Alina's Adventures

"Extinguish Thou My Eyes", a poem by Rilke.

The day of Alabama snow.

Extinguish Thou my eyes: I still can see Thee,
deprive my ears of sound: I still can hear Thee,
and without feet I still can come to Thee,
and without voice I still can call to Thee.

Sever my arms from me, I still will hold Thee
with all my heart as with a single hand,
arrest my heart, my brain will keep on beating,
and Should Thy fire at last my brain consume,
the flowing of my blood will carry Thee.

You can download and print the coloring page for this poem to add to your family's poetry notebook right here.

Just crayons and light.

Pinka watches the driveway while the girls use the light to color.

Milla works hard with her crayon while Micah moves on to the glitter glue.

What fits is not forced.

Princess Bluegrass and the Snowman.

Or just Princess Bluegrass herself, the girl who knows better than her "breeding" to question the alignments of money and power. Lev Tolstoy just may have been on to something...

Princess Bluegrass came to my doodling mind while listening to a Solomon Burke song in the background. When I saw him in concert during one of my pregnancies (yes, I was the waddling pregnant woman you saw at that concert), this song really captured my attention.

 

NONE OF US ARE FREE by Solomon Burke (mp3)

I wonder what story Max will tell about Princess Bluegrass.... Maybe I'll play this song for them in the background as color and interpret. In my mind, I see blues and greens and maybe some black as well. I love it when we all color the same page "in secret" and then, at the end, show each other the results so we can admire the different possibilities of something as simple as a coloring page.

 

Max's Some Thing Stories.

I guess that's one way to understand the super-talkative child. Patrick asked why Maximus was standing on a circle of pizza slices ready to attack him. Good question. I don't know. The only thing that's certain is that the bowtie should be colored bright red once I print it for the munchkins to add their details.

Kentuck for Kids Around the World Series.

On the third Saturday of each month, kids who live in or near Tuscaloosa have the opportunity to immerse themselves in global art and culture thanks to the Kentuck Museum Association. This month offered an artistic and cultural exploration of Japan, home to our sister city.

Saturday, February 16th from 12:00 pm tp 3:00 pm, join the crew for an exploration of Ghana.

"Winter Mask", a poem by Allen Tate honoring W. B. Yeats.

Alabama snow angels are of the skeletal type.

To the memory of W. B. Yeats 

I

Towards nightfall when the wind

Tries the eaves and casements

(A winter wind of the mind

Long gathering its will)

I lay the mind’s contents

Bare, as upon a table,

And ask, in a time of war,

Whether there is still

To a mind frivolously dull

Anything worth living for.

                II

If I am meek and dull

And a poor sacrifice

Of perverse will to cull

The act from the attempt,

Just look into damned eyes

And give the returning glare;

For the damned like it, the more

Damnation is exempt

From what would save its heir   

With a thing worth living for.

                III

The poisoned rat in the wall

Cuts through the wall like a knife,

Then blind, drying, and small

And driven to cold water,

Dies of the water of life:

Both damned in eternal ice,

The traitor become the boor

Who had led his friend to slaughter,

Now bites his head—not nice,

The food that he lives for.

               IV

I supposed two scenes of hell,

Two human bestiaries,

Might uncommonly well

Convey the doom I thought;

But lest the horror freeze

The gentler estimation

I go to the sylvan door

Where nature has been bought

In rational proration

As a thing worth living for.

               V

Should the buyer have been beware?

It is an uneven trade

For man has wet his hair

Under the winter weather

With only fog for shade:

His mouth a bracketed hole

Picked by the crows that bore

Nature to their hanged brother,

Who rattles against the bole

The thing that he lived for.

                VI

I asked the master Yeats

Whose great style could not tell

Why it is man hates

His own salvatiòn,

Prefers the way to hell,

And finds his last safety

In the self-made curse that bore

Him towards damnatiòn:

The drowned undrowned by the sea

The sea worth living for.

Allen Tate was associated with the Fugitive school of poetry. You can hear him read this poem aloud online right here.

The magic ring.

You know the day will turn out well when you find a mysterious envelope in the mailbox which reads, "For Alina (or anyone else who needs a magic ring)". Especially when the ring is made from colors that look more like they come from The Mists of Avalon  or White Raven than Lily Pulizter. 

I've been wearing the magic ring all day, and I'm convinced it has something to do with the magic of a babysitter suddenly appearing tonight to give the King and Queen a little time to tend to their tiny kingdom. Or each other.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate Unit Study: Portraits.

Here's what came of our Character Study Sketch of Calpurnia Tate. You can download the handout right here.

Micah's quest for unicorn juice: An unmade story-bed.

Micah has been my fairy tale muse since she first emerged, clearly unhappy with the post-womb world. Perhaps the whimpering babies are those whose fairy tale remains to be written and, unlike other children, they know it- they are expecting something clear and somewhat magical to bind them to this world and its ways.

The migraines made my past week an rather stiff-necked occasion, so I picked up some colored pencils and drew alongside the kids.

What would Micah's world be like if she could tell me all those colors and sights that coalesce in her tiny head?

I drew a story that remains to be told.

A story that takes place in a land between here and there.

A story which a fancy character named "no no" who always has a reason why Micah shouldn't go there or shouldn't do that or shouldn't see something.

A story with a character named "him", who does all those things that him's do inside the office cubbies in their professional bubbles.

A story in which triangular planes offer a different way of transport across flying barrels and vases.

A story in which the hunt for unicorn juice must continue without a clear reason and without a unicorn to offer assistance.

A true quest, if you will.

I can't wait to see how Micah tells it- and how it comes to life in her mind...

Have you ever doodled an untold story for one of your children? It's a wonderful way to meet them in lands where the rules don't apply- in places where you can be confidantes and partners in dreaming something thick and true.

"Bluebonnets", a poem by Gail Mazur.

While we're on this bluebonnet theme, why not throw in a poem for ballast? This one was published in the Atlantic Monthly by Gail Mazur back in the 90's.

