This week I’m writing + filming about a hallmark This week I’m writing + filming about a hallmark of the Charlotte Mason method: narration. Have you ever heard of it? What would you like to know? 

I’m focusing heavily on how we use narration in our homeschool, but if you have specific questions about it, I would love for you to 1. Take the poll in my stories, and 2. Ask any questions you may have about narration in the comments so that I can answer them in my video! ❤️
Happy Mother’s Day! I especially want to encoura Happy Mother’s Day! I especially want to encourage those who are intentionally making a better life for their children than what they may have experienced as kids. It is not easy to change the cycle, but it’s well worth the effort. 

In the words of Louisa May Alcott, “A woman's happiest kingdom is home, her highest honor is the art of ruling it not as a queen, but a wise wife and mother."
📚 We are moving right along with term three of 📚 We are moving right along with term three of our school year. Slow but steady, we will finish up mid June and I’ll begin prepping for next school year in July and August! 📚

Here’s some of my random old and new tips + what I’ve been doing to help keep organized with the CMEC. 

01. Keep a regular day for nature outings or field trips. We have two days a week where I intentionally plan a hike or museum visit, etc. One is usually at the middle of the week and the other is at the end. It offers great variety to our weeks.

02. Notebook! I have had the girls consistently notebook this year, and it’s been such a delight to go back and see my form 1b student’s progress! I have a video coming out about how we notebook and why you should try it very soon! 

03. To stay on track with our morning timetable I’ve been writing the time we end each lesson in my logbook. It’s really changed how productive I am in making sure we get everything on our timetable done for the day. (I have a video on my logbook if you’re interested in learning more about that!)

04. And 05. Popsicle sticks! Friends, if you’re already a CMEC family, use these to help you choose which activities you review! I have on these for old singing games, French songs, folk dances or Swedish drill routines. I’ll share more on what I have on ours, specifically, but it’s fun because the girls and I get to be surprised rather than me choosing what we review!

06. Art instruction. Originally I had us doing three art lessons per week in the afternoon, but it didn’t allow for enough free choice, so we’ve reduced it down to one formal lesson a week for six weeks, then we change the method. So right now we are in week two of our chalkdrawing lessons. After six weeks we will switch to brush drawing instruction for the remainder of the term! As Charlotte Mason recommends, we draw from memory, model, and from imagination. 🌞

I hope this was helpful to you! So many of you guys are using @the.cmec next year! I am SO excited to see all of you at the online form meetings this coming year! 👏🏻 #thecmec #thecmecform1 #charlottemason
Do you keep your spices in a cabinet, on a shelf o Do you keep your spices in a cabinet, on a shelf or in a drawer? This drawer is right next to my stove and it’s my favorite way to store my spices! I reuse these little jars and fill them every couple of weeks with my bulk @azurestandard spices. 🧂
Are you planting a garden this year? What are you Are you planting a garden this year? What are you growing? Containers and raised beds? Or in ground? What do you plan to grow? Veggies? Flowers? We are doing a little bit of everything. 😍

It’s my third year growing food. (And ironically, our third house 😅) We just got our @greenstalkgarden planter, several @smartpots, and six raised beds that are ready to be filled next weekend. Really looking forward to this gardening season! 🥕🥬🥦🌽🌶🫑🫐🍓🥔
“Let then once get in touch with nature and a ha “Let then once get in touch with nature and a habit is formed which will be a source of delight through life.” -Charlotte Mason 

My kiddo had a birthday this past weekend. We do one main gift and a couple of small gifts; typically they’re  things they can use outdoors. Bikes have been a popular birthday item around here! My eldest wanted an apple tree last year. ☺️ But this year we got N a mud kitchen! Some friends of ours had one they built, and it inspired us. My kiddos have been playing on the forest floor in the mud for years now, but it’s exciting for them to have a little space in our garden for mud play. 🌳 What are some fun outdoorsy gifts you’ve purchased for your kids?
📚 When should I teach my child to read? How sho 📚 When should I teach my child to read? How should I teach my child to read? What does Charlotte Mason say about reading lessons? How did she teach children how to read? What curriculum do you use to teach your child how to read? 📚
These are all questions I answered in my blog post and video, “teaching reading the Charlotte Mason way” 📚 you can also swipe over to see some of my favorite CM quotes on teaching reading! 📚

