Robert Burns, Burns Night January 25 and Some Scottish History

 Today is Robert Burns' Day. It is a time of celebration of a very beloved and treasured Scotish Bard. Bard means a poet, traditionally one who recites epics and is associated with a particular oral tradition. Robert's first poem was called  "O Once I Lov'd A Bonnie Lass" which you can enjoy a lovely rendition at: https://youtu.be/XdaGJG1RS28  In case you were wondering Lass means a girl or young woman. His most famous poem is actually one that we sing on New Year's which is Auld Lang Syne. It is sang in the most lovely way at: https://youtu.be/EuwZw__YQvE Auld lang Syne actually means times long past. A poem that many adore is called My Love is Like a Red Red Rose which can be enjoyed: https://youtu.be/BpyosZg2WRw and another sung version can be appreciated at: https://youtu.be/4hOZgkglvLA  Barron used a free online paint program called: https://kleki.com/ to make his lovely rose. It is remarkable! 

On the topic of roses there are some lovely creators at Dwelling Logs that have a free resource on roses. You can obtain one at: https://dwellinglogs.gumroad.com/l/therose

January 25 many partake in an event called Burn's Night which is a celebration of Scotland's National Poet Robert Burns by having a supper. You can learn more about that: https://youtu.be/OQ5Cl9wwon0 and the man himself: https://youtu.be/qMxIBqpryG0 There is also a museum devoted to this gentleman: https://youtu.be/8cUpCJBcbug. Barron gave his first toast to thank and celebrate Robert Burns, dinner guests, and the people of Scotland for the love, memories and the poems. 

It has been noted that, "Many of Bruns's poems and verse epistles employ the six-line stanza, derived from the medieval tail-rhyme stanza" Source: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/robert-burns. If you are interested in creating a poem in Robert Burn's style is a rather unique video: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3qhgma There is a lovely dictionary to help about the old scottish language as well as a sponsorship for a word as a gift:https://dsl.ac.uk/  For those of you wondering what a poem is Kwame Alexander shares three ingredients of a poem which are rhyme, rhythm, and repetition. You can learn about that at:https://youtu.be/FDTmswL2cf0  The definition of a poem is difficult however it is an enjoyable expression of your thoughts and emotions in some way. Also this video on rhyme is great: https://youtu.be/rVuWKBFkZcU 

 At this webpage you will find a lovely map of the area Robert Burns is from: https://www.insiders-scotland-guide.com/RobertBurns.html

Should you be interested in joining a Robert Burns Federation membership can be found on this webpage along with all of his poems in chronological order or by the first line in each poem: http://robertburnsworldfederation.org/

It was a rather wonderful evening to be warm inside as the wind was throwing snow around as Barron informed me:

There is an excellent source of Scottish history summed up below:

