Camp Creek Press

Anyone else in the throes of intense spring cleaning?

We are doing an enormous space switch that involves me moving my office, my 11-year-old moving up to the loft to his very own bedroom where my office used to be, and my 8-year-old spreading out in his former shared space to get his own room and the whole desk to himself. (The latter of which is requiring a lot of Ikea construction.)

Remember those cheap plastic games where you would move the little tiles up, down, sideways trying to get them in numerical order? That's what I feel like right now. Except the little plastic tiles are heavy pieces of furniture, boxes of books, endless bins of LEGOs, and all my craft supplies.

We are all experiencing some intense emotions about this shift as well.

I am feeling just a tiny bit sad about losing my office under the eaves, especially since I had a tiny balcony with a view.

Younger son is feeling just a tiny bit sad about not sharing a room with his big brother anymore.

Older son is experiencing joy and exultation on getting his own space.

So, not only are there clouds of dust in the air, the arguments over what should stay and what should be donated, the constant background hum of vacuuming, but also a heightened emotional state. Sigh.

I know a couple people are likewise occupied. Anyone else have a big spring project under way?

As the weather turns warm and the green starts to emerge, we are putting down our books and moving outside — to play catch, read on the deck, draw in the woods behind our house.

We start living outdoors again. We may take sledding and snowball breaks in the winter, but it’s nothing like the wholesale move to outside that happens in the spring.

Public and private schools in our area start getting out around the middle of May (for those who have no spring break and a very short winter break) and some are still in session in June.

The biggest change for us when school lets out is that our school-attending friends are suddenly free to play during the day, during the week.

We like to schedule vacations for either the last few weeks of public school in the spring or the first few weeks in the fall. It’s such a luxury to visit popular places when the weather is beautiful but there are no crowds.

When are you “done” for the year? If you are unschooling, do you pay any attention at all to the “school” year?

Dominic: Since I was three.

Me: How do you study a topic by doing a project?

Dominic: Instead of just reading a book, you actually do something with it. Like, when the preschoolers studied space, they didn't just read books about it. They built a rocket ship and helmets. When we were studying frogs, we made a giant frog and we made his joints move the way we learned how their joints move.

Me: So you build models? What other kinds of things do you do?

Dominic: All kinds of things. Also when we were studying frogs, we brought in frogs. We went to see frogs. We studied them.

Now I’m working on my geology project and I’ve been writing down everything I’ve learned and I’m making plans to make it into a book and hopefully sell it for lots of moola.

Me: So, some of the things you’ve mentioned include

- making models

- studying live specimens

- dramatic play

- reading books

- writing books

- taking field trips

Also, when you guys did that frog project, you had an expert come talk to you, right?

Dominic: A professor came from the university and he brought some frogs to show us. One got loose! It was hilarious.

Me: So, tell me about your geology project.

Dominic: Basically, I just get out my journal and a geology book and I read half a page and then write down in my journal what I learned that day. Also, usually most of the pages have pictures and I draw those in my journal, too.

Me: What made you interested in geology in the first place?

Dominic: We were on vacation and we were visiting the Badlands and at one of the tourist centers I got a book on geology and started reading it.

Me: What do you find interesting about geology?

Dominic: A lot of different stuff. It’s just interesting to find out how everything was made and the different processes — how volcanos are made, how rocks are made. What I was reading about yesterday was how a river will go around a convex bend and hit a block of rock and wash that rock away and then the river will slowly migrate sideways.

Me: When you’re done with your geology project, what do you think you might study next?

Dominic: I don't know. I’ll study whatever I think is interesting.

Happy Earth Day!

Are you doing anything to celebrate the day?

We’ve been celebrating our planet with our nature journals and visiting the local nature center.

We made that great field bag from a worn-out pair of pants.

We make lots of art out of recyclables and free things from around the house.

I hope you all get out to touch a bit of the Earth today with your kids.

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike. — John Muir

Along the same lines as observational drawing, we will concentrate on looking closely, noticing details, and doing our best to paint what we see.

We will try to paint the colors exactly as we see them.

First we do an observational pencil sketch. (If you want to try ink, make sure it is waterproof.)

Then we add details in color using the watercolor techniques we have practiced.

Because we're working in our sketchbooks and the pages are not as heavy as watercolor paper, we’re careful about using too much water — and we use an extra piece of paper under the page we are painting on to absorb any wetness that soaks through.

Things to do while making observational drawings and paintings in nature:

• Talk about what we see.

• Ask questions about what we see — and remember them, so we can look up the answers later.

• Talk about what has changed since we were here last.

• Write descriptive words in our journals.

• Pay attention to everything around us — not just what we can see, but also what we can hear, what we can feel.

• Make sure we take everything with us when we leave.

See also: the complete list of nature journal lessons (as it grows!)

You may also be interested in the complete list of art activities.

Most of our nature journaling will be done en plein air. But don’t overlook your local nature center. You can get up close and personal with birds, reptiles, and animals that you will be lucky to see from a distance when you’re drawing and painting outdoors.

See also: the complete list of nature journal activities (as it grows!)