I also shared what I do with my 3-year-old (which is very minimal) if you have younger children. You can view the post at the link in my profile! Are you up children school-aged? What do you use to teach reading?
I needed to accomplish a lot today. There was more I needed to accomplish a lot today. There was more unpacking and organizing to be done, pictures to be framed, meal planning to do, laundry that needed folding, bike rides to be had, meals to be prepared, sourdough to be prepped and lesson planning + pre-reading to do. Oh and dishes. So many dishes. 😅

I do essentially all of the inside housework aside from taking out the trash + recycle, but for a season my husband helped out while N was small by doing dinner dishes and sometimes even preparing dinner so I could nurse her after we ate. But as of late, I’m trying something new where I don’t ask my husband to clean up after dinner and instead I do it myself. I don’t mind it, and since my girls are old enough to get their own pj’s on now, I’ve been doing dinner clean-up (as well as lunch and breakfast clean-up and prep!) before I head upstairs to tuck them in, read them a story and sit with them while they fall asleep. Call me old fashioned, but I’m happy to do it, and I delight in my husband being able to enjoy some time with the girls after dinner instead of clean up a mess after a long day of working.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this post - I’ve felt pulled in so many directions today and it’s something I feel often, (and I’m sure so many of you can relate) but after five months without a home to care for and nurture I simply can’t feel frustrated or annoyed at my list of 10,000 things I need to do. Instead I pray my way through each task. I sip tea in between. I light a candle and wear my great-grandmother’s apron as I work. I read notes like the one my six-year-old left for me this morning and I weep tears of gratitude and joy. Happy Sunday, my friends. ❤️ 
.
(swipe to read her note 🥰 + a transcription in the comments!)
Remember that word we heard so often when we were Remember that word we heard so often when we were parenting infants? Attachment.  What comes to mind? Breastfeeding on demand. Co-sleeping. Babywearing. All of those things that come pretty natural to us when taking care of a baby. But did you know that attachment doesn’t just end when your child gets bigger? Attachment is actually necessary THROUGH adolescence. 😳

Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté is a brilliant book that stopped me in my tracks. The book addresses the severe lack of attachment to parents that is incidentally replaced by an attachment to peers. I wrote all about it on my blog, but if you swipe over you can see a few passages that I underlined, highlighted, and wrote down in my notebook. 

Peer culture is more prevalent than ever. Not only because our society now prefers it that way, but because of social media’s ability to unite our youth in an unprecedented way. What we need is a shift in how we pass down culture to our kids from a horizontal attachment (peer to peer) back to a vertical attachment (family to child). I’ve often felt this long before I read this book, but we prioritize our Children’s friendships and relationships with others before we prioritize their relationships with us. We don’t value the family unit the way we used to decades ago, and it’s to the detriment of our children. 

I will gift this book to every new parent I meet from now on because of the wisdom the authors share. I wish all parents would read it so we could be on the same page as a society and those of us who choose to hold on to our kids wouldn’t be going against the grain. So this is my plea to you. If anything I’ve said piqued your interest, or struck a chord, please read Hold On To Your Kids! ✨

(For those of you who have read it! Share your thoughts with us! Help me convince everyone to read it! 👏🏻)
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Food, Recipes • October 26, 2016

Vegan Lifestyle: What I Eat In A Week [Breastfeeding Mom + Toddler] + Video

As most of you know, I’m vegan and have been following a vegan lifestyle for almost a full year. It’s been one of the most rewarding and gratifying experiences in my life so far. I have a huge passion for sharing my meals and recipes with you because although I’ve been vegan for almost ten months, I can actually count on one hand how many times I’ve eaten a salad. We don’t just eat fruits and veggies in the raw, contrary to what  the masses may have been told or believe.

