sewing: lazy days style

After spending several weeks scouring local thrift shops, consignment stores and one of my favorite online clothing shops for children without any success, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

What I was looking for specifically were a few summer dresses and skirts for Sophia.

So I did what any decent mother with a sewing machine and a set of some basic sewing skills would do and made her a few summer skirts.

I've had my eye on this sewing tutorial since last Fall and was able to make a little space in my weekend to sew up a few of these Lazy Days Skirts.

I used linen for the fabric and chose some contrasting ribbon for the hem. I am really loving these skirts and the way they fit Sophia- she looks like a little girl and I love that. So far she has worn them with a peasant-style blouse and a pretty tank and they look adorable both ways.

pale in comparison

Yesterday was our last day of classes with our homeschool co-op before the summer season begins. Each time my children and I are with this group of families I can't help but be reminded that this is why we are homeschooling.

We are so blessed to be a part of an amazing community of families who have made the bold step down that not-so-traveled road of home education. No one family in our group is providing the same educational experience to their children as any other, but yet each is perfect and complete for that family.

Each Monday before, after or in between classes being offered on topics such as gardening, crocheting, chorus, drama, Artist Trading Cards or natural fibers, there is inevitably a large group of children running free in the field outside playing freely and wildly.

This is a group of children without exclusiveness. They are on the look out for one another. There is no picking on the little sibling, but only acceptance and an invitation to come play with the big kids. These are children who chant each others names in celebration without the prompting or prodding of an adult. And who are uninhibited enough to care if their pants match their shirts.

These are children who are not limited to minutes of outdoor time during a scheduled recess, but instead are afforded the daily opportunity to spend hours in the out-of-doors if so desired.

And that's just the children. We have parents in our group who are artists, musicians, chefs, avid readers, bird-watchers, writers, nurses and sheep herders. It is about as diverse as one could imagine. And it is these same parents who are choosing to cooperate and volunteer to teach these skills, hobbies and interests to the children in our group. What an amazing environment of enrichment and creativity!

There are times when I feel that the homeschooling journey is just to difficult to travel along any longer. There are days when I feel the steady tugging and enticing lure of the possibility of daytime hours spend children-free for a chance to plunk down and read a novel in one sitting if I so chose. But I know that this is a fantasy and could ask anyone of my dear friends whose children are out at school that this just does not happen (often)!

I'm sure if we were not homeschooling I would have more time for cleaning my house, for turning the batch of projects and ideas running around in my mind into realities, for taking those runs that I can now only sneak in once a week, more time for creating that master-list of meals that I will rotate every ten days for my family's dinners and for being better at returning phone calls.

But all of those noble goals and aspirations pale in comparison to the precious time that I am blessed to be able to spend on a daily basis with my children- living, learning, exploring and sharing our lives with one another.

And as I look around a house that is scattered with poetry books, math manipulatives, slingshots, pencil boxes, sandpaper alphabet cards, loads of art supplies and little hand prints on each and every surface of my home I know that we are living the abundant life that we are being called to live for this moment right now.

the mind's eye

Part of providing a generous and rich home education for our children includes non-academic pursuits such as handiwork, artist study and music study. We have chosen to follow Charlotte Mason's philosophies when it comes to educating our children and adore the principles of aiming to elevate the child's mind and nourishing his soul with living books and quality literature, poetry and other humanities that will develop the whole person and inspire his character.

Each term we choose a different artist to study and look at six of the artist's work over that term. This term's artist is Vincent Van Gogh and yesterday the children had the chance to quietly observe and then narrate all that they remembered about the painting, The Starry Night.

Our artist study usually goes something like this-

1. show the painting/art to the children and ask them to "take a picture of it with their mind's eye",
2. allow them to gaze at it for a minute or two (they will usually announce when they are "ready" to move to the next phase),
3. hide the art and ask each child to tell me what they remember about the painting and how they felt when they were looking at it.

While they are narrating I am sure to have a pencil and paper ready to write everything that they say down with precision because it usually comes quickly in one steady stream of words and expressions.

After they are through narrating, I bring the painting back into view and then read their descriptions to them as they are looking at the painting once again.

Here is what they had to say about The Starry Night...

“It looked like winds were blowing. I saw stars and a moon in the right-hand

corner of the painting. I saw a town and a big black building that looked like

a pointy rock. I saw blues and turquoises. The paining made me feel happy.”

- Sophia

“There were stars. There were houses. I saw grass in front and the houses

near the front of the painting looked really big because they were closer to us.

I saw golden. The painting made me feel happy.”

-Nicolas

Artist study is a simple and beautiful way to expose your children to art within your home and only takes a few moments.