Keeping Company :: November Invitation

Hi friends!

It's November, and the temps have finally cooled down here...which means I've spent a couple recent evenings with a steaming cup of (decaf) coffee and my commonplace book.  Bliss!

We've also been out and about in the fall air--even though we haven't made it to the beach this week, we did hit the local farm park with Daddy and did a bark study with friends.  I haven't yet made my own nature journal entry for the latter, but this evening, maybe?

Once again, I'd like to invite you to join in the fun of sharing your Charlotte Mason-inspired notebooking with the e-community in this monthly blog link-up.

If you haven't checked in on our October collection, please do poke around the lovely entries there!


This Month's Feature
I'm happy to introduce you today to Amber if you haven't met her already!  She has shared several notebooking posts with us over the past year, but this month's was so inspiring for those of us working to build Keeping habits with our kids: Nature Walks, Nature Journaling, and the Fight to Be the Teacher I Want to Be.

by Amber at Flare of Light 

She was inspired by the recent Charlotte Mason conference in Seattle to rededicate herself to more frequent nature study with her children:

I resolved to postpone our morning time from 8 to 9 and cancel our usual morning activities to take a walk with the kids - a walk that has never gone well with all five children, as it is about a half a mile downhill to the creek, and then of course a steep half a mile back home.  I wasn't sure what they would think of visiting the creek, dry for several months due to the drought.  Would it still be interesting if they couldn't throw rocks in the water?  And I wasn't sure at all how I was going to get my four year old and 21 month old back up the hill if they both fell apart. 

Sound familiar?  Click over to read about how it went!

I love how she describes her children's varied approaches to both the outing and the sketching afterward--it is something I notice each and every week, how my kids' personalities come through in their adventuring and recording.

by Amber at Flare of Light

And by the way, she has a little follow-up post too: What My Nature Journaling Really Looks Like.  I had to chuckle because that's pretty much exactly what my nature journaling really looks like!  I'm sure many of you can relate. ;)

This Month's Optional Prompt
I hesitate to say this because it's only just the beginning of November, but I know lots of homeschooling moms (including me) are already considering Christmas gifts--and I just love to give and receive lovely school supplies!  So this month I thought I'd ask...

What are your favorite Keeping materials?  Do you have a favorite brand of nature journal, a preferred notebook you've turned into a Book of Centuries, a beloved set of pens or nifty waterbrush, particularly special watercolors, something else you just can't "keep" without?  What do you consider essential for notebooking in your home?  Feel free to share with us your favorite finds if you are so inclined!

I'll be back here next Tuesday, November 10th, to post this month's link-up.  Until then, feel free to add your posts to the October collection!