When Nature is Blooming - Mushrooms

 

A couple of weeks ago the kids went on a nature walk in search of mushrooms. We picked this out of our book to do because quite frankly mushrooms were everywhere. Easy to find and lots of different kinds. I took pictures of about five different specimens to identify and journal.

 

We did most of the work in class, but I sent home the task of actually identifying the mushrooms. It was interesting to find out how many edible mushrooms we have in our area. Of course I don't think I am brave enough to try any (especially since I don't even like mushrooms).

 

The kids are getting more and more creative in what they add to their pages. I hope that by the end of the year they will understand and accomplish filling up as much of the journal page as possible.

 

We try as a group to do a nature study walk and journal page twice a month. Of course the kids love being outside and would do one every day if we had the time.

When You Just Want to Have Fun

 

My neighbor's property is a treasure trove of nature study. We only utilized it a few times this year, but in August when the girls return we are using it way more. First thing on the agenda will be a pond/creek study.

 

Last week with our nature study we studied all the different types of ferns that he had on the property and of course when the girls saw the creek that is all they wanted to do. He offered for us to come down this week and play in the creek. Hot sun, cold water - what a mix!

 

Yesterday we saw so much that there would have been enough to fill at least 20 pages of nature study material. In one day we could have studied snakes, water striders, dragonflies, damselflies, salamanders, skinks, butterflies, skippers, rocks and minerals, water, moss, fish, and so much more.

 

I had one student that was very intent on finding gold. Next time I will need to dig out the panning supplies and let them actually pan for gold.

 

We found this water snake immediately upon arrival at the creek. In the beginning the girls were all freaked out by his appearance, but he literally did not move the entire 1 and 1/2 hours we were present.

 

The girls love it when Grace spends time with them in any type of activity.

 

This is the girls spotting the snake and wondering what to do. Grace of course immediately pulled out the her phone to compare images of poisonous snakes - this one wasn't.

 

I think the first week we are back in August we will come down and study some nature to get us back in the swing of things school wise. It will be a great opportunity to use our new nature journal from Simply Charlotte Mason.

Last Days of School Fun - Nature Study

I am ashamed to admit that during that cooler months very little Nature Study goes on. I really need to get in the habit of doing it much more through the entire year. Last week we finished our math and science book which also opened up much more room to go outside and study nature.

Luckily I've got like the best neighbor with the most amazing area to do nature study. I picked a topic of fern, which I knew he had plenty of and we went with it. Of course a lot of the time they were also fascinated with the creek that runs throughout the property.

Goldfish and Koi ponds abound!

Here the girls were observing a cinnamon fern.

Trying to pet the fish.

Back behind the creek in a mucho moist environment is tons of New Yorker ferns. There is a path/trail that goes throughout all of it. Quite beautiful and breathtaking. 

By the ponds the girls discovered this unique fern , painted Japanese fern, by the ponds.

Before going on the nature walk we watched a couple of short animated videos. One of the videos pointed out to the girls how the fronds unfurl. We were lucky enough to see that in person.

The girls are totally stoked that my neighbor invited them back next week on the last day of school to play in the creek!

Project Based Learning - Birds Edition

 

I am a huge fan of project based learning and try to use it when we can in our days as much as possible. This year for science the girls have used the Jeannie Fulbright book about flying creatures. I knew that once the weather became warmer and just better all the way around it would be time for a project. I will go into this project further in a future post once the bird sanctuary is completed.

 

Today was beautiful and was just shouting at us to get outside. When I looked out the window I saw a flock of gold finches, which happen to be my very favorite bird, about 16 in total. Also sighted were cardinals, indigo buntings, black capped chickadees, and purple finches. We all went out and set on the porch steps to get a better look.

 

After about 15 minutes of watching the birds come and go the girls decided they wanted to sketch the birds and then paint them with watercolors into their nature journals. We had other subjects that needed to be tended to, but when creativity and learning are working on their own I love just letting it work its magic. When kids get excited about something and come up with ideas of what to do - that is what true education should be about.

