LEARNING & GROWING go hand in hand. I love learning how to do new things. Between blogs, you tube and other websites, you can learn how to do just about anything. Make a roman shade, update old light fixtures, grow asparagus, prune an apple tree, make compost, try a new recipe, crochet a newsboy cap. Endless possibilities. Interests include- Garden & yard, home renovations, travel, correspondence, crafts, recipes, children, photography...
Last year we discovered 1000 Hours Outside. It's basically a community of people who strive to spend 1000 hours outside, over the course of the year. In an attempt to match time in nature with screen time. A very noble goal in this day and age. It's a huge goal for sure, especially during those months when the weather is less than idea for going outside. We live in Western NY, and winters can be tough for getting outside. The old saying goes... there is no bad weather- just bad clothing. I must say, having this goal for 2020, gave us something to reach for. We spent many more hours outside during the winter months, than ever before. And the greatest thing was that we made so many memories in the process of tracking hours.
We previously started this goal last summer. But I tried to keep track of hours digitally on my google calendar. Not having a smart phone, that became a little too much effort to track hours. So we started over on January 1, 2020 with our 1000 Hours Outside Tracker sheets (see below).
It's really quite simple. You can print up a tracker here. Color in 1 circle for every hour spent out of doors, intentionally interacting with nature. There are no prescribed rules to follow. It doesn't have to happen in a calendar year. You don't even have to reach the 1000 goal. It's all whatever you want to make it! We use a different color for each month, and then we can see how months compared to each other throughout the year.
Me and my kids all have our own trackers. I didn't realize it, but every person having their own tracker is key. Even while my kids are young, we don't necessarily all spend the same time outside. Sometimes the Laird takes the kids out, while I make meals or clean up.
If you have Instagram, you can join #1000hoursoutside, and be part of the community throughout the world who are committed to spending more time outdoors. It's really neat to see the photos people post of their adventures and hours spent out of doors. I decided I wanted to document our year with 1000 photos for 1000 hours outside. Here are some of our memories so far!
January 2020
A Snow Squall- Sledding in Mendon Ponds Park
Highland Park, Rochester, NY
Corbett's Glen, Penfield, NY
Seneca Park Zoo
Seneca Park Zoo
Building an Igloo
DIY Kick Sled- testing it out on the trail
Lehigh Valley Trail
Largest snowman EVER!!
Lehigh Valley Trail
Seneca Park Zoo
Riding the Green Dragon (a.k.a John Deer)
Planting peas- April 2020
Our hours are increasing each month. We averaged about 1 hour/day in January and February. March we were an average of 2 hours a day. Maple Sugaring gave us some 4-6 hour Saturdays, helping to make up for the 1 hour days in Jan/Feb. In order to reach 1000 hours in the course of 1 year, you have to average about 3 hours a day outside. Tough to do through the winter. We figure our cold winter months, we strive to make it outside for an hour. Then the transition months of Spring and Fall, we need to shoot to hit that 3 hours/day mark. And then during the warm summer months, we need longer days to make up the hours we didn't get during the winter. We're somewhere around 150 hours for 2020. Join the challenge and get outside! You will be grateful you did.
Have you thought about learning folk songs to enrich your children's education? Actually, forget about making it another school thing. Let me take a minute to introduce you to a few good and beautiful reasons to expose your family to folk songs, to enrich your learning, and life in general.
From Wikipedia: The terminal state of the loss of folk music can be seen in the United States and a few similar societies, where except in isolated areas and among hobbyists, traditional folk music no longer survives. In the absence of folk music, many individuals do not sing. It is possible that non-singers feel intimidated by widespread exposure in recordings and broadcasting to the singing of skilled experts. Another possibility is that they simply cannot sing, because they did not sing when they were small children, when learning of skills takes place most naturally. Certainly it is very common for contemporary Americans to claim that they cannot sing.
There is anecdotal evidence that the loss of singing ability is continuing rapidly at the present time. As recently as the 1960s, audiences at American sporting events collectively sang the American national anthem before a game; the anthem is now generally assigned to a recording or to a soloist.
Inability to sing is apparently unusual in a traditional society, where the habit of singing folk song since early childhood gives everyone the practice needed to able to sing at least reasonably well.
Give it a try! You may find that your young children will LOVE learning and singing folk songs. And if your children enjoy it, you will find that you like it too. Learning folk songs with my kids, definitely makes my heart happy. These songs often tell a fun story. Some have an upbeat and lively tune, while others are more serious and melancholy, telling a story or message with a sad ending. Folk songs are a vital part of our cultural heritage because they draw you into the mood of earlier times and help you understand the people and historical events through song.
Little Brown Dog (Autumn to May). This old American folk song is the one we're learning for the month of April. Folk songs are passed along by word of mouth, and often words or verses added or changed along the way. So not all videos of folk songs will have the same exact lyrics.