I lay down by the side of the road
in a meadow of bluebonnets, I broke
the unwritten law of Texas. My brother

was visiting, he'd been tired, afraid of
his tiredness as we'd driven toward Bremen,
so we stopped for the blue relatives

of lupine, we left the car on huge feet
we'd inherited from our lost father,
our Polish grandfather. Those flowers

were too beautiful to only look at;
we walked on them, stood in the middle
of them, threw ourselves down,

crushing them in their one opportunity
to thrive and bloom. We lay like angels
forgiven our misdeeds, transported

to azure fields, the only word for
the color eluded me -- delft, indigo,
sapphire, some heavenly word you might

speak to a sky. I led my terrestrial brother
there to make him smile, and this
is my only record of the event.

We took no pictures, we knew no camera
could fathom that blue. I brushed
the soft spikes, I fingered lightly

the delicate earthly petals, I thought,
This is what my hands do well
isn't it, touch things about to vanish.

The Legend of the Bluebonnet.

If it doesn't exist in the way you imagine it, just go ahead and create it. A basic rule of thumb for an unfrustrated life. Don't worry about whether you "know how" or have "talent"- go ahead and dare to dabble. For it is the dabblers and dilettantes, the tinkerers and innovators, the "I-wonder-what-would-happen"-ers to whom we owe a great deal that is beautiful and fresh in this world.

Today we continued our tormented study of Native American history. I'm sorry- there is just no honest way to explore these narratives in a way that casts a positive light on the actions of our nation's history. We read The Legend of the Bluebonnet by Tomie Di Paolo and then played around with some painting inspired by Adventures in Mommydom.

As the munchkins painted, I doodled a handout that included all those neat little details about the botany of the bluebonnet as well as the legend of the bluebonnet. Then I scanned it and printed a copy for each small person. You can download your own 2-page version below.

 

The Texas Bluebonnet Coloring Page and Legend (PDF)

Experimenting with colored pencils and crosshatching techniques.

After chasing triangles around the house and head, Max and I decided it was time to learn some new "techne" (pace Jacques Ellul) with our colored pencils. We started by noticing how color basically "covers" the white or colorless space on a sheet of paper. Usually, when we color with our colored pencils, we cover the space in tightly-scribbled lines which go back and forth.

Crosshatching allows to to vary the depth, hue, and richness of the color by essentially recoloring the same area in a different direction.

Cross hatching uses lines coming from 4 completely different directions. But you can also use just one layer of lines, or 2, which some call 1/4 hatching and 1/2 hatching respectively. Each different kind of cross hatching provides different shaded values and influences how much additional color will penetrate the existing color. 

My tessellated beast.

We decided to use tessellations to create some shapes and figures. Then we sketched our tessellations onto white paper with lead pencils and started using plain old colored pencils to color them in.

For the multi-colored spaces, I used 3/4 hatching and 1/2 hatching more than cross hatching because I wanted a messy scribbled effect- nothing too clean and pristine.

The element of play never left our drawing session; both of us were clearly playing around with the effects of this technique on color and light and the third dimension.

"Fire Flower" by Max

Max really enjoyed "making the colors richer" so he tended to complete his crosshatches and then go around the borders to clean up the lines.

His tessellated worm (though misspelled by yours truly lazy) certainly looked "richer" and more colorful than our past colored pencil play. 

The girls play pretend "fetch".

Not with a pretend dog, mind you, but with the heady pretense of being a dog who must fetch. Whoever said children left to amuse themselves outdoors "get bored" was surely mistaken. As Patrick worked on the shelves for the fourth weekend in a row, the tormented buzz of the saw creeping through the back door, the ladies had their own ideas about the proper way to spend a Saturday morning. 

Micah corrects Milla's "fetching" style. Milla agreed to pick up the stick with her mouth but then refused to follow-through with the fetching part.

I caught them unawares- they didn't see me in the window taking photos- which makes this "pure play" even more enchanting to a mother who thinks playing pretend is quite possibly the best way to spend one's childhood.

Micah decided to teach Milla by showing her- yes, the old teach-by-example in action to remind an Alina who sometimes forgets how much it applies. So Milla threw the stick and Micah went after it.

As she leaned down to pick up the stick, I thought I heard Micah the Dog emit a little bark of glee. Meanwhile, Milla watched with her foot posed in her approving-and-thoughtful position.

One happy dog brings the stick back to Milla. One mother stands laughing and clapping in the window. One lesson of parenting is reinforced- they don't do what we say, but they always do what we do. My children keep my conscience alive and kicking. I can never repay for this gift- or for the many other ways in which they bring joy and wonder to life.

Tangled in triangles.

I find myself continuially inspired and educated by the drawings and lines on 10,000 Pages. This morning, it was the triangles that caught my eye. And my eye couldn't help sharing my newfound fascination with the munchkins in a visual language that they understand. Hence triangles for the letter A and triangles for gnome homes.

"Epilogue", a poem by Robert Lowell.

Those blessèd structures, plot and rhyme—
why are they no help to me now
I want to make
something imagined, not recalled?
I hear the noise of my own voice:
The painter’s vision is not a lens,
it trembles to caress the light.
But sometimes everything I write
with the threadbare art of my eye
seems a snapshot,
lurid, rapid, garish, grouped,
heightened from life,
yet paralyzed by fact.
All’s misalliance.
Yet why not say what happened?
Pray for the grace of accuracy
Vermeer gave to the sun’s illumination
stealing like the tide across a map
to his girl solid with yearning.
We are poor passing facts,
warned by that to give
each figure in the photograph
his living name.

Sorting beads with the kids.

Today we sorted and organized the jambalaya of beads. Something simple- a way to just speak and follow the thread of conversation where it leads us. We changed our categories at least twice- and then resorted everything. There is learning and education in this as well- ineffable, "unspeakable" discovery. Perhaps the greatest part is that we didn't try to categorize what and how we learned- we left the labels for the beads and contented ourselves which just speaking.

"Leap Before You Look", a poem by W. H. Auden.

The sense of danger must not disappear:
The way is certainly both short and steep,
However gradual it looks from here;
Look if you like, but you will have to leap.

