A Common Shepherdess

My favorite thing is when my kids connect with what they are learning. Our folksong last term was Cockles and Mussels. This afternoon we listened to it again, just to refresh our memories. My 6 year old son said, "This song breaks my heart." Then a moment later, "Play it again. I like sad songs. Is this song real? Did she really die from a fever?" Our folksong this term is The Minstrel Boy, another sad song. Our hymn for this month has been It Is Well With My Soul. The song is not sad but the story behind it is. If you have never heard this story, you can read it here .

You know there is going to be trouble when your 4-year-old runs into the kitchen and says, "Mommy, can you go upstairs please?" (Am I really that easy to manipulate?) "What do you need, sweetie?" "Umm....okay, there are no more dirty spoons outside so I need to get a clean one to take outside so I can dig."

I feel like we never get to nature study. I have it scheduled for Fridays but by the end of the week, we don't seem to have the time or energy needed for this subject. Not all is lost though. During the week we do spend time outdoors and I found a couple of great picture books that even my two older boys enjoy. The first one is Bedtime in the Southwest. It's a funny look at how southwest critters might behave when Mama and Papa tell them it's time for bed. The second one is Way Out in the Desert. It is new words to the old song Over in the Meadow. It's a great, gentle introduction to ten southwest animals as well as different Sonoran desert plants. The other night, outside our boys' tae kwon do gym, our 4-year-old daughter was inspecting some of the flowers. Suddenly she ran over to me, yelling excitedly, "I saw a bird! It had the long pointy nose for drinking juice from the flowers!" I asked, "A hummingbird?" "YES!" she yell...