Vegan Lifestyle: What I Eat In A Week [Breastfeeding Mom + Toddler] + Video by lifestyle blogger Larissa from Living in Color
There is a huge misconception about the vegan lifestyle; I eat delicious, nutrient and protein rich, plant-based foods (and lots of baked goods free of refined sugar) so when people ask me what the heck I eat, and what the heck I feed my vegan 17-month-old baby, I always chuckle and then bombard them with my favorite recipes. This video and post is my way of organizing my thoughts and sharing my favorite vegan recipes with those who are interested in a plant-based lifestyle and what we eat on a daily basis.

I am so excited to share this video and post with you! It’s been in the works for about a month. I filmed for one week, then had to edit it all together and write out this post so let me know if you have any questions in the comments below and I’ll answer them.

Note: I DO NOT AND WILL NOT judge you for not being vegan. This is a safe, accepting place for anyone – vegan or non-vegan, so please do not feel as though I am shaming anyone who does consume meat or dairy. I am not shaming – all I’m doing is sharing my vegan lifestyle experience with you, so please view it as just that! I love you always and forever, vegan or not.
Vegan Lifestyle: What I Eat In A Week [Breastfeeding Mom + Toddler] + Video by lifestyle blogger Larissa from Living in Color
Vegan Lifestyle: What I Eat In A Week [Breastfeeding Mom + Toddler] + Video by lifestyle blogger Larissa from Living in Color
HOW AND WHY I TRANSITIONED TO THE VEGAN LIFESTYLE:
So, many of you were wanting to know how I transitioned to eating a plant-based diet. It’s been about ten months since I switched, but I’ll start from the beginning! I was vegetarian for 4 years in high school into college, and loved it, but dorm room food didn’t lend itself to being super healthy, so I ended up eating meat, however I had never been fully vegan.
When I got pregnant I was started worrying about the products I was putting in and on my body. It all began with an awareness of pesticides on my fruit and vegetables. I started researching the benefits of an organic or non-organic diet and decided that, although it would be a little pricier, I would just eat organic food while pregnant so that I didn’t have any potential harm to my baby. Then I heard about GMO’s. GMO’s and pesticides are two totally different things. GMO’s are genetically modified organisms that they use to genetically engineer foods to be bigger, more colorful, stay riper and fresher longer. So far most fruits and vegetables are GMO, and pretty much 90 percent of our corn crop in the U.S. is genetically modified corn. Same with cane sugar. As I did more digging, I learned that GMO’s were not only in our fruits and veggies, but in almost all processed foods because corn syrup (or HFCS) and cane sugar are in EVERYTHING. It’s so frustrating.
I watched the documentary OMG, GMO’s and it really helped open my eyes to the horrific state of our country. We are at the mercy of Monsanto.. and so this sent me into a funk… I decided “okay, only organic foods from now on.” Fruits and veggies, meats, dairy, everything had to be organic because that’s the only way it was safe. (Or so I thought.) I also read The Unhealthy Truth, a book by a Robyn O’Brien and I loved it so much! It was super eye opening and helped tip me off into further research of the food we ate. (Side note: interestingly enough, both resources I mentioned above were written/filmed by parents who started researching their food after they had traumatic experiences with their own children).
Okay so fast forward to my delivery, newborn life, and breastfeeding exclusively then my babe being around 6 months old. I decided that I felt good about my eating (I’ve always been a pretty healthy eater – I love sweets here and there, but I’m a total veggies all the time person), but still felt weird about my little one eating dairy or meat, so I didn’t give her any of that and stuck with fruits and veggies. Gracie didn’t really get into eating solids until she got her first teeth around nine months so it was all breastmilk from birth to that point!
Vegan Lifestyle: What I Eat In A Week [Breastfeeding Mom + Toddler] + Video by lifestyle blogger Larissa from Living in Color
Vegan Lifestyle: What I Eat In A Week [Breastfeeding Mom + Toddler] + Video by lifestyle blogger Larissa from Living in Color

So when I finally made the decision to go 100% vegan lifestyle, G was nine months old and showing interest in solid foods now that she finally had some teeth! At this point, I was already not drinking milk and pretty much didn’t eat meat because I hated it my whole pregnancy and always tried to cook veggie-based dishes for G because I felt like it was healthier than animal products. So I already didn’t mind not having meat in my food; it was cheaper! Then I watched two documentaries that sent me over the edge….

