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{May Gratitudes}

On June 1, 2019June 1, 2019 By JessicaIn Gratitude Journal

For making memories and the whimsy of a 4 year old.

For a sweet six years and the quiet bravery the dwells within.

For imaginary worlds and plenty of sea views.

For moths that tickle and nature up close.

For new beginnings and new adventures.

These are the inserts from our gratitude journal during May, reminding us that God is good and we are blessed.

What have you been thankful for lately?

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Welcome

Hello, I’m Jessica. A minimalist homeschooling mother of two living on the British island of Guernsey. I’m also a nature lover, letter writer and journal keeper that wants to to live life with an open heart. Welcome to my blog.

Instagram

I’ve been inspired by all the end of year homeschool pics that have been popping up in my feed over the past weeks, the ones where kids are surrounded by or stood next to a huge pile of ALL the books they’ve read that school year, which usually comes up to at least their shoulder! . . Well we’re due to start our new school year come September so I thought I’d also share an end of year book shot with you to round up the school year. . . I’d love to do a cool pile up picture of all the books Blossom has read during Year 1 but a. we’re minimalist homeschoolers so don’t have all the books we’ve read and b. I’m a tidy homeschooler so couldn’t be bothered to get all the books out just to have to put them away again. So instead I offer you this humble pic of my sweet 6 year old with her top 3 favourite books from Year 1, go read them! . . • The Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse • The Enormous Crocodile • Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories . (You’ll find reviews of the Little Wooden Horse and Milly-Molly-Mandy if you scroll back through my feed). . . Looking ahead to our next school year I’m particularly excited to read Peter Pan and Mary Poppins to the girls. I think we’ll also start The Little House series, which is new to me too. . . What are you looking forward to reading with your kiddos next school year? . . #thegirardgirls #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #charlottemason #charlottemasonuk #charlottemasonhomeschool #charlottemasoneducation #minimalisthomeschool #neatfreak #livingbooks #childrensbooks

Some sea themed mail from a month or so ago using some of my favourite @pepinpress natural history stickers and lots of lovely sea themed Guernsey stamps to match. . . #snailmail #happymail #showandmail #sendmoremail #keeplettersalive #letterwriting #lettering #handlettering #mailart #penpals #postallove #postagestamps #guernseystamps

School may still be out here in Guernsey but homeschool is still in full swing. We’ve had a lot of fun over the last couple of days trying to help the girls understand a little of what Mrs Banks was up to with the Suffragettes. . . Explaining women’s suffrage, voting, politics and gender inequality to a 4 & 6 year old is no easy feat. We started by having a family vote to choose the afternoon activity, but Daddy couldn’t vote, because he was a boy. The girls immediately felt this was unfair and as we continued voting on things throughout the afternoon with Daddy being excluded they began to protest more that as part of the family Daddy should be allowed to vote too. So with Daddy’s help they set up a political party and set to work trying to convince the “Mummy Government” to change the house rules. . They made banners, they held marches, they protested and shouted “Votes for Daddy” and when the Mummy Government still wouldn’t listen they resorted to some rule breaking! After making a mess in the bedroom and one of the girls being sent to “prison” in the spare room the Mummy Government decided to hold one final vote the following day. . And the results are in. Daddy won the vote 3:1! 🎉🎉🎉 . It was a lot of fun and really helped to illustrate in an age appropriate way what the suffragettes were doing to help get votes for women. . I’m now looking forward to revisiting this period of history in years to come when the girls can delve deeper into the events and lives of those involved in the women’s suffrage movement. . What period of history are you studying? . . #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeschool #homeschooling #charlottemason #charlottemasonuk #charlottemasonhomeschool #charlottemasoneducation #historylovers #historylesson #livinghistory #womenssuffrage #votesforwomen #votesfordaddy

