More from Annabelle's Journal

Photos taken from a morning spent at Jack's work.A still life of Paperwhites

A zebra, after a trip to the zoo
Daffodil buds drawn outside in the garden.
Annabelle wrote, "Annabelle draw flower."

Photos taken from an afternoon of painting many cat paintings. She sounded out herself (we call it kids spelling), "CT PTG" (Cat Painting).

Annabelle's Journal

I loved the idea of nature journals: going out into nature with a sketchbook to observe and draw and write about the naturla world around you. So I made a little nature journal bag for Annabelle. It contained a sketchbook, watercolors, sharpie marker, and some pencils. I wanted to start simple and add things as needed. Ananbelle loved her journal bag. She drew in it when we went to the coast and when we were out in nature in our town.

But her nature journal began to change and transform into more than a nature journal and became truly Annabelle's journal. Annabelle draws, writes, pastes in photos all from her life. Her journal has become a record of both her life and her art. Once again, Annabelle showed me that she will construct her own learning, her own ideas, and ways of working. What started out as a way for her to have a deeper relationship with nature (my idea), it now is work completely owned and loved by Annabelle (I love it too!).

A lighthouse and ocean waves

One of many crescent moonsA sunflowerPatooki, a magical elephant that went on an outing, to some gardens, with us one day last fall.A photo of a hole Annabelle dug at a children's garden. This was when she started writing titles and dates for her entries.

Our Mini Project

Due to the recent very cold weather, we have embarked on a short project about winter weather. Here are some images, thoughts, and feelings from the last two weeks.

Last week we had record cold. As we were driving by the pond that is right across the street from our house, we noticed a strange line all the way across the water. We parked the car and went to investigate. Annabelle was the first to discover that it was ice covering roughly half the pond.

She immediately found a stick to touch, poke, prod, slap, and hit at the ice. She moved to the other half to splash her stick in the water. Max wanted a stick too, so a stick was found and he “touched,” poked, prodded, slapped, and hit the ice. Then he went to the water half and threw his stick in.

The next day we checked the pond again and almost the entire surface was iced over. More sticks were found and the ice investigated and manipulated.

We noticed our breath was “smoky” in the cold air. Back at home we built lots of fires and had fireside dinners in the living room.

Then the snow! We found a new world to explore and experience. When we first went out it was snowing hard. We felt it on our faces and caught it with our tongues. We heard the crunch of the snow under our boots, felt the cold wetness on our skin as we fell, and tasted big chunks of snow with our mouths. Annabelle climbed up snowy rocks and tossed snow in the air. Max learned to walk in the snow, being unsure of his balance in this new terrain. Max needed time to get used to the snow, at first nervous and anxious, then warming up to the snow and especially loving the ice.

Annabelle gathered a huge bowl of snow to be made into snow cream. We read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, took lots of photographs, and drew a picture of the snow. We built snow men and Annabelle saved a bowlful of snow in the freezer. She filled a wheelbarrow full, carrying it around the yard.

Back at the pond, the ice prompted snowballs to be hurled. Snowballs thrown down hard created holes in the ice. Snowballs tossed gently slid far out into the center.

We saw icicles for the first time, dripping over the edge of a neighbor’s house. We got used to the cold and spent hours outside until our toes hurt and our fingers were bright red.

At home, we dried soaked mittens and wiped up snow melting from the floor.

As the snow melted, we noticed where it stayed and where the grass poked through. The ice on the pond grew smaller and was easier in places to break. We broke up ice and pulled chunks out of the water. We noticed how thick some pieces were; how thin others. The ice was clear and shiny and we wished to take it home. The ice was hard to hold for long; it was so cold. When it was tossed back onto the ice the pieces would break and skid almost all the way across to the other side.

Lots of water is dripping off our house now with the snow almost gone. Yesterday, a bucket was filled from the drips and left overnight. It is frozen this morning and is discovered by Max. He whacks it with a shovel, breaking the top layer of ice, and stirs the ice soup up. Annabelle dunks her whole boot into the bucket. The drips from the roof .land on Max’s head, like a shower as he plays. He is startled and sad at the wet cold drips. Drying off, we go inside to nap.

Now the trees have no more snow in their branches. The deck still holds a layer of snow, being in shadow. We might get almost 60 degree weather and still there is a bowl of snow waiting in the freezer.

SNOWMAN

So Annabelle learned how to tie her shoes today, she asked me to show her and ten minutes later she could tie her own shoes. She was so excited to tell Jack when he got home. She ran up to him with her shoes on and said, “Who do you think tied these shoes?” Then she showed him! Such a rite of passage.

It struck me that she learns how to do new stuff all the time, because she wants to, not because someone asks or makes her. She has this drive to learn; I think all children are born with this drive to learn.

She just learned about erasers. She mostly draws and writes with crayons, markers, pastels, colored pencils, but regular old #2s are new for her. She was writing the word snow, a word she learned to sound out yesterday, and accidentally wrote an “M” instead of an “N.” I showed how she could erase the extra mark to make it into an “N.” Then she proceeded to make lots of “mistakes,” just so she could erase them.

Everyday brings new wonders and new ideas for her to try, new things she is interested in, new words she wants to spell. Today it was ‘hummingbird.”

She helped me cook dinner today, chopping up peppers and carrots, stirring in herbs and spices. When we ate dinner, she was proud of the meal she made. She thought it was really delicious. It is delicious to feel so competent.

Last night as she was falling asleep, she said, “I can count to 22.” And then she did, but she went past 22 and when she arrived at 29, then she said, “20-10, 20-11.” I helped her with 30, then she made it to 39 and again, “30-10, 30-11.” So I helped her with 40, then 50, all the way while she counted until 100. Then she fell asleep.

This is why we homeschool, because I see what she can do and I don’t want anyone to stop her progress. Even I have to work to close my mouth or sit on my hands so she can have the opportunity to try and fail and try again. I help when she asks or if she needs me to, but mostly I just get to enjoy the process, her own process and it is amazing.

SNOW!!!!!

As I watch my children play at the park the other day, I am struck by how much they play together. Annabelle calls to Max, "Come on!" They climb and run together while I talk with other moms. I had hoped they would play and enjoy each other's company and as I watch it I think how lucky they are. It reminds of a evening right before Christmas:

One evening while Jack and I are sitting in the living room, Annabelle and Max build. (They are building with Brio Mechs, a set of building materials with boards with pre-made holes and nail and screws and hammers and screwdrivers.) First my attention is drawn because they are working so queitly. I watch Max as he puts a nail into the board and back out again, over and over. This is one of my favovite things: to watch my 16 month old, explore and experiment and learn. His desire to really understand something and his persistence are beautiful.

Then Max starts to struggle with his building and Annabelle says in a soft voice, "Baby Boy, do you need some help?" He answers, "Duh," which is Max for yes. She shows him how to use the hammer to remove a nail, how to hold it steady while you hammer, teaching him, so he can learn to do it for himself.

I want to hold this moment to remember it the next time they are fussing at me or each other. I want to remember this quiet scene of creativity, exploration, persistence, respectfulness, and love.