Cowspiracy and Forks Over Knives.

Forks Over Knives is the one that really resonated with me. I consider myself a health-conscious person, and after being presented with the possibility that eating animal-based products may increase the likeliness of cancer, I was honestly stunned. In short, the documentary explores how eating a plant-based diet could possibly keep you from getting cancer because you aren’t consuming casein protein – something they’ve found in lab rats that had tumors. They link casein protein with foods like meat, dairy and eggs, and that did it for me. I guess I look at it this way: I am a parent – my number one duty in life is to take care of, protect my daughter, and teach her the healthiest way of life. To me, that is eating a plant-based diet. (I try to use those terms more so than “vegan” as it sounds less snobby).

I won’t say it isn’t hard. I cook almost every day and going out to eat is a huge hassle because animal products are hiding everywhere… but I honestly am SO much happier since. I feel better, I’ve lost a ton of weight… literally the pounds have shed off of me, and I feel amazing when I cook – although I have to do it often, I am OBSESSED with foods. I love watching G eat healthy foods and enjoy things that nourish her body and mind.

I also really enjoyed watching Cowspiracy. I recycle, cloth diaper, and try to live as sustainably as I can. Cowspiracy sheds light on the issue of sustainability and the insane amount of resources we have to use to support the meat and dairy industry. Water is a huge one, especially for those living in California where they suffer from a drought. I believe that we need to care of our Earth, and eating a vegan diet (growing crops/plants) instead of mass raising, multiplying and producing cows, chickens, etc. for our own human consumption has proven to be significantly better for our environment.

Side note, and honestly not 100% the reason I transitioned to a vegan lifestyle, but I am SO much happier with myself as a person too. I am happy that I don’t contribute to the deterioration or mistreatment of animals, and happy that I can teach G about that too. I am following a vegan lifestyle for the health reasons mostly, but the fact that animals are not harmed because of my food choices is a total bonus, as I am an animal lover and always have been!

In a recent podcast I listened to by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau she talks about the idea of humanizing animals. Some startling information I learned in the specific episode are that pigs are slaughtered at 6 months for meat, beef cattle are slaughtered at 18 months all for our disposal. I also learned in a separate podcast of hers that cows are actually given calcium supplements, since they don’t eat grass like nature intended them to (they eat GMO corn feed) so they have to supplement the cows with calcium before taking their milk for human consumption. Why can’t we, as humans, just eat the calcium straight from the “grass” itself?! Plants!

Vegan Lifestyle: What I Eat In A Week [Breastfeeding Mom + Toddler] + Video by lifestyle blogger Larissa from Living in Color
Vegan Lifestyle: What I Eat In A Week [Breastfeeding Mom + Toddler] + Video by lifestyle blogger Larissa from Living in Color
A WORD ABOUT PROTEIN:
I get so excited and totally nerdy after I tell someone I’m vegan and following a vegan lifestyle and they ask me whether I get enough protein! It gives me the opportunity to share information like this with them:
The idea that your diet has to be protein-packed is glorified by the meat and dairy industry. But don’t take my word for it. Just see what the USDA Dept. of Agriculture has to say about veganism!
“This concern about protein is misplaced. Although protein is certainly an essential nutrient which plays many key roles in the way our bodies function, we do not need huge quantities of it. We recommend eating a variety of unrefined grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, and vegetables throughout the day, so that if one food is low in a particular essential amino acid, another food will make up this deficit.” (source)
Did you know that there’s protein in broccoli and carrots? I’ll bet you didn’t – because you were led to believe that only meat can provide protein and only cow’s milk can provide calcium. It’s simply not the truth! Be sure to check out our other vegan posts before you go.

