wariness, the primal urge to reproduce one’s self and one’s kind surges with the winds of the coming, killing cold."

This book would be most suitable for families with children, who perhaps are looking for something non-commercial but also not directly Bible-related for Advent reading times. [One possible note of caution: there are occasional references to mating which might or might not be appropriate for some families.] It could be useful for homeschoolers, or for those who need a set of readings for less-usual, out-of-church situations. It is a good reminder that the animals are (still, thankfully) all around us. Their stories are a (sidelong) glimpse of the way God creates and sustains them--and us.

Statement of disclosure: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book for purposes of review, but I was not otherwise compensated for this review. All opinions are my own.

From the archives: Drawing the wind (a pep talk on homeschooling)

First posted October 2009. Ponytails had just turned twelve and was in Grade Seven. Crayons (Lydia) was eight and in Grade Three. (Edited slightly)

It's now October. Do you know where your homeschooling plans are?

Did you lay them so thick that you can't stuff anything else in?

Are you wondering why you're only up to what you planned for Week Three and now it's Week Five or Six? Why you've skipped the last few days of French lessons? ("It's okay, kids, we'll make it up later.") Why the composer-study schedule has gotten buried under math and history?

Maybe it hasn't and everything is going along swimmingly. Everybody's still getting up early, the school room or wherever you work looks pretty good, your schooltime snacks are still nutritious, you remembered to change the calendar to October even if your "decor" is still Welcome Back To School, and nobody's begging for extra computer game time.

Maybe it's not going quite so well. You've all had nasty colds and the DVDs took over temporarily. The exercise plans lasted through the nice weather, but it's too cold out there now. All the new hymns are sounding strangely alike. The kids memorized their first poem happily, but now want to know why they have to learn another one. The one making the lapbook has only two mini-books glued in and says she doesn't want to do any more reptiles now, thank you.

And oops--you really were going to do more poetry with them this year, weren't you?

OK. This is your pep talk. You laid down all these plans, and now it's up to you to be persistent, with both yourself and the kids.

You bought that art curriculum, so make time for them to use it at least once a week.

You set them up with the history-journalling project, so encourage them to keep at it (it's going to look amazing when it's done).

You know which readaloud books you want to get through this year, so don't let them cajole you into reading only Book A when you had planned to alternate it with Books B and C. We really like this fall's Book A, and it's easier reading than Book B, but B has its own rewards.

The vocabulary chart you started is looking a bit lonely up there on the wall with only three roots filled in, so decide that tomorrow you all are going to add three more AND you're going to play one of the games from the program.

And it's NOT too cold to get out there and do some backyard nature study. The trees this morning looked like someone was blowing them with a hair dryer, but Ponytails went out and found a ladybug to draw in her nature journal. Crayons just wanted to draw the wind.

If you need to add a little pep to the same-through-the-year lessons, do it. We alternate Bible stories with Mr. Pipes, but even so the cycle of just reading, narrating can get a bit routine. Occasionally add little things in to keep the lessons interesting. This week I photocopied a kings-and-prophets timeline strip from What The Bible Is All About For Young Explorers and printed copies out on coloured cardstock; then during one of our lessons the girls cut them out, taped the two parts of them together, and made Old Testament bookmarks for their Bibles. It wasn't a major project, but it kept hands busy while we read about Elijah. Another day I gave them a colouring page about the story we were reading. We don't do that often--even colouring can get monotonous--but once in awhile it's nice to have a little extra.

Before the school year started, I put all my third-grade math ideas into a file box, and while we haven't stuck exactly to the cards as written, I'm still trying to get as much crossed off as I can before we go on to new things. This week I had noted "practice math vocabulary" (something I'd noticed on a worksheet). All I meant by that was knowing the words sum, product, and difference; not a big thing, but it's easy to overlook teaching them. I wrote each word a couple of times on slips of paper, and had Crayons pull pairs of numerals out of a bag. (We used rubber tiles from a math game, but you could use any cards.) I had her choose a slip at random, or I chose one for her. "Find the sum of your two numbers." "Find the difference between them." "Find the product." Sometimes I had her pull three numbers instead.

It's October. Switch around a little. Ponytails has been using math software during her computer time, and Crayons has been using a science CD-Rom; but it's time for a change, so now Ponytails will be using the CD-Rom and Crayons will be doing online math games. (She's also asked me if we can start using Calculadder sheets again.)