• "Beginning around 8000 years ago, the first settlers are believed to have arrived in Scotland from the area of the Mediterranean, although some recent evidence from a 9000 year old site on Ben Lawyers shows some of evidence of early Norwegian occupation.
• About 2000 BC first descendants of these settlers erect Standing Stones
• AD 82 Roman invasion into "Caledonia" (Roman name for this land) and Roman Emperor Tacitus records victory against the "Picts" (Painted people)and various other tribes.
• AD 121 Romans build Hadrians Wall and Antonine Wall to keep out the Picts they were unable to conquer.
• AD 500 Romans finally abandon Scottish outposts. Picts Angles and Scots go on to rule their individual kingdoms.
• AD 563 Columba founds monastery on the Island of Iona.. Christianity spreads.
• In the year 695 The king of the Picts, King Bruide, defeats the Angles of Northumbria.
• AD 843 Picts and Scots are united under Kenneth McAlpin and the Picts identity is lost to history
• AD 890 The Norsemen occupy the Western and Northern Isles of Scotland.
• AD 1018 King Malcolm defeats the Angles and his grandson Duncan brings the country together under the name of Scotia, except for the remaining isles still held by Norsemen.
• 1296 Edward I takes the Stone of Scone (or the Stone of Destiny) to England.
• 1263 Western Isles claimed back from the Norsemen.
• 1320 Scottish sovereignty affirmed by treaty with England and the declaration of the Pope.
• 1326 Scottish parliament meets for the first time.
• 1472 Shetland and Orkney Islands reclaimed and placed under Scottish rule.
• 1488-1513 Under the strong leadership of James IV Edinburgh becomes the capital of Scotland.
• 1542-1567 The period of Mary Queen of Scots' short reign.
• 1587 Elizabeth I orders the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
• 1603 James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England and moves to London.
• 1689 James VII deposed after his attempt to restore Catholicism.
• 1692 Massacre of Glencoe - Campbells murder their hosts the MacDonalds.
• 1745-6 Prince Charles Edward Stuart, or Bonnie Prince Charlie(grandson of James VII) makes a bid for the throne but is defeated at the Battle of Culloden and becomes a wanted man with a price on his head.
• 1706-1707 Union of Parliaments of England and Scotland Scottish Parliament dissolved.
• 1760 Beginning of "The Clearances."
• 1769 Scotsman James Watt patents the Steam Engine.
• 1786 Robert Burns publishes some of his first poems.
• 1800 Glasgow's population reaches 200,000 as industry (cotton and shipbuilding mainly) flourish.
• 1832 Death of Sir Walter Scott. He is buried at Dryburgh Abbey.
• 1848 Queen Victoria moves into Balmoral Castle, bringing the Highlands into popular fashion as the place to visit on holiday.
• 1876 Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell patents his new invention- the first " working telephone."
• 1888 James Keir Hardie founds the Scottish Labour Party.
• 1914-1918 74,000 Scots die in World War I.
• 1931 Economic downturn - high unemployment in Clyde shipyards.
• 1934 Founding of the Scottish National Party.
• 1967 Oil discovered in the North Sea.
• 1996 Stone of Destiny returned to Scotland and now on display in Edinburgh Castle.
• 1999 Scotland's parliament reestablished."   

Source: https://www.insiders-scotland-guide.com/ScotlandBriefHistory.html

As the adage goes save the best for last.  A timeless gentleman, although born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwae on Aug. 24, 1948, captures the modern Scotish spirit, intelect, and passion through his written word much lije Robert Burns himself and how can one not fall in love with such a loving talent Mr. Alexander Mcall Smith. To become familiar with this spirit kindly visit and subscribe to his newsletter and make a place for him in your home: https://www.alexandermccallsmith.com/off-the-page/quotes To us he is Scotland's literary treasure. These are our ebooks from our app GooglePlay: 

"Sláinte Mhath!" = Good Health and is pronounced "slanj’-uh va’” and from us to you "Oidhche Bhlas Burns” which means Happy Burns Night.

Scholastic Kids January Reading Challenge-Completed.

 A neat little challenge can be found at: https://classroomessentials.scholastic.ca/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-cec-ca-Library/default/dw74e5bcce/2022/contests/Scholastic-Jan-Reading-Challenge-CA.pdf

Since we found it rather late we worked quickly to finish the tasks and completed them on January 24th, 2023. Great Job Barron! 

Happy Chinese New Year (Rabbit) + Happy Seollal Korean New Year

  This Lunar New Year is the Year of the Rabbit. We discovered it is also the Korean New Year which is expressed as Happy Seollal. We found these neat hair bands at our local dollarstore and used our stamp and ink pad we got from Micheals.

We borrowed these lovely books from the library to learn about this celebration:  

Martin Luther King Jr Day - January 16

 Today is a day to celebrate, reflect, and remember the intellectualism of a man named Martin Luther King Jr. He was a man who would not bring harm or use violence in his quest for equality among the races. MLK believed in accepting everyone for who they were. I believe this activity from Teacher Nancy is a perfect reminder and illustrator of a point. She shares several types of apples all different in colour, name, appearance, shape and yet when you cut each one open they all contain the same pattern the same seeds which represents humans of all race, inside we are the same although we may be unsimilar on the outside. This lady is simply brilliant!  http://firstgradewow.blogspot.com/search/label/diversity 

https://youtu.be/SEu-VFFFgSg learnt about peace and harmony

https://youtu.be/xAUvvAbzkUk  a detailed rap song

A beauitful statue was just released this MLK day, a sculpture of an embrace of Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King by conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas. A news paper and video are available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/boston-unveils-embrace-sculpture-mlk-coretta-scott-king-rcna64990 and https://youtu.be/J_RdNwlbd-w

