little house

This is the beauty of homeschooling.

It happens any time, any place, and with infinite materials.

She helped amend the soil. She helped plant the seeds. She helped water the seedlings.

She marveled at their daily growth and was awed by the thoughtfulness of Creation.

She commented on the difference between the many different types, some with large heads, some with small, some all yellow, some deep red and brown, some with one head on a stem, and some with many.

She watched birds and bees and butterflies take interest in what the flowers had to offer.

She recognized pollination in progress.

She sat for an hour drawing picture after detailed picture of them.

She referenced a kid-friendly plant encyclopedia and labeled many of the parts of the sunflower.

She cut some to give as little tokens of affections. She put some in a vase to place on the table as decoration.

She noticed the petals wilting and the heads drooping.

She recognized concealed seeds starting to poke through.

She helped as we gathered heads for next years' seeds. She pulled with all her might to yank out the tired and dying stems to make room for future plants.

She helped lay the heads out to dry. She saw birds come to nibble here and there.

She looked forward to planting the seeds next year.

I love it.

Nature will bear the closest inspection.

She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.

-Henry David Thoreau