Seasons of Joy Looking for a way to bring peace and joy to your day?
Seasons of Joy is my 10-week seasonal guidebook to add rhythm and fun to your daily routine. Each guidebook has ten weeks' worth of circle times, stories, arts, crafts, and handwork, painting, playtime activities and more!
Seasons of Joy seeks to empower families to create peaceful rhythms and routines and joyful celebrations that follow the circle of the year. The blog also chronicles our adventures in living simply, loving exuberantly, and Waldorf inspired homeschooling.
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View of cascading water frozen on the mountains on some back roads of Pennsylvania
When icicles hang by the wall
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail;
When blood is nipt and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl:
Tu-who!
Tu-whit! Tu-who! -- A merry note!
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian's nose looks red and raw;
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl
Then nightly sings the staring owl:
Tu-who!
Tu-whit! Tu-who! -- A merry note!
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
~Shakespeare, Love's Labour Lost
Holy crow, there are a lot of great books out there!
One thing I am realizing– there is no possible way I can keep up with what my kids want to read, keep up with with all the books I want to share with my children, keep up with all the new books out there, follow my own reading interests once n a while, keep up with this project of reading all the Newbery winners and runner ups AND post about every one. So here’s a little recap. Read more...
Online, at least. In real life, things are hopping.
Sunday was the nicest Mother’s Day ever. It started on Saturday, with Katie Grace’s ballet recital. Usually I go to the rehearsal and take lots of pictures and videos. With the twins, I wasn’t able to. She did such a beautiful job and smiled her lovely smile the entire time. All of the dances were just beautiful and I was once again so grateful for St. John School of the Arts and Ms. Teresa’s efforts to protect her little ballerinas’ childhood innocence.
 Read more...
Katie Grace is in the middle with the high tight bun.
They chose THAT to win the Newbery?!?!
I have a feeling this is something I am going to be saying A LOT during this whole experiment in reading all the Newbery winners.
Sooo… A Visit to William Blake’s Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Wilard just left me feeling kind of meh. The biggest passion I could work up for this book was to be bewildered that it won the Newbery. I could kind of maybe see the Caldecott, which it also won, but the Newbery? I need to look up some of the also-rans, because I don’t get it. Even looking up the reviews, I’m not seeing where anyone was gung-ho over this book. Read more...
We’re entering into the postcard swap hosted by Playing by the Book. Won’t you join us?
Friday
Beginning again,
I go to the gym for the first time in over a year.
Scared, I climb aboard the treadmill,
Ignoring the book in my bag,
Too frightened to do anything but
Walk
And grasp the sensors
And watch my heart rate rise and fall and rise and fall again.
After,
Stealing a few more minutes,
I sit in the parking lot and open this book,
Filled with poetry
And a family
And dust that fell like snow.
Saturday
Back at the gym again,
I walk and then I run. Read more...
As I embark on this journey of reading all the Newbery winners (and hopefully all the runners up as well!) it occurs to me I should know what, exactly, makes a Newbery winner a Newbery winner.
According to the American Library Association, the Newbery award came about in 1922 and was intended to honor the best children’s book of the year before. The stated purpose of the award is
To encourage original creative work in the field of books for children. To emphasize to the public that contributions to the literature for children deserve similar recognition to poetry, plays, or novels. To give those librarians, who make it their life work to serve children’s reading interests, an opportunity to encourage good writing in this field. Read more...
In 2006, when Jersey Boys won the Tony Award, I was greatly annoyed. I was glad it beat The Wedding Singer– my kids singing nursery rhymes could have beat The Wedding Singer– but did not understand how it possibly had more theatrical merit than The Color Purple or The Drowsy Chaperone.
What does this have to do with Newbery Winner When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead? My 12-year-old reading over my shoulder just asked the same thing.
 Read more...
I’m joining The Newbery Project! A recent Facebook conversation inspired me to read all the winners, along with some of the honor books and maybe some winners of other award as well. I’ve started by creating a new page here listing all the Newbery winners as well as the runners up. I’ll be bolding the books as I read them and will also link back to my posts.
The world is so full of a number of things,
I’m sure we should be as happy as kings.
~Robert Louis Stevenson
Today we celebrated Children’s Poetry Day at our house. We had lots of poetry breaks throughout the day. What is a poetry break? It’s an idea I gleaned from a book by the same title. The idea is that you randomly call out “poetry break!” and take the opportunity to introduce your children/students to some great poetry. Here are some of our favorite poetry books.
Piping Down the Valleys Wild by Nancy Larrick
 Read more...
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Our Current Read Aloud: On the Banks of Plum Creek
In the car we’re listening to… The Incorrigable Children of Ashton Place and the Hidden Gallery
Nursery Rhyme Nursery School Rain on the green grass,
Rain on the trees,
Rain on the rooftops,
But not on me!
 Character Counts! This month we’re learning about… Sincerity
2 Corinthians 1:12
For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.
Blessed Mother Teresa, Pray for Us! 
Love begins by taking care of the closest ones - the ones at home.
~Mother Teresa |