Tough-minded men get mushy in their sleep
And break the by-laws any fool can keep;
It is not the convention but the fear
That has a tendency to disappear.

The worried efforts of the busy heap,
The dirt, the imprecision, and the beer
Produce a few samrt wisecracke every year;
Laugh if you can, but you will have to leap.

The clothes that are considered right to wear
Will not be either sensible or cheap,
So long as we consent to live like sheep
And never mention those who disappear.

Much can be said for social savior-faire,
Bu to rejoice when no one else is there
Is even harder than it is to weep;
No one is watching, but you have to leap.

A solitude ten thousand fathoms deep
Sustains the bed on which we lie, my dear:
Although I love you, you will have to leap;
Our dream of safety has to disappear. 

St. John on Patmos: A Bosch study and emulation.

After yesterday's exploration of Hieronymus Bosch, today we took time to focus on just one of Bosch's pieces- "St. John on Patmos". Patmos is an island off the coast of Greece which serves as a longtime home to the Monastery of St. John the Divine. This monastery is a fortified Eastern Orthodox monastery which also goes by the name of the Monastery of St. John the Theologian. During the Renaissance, one of the popular subjects commissioned by religious and wealthy patrons was that of Saint John on Patmos.

Bosch's painting shows the patron saint, John the Evangelist, of the monastery. It is believed that John wrote the book of Revelations while sitting on the island of Patmos. Max used the 30 second look activity to introduce himself to the painting, and then spent a large amount of time trying to decide if "that demon is supposed to be scary or not". Certainly, the demon looked quite friendly and rather duck-like in Max's gouache-painted version.

Why I teach my children poetry.

We begin each morning together on the red carpet with a poem- from sonnet to limerick to ballade to hymn and on through any form or un-form imaginable, Robert Frost, George Herbert, Eugene Fields, Lewis Carroll, Herman Hesse, WB Yeats, Eugene Ionesco, Mother Goose, Auden, the sublime rubbing shoulders with the silly.

Literary essays, novels, articles, essays, scientific papers, and textbooks enable us to explore, ponder, and discuss many beautiful things, creatures, and ideas. This is undisputable and quite obvious. No amount of rationalistic description, however, can convey to us what it feels like to be inlove or to seek the sacred in the ache of a long day. To study these hallowed chambers of life requires the assistance of poetry and song- words arranged aiming not to provide THE account but to linger upon and live and sense various aspects of the accounting process itself. 

The child who can discuss anatomy and football yet who shudders, frustrated and mute, in the face of love- finding no words to honor this experience, no form in which to share it with others- is a sad and uneducated child indeed. For he has been taught only one part of a bigger puzzle. He will gain his instruction in lust from the magazines lining the grocery store aisles, the movies, and the homogenizing banter of friends and fellows. But this burdensome lust will lack something bigger to magnify. 

To offer poetry, a daily dose, as it were, is to provide a young heart and mind with a means of reproach against the sordid banality of groupthink, the dull-witted profanity of everyday life. It arms you with the possibility of meaning and hope; it awakens and nourishes a sense of awe for the sublime and unspeakable, for the wonder and the mystery. So feed them fairies and legends, tales of wonder and magic. And put the gift of poetry on their tiny tongues so they may learn to speak about the soul stirring beneath and throughout. 

5 things to do on a winter's walk around the neighborhood.

1

Convince a fine blonde Bunica to accompany you.

2

Introduce your dog to other neighborhood creatures while wearing matching pumpkin knit hats.

3

Don't fret about being last- that hood adjustment is far more important.

4

Find a word to describe that magic color of golden buttered light which bathes the world just before sunset.

5

Master the fine art of hill rolling in an unassuming neighbor's yard.

"Like A Vocation", a poem by W. H. Auden.

Not as that dream Napoleon, rumour’s dread and centre,
Before who’s riding all the crowds divide,
Who dedicates a column and withdraws,
Nor as that general favourite and breezy visitor
To whom the weather and the ruins mean so much,
Nor as any of those who always will be welcome,
As luck or history or fun,
Do not enter like that: all these depart.

Claim, certainly, the stranger’s right to pleasure:
Ambassadors will surely entertain you
With knowledge of operas and men,
Bankers will ask for your opinion
And the heiress’ cheek lean ever so slightly towards you,
The mountains and the shopkeepers accept you
And all your walks be free.

But politeness and freedom are never enough,
Not for a life. They lead
Up to a bed that only looks like marriage;
Even the disciplined and distant admiration
For thousands who obviously want nothing
Becomes just a dowdy illness. These have their moderate success;
They exist in the vanishing hour.

But somewhere always, nowhere particularly unusual,
Almost anywhere in the landscape of water and houses,
His crying competing unsuccessfully with the cry
Of the traffic or the birds, is always standing
The one who needs you, that terrified
Imaginative child who only knows you
As what the uncles call a lie,
But knows he has to be the future and that only
The meek inherit the earth, and is neither
Charming, successful, nor a crowd;
Alone among the noise and policies of summer,
His weeping climbs towards your life like a vocation.

Lessons in spider anatomy with beads and wire.

Today was all about those crazy friends known as spiders. And yes, Micah can say "cephalothorax" thanks to a little time with beads and paper.

The instructions for how to make a beaded spider friend.

Make A Beaded Spider Friend (PDF)

Our Friends, The Spiders (PDF)

In our case, the beaded spiders turned into worms for the little folks. 

Milla adds beads to her copper worm.

Please please please do not use the handouts or printables commercially because the images have been shared by others online and are not mine to sell or distribute. Keep in mind that we are able to share with the assumption that our sharing is not for profit.

Exploring root words with prefixes and suffixes with Ween.

 

My root word examples, include in the free handout below.

Today, Max explored root words and prefixes and suffixes as I desperately tried to get a Ween song unstuck from my head. It reminds me of Amy and Rani in high school- countless mix tapes and VISTA and the simple joys of a driving license with a boombox in the front seat.

Push Th' Little Daisies by Ween (mp3)

Back to grammar and what grows from root words, here's what we did and something akin to how we did it (if you add the hokey-pokey as sung and performed by Micah and Mills in the background). 