(SEE VIDEO CAPTION FOR LINKS TO RECIPES I USED)

A FEW RESOURCES:
-Film: OMG, GMO’s
-Film: Cowspiracy
-Film: Forks Over Knives
-Book: The Unhealthy Truth by Robyn O’Brien
-Podcast: Food For Thought
-Activist: Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
–USDA on veganism
–Try being vegan for 30 days!

“You can change the world; you must change the world.”

Try being vegan for 30 days!

xo. L

Filed Under: Food, Recipes Tagged With: recipes, Vegan, Vegan Lifestyle, vegan mom

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Comments

  1. Ellen Ross | Ask Away says

    October 26, 2016 at 1:22 pm

    These look so delicious!!!
    XO Ellen from Ask Away
    http://www.askawayblog.com

    Reply
  2. Lindsey Reha says

    October 26, 2016 at 2:19 pm

    Loved the video Larissa! You did such a great job. Also wow, all the food looks so amazing! I'm definitely going to be trying some of the recipes ��

    Reply
  3. Rose Nika says

    October 26, 2016 at 7:42 pm

    the food looks so yummy!

    Life is just Rosie
    Instagram

    Reply
  4. Amy Johnson says

    October 27, 2016 at 11:45 am

    This is an amazing lifestyle change. I would love the recipes, but I can't find them. Am I blind?

    Reply
  5. Kari Kriewald says

    November 3, 2016 at 3:11 pm

    I really loved reading this post, lady! Every single recipe looks SO delicious! I'm bookmarking this page for my next grocery store run! xo

    Reply
  6. Lee Anne says

    November 3, 2016 at 5:20 pm

    Thanks for sharing all of this, I liked reading about your experiences. I can't wait to try some of these recipes!

    XO
    Lee Anne
    http://www.lifebylee.com

    Reply
  7. Carolyna Bauer says

    November 3, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    What a wonderful change in your life!! Love hearing about your experience. XOXO, Carolyna
    carolynabauer.com

    Reply
  8. Lacey says

    November 3, 2016 at 8:56 pm

    Such a great post! Thanks for sharing. I was vegan for about 4 years, and now I do integrate fish and some dairy into my diet (I had a mad craving for yogurt and sushi that I couldn't shake!) but I still eat mostly plant based. It has been life changing!

    xo Lacey
    http://www.myboringcloset.com

    Reply
  9. Stefanie Eadie says

    November 3, 2016 at 9:07 pm

    I love this post! I was vegetarian, and eating a lot of vegan meals for about a year. It was harder for me to find food I liked because I'm a picky eater, but the difference in how you feel just from not eating meats, or dairy is crazy!!! it just shows you how bad a lot of food really is for you! thanks for sharing 🙂 xoxo / Stefanie – According to Blaire

    Reply
  10. Kayleigh Adam says

    November 4, 2016 at 3:37 am

    This sounds so interesting! Props to you for testing it out, I don't think I would be strong enough!
    http://www.kayleighskloset.com

    Reply
  11. Kathryn Wesson says

    November 4, 2016 at 2:14 pm

    I respect and admire you for being able to do this and to share with all of us! These foods look delicious – vegan or not!

    Reply
  12. Jessica Sheppard says

    November 4, 2016 at 5:21 pm

    I always enjoy your food posts…you're super mom!!!

    Reply
  13. Candace Howard says

    November 5, 2016 at 3:03 am

    Thanks for sharing your journey!! All of these eats look absolutely amazing.

