Apple Trees

One of our apple trees

Since we have 10 apple trees in our garden I thought that might be a good place to start up again with our tree focus for our nature study. Here’s what I learned about apple trees from the Handbook of Nature Study:

-         The trunk is generally short and stocky

-         The bark is a soft grey colour and quite flaky.

-         The wood is very fine-grained and heavy, and it is great for wood-carving or for fuel.

-         The leaves are oval, with toothed edges and long petioles

We usually get a good harvest of apples from our trees, but since we don’t spray them at all there’s usually a worm lurking inside each apple! We do try to prune occasionally, so I was interested to know what the Handbook said about pruning:

-         Every child should know that

o       Pruning the root cuts down the amount of moisture which the tree is able to get from the soil.

o       But Pruning of the top throws the food into the branches that are left and makes them more vigorous.

-         If the buds at the tips of the twigs are pruned off, the food is forced into the side buds and into the fruit, which make greater growth.

-         Thinning the branches allows more light to reach into the tree.

-         A limb should be pruned off smoothly where it joins the larger limb, without leaving a stump projecting, and the wound should be painted so as not to allow fungus spores to enter.

Apple Blossom - picture taken by Sophie

How an apple grows

-         On the tip of each twig is a cluster of blossoms, surrounded by pale, soft, downy leaves.

-         The oval petals (pink on the outside and white on the inside) are set between the lobes of the calyx, which appears as a beautiful, pale green, five-pointed star at the bottom of the flower.

-         A cluster of greenish white stamens of different lengths, attached to the rim of the calyx-cup, stand up like a column at the centre of the flower. They are tipped with pale, yellow anthers.

-         The pistils all unite at their bases making a five-lobed, compound ovary, the upper part of which may be seen.

-         The calyx-cup develops into the pulp of the apple, and each of the pistils becomes one of the five cells in the apple core.

-         If one of the stigmas does not receive pollen its ovary will develop no seed, which often makes the apple lopsided.

-         There may be many blossoms developing from one winter bud, but usually only two of these blossoms develop into fruit, and the fruit is much better when only one blossom produces an apple. 

-     If a tree bears too many apples it cannot perfect them.

Spring Nature Study

A patch of dog-violets in the park

It's taking a while for Spring to get going here. Only last week we still had some snow, and the daffodils haven't quite bloomed yet. However, we're starting to see some spring flowers in the park, and thanks to our nature diary, which we started this time last year, it's much easier to identify them. So far we've seen dog violets, speedwells, celandines, chickweed and cowslips.

Dahlia seedlings

At home we're starting to think about this year's gardening projects. We've got some seed trays on our windowsill. The dahlias did really well last year, so I'd like to try some again. We've also planted sunflower seeds and lobelia in the hanging basket.  We'll have to wait a bit longer to plant the vegetable seeds in the vegetable patch. I'm keeping an eye on the neighbours, to spot when they start planting outside, and they haven't yet, so perhaps it's not quite warm enough. In the meantime I've started pruning the blackberry and raspberry bushes.

Ant world, with cowslips we picked in the park

Charlotte Mason recommends keeping ants as a good nature study project for young children, so when I saw this 'ant world' kit in the shop last year I snapped it up. Last week I noticed loads of ants had found the lunchbox in Sophie's rucksack, which I'd forgotten to unpack and still had a bit of food in it. I thought that was a good opportunity to get the ant world up and running, since it said we needed 20 to 30 black ants. It didn't take them long to start making tunnels, and the girls have been very interested. Unfortunately I think some of the ants have escaped out of the bottom - I don't think I pressed the sides down firmly enough!

Handicrafts

"Again we know that the human hand hand is a wonderful and exquisite instrument to be used in a hundred movements exacting delicacy, direction and force; every such movement is a cause of joy as it leads to the pleasure of execution and the triumph of success. We begin to understand this and make some efforts to train the young in the deft handling of tools and the practice of handicrafts. Some day perhaps, we shall see apprenticeship to trades revived and good and beautiful work enforced." Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 Philosophy of Education, p. 328.

Having three little ones six and under, I've discovered a creative side to me I never knew I had. When I planned and organised our new schoolroom I had great fun sorting out all the craft materials into labelled boxes for easy access in our new 'craft cupboard'. Being a perfectionist, my great temptation is to take over too much to make sure that our creations look brilliant with minimal drips and spills and stains. Anyway, I thought I'd share some of the the things we've been doing recently......