Suffixes and Prefixes Handout With Roots (PDF)

CHASING BUTTERFLIES

Growing From Root Words worksheet (BBC)
Root Words worksheet (Teach-nology)
Root Grid activity (Ms. Effie)
Find the Root Words worksheet (Teach-nology)
Building on Root Words worksheet (BBC) 
List of English prefixes printable (Teach-nology)
Adding Mixed Prefixes worksheet (Teach-nology) 
Roots and Suffixes worksheet (Teach-nology) 
The Root Word Slide worksheet (Teach-nology) 
Root Words printable (Ms. Effie)
Root Word Tests worksheet (Ms. Effie) 
Root Riddles To Solve worksheet (Ms. Effie) 

Maternal Counsel, a poem worth coloring.

Oh the things we'll color for what looks like good advice. This is our poem of the day for the day- a little nonsense is good for the soul. You can download the printable version below.

Maternal Counsel by J G Francis (PDF)

 

The temptations of Hieronymus Bosch.

Here is the background visual slideshow I created for Max to present Bosch's uber-dark view of the world- a view quite prominent in the Middle Ages. Of course Max took the darkness in stride- "Poor Hiero, he must have been really sad. I think he didn't spend enough time in treehouses when he was a kid....."

Hieronymus Bosch Printable Profile

The profile can be downloaded and printed (need I even bother to say this is free) and the extension activities at the bottom should get Bosch in and out of your skin before you can say, "Bosch was bummed by the world".

Watching the Birdwatcher, a poem by Richard Schiffman.

She peers through a pair of binoculars
into a treetop lit with day’s last blaze,
where some bird alights unseen by me. 
Her gaze poised so tremulous and light,
as if resting upon a twig -- looking, looking 
at the bird that we don’t see. The bird in the tree,
and the seer of the bird sharing for the stainless present
the same slender branch. She stands stock-still.
Expecting nothing. Neither bird, nor bird watcher, nor air
are moving. Nor I, as I watch her, as she watches the bird --
all hung weightless and timeless and spaceless. Perched
upon this dimensionless brink. The twig could not bear
any more load than this bare awareness. If, therefore,
you would not spook the bird, nor snap the twig,
nor shatter this spun glass globe of air, then alight upon
the world like air, like breath. And do not linger any longer
than this bird watcher who now strolls off, the bird still hidden,
still lost in shadow. Forgetting the bird, forgetting herself.
Dissolving like an apparition into twilight’s final bay.
Only this poem still holding on. Foolish poem
grasping at the ungraspable world.

DIY recipe coloring book.

The internet makes it possible to make your own recipe book based on the foods you prefer and the tastes and textures that suit your family best. Learning at home with the kids still requires me to feed them and somehow magically ensure that healthy eating takes place. So this year, I've been trying to make cooking part of our daily learning. Max has gotten quite adept at measuring out recipes as the girls fill the muffin tin with liners.

On that note, the plebes have demanded their own recipe book ("one we can color," says Micah). These recipes come free courtesy of lovely human beings around the country. Thanks be to them.  If Fo' Reals Mom doesn't whet your appetite for cooking delicious, vegetarian or vegan meals, then your appetite may be of the un-whettable sort. Savor, color, and enjoy.

FREE RECIPE COLORING PAGES

Golden Potato Soup Recipe (Fo' Reals Mom)
Soft Pretzels (Nellie Edge)
Sesame Hot Dogs (Taste of Home)
Pumpkin Gnocchi (Fo' Reals Mom)
Sun Tea (Leslie Wilson)
Challah (Mollie Katzen)
Borracho Beans (Fo' Reals Mom)
Herb Salad Dressing (Nellie Edge)
3 Bean Salad (Fo' Reals Mom)
Lemon Corncakes with Blueberry Syrup (Fo' Reals Mom)
Chef Pisghetti's Giardano Burgers (Curious George)
Beer Cheese Sauce and Dip (Fo' Reals Mom)
Cheezy Fondue (Fo' Reals Mom)
Individual Pizzas (Nellie Edge)
Green Bean Casserole (Taste of Home)
Lots-o Matzo Ball Soup (Fo' Reals Mom)
Grandma's Grahams (Fight Bac)
Lil' Roasted Root Veggies (Fo' Reals Mom)
Garlic Miso Tahini Dressing Over Massaged Kale (Fo' Reals Mom)
Pumpkin and Black Bean Quesadillas (Fo' Reals Mom)
Carrot Cashew Curry (Mollie Katzen)
Oven Baked Potato Chips (Fo' Reals Mom)
Cherry Compote (Nicole's Coloring Pages)
Golden Potato Soup (Fo' Reals Mom)
Basic Cornbread (Mollie Katzen)
Fruit Salad (Nellie Edge)
Crunchy Trail Mix (Taste of Home)
Chewy Yum Yums (Nellie Edge)
Full Harvest Soup (Fo' Reals Mom)
Pear Syrup (Fo' Reals Mom)
Butternut Squash and Black Bean Soup (Fo' Reals Mom)
Festive Tomato Wedges (Taste of Home)
Thick Quick Healty Chili (Fo' Reals Mom)
Peanut Butter Balls (Fight Bac)
Jacob and Esau Soup (Church Collection)
Kale Pesto (Fo' Reals Mom) 
Peanut Butter Clusters (Taste of Home)
Bomb Diggity Bean Dip (Fo' Reals Mom)
Pumpkin Alfredo (Fo' Reals Mom) 
Flower Fresh ChamomileTea Recipe (alina's adventures) 
Cooked Playdough (Nellie Edge) 
Stone Soup (Nellie Edge) 

The Lanyard, a poem by Billy Collins.

Milla ponderizing in the snow.

