Welcome to the Keeping Company link-up for February! I have so enjoyed looking through the beautiful nature journal and commonplace entries over on Instagram this month (lots of new participants!) and reading the thoughtful blog posts on what's going on in your notebooks this new year. Speaking of...
In the Past Month
I know a lot of you made Keeping-related resolutions and I love how they showed in the posts shared in January. So many worthy pursuits, happy habits, and lovely results!
The impending start of Lent (just a week away, if you can believe it!) was apparently the lens through which I was reading this month's posts because the ones I pulled to share not only suited New Year's resolutions but also Lenten practice...
Amber is trying something new with her Gospel study, incorporating the wisdom of the Church Fathers along with Charlotte Mason-style habits.
Carol's stellar post on Cultivating a Scientific Habit of Mind is both educationally and spiritually inspiring.
Chastisement from George MacDonald shared by My Peace in the Puzzle.
Another way to journal through the Bible over at Melissa's!
And over on Instagram...
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| top (l to r) - homeschool47 - vlcjrogers - sarah.lashbrook - arliemaria middle (l to r) - rjnsix - happylhomemaker1 - athena_amidstthereeds - h5manriquez bottom (l to r) - h5manriquez - mary,frances.pickett - legendsandlace - obispo98 |
Starting the Discussion
With all the decluttering chat around the blogosphere (thanks to the New Year!), I've been thinking about collections, specifically nature study collections. I would consider them another kind of Keeping: a physical accumulation, culled and collected by the owner, worth saving, of value to learning. In those ways, they are very much like a nature journal--or, perhaps better stated, a worthwhile supplement to one's nature records. Charlotte Mason's students preserved and exhibited various collections both as individuals and as classes, so she obviously saw the value in lovingly preserving found items too.
So I have a few optional questions for you this month, if you're so inclined: Do you or your children keep a nature collection? How do you store it? Do you change what you exhibit seasonally? Would you consider yours a temporary or permanent collection? Do you draw from it, or does it lead to further study for you? Do you cull often? What are your favorite ways to display your nature finds?
(I have a partly selfish reason for asking: I've got a post in my drafts folder about our most recent nature swap, which netted some absolutely lovely additions to our collection and lots of opportunity for new observations! I hope to get that up this month and link to it here.)
The Link-Up
Instructions:
:: For bloggers: You should see the linky below. Click on the "Add my link" button, and it will prompt you to include the information for your post. Once you submit it, your link will be added to the list, and others will be able to click over and read what you have shared.
:: For Instagrammers: Tag related photos with #KeepingCompanyCM to join the link-up. (You can also add individual Instagram photos via the linky if you prefer.)
Guidelines:
:: Remember to link to a specific post and not to the homepage of your blog.
:: Any posts about CM-style Keeping are welcome! The prompt is optional. Your post can be as simple as a photo of your commonplace book. And please don't feel like you have to be an expert. We are all looking to grow in these habits together. :)
:: Feel free to add more than one post. The link-up will be open for a month, so you can come back and add more if you are so inclined.
:: You can grab the button over there on the sidebar if you'd like to add it to your post or site.
Thank you once again for participating!
Hi Celeste, I've just added a link. I've been meaning to say that the Instagram photos are always so lovely. If I wasn't such a lame photographer I'd sign myself up.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Carol! But if you're at all inclined to join up over there, I'd love to follow you. I always appreciate the Australian nature photos you feature in your nature study posts. And at least for me, Instagram is more about community and less about beautiful photos (though that's a fun aspect of it too!). :)
DeleteThanks for linking my Bible Journal entry Celeste. It was a pleasant surprise!
ReplyDeleteWe don't typically keep nature collections. Occasionally, when the kids were younger, they liked to tape specimens into their nature notebooks, but over and above that, they haven't kept much.
Well, it was a pleasure to read, Melissa!
DeleteWe keep quite a lot but it has been hard to manage it all in a way that's aesthetically pleasing and accessible. One of these days I hope to hit on the right organization strategy. :)