    Best,

    Candace
    http://www.liveloveandREAD.com

    Reply
  14. Ashley Harig says

    January 4, 2017 at 2:18 am

    Hi Larissa!
    First off thank you so much for this amazing blog post!
    I have been following you on instagram for a couple months now which lead me to watch your Q&A, videos on your youtube channel, and now here following your blog.
    I absolutely admire the bond you share & love you have for your adorable daughter!
    My husband and I have always been health conscious about what we eat and products we use on our skin. My husband is self employed, I'm a stay at home mom, & we are trying to start a photography business that we hope will go full time. Right now we live mostly paycheck to paycheck so it gets very expensive for us to live the lifestyle that we desire.
    I, like you became very cautious about what I was eating when I became pregnant with my son. I exclusively breastfed him for his first year and he is now 14 months old. (He still nurses constantly) I am extremely picky and protective as far as what he consumes and he has only ever had organic fruits and veggies. The more I research the more I want him to continue having a plant based diet.
    His pediatrician has said to introduce solids one at a time for about a week to rule out any allergic reactions etc. So he hasn't had tons of different types of food yet.
    So my question to you (if you don't mind sharing) is when you first started G on solids/plant based diet did you only try her on one food at a time? What kind of foods did you start her on first? Any rules on when to wait to introduce quinoa, beans, nut butters, etc? I know you talked about protein but what about iron do you have any helpful cheatsheets to show exactly how much she is suppose to get in a day? Helpful cheatsheets of groccery lists or foods to avoid? Or do you know where to direct me to find helpful information like that?
    I am super grateful for all the links you posted at the bottom of this post. I am going to jump right in those today and my husband and I are wanting to do the vegan challenge as well!
    Thank you so much for your time and being willing to share your experience to encourage others. There is SO much information on the internet that I find myself getting so overwhelmed when trying to research the healthiest approach for my son. So I very much appericate your detailed blogs and your honesty.
    Thanks again!
    Ashley

    Reply
    • livingincolorblog says

      January 4, 2017 at 4:45 am

      Hey Ashley! Send me an email 🙂 Livingincolorstyle@gmail.com – I'll answer your questions in there! <3 thank you so much for reading!

      Reply

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  1. Five EASY Ways To Live More Sustainably This Year - Living In Color says:
    February 16, 2017 at 6:29 am

    […] this year is to live a more sustainable lifestyle. As you know, we have already started this by eating a vegan diet, or cloth diapering, and recycling, but I want to be better. I want to start a compost, and try to […]

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I'm Larissa. A mama to daughters and wife to my college sweetheart. I am passionate about sustainable fashion, whole foods recipes, and Charlotte Mason home education. I also love being outdoors with my family. You can usually find me sporting a wide-brimmed hat, with a baby on my back.

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This week I’m writing + filming about a hallmark This week I’m writing + filming about a hallmark of the Charlotte Mason method: narration. Have you ever heard of it? What would you like to know? 

I’m focusing heavily on how we use narration in our homeschool, but if you have specific questions about it, I would love for you to 1. Take the poll in my stories, and 2. Ask any questions you may have about narration in the comments so that I can answer them in my video! ❤️
Happy Mother’s Day! I especially want to encoura Happy Mother’s Day! I especially want to encourage those who are intentionally making a better life for their children than what they may have experienced as kids. It is not easy to change the cycle, but it’s well worth the effort. 

In the words of Louisa May Alcott, “A woman's happiest kingdom is home, her highest honor is the art of ruling it not as a queen, but a wise wife and mother."
📚 We are moving right along with term three of 📚 We are moving right along with term three of our school year. Slow but steady, we will finish up mid June and I’ll begin prepping for next school year in July and August! 📚

Here’s some of my random old and new tips + what I’ve been doing to help keep organized with the CMEC. 

01. Keep a regular day for nature outings or field trips. We have two days a week where I intentionally plan a hike or museum visit, etc. One is usually at the middle of the week and the other is at the end. It offers great variety to our weeks.

02. Notebook! I have had the girls consistently notebook this year, and it’s been such a delight to go back and see my form 1b student’s progress! I have a video coming out about how we notebook and why you should try it very soon! 

