October - All Things Autumnal
Where I live, October is a glorious month! It a time of golden leaves, cozy sweaters, hot apple cider. I say do up October the right way. Make it about joy!
Plan lots of fun outings:
Pumpkin Patches
Corn mazes
Bonfires
Apple picking
Hike through the changing woods
Hayrides
Stuffing a scarecrow!
Rabbit Trails:
Now that temperatures are cooling down, make cooking a big deal to celebrate the harvest!
Learn to make things like applesauce from apple picking
Make granola from rolled oats, dried fruits and nuts - it is easy to make and quick and the scent of roasting oats is wonderful.
Anything pumpkin flavored from pies, to breads to cookies, You can expand to to other winter squashes.
Make caramel apples!
Other possible interests to follow:
Native American studies
Why some leaves turn colors in the fall and some don't. You might just study the concept of color itself including light, pigment, learning to sketch and paint and represent the beauty in nature.
Collect nuts -learn to identify them, how to prepare them for eating.
Some of the beloved saints for October are:
St. Therese of the Little Flower - October 1
St. Francis of Assisi - October 4
St. Isaac Jogues and companions - October 5
Yom Kippur - Read the book of Jonah - begins night of October 8th
St. Teresa of Avila - October 15th
St. Isaac Jogues - October 19th
St. John Paul II - October 22nd
Reading/Read Alouds:
St. Therese and the Roses
The Story of a Soul by St. Therese - could be independent read for teens
St. Francis of Assisi - there are beautiful picture books out there on this saint for the young ones, the Vision book, Francis and Clare, for slightly older and St. Francis of Assisi by Chesterton
Another suggestion:
Laudato Si' Pope Francis' encyclical on creation care - ties in with St. Francis' love for the poor and creation.
Jonah from the Bible (or have teen read independently) Bonus! Veggies Tales has a fun family night movie, Jonah. We really enjoyed it.
If you go off on a tangent having to do with Canadian saints and life - Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather is a lovely read aloud and has a real autumnal feel about it.
If you like spookiness, this is the time of year to indulge. I listed a lot of spooky campfire stories back in the month of June, you might revisit some or if you never went down that rabbit trail then, you can do so now.
October is the month of the Rosary. If you don't already do this, challenge your family to say the rosary every day together in October.
Besides reading about the big feast day saint in October, encourage your kids to plan saints costumes for All Saints Day and be able to give a presentation in front of dad, or grandparents or fellow homeschoolers on their patron saint or another saint of choice.
Go to confession and Adoration especially to prepare for All Saints Day.
For copy work:
Quotes from St. Therese of Lisieux
Peace Prayer of St. Francis
St. Teresa of Avila's bookmark prayer
Poetry
When the frost in on the pumpkin
Speaking of frost, Robert Frost always seems autumnal to me.
Math tie ins:
Whenever you are cooking you are using math, so let the kids do their own measuring and timing when baking fall treats.
Enchanted Learning (a resource I highly encourage homeschoolers to subscribe to) has a plethora of fun activities and worksheets using all sorts of fall and Halloween themes. There's math, there's writing, there's science. All kinds of stuff.
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| October is the month of the rosary |
Plan lots of fun outings:
Pumpkin Patches
Corn mazes
Bonfires
Apple picking
Hike through the changing woods
Hayrides
Stuffing a scarecrow!
Rabbit Trails:
Now that temperatures are cooling down, make cooking a big deal to celebrate the harvest!
Learn to make things like applesauce from apple picking
Make granola from rolled oats, dried fruits and nuts - it is easy to make and quick and the scent of roasting oats is wonderful.
Anything pumpkin flavored from pies, to breads to cookies, You can expand to to other winter squashes.
Make caramel apples!
Other possible interests to follow:
Native American studies
Why some leaves turn colors in the fall and some don't. You might just study the concept of color itself including light, pigment, learning to sketch and paint and represent the beauty in nature.
Collect nuts -learn to identify them, how to prepare them for eating.
Some of the beloved saints for October are:
St. Therese of the Little Flower - October 1
St. Francis of Assisi - October 4
St. Isaac Jogues and companions - October 5
Yom Kippur - Read the book of Jonah - begins night of October 8th
St. Teresa of Avila - October 15th
St. Isaac Jogues - October 19th
St. John Paul II - October 22nd
Reading/Read Alouds:
St. Therese and the Roses
The Story of a Soul by St. Therese - could be independent read for teens
St. Francis of Assisi - there are beautiful picture books out there on this saint for the young ones, the Vision book, Francis and Clare, for slightly older and St. Francis of Assisi by Chesterton
Another suggestion:
Laudato Si' Pope Francis' encyclical on creation care - ties in with St. Francis' love for the poor and creation.
Jonah from the Bible (or have teen read independently) Bonus! Veggies Tales has a fun family night movie, Jonah. We really enjoyed it.
If you go off on a tangent having to do with Canadian saints and life - Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather is a lovely read aloud and has a real autumnal feel about it.
If you like spookiness, this is the time of year to indulge. I listed a lot of spooky campfire stories back in the month of June, you might revisit some or if you never went down that rabbit trail then, you can do so now.
October is the month of the Rosary. If you don't already do this, challenge your family to say the rosary every day together in October.
Besides reading about the big feast day saint in October, encourage your kids to plan saints costumes for All Saints Day and be able to give a presentation in front of dad, or grandparents or fellow homeschoolers on their patron saint or another saint of choice.
Go to confession and Adoration especially to prepare for All Saints Day.
For copy work:
Quotes from St. Therese of Lisieux
Peace Prayer of St. Francis
St. Teresa of Avila's bookmark prayer
Poetry
When the frost in on the pumpkin
Speaking of frost, Robert Frost always seems autumnal to me.
Math tie ins:
Whenever you are cooking you are using math, so let the kids do their own measuring and timing when baking fall treats.
Enchanted Learning (a resource I highly encourage homeschoolers to subscribe to) has a plethora of fun activities and worksheets using all sorts of fall and Halloween themes. There's math, there's writing, there's science. All kinds of stuff.
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