Caterpillar Craft

It's great to have a few craft books on hand with ideas of some fun projects to do with preschoolers. Sophie and Charis had fun making these caterpillars. They especially love gluing shiny, sparkly things onto their pictures.

Valentine's Day cards

OK, so I know Valentine's Day was a while ago, but here are the cards we made for each other. The girls love making cards to give to other people, and I try to get them to make the birthday and Christmas cards we send to our family too. It saves money, is more fun, and hopefully is more interesting to receive!

Cake Making

Charis loves to help me in the kitchen. I'm getting better at stepping back a bit and allowing the inevitable mess and imperfection that ensues, since I know the process is more important than the end result. Sophie is not so keen, but does enjoy licking the bowl at the end. I usually use vegan recipes so there are no raw eggs in the mixture.

Painting

The girls love to draw pictures and to paint, but in the interests of encouraging handicrafts I was on the look out for some different kinds of painting projects when I came across these Russian dolls. They came in sets of 3 blank dolls ready for the child to paint their own.

Weaving Loom

I got this basic weaving loom for Sophie. It's a bit tricky for her, and she needs a little help, but she's surprisingly motivated to add one new colour each time and is looking forward to having a little homemade rug for her dollies. I like that it's introducing her to the process of how actual rugs and carpets are made.

Cross-Stitch

Finally, I felt that I should be setting a good example, so I took up a new handicraft myself. I started my first cross-stitch project (which I've now finished and framed). It was a lot of fun, and very relaxing to sit and do something with my hands in the evenings or in our 'quiet hour'. The girls were interested to see how it developed.

Learning from those who've gone before us

I've just finished reading a book by Noel Piper called 'Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God', which looks at the lives of five amazing women from different centuries and countries, with very different callings, from whom we can learn so much. I used to read loads of missionary biographies, which I always found so inspiring, and this book re-ignited a small flame inside me that had died out a while ago. I was encouraged to read about Sarah Edwards, who made such an impact when in the eyes of the world today she was 'just a stay-at-home mum'. Lilias Trotter, who gave up a potentially wonderful career as a talented and respected artist so that she could go to Africa as a missionary despite her poor health, really inspired me to look beyond earthly rewards and human wisdom and to make sure that I'm being obedient to God's call, however strange or 'second best' it may seem. Gladys Aylward's story was one of courage and determination, and I was challenged by her desire to really become one with the people she was working amongst. I'd not heard of Esther Ahn Kim, but her story reminded me that we are not called a life of ease, but rather we should be prepared to suffer as followers of Jesus. Finally, the story of Helen Roseveare really resonated with me because I recognised a lot of myself in her upbringing, spiritual struggles and focus in life. I loved the part where she loses her temper in the hospital ward and has to be gently rebuked by her African colleague that “I don’t think the Lord Jesus would have spoken like that.” I need to be reminded of that on a daily basis when I ‘lose it’ with my kids :-) In another place her local Pastor suggests that “Self is the great enemy….Helen… the trouble with you is that we can see so much Helen that we cannot see Jesus.” I was really struck by that thought. I waste so much time and energy trying to be the best ‘Catherine’ I can be, when really I ought to be seeking to cross out my ‘I’ so that ‘Christ in me’ can be more visible. With that in mind, I love words of this hymn that Noel quotes at the end of this chapter: Not I, But Christ, by A.B.Simpson Not I, but Christ, be honored, loved, exalted, Not I, but Christ, be seen, be known, be heard, Not I, but Christ, in every look and action, Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word. Not I, but Christ, to gently soothe in sorrow, Not I, but Christ, to wipe the falling tear, Not I, but Christ, to lift the weary burden, Not I, but Christ, to hush away all fear. Not I, but Christ, no idle word e’er falling, Christ, only Christ, no needless bustling sound, Christ, only Christ, no self-important bearing, Christ, only Christ, no trace of “I” be found. Not I, but Christ, my every need supplying, Not I, but Christ, my strength and health to be; Christ, only Christ, for body, soul, and spirit, Christ, only Christ, live then Thy life in me. Christ, only Christ, ere long will fill my vision; Glory excelling soon, full soon I’ll see Christ, only Christ, my every wish fulfilling — Christ, only Christ, my all in all to be.