03. To stay on track with our morning timetable I’ve been writing the time we end each lesson in my logbook. It’s really changed how productive I am in making sure we get everything on our timetable done for the day. (I have a video on my logbook if you’re interested in learning more about that!)

04. And 05. Popsicle sticks! Friends, if you’re already a CMEC family, use these to help you choose which activities you review! I have on these for old singing games, French songs, folk dances or Swedish drill routines. I’ll share more on what I have on ours, specifically, but it’s fun because the girls and I get to be surprised rather than me choosing what we review!

06. Art instruction. Originally I had us doing three art lessons per week in the afternoon, but it didn’t allow for enough free choice, so we’ve reduced it down to one formal lesson a week for six weeks, then we change the method. So right now we are in week two of our chalkdrawing lessons. After six weeks we will switch to brush drawing instruction for the remainder of the term! As Charlotte Mason recommends, we draw from memory, model, and from imagination. 🌞

I hope this was helpful to you! So many of you guys are using @the.cmec next year! I am SO excited to see all of you at the online form meetings this coming year! 👏🏻 #thecmec #thecmecform1 #charlottemason
Do you keep your spices in a cabinet, on a shelf o Do you keep your spices in a cabinet, on a shelf or in a drawer? This drawer is right next to my stove and it’s my favorite way to store my spices! I reuse these little jars and fill them every couple of weeks with my bulk @azurestandard spices. 🧂
Are you planting a garden this year? What are you Are you planting a garden this year? What are you growing? Containers and raised beds? Or in ground? What do you plan to grow? Veggies? Flowers? We are doing a little bit of everything. 😍

It’s my third year growing food. (And ironically, our third house 😅) We just got our @greenstalkgarden planter, several @smartpots, and six raised beds that are ready to be filled next weekend. Really looking forward to this gardening season! 🥕🥬🥦🌽🌶🫑🫐🍓🥔
“Let then once get in touch with nature and a ha “Let then once get in touch with nature and a habit is formed which will be a source of delight through life.” -Charlotte Mason 

My kiddo had a birthday this past weekend. We do one main gift and a couple of small gifts; typically they’re  things they can use outdoors. Bikes have been a popular birthday item around here! My eldest wanted an apple tree last year. ☺️ But this year we got N a mud kitchen! Some friends of ours had one they built, and it inspired us. My kiddos have been playing on the forest floor in the mud for years now, but it’s exciting for them to have a little space in our garden for mud play. 🌳 What are some fun outdoorsy gifts you’ve purchased for your kids?
📚 When should I teach my child to read? How sho 📚 When should I teach my child to read? How should I teach my child to read? What does Charlotte Mason say about reading lessons? How did she teach children how to read? What curriculum do you use to teach your child how to read? 📚
These are all questions I answered in my blog post and video, “teaching reading the Charlotte Mason way” 📚 you can also swipe over to see some of my favorite CM quotes on teaching reading! 📚

I also shared what I do with my 3-year-old (which is very minimal) if you have younger children. You can view the post at the link in my profile! Are you up children school-aged? What do you use to teach reading?
I needed to accomplish a lot today. There was more I needed to accomplish a lot today. There was more unpacking and organizing to be done, pictures to be framed, meal planning to do, laundry that needed folding, bike rides to be had, meals to be prepared, sourdough to be prepped and lesson planning + pre-reading to do. Oh and dishes. So many dishes. 😅