Genevieve & the Laird made up the final verse of their recording on YouTube.
Check it out: Little Brown Dog
So won't you join us? Add a new element to your days during this time at home. We usually start out by watching many different versions of the song on YouTube. We find our favorites and watch those more often. We do this most often during our tea time, meals or as background music. By the end of the month, you and your kids will know the song and be singing it at various times throughout your day. And by the end of the year, you will have enriched your life and the lives of your children by restoring this dying art form.
We were introduced to folk songs through our homeschool curriculum Ambleside Online. We follow the AO Folk Song Schedule each month, which allows us to connect with and learn our monthly song, alongside many other families. Things are generally more fun to learn, when others do it too. Every time my daughter sees her friend, they break into "Bean Porridge Hot, bean porridge cold. Bean Porridge in the pot, ___ days old, I like it hot. I like it cold...." Though it's just a rhyme, it's the shared knowledge that makes it fun to sing and clap together.
Let me know if you join us! If you'd like updates and the new folk song video each month, please subscribe to GEN FOLKSONGS
Each term we study a different artist for 10 weeks. In this time we get to know about 5 different pieces by the artist. I usually have prints done at Kinkos that we then hang up in our kitchen to be able to view regularly. Engaging with the artwork and artist each term has looked a little different depending on the artist. When we first began picture study--with Monet and Van Gogh, we painted or used crayons to re-create the different pieces we were getting to know. But once we got to Johannes Vermeer, I noticed that my daughter's interest in recreating the pieces was dwindling. So we changed it up that term and re-created different pictures by dressing up and setting up the scene for a photo. This was an amazing way to engage and get familiar with Vermeer's works.
Woman Reading Letter by Johanes Vermeer recreated by GEN
This past term we have been studying Ansel Adams. I have loved the art of photography since I took my first high school photography class in 1997. That was before digital photography was king and film was still cool. I chose Ansel Adams specifically because we will be visiting many National Parks on our road trip this summer. He was commissioned in the 1940's by the National Parks Service to capture images of the parks. So becoming familiar with his famous works, of various parks we will visit seemed like the perfect preparation to get to know and appreciate both Adams and the parks we will be experiencing. One freshly snow fallen day, I let my daughter use our SLR digital camera to try to take "Ansel Adams" photos while hiking around our property. We also got out some old and very old film cameras and the kids got to pretend they were photographers. I pulled out some old film I had for my oldest to see and touch- which she was pretty impressed by. In this age of instantaneous photos, children don't even have any concept of film anymore.
taken by GEN 6yrs old
taken by GEN 6 yrs old
Some books we have enjoyed: Antsy Adams by Cindy Janson-Elliot and Eye on the Wild: A Story About Ansel Adams by Julie Dunlap While on our journey of getting to know the life of Ansel Adams, I made the connection that we live in the city so well know for the beginnings of photography for the common folk- Rochester, New York. Home of George Eastman, the founder of Kodak. I have always known this was the home of Kodak, but I had since lost touch with my love of film photography. Learning local history is always a great way to engage children with things and people of the past. Once we finished up reading about Ansel Adams, we started reading a book I picked up at a book sale, Click! A Story About George Eastman. In the book we read about George Eastman's mansion and Kodak Park- the Kodak Factory. Both of these places I have been to and am familiar with. So we took a little drive by tour this past week and stopped by the George Eastman House and the George Eastman Memorial at Kodak Park. His ashes are buried at this memorial site on the factory grounds. Of course everything is closed, so we just looked from the outside. Eventually, when life returns to normal and opens back up again, we will make a trip back for a tour of the George Eastman House.
Then something cool happened this week. While reading our local newspaper, the Democrat and Chronicle, I saw an article about an Ansel Adams photo in the obituaries this past Sunday! Check it out. Basically I learned that Ansel Adams came to Rochester in 1952 to shoot photos for a campaign to merge the men's and women's colleges at the University of Rochester. While there, he photographed a woman by the name of Shirley Fien, who passed away recently. The photo in her obituary was the one that Ansel Adams took of her at the UofR so many years ago! There is a video about Ansel Adam's visit to the University of Rochester here! I find it SO cool that Ansel Adams came to Rochester and photographed this area so many years ago. It's amazing how many things you can learn when you allow connections to be made beyond the scope and sequence of what you're supposed to come away having learned from your lessons.
Though my children may not fully appreciate the works of Ansel Adams or George Eastman, and the places in history they hold, I am confident that they have simply gotten to know the people that they were and the lives that they lived. Connections will continue to be made throughout their lives- and that is a foundation of a lasting education. As they see me loving what we're learning, they will join me. History happened here!