Winter Wednesday Week 2

After joyfully starting the Winter Wednesday challenges, we then didn't have much snowfall for the next few weeks! There's still not quite enough falling at the moment to try the filter experiment with fresh snow (at least, I haven't been able to put out my collecting receptacle in time), but we did try the measuring cup experiment:

We found that just over 1 litre of snow melted down to 250ml of water.

The girls also enjoyed watching the You Tube videos on making and observing snowflakes. We did manage to catch some snowflakes on a black background for a closer look, although our magnifying glass is more of a toy than a useful piece of scientific equipment. Still, we talked about how every snowflake is different from all the rest - mind boggling when you think about it!

Here are our paper snowflakes:

Our window sill garden started sprouting, which the girls were very excited about. The carrot top didn't grow many leaves but we could see some roots dangling down in the water. The swede grew lots of nice leaves, but they withered because I forgot to keep the water topped up at the right level (oops). We had to throw away the carrot for the same reason :-) But the beetroot top is still going strong, as are the basil and kale seeds we planted:

Sophie also wanted to plant an avocado stone, which we also have suspended in water with toothpicks, so we'll see how that turns out.

The children are getting better at playing out in the snow now (they don't like having to put all their winter gear on each time they go out of the house, but they don't like being cold either!) We've made a snowman and a snow bear, have been using the sledge to get about round our village, and have some fantastic icicles hanging off our roof:

Winter Wednesday Week 1

We've had to postpone our Outdoor Challenges for a few months while winter's here, so instead we're working through the Winter Wednesday challenges on the Handbook of Nature Study blog.

This week we were supposed to look out for winter colours on our nature walk. It was a beautifully sunny day, with blue skies, but at minus 9 degrees Celsius it was just a little too cold for Charis, who cried and whined practically the whole time, while I ran round as quickly as I could taking photos of our trees for our tree study and looking out for things of colour. Fortunately Sophie enjoyed it, and Nathaniel was asleep the whole time in his pushchair. Sadly we found that one of our willow trees had fallen down and was broken into pieces. It was a really beautiful tree.

We tried really hard to spot some red berries but we couldn't see any. Instead there were greens on the fir trees, brown bark, a brown squirrel, blue sky, yellow sun, sparkly silvery snow, and some colourful birds - a green and red woodpecker, a great tit with a yellow tummy, and a brown and black female chaffinch. Later, at home, Sophie and Charis (who'd cheered up by then) filled in their colour charts:

Sophie's chart

At home we also started a winter window sill garden. We planted the tops of a carrot, a beetroot and (what I think is) a swede, and I also planted some basil and kale. The girls were quite excited about this. We're looking forward to seeing what's going to happen.

Outside we refilled the bird feeder and positioned it within sight of our schoolroom window. We know we have chaffinches and great tits in our garden, but I don't hold high hopes of seeing many birds because our dog Pepper keeps barking and chasing them away! Anyway, I feel a bit more hopeful about what we can focus our attentions on in our nature study times during these cold, winter months, when it's so hard to get all three kids outside for more than 30 mins or so at a time (not to mention the 30 mins it takes to get all three of them into snowsuits, boots, hats, scarves and gloves)!

Witnessing amazing events in creation, from the small to the large

Last week we noticed that the little brown hairy caterpillar that we put in a jam jar last June had finally hatched! After we captured it, it only spent a couple of weeks eating the leaves we gave it before it turned itself into a chrysalis at the bottom of the jar. It then stayed there for ages, and we didn't have much hope of seeing it turn into anything. But then, the other morning, I was dusting and noticed a white insect on the walls of the jar. It had turned into a beautiful White Ermine Moth. It really was very pretty - furry white with little black dots and a yellow abdomen. We had to release it in the garden, but we were worried about it because it's winter now. Perhaps it got confused in our warm house and came out too early. Still, the children were very excited to witness its miraculous transformation.

The second amazing event took place today. We were walking in the park at midday when we noticed there was a partial solar eclipse taking place! We hadn't seen the news for a while so weren't expecting it. It was quite cloudy so we were able to look at it long enough to see what it looked like. The moon was covering about half of the top of the sun, but the day didn't seem darker because of it. It lasted quite a long time. If only we'd had our camera! When we got home the girls drew a picture of it for our nature diary.