Play with time. We are doing a combination of workboxes and group activities, and sometimes the group things get dropped if the workboxes are going slow. So some days I fill only a few workboxes, and catch up on the French and nature and singing and anything else that we might get into a bad habit of missing.

And one other thing--now that everybody's back to school, are your kids getting to see their homeschooled (and other) friends? We've been slightly sidetracked on this due to colds and such that we didn't want to pass around; but I think everyone's healthy enough now that we really need to work on some of that Socialization. (Mom needs to see friends too!)

Trust in what you have laid out. Don't worry about what you think you have left out for this year--just keep on with what's already on the table. Learn new things a little at a time. Enjoy small things. Have a wonderful fall.

Caught at the window

A friend of Dewey's, doing a Monday morning happy dance.

Cardinals come calling

Not a great picture, but I had to snap it fast.

Now you see him

Now you don't.

Backyard Nature in April (photos)

 Violets

Periwinkle

Tulips-to-be

Rhubarb

Dandelions, just a few so far

More violets.

One fainting robin

This robin has been on our porch railing since this morning. He's too young to fly very well, I think. A parent has been by a couple of times with food, but didn't seem able to plan a rescue effort.

UPDATE: Partway through the afternoon, Little Bird made it back onto the stone wall and then into the bushes. It's now early evening, and he's still sitting in the edge of the bushes, looking kind of lost. Moving out on your own is not all it's cracked up to be.

June, outdoors

 

Book of Firsts: Chickadee is calling

A February thing to watch for, around here (if you don't live in the land of fresh basil and tomatoes): when I went out to get the morning paper, I heard one chickadee doing his hurry-up-spring carol.

Frosty sparkling morning, school plans (Lydia's Grade Eight)

"It reaches to the fence, 
  It wraps it rail by rail 
  Till it is lost in fleeces;  
It deals celestial veil....  

    It ruffles wrists of posts  
  As ankles of a queen,  
Then stills its artisans like ghosts,  
Denying they have been."  
~~ Emily Dickinson

Today's school plans:

Opening time: January's hymn.

Read aloud together:  How to Read a Book.

Bible, History, Science readings

Math (working in Key to Algebra this week, using the booklet on Graphing)

Composition and Grammar: work on The Roar on the Other Side

Latin lesson: Lesson 4, Day 3 (we are going through these lessons pretty quickly, and finding Lydia does remember quite a lot from four years ago)

Reading together:  The Merchant of Venice
Keeping a Nature Journal (nature notebooking)

Dewey's Treehouse, inside and out (photo post)

Living room

Bone china flowers inherited from Mr. Fixit's grandma.

One of Mr. Fixit's specials.

Cookbook browsing

Corner of the kitchen (the picture on the wall is my spice wheel)

Chocolate-chip muffins

Backyard apple tree

Rhubarb

Hosta aren't supposed to blossom this time of year.

Fall Flowers

Maybe it's a funny time of year to cut flowers, but these ones are still holding together. I brought in two nice big spiders along with them, but those were quickly uninvited.

Back yard nature: House finch!

Outside our basement window this wet morning: at least two red house finches, industriously eating the dandelions that have gone to seed. A couple of yellow finches too.

Noontime Addition: the finches are now giving a concert.  Very chirpy-chirpy-tweeters, tuneful but extremely loud!  Father Robin is sulking on the picnic table...the runner-up in the music contest?

Photo found here.

Back yard, front yard, all yard nature

In back yard nature news:   the blossoms have come out on the apple trees and the maples.  All at once, making up for lost time.  Not so good for the allergy-prone, but at least the pale green is a change from bare gray.

Photo by Mr. Fixit.

Back yard nature: the short lives of dandelions

We had a couple of early dandelions awhile back, but they're all out in full force now.  Here is what puzzles me: of those that blossomed early this week, some are already white fluff and seeds.  How can dandelions be so short-lived?

Ducks Like Rain (Back Yard Nature)

Or front yard, in this case.  It's a rainy morning.  Mrs. Mallard is sitting on our lawn to the left of the driveway.  Mr. Mallard is sitting on the other side.

Or they were there up till a few minutes ago.  The van pulling out of the driveway frightened them and they moved somewhere safer.  But maybe they'll be back later.

Back Yard Nature: Violets!

We are in the peak of violet season.

Photo of Taryn by Dollygirl.  Copyright 2014 Dewey's Treehouse.