Nature Study :: Growing Butterflies

The start of a new school year seemed the perfect opportunity to finally order the caterpillars that came with the butterfly habitat we received in the spring.  This is something I have wanted to do for years, ever since reading Charlotte Mason's List of Attainments, but we have never had caterpillars in our own yard to observe.  So I was happy to find this kit as a second-best option.

Five caterpillars arrived a week later, and a few days later, we woke up to find two had molted into their pupas.

We were able to watch the other two pupate that morning at the breakfast table.  The last one was such fun to watch--wiggling off its molt, spinning faster and faster from its hook until it finally flung its last skin against the side of the cup and fell still.  We all squealed with excitement. 

And then the butterflies emerged much the same way, two overnight and two before our eyes: breaking through their chrysalises, wriggling out with their front legs, waiting for their wings and antennae to unfurl and dry, then fluttering around the cage.

They have been such a treat to observe.

We let them go this weekend.  I opened their habitat and waited for them to hurry away--but they didn't.  They stayed within, letting out their long tongues to dip into the flowers we dropped in there this week, flying up to the top but not quite out.  A couple hours later, all were finally gone but one.

It stuck around a little while, finding a favorite spot on Gianna's pant leg.  She stood motionless for several minutes, content to have it there, until it finally hopped off and onto a yellow clover for a quick snack, then into the hebe bush for another sip, and then over the fence and away.

I'm thinking this will be a once-a-year tradition for us.

What We're Reading :: First Week of School

Me:

Charlotte Yonge's Daisy Chain (my current reading-on-the-tablet book, perfect for when I'm holding baby--I absolutely love it so far)

Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken (recommendation from dear Angela)

Charlotte Mason's Volume 6 (I'm trying to keep up with the reading schedule over on the AO forums right now)

Vincent, age 8:

C.W. Anderson's Complete Book of Horses and Horsemanship (a birthday gift)

Burton's The Song of Robin Hood (another birthday gift, this time from Grandma--a beautiful volume)

Windeatt's The Cure of Ars (his Sunday reading)

and still making his way through the Redwall series

Gianna, age 7:

Carroll's Through the Looking Glass (she was especially intrigued by the chess references at the start--so fun)

the rest of the All-of-a-Kind Family series (re-started it as soon as she finished it last week, this time reading aloud bits to Cate)

Neumann Press' Catholic Stories for Boys and Girls Vol.1 (her Sunday reading)

Eager's Magic by the Lake (the first sequel to Half-Magic)

Cate, age 5:

Flack's Ask Mr. Bear (just checked it out for her to read on her own!)

...and BOB books.  Oh, how she loves her BOB books. :)

To the Big Kids:

MacDonald's At the Back of the North Wind and Kingsley's Water Babies (we'll be reading these two AO Y3 "free reads" slowly over the course of the whole school year)

Wilder's On the Banks of Plum Creek (on audio, read by Cherry Jones)

To the Kindergartener:

Kindergarten Gems and Leading Little Ones to Mary (both by her request)

Elliott's Common Birds and Their Songs (her choice too--we just page through and I read her the captions)

To the Littles:

the Little House picture book series (4yo Xavier's long-time favorite)

Beatrix Potter's Ginger and Pickles (2yo Bridget's current favorite--and hearing her say "Ginger and Pickles" ranks right up there with "cutest things ever")

Aliki's Welcome, Little Baby (1yo Clara's current favorite--used to be Bridget's last month, and now the obsession has passed on to little sister)

And more used-book finds:

A box in the mail and a stop at the thrift store earlier this week leaves me with a nice little haul to find shelf space for!  A peek at just a few...

Back to School

Hi, friends!  I didn't intend to take a couple-week break from blogging, but I spent the time prepping our materials and pre-reading for the coming school year--which starts today!

I felt a bit like the mouse in Numeroff's books: if you give a homeschooling mom five minutes of free time, she's going to look over math curricula...

...and as she's organizing math books, she'll notice that all the bookshelves need sorting...

...and while she's sorting bookshelves, she'll spot the Calendar of Firsts and realize it needs updating...

Thankfully this little guy kept me from taking on anything too complex!  

Have I mentioned that he definitely sleeps best when snuggled up on mama?  Yes, well, ahem.  Time has been in short supply lately, and I wasn't sure we would be quite ready to start today.  Luckily Ambleside Online did most of my school planning for me. ;)

This year Gianna and Vincent are in third grade, doing mostly AO Year 3.  And I have a new student: Cate is starting kindergarten!

There has never been a girl more excited to start school!  This little dear has been asking me daily when her kindergarten starts for the past two months.  She's looking forward to learning to use scissors, doing a bit of math on the abacus, and special reading times with Mommy.  We keep kindergarten very informal and completely voluntary here, but I have a few fun things in mind for us two this year.

I can't wait to share what we'll be doing this term--I'm already swooning over our booklists after my first week of pre-reading.  I've also incorporated some new Keeping habits that I think we'll all enjoy, adapted our chore list to accommodate my growing kids, and reworked our schedule a tad.  Wish us luck!

(P.S. Apparently our painted lady caterpillars plotted together to make our morning special--three pupated overnight, and we got to watch the last one reveal its chrysalis right before our eyes after breakfast!)