The other day as I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room
bouncing from typewriter to piano
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
I found myself in the "L" section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word, Lanyard. 
No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one more suddenly into the past.
A past where I sat at a workbench
at a camp by a deep Adirondack lake 
learning how to braid thin plastic strips into a lanyard. 
A gift for my mother.
I had never seen anyone use a lanyard. 
Or wear one, if that’s what you did with them. 
But that did not keep me from crossing strand over strand 
again and again until I had made a boxy, red and white lanyard for my mother. 
She gave me life and milk from her breasts, 
and I gave her a lanyard 
She nursed me in many a sick room, 
lifted teaspoons of medicine to my lips, 
set cold facecloths on my forehead
then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim and I in turn presented her with a lanyard. 
"Here are thousands of meals" she said, 
"and here is clothing and a good education." 
"And here is your lanyard," I replied,
"which I made with a little help from a counselor." 
"Here is a breathing body and a beating heart, 
strong legs, bones and teeth and two clear eyes to read the world." she whispered.
"And here," I said, "is the lanyard I made at camp."
"And here," I wish to say to her now, 
"is a smaller gift. Not the archaic truth, 
that you can never repay your mother, 
but the rueful admission that when she took the two-toned lanyard from my hands,
I was as sure as a boy could be 
that this useless worthless thing I wove out of boredom 
would be enough to make us even."

The art of Igor Popov.

Igor Aleksandrovich Popov (1927-1999) was a Soviet artist who passed away a decade after the dream of communism was laid to rest in Russia. Fairly unknown in the West, Popov's art expresses the theme that a true understanding of one's country exists only if one knows his nation's history and if he is deeply aware of such concepts as "parental home" and "native land."

By the end of the1960s, Moscow as a theme had become the painter's major artistic quest. But rather than painting the teeming city he sought the quiet places of Moscow, contemplative environments that fostered meditation. More and more he painted his studio with its ascetic furnishings as a representation of his own spiritual world. Unfortunately, very few of these paintings are available online.

In 1970, Popov was awarded the prestigious Silver Medal from the USSR Academy of Arts for the series of portraits, Fishermen of Galich. Galich is a town in Northern Russia. Igor Popov went to Galich to do sketches together with Vladimir Stozharov. 

Our Yard by Igor Popov, 1964

This is the yard of the apartment house reserved for artists in Bryanskaia Street in Moscow. Popov was keenly aware of social space and how it was used in the Soviet Union. Social planning, much like the current trends in urban development, focused on shared social spaces in which people could interact and cultivate communal ties. The standard design of many Soviet apartment buildings included an inner courtyard with grass, a few trees, several benches, and perhaps some swings for hyperactive children and their exhausted mothers.  Over the course of 24 hours, different generations would make use of the courtyard for different purposes. Our Yard depicts the use of this planned social space in a positive light.

Before Work by Igor Popov, 1966

My favorite painting by Popov is the one above, which also depicts a use of social space on the way to work in the Moscow subway. There is a loneliness that hovers between the passengers, whose newspaper act as defenses against human interaction, reminiscient of the way in which our iPhones stand between myself and my neighbor in the grocery store check-out line.

View from Vorobyovy Gory, Moscow by Igor Popov, 1960's

The kids and I looked at Popov's paintings and discussed them. Then Max wanted to watercolor his own map of Moscow, a "Moscow that I love" map.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. What does Popov seem to say about the relations between city people in his paintings? How does he say this?
2. What colors does Popov use in Before Work and to what effect?
3. How does Popov present Moscow? Why?
4. How does the View from Vorobyovy Gory make you feel? What does Popov communicate as far as feelings are concerned in this painting?
5. How might an artist reveal affection or specific feelings in a still life or landscape painting?
6. How do Popov's paintings ask questions about what humans need to exist and thrive? What answers, if any, does Popov provide?

Poem of the day: The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry.

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things 
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

— Wendell Berry

The tale of Saint George and the Dragon told through paintings.

Saints played a prominent role in medieval Christian devotional practice. The faithful regarded them as protectors, and they petitioned them for all kinds of assistance. The story of Saint George and the Dragon inspired countless pieces of art during the Middle Ages and on through the present day. The Belles Heures, an illuminated manuscript by the Limbourg brothers which we studied yesterday, contains 35 suffrages (texts recited in honor of a particular saint), each illustrated with its own miniature. This is the miniature for St. George and the Dragon.

The chivalric ideals of the later Middle Ages are embodied in the beloved story in which Saint George, the patron of knighthood, saves a princess from a dragon. The Limbourgs rendered the anatomy and movement of George's horse with great fidelity, while the depiction of the wholly imaginary dragon betrays less precision. A few questions that Max and considered while gazing at this painting:

How do the Limbourgs show that Saint George is a saint or a holy man?
What does the castle in the background suggest?
What does the mark on St. George's shield represent? Why did the Limbourgs include it?
What does the dragon resemble?
What can we conclude about dragons in the Middle Ages from this piece? 

In 1470, an Italian artist named Paolo Uccello revealed his exquisite Saint George and the Dragon. Uccello had a special interest in mathematical perspective, and they way in which he uses perspective in this painting creates a strange, magical scene. Notice how he contrasts the patterns of curved shapes on the right of the painting with the pointed shapes on the left. I'd be curious to see if your little people notice that Uccello seems to have left off two of the dragon's feet- unless, of course, he was depicting a dinosaur. 

Point to round and spiky details. Observe the contrast.
How does Uccello use red and white colors to link the princess and George?
What is unusual about Uccello's dragon?
How does Ucello's dragon compare to that of the Limbourg brothers? 
What kind of creature does Uccello's dragon resemble?
How does the princess look in this painting? What is she doing?
How does the princess' role differ in the two paintings?

Chase those butterflies where they lead you
The Legend of Saint George, abstracted from The Golden Legend text
Mar Jiryis and the Dragon, a Palestianian version of the legend 
The Legend of St. George, as recorded by S. Baring Gould
The legend as told in Baden 
St. George Killing the Dragon by Bernat Martorell, c. 1434-1435 (PDF)
St. George and the Dragon by Raphael
St. George and the Uffington White Horse as told in England 
"The Birth of Saint George", a ballade collected by Thomas Percy
"St George and the Dragon", a ballad collected by Thomas Percy 
Elizabeth Kostova fictionalizes St. George as the killer of Vlad Tepes 
Saint George protecting the sheep 
Explore dragon anatomy with online interactive from Animal Planet
St. George's Day coloring pages 
St. George and the Dragon Teacher's Notes for Paolo Uccello's painting (PDF) 
Follow the Piper's opinion on the legend 
St. George and the Dragon Free Unit Study from Homeschool Share 

Illuminations in the 1400s.