This wonderful item shop has a beautiful message that we purchased for this day since MLK's mom told him to love not hate, you can obtain a copy: https://www.etsy.com/dk-en/listing/943424713/we-are-praying-printable-wall-art-wall?click_key=68033680fa1e51a9a33eb7afbf61d01306758306%3A943424713&click_sum=4849586e&ref=shop_home_active_1 

Barron and I are so fortunate to be living in Toronto at this moment and having access to lovely resources from the Toronto Public Library we read a few books and referenced our Google Play book called that we also used for Kwanza for information regarding MLK and his life journey.

                                    Frieden und Liebe -Peace and Love.

Friday the 13th Arrival and Adopt A Tulip Chance

Although today many people become nervous or superstitious during the thought of tomorrow being Friday the 13th which will be the first one of the 2023 year and October 13th will be the next. Interestinghly enough there is a web page that references when and will a new one arrives: https://days.to/when-is/friday-the-13th/2023

We purchased this great product (below) from: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FRIDAY-the-13TH-Poster-Activity-1760779 and plan on purchasing this product: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Friday-the-13th-and-Superstitions-Reading-Passage-6231543

We filled it out a bit late, however we enjoyed our time doing so. For the 3 American States we referenced this wonderful video: https://youtu.be/Gt2mYPwXyAc

To bring some positivity into today we decided to adopt a tulip bulb from the Ottawa Festival, For $5.00 each CDN you can help support this lovely tradition and join us: https://tulipfestival.ca/adopt/

Barron got a lovely certificate and they will send photos of your bulb throughout the growing stages. It is an interesting price point because The Crown Princess Juliana and her daughters stayed in Canada for five years. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Holland and Canadian bond that is the reason for this festival we will share what we have discovered below:

How Canada Sheltered a princess and freed a nation- The Dutch Royal Family was fleeing to London during the Nazi régime however London, UK was not safe due to the Battle of Britain that was about to begin so Queen Wilhelmina evacuates the children and her grandchildren to Canada. The Crown Princess Juliana and her two daughters Beatrix and Irene lived in Ottawa at the Rock-Cliffe Place. Princess Juliana was pregnant and had another girl which she named after the Dutch flower and symbol that the Dutch people used to resist the Nazis which was a Margriet flower. This baby was born in January at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. It was the first and only time a different flag was flying from the Peace Tower. Following this joyous celebration in 1945 the Canadian Army Air dropped food to the people in Holland and the people used tulips to say Thank you and spell it out so they could see it from the air. May 5th was the day that the Crown Princess and her three daughters could go home and when they did they sent 100,000 tulips to say thank you then every year since they have sent $10,00 tulips. In 2001 the tulip became Ottawa's official flower.  An excellent resource we have used to obtain this information can be watched: https://youtu.be/O612zh12NE4

A simple update we wanted to share according to the tulip webpage it is, "Thank you for your interst, our adoption program is closed for this year. We will relauch in September with a new year of adoptions.." We wanted to plant one for Grandma, Dad, and Mom however these will be future goals.

                                Groeien met liefde - Grow with love!

Welcome January+ Raising Little Shoots along with Doodlewash Art Challenge

Our favourite shop has these moon cards: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/ofbeeandbearshop 

We discovered Raising Little Shoots last school term and we truly adore this woman Lynn's and her blog: https://raisinglittleshoots.com/blog/  We were inspired by her first week of activities that range from January 2-8 and her topic of Winter Sky Week.

To begin our journey exploring this topic we listened to a poem by Robert Frost called Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening: https://youtu.be/1sWcq2-ZA5o  or you can read it below:

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost (born 1874 died 1963)  

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

This is a beautiful rendition: https://youtu.be/ZQhIZhwoj14

This poem helped us imagine what it would be like to be on a horse travelling along in the forest during a snowfall, perhaps with a small lantern, and the sounds and feelings that being under and in a winter sky would provoke. We found a lovely free lesson created by Ashley Moon (2019) on the Teach this Poem website: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-stopping-woods-snowy-evening-robert-frost  Barron read the poem and so did I. Our answers to the questions in the lesson: We feel that the woods is symbolic of a conquest and the mood of the poem is subtle and natural. The picture of the wagon on a an open trail with trees around it matches the poem rather perfectly.  The speakers promise might be to get to the end of his journey. He might have repeated the final lines twice to motivate himself to remind himself to keep on pursuing to not give up.