I do essentially all of the inside housework aside from taking out the trash + recycle, but for a season my husband helped out while N was small by doing dinner dishes and sometimes even preparing dinner so I could nurse her after we ate. But as of late, I’m trying something new where I don’t ask my husband to clean up after dinner and instead I do it myself. I don’t mind it, and since my girls are old enough to get their own pj’s on now, I’ve been doing dinner clean-up (as well as lunch and breakfast clean-up and prep!) before I head upstairs to tuck them in, read them a story and sit with them while they fall asleep. Call me old fashioned, but I’m happy to do it, and I delight in my husband being able to enjoy some time with the girls after dinner instead of clean up a mess after a long day of working.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this post - I’ve felt pulled in so many directions today and it’s something I feel often, (and I’m sure so many of you can relate) but after five months without a home to care for and nurture I simply can’t feel frustrated or annoyed at my list of 10,000 things I need to do. Instead I pray my way through each task. I sip tea in between. I light a candle and wear my great-grandmother’s apron as I work. I read notes like the one my six-year-old left for me this morning and I weep tears of gratitude and joy. Happy Sunday, my friends. ❤️ 
.
(swipe to read her note 🥰 + a transcription in the comments!)
Remember that word we heard so often when we were Remember that word we heard so often when we were parenting infants? Attachment.  What comes to mind? Breastfeeding on demand. Co-sleeping. Babywearing. All of those things that come pretty natural to us when taking care of a baby. But did you know that attachment doesn’t just end when your child gets bigger? Attachment is actually necessary THROUGH adolescence. 😳

Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté is a brilliant book that stopped me in my tracks. The book addresses the severe lack of attachment to parents that is incidentally replaced by an attachment to peers. I wrote all about it on my blog, but if you swipe over you can see a few passages that I underlined, highlighted, and wrote down in my notebook. 

Peer culture is more prevalent than ever. Not only because our society now prefers it that way, but because of social media’s ability to unite our youth in an unprecedented way. What we need is a shift in how we pass down culture to our kids from a horizontal attachment (peer to peer) back to a vertical attachment (family to child). I’ve often felt this long before I read this book, but we prioritize our Children’s friendships and relationships with others before we prioritize their relationships with us. We don’t value the family unit the way we used to decades ago, and it’s to the detriment of our children. 

I will gift this book to every new parent I meet from now on because of the wisdom the authors share. I wish all parents would read it so we could be on the same page as a society and those of us who choose to hold on to our kids wouldn’t be going against the grain. So this is my plea to you. If anything I’ve said piqued your interest, or struck a chord, please read Hold On To Your Kids! ✨

(For those of you who have read it! Share your thoughts with us! Help me convince everyone to read it! 👏🏻)
I promised I would share how I teach foreign langu I promised I would share how I teach foreign language the Mason way✨

When my oldest (now 6) was younger we loved and used @theculturedkid but since beginning formal lessons we’ve switched to this wonderful book by @cherrydalepress. 

Mason recommends that students learn 5-6 new French words a day and that they use them frequently. She writes in Home Education, “…children should learn French orally, by listening to and repeating French words and phrases; that they should begin so early that the difference of the accent does not strike them, but they repeat the French word all the same as if it were English, and use it freely…” (p. 80) she then writes about how important it is to employ the use of French vocabulary words during time out-of-doors. My kids and I have taken this to heart, because it isn’t uncommon for us all to be walking along the hiking trail, singing our French folk songs together. It’s something I’ll remember that we do together for many years. 

The Cherrydale Press program allows the child to learn common phrases, orally, a bit at a time. Along the way, they learn common verbs and vocabulary. 

Each “series” lasts about 2 weeks.
So here is the process we go through in that time:

01. We practice and memorize the English phrases. 
Here’s an example: 
I take the book.
I open the book.
I close the book.
So we say the phrases as we ACT THEM OUT, which is crucial to this method of learning French and retaining it! It’s helped me tremendously as a non-native speaker.

02. We then learn the French verbs from those phrases in French: je prends, j’ouvre, and je ferme. We memorize how to say them and act them out!

03. We learn the whole thing in French as we act it out. 
Je prends le livre.
j’ouvre le livre.
je ferme le livre.

After my daughter can say/act them without error, on her own, we move on to the next series!

Thanks to The Living Page, I keep a French notebook where I record the phrases or words we learn! (That’s what I shared in my stories the other day!)

In addition to this program, we have two French folk songs, one French vocabulary song per term (we sing daily) and a story we listen to in French, thanks to @the.cmec and their support!

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