Our history venture this morning scrolled back to settle on the art of illuminated manuscripts. It started with some questions that Max asked yesterday about "patrons" in the arts and why they existed. To find an answer to his question offered an opportunity to hop aboard the time machine and share the journey in a slideshow. The information in this slideshow was garnered from the book,  The Art of Medieval Manuscripts by Krystyna Weinstein,  as well as the excellent website called Garden of Praise. 

The Limbourg Brothers Questions (PDF)

ACTIVITY:  Use pencils and watercolor to paint a portrait of the Limbourg brothers as they might have appeared. Before you begin, use a white crayon to write his name on the paper and paint over it in dark paint for a resist effect. Make sure to observe the clothing of the time and include them in a scene that would be popular in this time period.

Beginning botany.

One of the things I am most excited about in the coming year is the study of botany. We plan to devote the entire year to it on the science side. The challenge will be learning in a Reggio-inspired way that brings together Micah's exploration of the alphabet with Max's well-developed reading and language abilities.

The learning plan caters to both and involves activities and field trips pursued in common with individualized activities and investigations. There is a heavy emphasis on narrative explanations, scientific method, and descriptive writing. If this sounds like something you'd enjoy, come back and visit to see how we're doing over the next year. Here's the skeleton:

IN COMMON:

• Basic botany terms for leaves and trees
• Nature stories specific to each plant
• Wildcraft game
• Plant dyeing and printing
• Plant collecting and foraging
• Herbal recipes
• Herbal garden
• Herbal Bingo Game (via Herbal Roots Zine)
• Tree Leaf Bingo Game  (via Ellen J. McHenry)
• Basket weaving with pinestraw
• Herb skits and presentation
• Plant museum
• "What the Tree Teaches Us" skit
• A family plant quilt

MAX:

• Nature journal
• Herbal Roots Zine issues devoted to study of specific herbs
• Tincture preparations
• Qualitative description of plant species
• Basic herbal medicine
• Drying herbs and making teas
• Botany Scavenger Hunt (via Ellen J. McHenry)

MICAH AND MILLA:

• Flower Fairy ABC's coloring book
• Measurement in inches and centimeters
• Illustrated books based on plants and herbs
• Flower mushing and sifting
• Woodland fairy play
• "The Little Tree That Wished for Different Leaves"  
• "The Little Acorn"

A blanket reprieve.

 

The snowflakes collect on my grandmother's rabbit hat from Romania.

The irresistible poem came to me this morning as I watched the snow cover our unmanicured front lawn- a poem about the way the snow coats the wagons and toys, ultimately equalizing the houses and landscapes of the neighborhood. Under a blanket of white,  we are all the perfect housekeepers.

As I tossed around words in the possibility of a sonnet, the munchkins were jumping out of their skin. Coats and caps, we ventured out to play and explore.

After traipsing and snacking on snow, we returned indoors to read some Robert Frost and revel in the strangeness of snow.

There is one perfect snowflake in the top right which allows you to distinguish its perfect shape. 

Each little flake carries its own signature. We studied the lines and shapes and then made a small snow-mobile to remind us that the huge mass of sculptures we see outside is composed of millions of tiny geometric wonders- each distinct and beautiful. 

We never end up where we start....

Snowflakes (PDF)

Then I printed up two copies (Mills was otherwise occupied) of the snowflake printable above and armed the kids with crayons to color their vision of snowflakes. Micah's snowflakes were rainbows of fruit flavor, while Max stuck to gray and light blue ("snow tones", as he called them). We added some glitter with glue and let everything dry. In the meantime, the snow started plopping by the bucket, so out we went again.

Micah kept taking a microscopic view of the snowflakes, pointing out "this one has a crinkly shape" and so on. Wet and cold with red hands and soaked shoes, we returned to the house to finish our snowflaking out. 

After cutting out each snowflake, Micah and Milla matched pairs of snowflakes so we could glue them together. I love the fact that each double-sided snowflake looks different as a result of alternate visions by Micah and Max- the same snowflake shape but different colors and glitter designs. Skills of comparing and contrasting benefit from slight variations which encourage little people to seek the underlying similarity. 

I used a hole-punch to punch holes in the double-sided snowflakes and looped a piece of string through each one. Micah practiced her counting skills by counting the snowflakes aloud and then matching a string to each.

As the afternoon sun revealed the "fairy wishes" (Max's longtime name for the house dust that really shows up when given a few rays of beaming light), the little people argued over the "best color of glitter" and "why the sun makes the snow sparkle less". 

So the snowflakes outside melt while the snowflakes hanging near the kitchen doorway keep their artificial sweetness. Time for a fire.

Astrometaphysical, a poem by Robert Frost.

A snowy coloring page with questions.

Inspired by the snow outside and the warm tea and pumpkin-wheat muffins drawing us back inside. As Max watercolors, he hums and thinks about the questions. I saw him eyeing the bookshelf, and the scent of impending conversation hovers near my muffin. Perhaps I can convince the munchkins to "pretend we're hibernating" this afternoon- always a good game.

 Oh Snow So Snowy (PDF)

Rabbit rage.

Rabbits are all the rage around here, thanks to Indigo and that lovely little cottontail who scoots around our front yard in the evening.

Rabbit finger puppets (Secret Agent Josephine)
Hop-up bunny puppets (mermag) 
Plaster bunny puppet (bkids) 
Felt bunny hand puppets (The Purl Bee) 
Bunny hand puppet (My Poppet)
Origami bunnies (Mama Moontime)
Bunny finger puppets (The Purl Bee) 
Babsie and Teensie printable paper puppets (Small For Big)
Printable Peter Rabbit notes (Gaddie and Tood)
Pipe cleaner bunny finger puppets (Craft Jr.)
Printable Peter Rabbit party toppers which we use as "rabbit money" (Gaddie and Tood) 
Mini felt bunnies (buzzmills) 
Easy origami rabbit head (Origami Resource Center)
White rock rabbit (Inna's Creations)
Origami bunny envelopes (Paper Kawaii)
Recycled mooshy belly bunny (Chez Beeper Baby)
Chibi rabbit tutorial (My Little Mochi)
Sitting rabbit plush (mairuru)
Jack rabbit softie pattern (The Mary Frances Project)

Y is for yo-yo (and Yo-Yo Ma).