Barron did a lovely job studying and analyzing the poem. He was able to learn a new skill, how to figure out how long someone enjoyed their life by knowing the year the person died and subtracting it from the year the person was born, for example to calculate how many yeas Robert Frost lived you perform the following equation-> 1963-1874=89. Robert Frost lived 89 years of his life.  We were not sure how to define the word frost so Barron looked up in the student dictionary version at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frost#kidsdictionary  and found it to be defined as the temperature that causes freezing or a covering of tiny ice crystals on a cold surface.

We learnt a bit more about who Robert Frost was from this web source: https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Robert-Frost/274445 

We found that he was an American who was born in San Francisco on March 26, 1874 and died on January 29, 1963. His father died when he was 11. He went to live with his Grandparents in Massachusetts. Robert married his high school sweetheart in 1895, her name was Elinor White. In 1900 his grandfather gave him a small farm in New Hampshire. He studied at Dartmouth College and Harvard University and was able to teach. On the farm that his grandfather gave him he tended to the land however he was not successful. He tried for 11 years.  He often found inspiration from walks around his farm. It took him 20 years to be able to make a living as a poet, however when he did he was successful. He won the Pulitzer prizes in 1923, 1930, 1936, and in 1942. He eventually became a poetry consultant to the Library of Congress (a job we now call a poet laureate consultant.) He also received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1960 and President John F. Kennedy invited him to recite his poem The Gift Outright in 1961 at his inauguration (the formal admission of someone to office.)

Learning about the man, mapping his life journey from one side of the map to the other, taking part in a lesson about one of his winter poems lead us into a lovely How to Paint session from Art Classes for Kids on YouTube of a winter night sky where the teacher and the student each paint a version of the night sky. Barron painted the Blue night sky shown and I painted the black night as in the video. Please join us and support this lovely art creator's page: https://youtu.be/Te7l02l9HQk 

We found three lovely poems that would suite this art activity by Robert Frost called Birches, A Late Walk, and Fragmentary Blue. These can be enjoyed on the free podcasts read by Becky Crackle from Ohio: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/selected-poems-by-robert-frost/id903845345  We have included one of them below, to read if you would like, that is rather delightful:

B  Birches by Robert Frost 

When I see birches ben to left and right

Across the lines of straighter darker trees,

I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.

But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay

As ice-storms do. Often you must have seen them

Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning

After a rain. They click upon themselves

As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored

As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.

Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells

Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust—

Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away

You'd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.

They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,

And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed

So low for long, they never right themselves:

You may see their trunks arching in the woods

Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground

Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair

Before them over their heads to dry in the sun.

But I was going to say when Truth broke in

With all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm

I should prefer to have some boy bend them

As he went out and in to fetch the cows—

Some boy too far from town to learn baseball,

Whose only play was what he found himself,

Summer or winter, and could play alone.

One by one he subdued his father's trees

By riding them down over and over again

Until he took the stiffness out of them,

And not one but hung limp, not one was left

For him to conquer. He learned all there was

To learn about not launching out too soon

And so not carrying the tree away

Clear to the ground. He always kept his poise

To the top branches, climbing carefully

With the same pains you use to fill a cup

Up to the brim, and even above the brim.

Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish,

Kicking his way down through the air to the ground.

So was I once myself a swinger of birches.

And so I dream of going back to be.

It’s when I’m weary of considerations,

And life is too much like a pathless wood

Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs

Broken across it, and one eye is weeping

From a twig’s having lashed across it open.

I'd like to get away from earth awhile

And then come back to it and begin over.

May no fate willfully misunderstand me

And half grant what I wish and snatch me away

Not to return. Earth’s the right place for love:

I don’t know where it's likely to go better.

I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree,

And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk

Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,

But dipped its top and set me down again.

That would be good both going and coming back.

One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

Source: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44260/birches

                           "The best way out is always through." Robert Frost