The other week Blossom asked me “What was Mrs. Banks doing in Mary Poppins?” and by that she was referring to her work with the suffragettes. . Embarrassingly my knowledge of the women’s suffrage movement was also pretty much limited to Mrs Banks in Mary Poppins as it was not a subject we covered at all in my public school education. So feeling ill equipped to explain such a momentous piece of history on the spot I told Blossom that I had noticed a book at the library that would help me to explain it to her. . . So I withdrew this gorgeous looking book from the @gylibrary and it has been a great introduction for me on the subject and although a little too old for my girls I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading it myself. . . It explains the history leading up to the women’s suffrage movement, the difference between the suffragists and the suffragettes, the key people of various parties, as well as some of the monumental events, courageous acts and appalling treatment of the people who fought for “votes for women”. . I’ve shared a sneak peek inside this beautifully illustrated book in my stories today so do take a look. It’s a great introduction to the women’s suffrage movement here in the U.K. and I’d recommend it to any adult who like me knows very little about this period of history. I’d also recommend it for kids age 8+ as some of the history covered is the militant acts of the suffragettes, the brutality of the police on what came to be known as Black Friday and the torturous force feedings that many suffragettes endured. Topics perhaps a bit too disturbing for younger readers. . . With the aid of this book though I’ve been able to discuss themes of equality, fairness, voting and feminism with my 4 & 6 year old daughters and I’ll definitely be checking it out of the library in years to come when we cover the women’s suffrage movement in our history studies. . . #womenssuffrage #womenssuffragemovement #suffragists #suffragettes #votesforwomen #suffragettethebattleforequality #davidroberts #historylesson #britishhistory #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeschool #homeschooling #charlottemasonuk #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonhomeschool

When you find a dandy-puff you just gotta stop to blow it, no matter how late you’re running. You can learn a lot of things from 4 year olds. #thegirardgirls . . The 60th instalment of my Daughter Diaries series is up on the blog today! Follow the link in my profile to check it out. #theopenhomeblog . . #dandelion #dandelionseeds #dandypuff #lessonsfromafouryearold #simplepleasures #petitjoys #beautyinthesmallthings

Back when I was sixteen and the Husby was my boyfriend we read ‘The Hobbit’ together and I loved it. Ten years later when I was pregnant with our first child we started reading ‘The Lord of the Rings’ together. We made quick progress initially getting about half way through ‘The Two Towers’ before Blossom arrived but baby’s are all consuming and energy zapping so we made little progress with our reading once we became new parents. Then we added another baby to the family before our first baby was even two years old resulting in even less time for reading. So it’s not really surprising that it’s actually taken us six years to finish the whole story, but finish it we did - yesterday! 🙌🏽 . And when I say “we read together” what I actually mean is the Husby read to me. Yep, he read aloud the entire Lord of the Rings... every single word, even some of the appendixes just so I knew what happened to everyone in the fellowship. He’s the best audio book service I know of! 😉 . Honestly though, read alouds aren’t just for kids. If you don’t have a lot of cash to spare on date nights then I highly recommend picking up a good book to read with your spouse. It doesn’t have to be quite as epically long as ‘The Lord of the Rings’, any good fiction book will do. Next up we’re going to read ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, it’s been sat waiting on our bookshelf for quite a while now, about 6 years in fact! 😂 . . #thelordoftherings #tolkien #bookrecommendation #readaloud #readalouds #datenight #datenightideas #datenightathome

Lately I’ve been reading about the women’s suffrage campaign of the late Victorian and Edwardian era and was pleased to stumble across this statue of Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett whilst strolling through Westminster in London. Millicent Garrett Fawcett was a remarkable woman. She dedicated her life to promoting the the rights of both children and women but she is perhaps best known for her work as the leader of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Society (NUWSS) from 1897-1919, the largest of the women’s suffrage societies. As a suffragist (not a suffragette) Millicent campaigned tirelessly and non violently for over 50 years for women to get the vote, playing a huge part in securing votes for women in the 1918 law reform. What a wonderful example of courage, patience and perseverance in a world that often feels too hard to change. . . #millicentgarrettfawcett #millicentgarrettfawcettstatue #historicalfigure #parliamentsquarelondon #westminster #suffragist #suffragistmovement #womensrights #votesforwomen #bethechange #courage #perseverance

Can’t help but sing “feed the birds” as I walk around St Paul’s Cathedral. In my mind I sound just like Julie Andrews. 🎶 . . #stpaulscathedral #stpauls #london #londonbaby #citybreak #feedthebirds #tuppenceabag #marypoppins

Daddy Man is home!! 💞 . . #daddy #daddyman #daddysgirl #daughterlove #reunited #thegirardgirls

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