Our coloring page for the alphabet book from yesterday.

Y is for yo-yo (PDF)

And then there's the background music for coloring and chatting:

Simple Gifts by Allison Krauss and Yo-Yo Ma

 

"Let down your golden hair!"

That's what Micah and Milla have been insisting from the corner all day. The fairy tale notebook which we began at the start of 2013 is the perfect company to our extended earth-washing also known as rain. We read Andrew Lang's version of Rapunzel from the Red Fairy Book (you can find it for free online at glorious Gutenberg). 

Then Micah and Milla created a few illustrations for their notebooks of Rapunzel and the tower as I printed up a few copies of our sight word cards for the story. We use the sight word cards instead of illustated texts. Usually, after reading the story, I will take out the cards and discuss the story with them. I'll sound out the words and point to them as we go through the cards. Then, after lunch, they have a chance to re-tell the story in their own words using the cards as props. 

Rapunzel Sight Word Cards (PDF)

Underlying assumption confession: Telling stories helps kids learn to communicate and establish cause-effect relationships inherent in human (and fairy) life. It also empowers them to tell their own stories, whether real or imagined, as a means of communicating their needs, fears, concerns, joys, and questions.

I didn't have a craft planned for the day, but with a little scurrying and the right amount of pressure from craft-hungry little folks, I mustered up a tower and Rapunzel paper doll for imaginary play.

Micah's paper doll (picture above) hangs out in her tower window thanks to her paper dress and a few pipe cleaners. You can make your own Rapunzel of the Paper Tower if you promise to forgive my slap-dash instructions and use them as an opportunity to riff on the melody.

Underlying assumption confession: Riffing rocks in both music and real life. It offers its own energy and approximates synergy.

 

SUPPLIES

three sheets of white cardstock paper (or other heavy paper)
watercolor paints and brushes
several long strips of colored yarn in the lightest colors you can find
scissors
stapler
ink pen
colored pencils 
2 pipe cleaners (bend in half and staple two ends together inside at neck of dolls) 

 SLAP-DASH HOW-TO

Have each child watercolor a sheet of cardstock to serve as tower. Use ink pen to draw a Rapunzel paper doll (and a baby Rapunzel if needed) on cardstock. Cut out paper dolls and give to kids to color as towers dry. Make a fold in tower and cut a small curved square towards the top for window. Roll paper tower and staple into tower shape.  Cut out paper dolls and add pipe cleaners to make puppets. Popsicle sticks would be much better, but we improvised. Fold over yarn or string and staple to top of doll's heads. Explain to kids that paper dolls lack nerves in the head so stapling doesn't hurt them. Compare to the plight of the nerve-laden homo sapiens sapiens.

Milla's Baby Rapunzel hangs out.

Come to think of it, Baby Rapunzel looks a little bitter. My bad.

As Max and I slaved away learning about "karma" in The Story of the Robber Chief, the girls added horses, princes, and even a baby doll to act as the "witch". The refrain was, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair...." Did I mention that Micah wanted to know why Rapunzel had "golden hair"? My answer was probably not very factual, but I told her that many people want to have blond hair because they think it is pretty and so they spend lots of money and time dyeing their hair blonde.

MICAH:
"So they can be like Rapunzel?"

ALINA:
"Or something like that."

MICAH:
"But Rapunzel has to wash her hair every day for it to stay pretty because I heard in the tv news at Bunica's house that blonde hair gets greasy..... So she has to use a lot of water ALL THE TIME!"

ALINA, trying not to laugh:
"Okay Micah, I'll let you play now."

MICAH:
"Yeah mommy but MY Rapunzel dyes her hair reddish pinkish 'cause she wants it that way. The Prince will be SO surprised when he screams at the tower, won't he? 

Bella and the Magic Carrots free lesson plan.

Chris Willows' story about "Bella and the Magic Carrot" led us into an entire exploration of rabbits, words, tracks, and rhymes this morning. Coordinating Max and Micah's learning often requires more than a little prep on my part, and I'd hate to see anyone replicate what might otherwise be shared. (Yes, it's true, in my vision of the ideal, we share and cooperate rather than compete and profit.)

 Bella and the Magic Carrot Sight Words (PDF)

If you'd like to join us, you can download the lesson plan right here. Or you can flip through the small window below for a preview.

Two poems by a Colonel.

Yours truly at a rare moment in the Castle- an iron is a strange, exotic object in my hands.

Envoi

SPEED, Ruthless Rhymes; throughout the land
Disperse yourselves with patient zeal!
Go, perch upon the Critic's hand,
Just after he has had a meal.
But should he still unkindly be,
Unperch and hasten back to me.

And, wheresoever you may roam,
Remember the secluded shelf
(Where, sitting in his Heartless Home,
The author chortles to himself),
There, in the distant by-and-bye,
You still may flutter back—to die.

Self-Sacrifice

FATHER, chancing to chastise
His indignant daughter Sue,
Said, "I hope you realize
That this hurts me more than you."

Susan straightway ceased to roar.
"If that's really true," said she,
"I can stand a good deal more;
Pray go on, and don't mind me."

Both poems are from Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes by Col. D. Streamer, who published this book in 1912 as the age of nonsense rhyme swelled with the waistlines. The second one might be rightly dubbed "The Spanking Poem" as it plays on the irony of what we we say versus what we do. 

Calpurnia Tate continued: Chapter 2.

We are continuing our study of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate  which, of course, I intend to share with fellow home learners out there. If you missed the introduction, you can find materials for Chapter 1 right here.

“It’s amazing what you can see when you just sit down and look.”

Our chapter 2 study is heavy on the writing side with acrostics and similies as a central part of the supplemental activities.

Chapter 2 Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary (PDF)

Journal Entry Write About A Quote (PDF)

Character Impressions Through Acrostics (PDF)

Similies Stories (PDF)

Enjoy and share. I think Calpurnia would appreciate it.

Making a necklace of kisses.

Incentivizing Micah makes me feel like a corrupt old witch. Nevertheless, she thrives under more structure than myself, so I am doing my best to accomodate it.  While starting something is easy for her, staying on track poses a challenge. Then, she gets frustrated because nothing is finished- there is nothing from which she derives a sense of accomplishment. This means incentives matter with my Micah.

Since Micah loves necklaces and jewelry in between mud and wrestling, I decided to go with the necklace idea. So I got a long piece of plastic cording and told Micah that every time she finishes a project or activity, she can add a new charm to her necklace. Only, what charms to use?

The charming French website of Tomlitoo immediately solved my problem for me with its "collier de bisous". A collier de bisous is a "necklace of kisses". And what's more charming that loads of paper kisses around your neck?

So I printed ten pages of paper kisses and told Micah she could color a kiss add and it to her necklace whenever she finishes an activity. So far, she has 12 kisses on her necklace. You can download the collier de bisous below or you can find it on the beautiful Tomlitoo website (along with many other treasures for children).

Un collier de bisous (GIF)

T is for toad at the table.

You can download this alphabet book page below.

Today is a letter T sort of day- a rainy Thursday, ripe for frog and toad spotting. I've been thinking of starting to read The Wind and the Willows to the girls, and of course, this brings toads to mind. For now, we're learning about toads and frogs and tables and Thursdays. 

T is for toad at the table (PDF)

We also listened to the fable of "The Frog and the Scorpion" online at the Story Museum. The Museum includes a free story map which makes a great coloring page that teaches sequencing as you listen to audio story. Of course I couldn't resist adding an opportunity to teach the life cycle of a frog as well as the moral, "A scorpion is always a scorpion..." You can download my activity sheets for free below.

The Frog and the Scorpion (PDF)

Ice skating in Tuscaloosa.

Bunica and Micah try a few tricks.

We love the outdoor ice skating rink in Tuscaloosa. From the roller skating music to the foam snow coming out of the snowmen to the little kids slamming into the walls, it is everything an ice skating rink in Alabama should be.

Milla and I skated together- and she never once cried when she fell. Instead, she got up and kept going.

After skating together for a while, she was tired and wanted me to carry her. So I picked her up. Suddenly, a young man appeared and told me that I needed to put her down because I was violating the rules.

I apologized and told him that I didn't see any rules posted. He said that the rules were "there" but not posted. I demurred.

Then I tried to show Milla how to skate with the bucket- sliding it in front of you along the ice. She looked around- no one else was using a bucket- and decided against it.

She didn't want to hold my hand anymore- "me do it"- so I skated away to see what would happen. When I turned back around, I saw a little pink coat bobbing in the crowd, skating merrily along at the outrageous age of two! And she has never skated before.

Max kept the railings shiny as he moseyed around the rink. We're off to see what happens at our second try... Wish us no broken bones.

Little Red Riding Hood: Our take on it.

Patrick was willing to play, so we completed our very unpolished reading of Little Red Riding Hood.

Little Red Riding Hood

An Adventure with Little Red Riding Hood.

This image comes from Lindsey Yankey's adultish version of the fairy tale.

Today's free Learning Adventure includes learning opportunities for preschool children as well as reading children. It allows parents who homeschool a variety of ages to bring them “under the same tent” (that's the one we pitch and dwell beneath) for the study of an old, timeless fairy tale.

Older students will explore sequencing words while younger students will work on sequence by creating a story map. A dramatic reading and flannel board performance is also included.

An Adventure with Little Red Riding Hood (PDF)

We started by reading the story- then we discussed it a bit and the kids informed me that wolves are scary. Unfortunately, the scariness of forest animals is a theme in fairy tales, and I did the best I could to explain that wolves aren't scary unless you make them mad or hold raw meat in your hand. Everyone seemed satisfied with this explanation, so I let it go at that.

Next we worked on sequencing. Micah colored and cut and pasted to create a story map showing the order of events while Max worked on the sequencing words worksheet. Milla nursed her dolls. I fought the wild urge to join her in her fantastic pretend game.

Finally Micah cut out the characters for the flannel board while Max read over the script. I hope we get time to perform it with Patrick tonight. Life seems to be moving so quickly these days, and I treasure the time we had together over the holidays. I'm in Patrick-withdrawal and doing the best I can to build and create in the absence of my best friend. 

E is for eagle- not alphabet catch-up.

But a little alphabet book catch-up is in order since I failed to post much of our home learning over the holidays. We learned that the letter "e" is for eagle.

You can download the alphabet book printable and add it your collection as well. For free, of course.

E is for Eagle (PDF)

P is for pat-a-cake.

Micah continues her alphabet book alongside a daily letter sound. P is such a fun letter and makes for such great songs and rhymes. So today we learned how to play pat-a-cake. Then Micah colored her alphabet book page. You can do the same by downloading the freebie below.

 P is for pat-a-cake (PDF)

And here's the other side of the coloring story....

I keep the alphabet notebook in a binder and just insert pages into plastic page protectors- I've learned from experience that the book and its charms last much longer this way. You can get more free alphabet notebook download pages here.

An old-fashioned stop at the train depot.

Tino spent the holidays with us- his kindness and tolerance always reminding me that love is not a Hallmark card but something inhabited and well-lived.

We tried to take a few photos of our NYC-dwelling family before he hit the tracks. As usual, the photos took place outside the realm of the planned and processed.

Taking Tino to the train station was its own magic. He and Pat alternated between solemnity and goofiness.

In this one, I could have sworn we were somewhere in Brooklyn or the Bronx.....

I left him with my highlighted and dog-eared copy of These Are My Rivers by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. 

And, of course, my love, hopes, and dreams that the beat he finds may be his own- and that any river he crosses has us on the other side.