 

Warm sun on our faces and the wind blowing a pleasant breeze. You just can't get any better than that.

 

After about 30 minutes of watching, sketching, and looking through the field guides we headed inside to do some water coloring. It was a good day.

Fall Nature Walks are Fantastic

Lots of nature walks and activities have been happening around here. Not necessarily with Grace but she does join in on the fun periodically with us. Until today I haven't mentioned much if anything about the three 5th grade girls that come to my house three days a week for tutoring. I enjoy so much getting to relive these elementary years when school was still fun. Anyway, fall is such a wonderful time to be outdoors and watch God's splendor unfold. Last week we went on two nature walks and this week we will be doing the same. I am trying to identify everything we find but sometimes it is tough. The above picture was easier to identify than expected - Bursting Heart plant. Until today I had never seen this plant before.

Last week was all about sunflowers and pumpkins. Sunflowers have become my favorite thing in nature. They are beautiful, intricate, and lovely.

I still haven't been able to identify the bush with red berries. If anyone knows please chime in.

Our activity today was a fall color walk. Find four items from nature of different colors that you would normally find in fall. The girls did a great job and had a little fun in the process. It is always great to get outdoors for some fresh air and sunshine.

Fall Gourd Study and Painting

 

Fall is definitely my favorite season of the year. We live in a beautiful area that people all over Georgia come to see fall foliage. The leaves are just now starting to change. It is the perfect time to go on an adventure to study fall related topics. Today's fall adventure found us studying gourds. Specifically pumpkins, squash, and gourds.

 

Luckily we have a family that gardens in walking distance of our home and has lived in this community for more than 40 years. They have run a vegetable and fruit stand for many years as well. We took off after lunch to go see the plants in action. Leaves, blossoms, and fruit.

 

It was just as fun to also see all the sunflowers. Bumble bees were busily pollinating all the florets in each sunflower. Just beautiful!

 

Grace picked out a pumpkin and immediately set her sights on painting it. She loves Nightmare Before Christmas and decided to use that theme. Grace has been working on this for 5 hours. She wants to paint many more in different themes to maybe use as displays at the art show next weekend. A couple of years ago you would have never seen her picking up a paintbrush. Pencil and marker was her favorites but over the past six months she is enjoying painting more and more and developing a passion for it.

Nature Walk and Photography

I have blogged about this before but figured it was worth another entry. Our neighbors have created a beautiful area on their property. Many Asian themed areas and so much more. Scott got a new camera for his birthday and Grace has been itching to take it down to the neighbors house and take some nature inspired photos. Of course the pics I am posting are not hers but from my blackberry. The above photo is a trail the you can walk on the back end of their property and it looks like walking through something form Lord of the Rings or fairyland.

They have three fish ponds with goldfish and huge koi. Lots of greenery.

This water feature is inside the tea house and Grace's favorite fish resides here. The big white koi. He likes you to pet him and feed him treats.

This is the outside of the tea house.

The owner also created a bonsai garden with bonsai trees he created himself. It is always so much fun going down there and visiting.

Shining Dawn Books

Grace will be starting a Chemistry class for middle schoolers in another week. This week we will finish up our review unit on the human body. The Chemistry class will only be two hours on Monday for 8 weeks. Lots of experiments and hands on activities done in class with some studying at home for quizes. I didn't want to start something in Science at home that would be heavy duty until the Chemistry class was finished. For at least a year I have toyed around with the idea of ordering a nature study series from Shining Dawn Books. Well, today I took the plunge. I asked Grace to pick which she was most interested in doing and Spectacular Spiders won. What I like most about ordering is that the download is ready as soon as you pay. No wait. I was pleasantly surprised at all the suggestions that are available through this unit even to help stretch for students about 5th grade. So this week I will be gathering some items for hands on activities and field guides from the library. Now if we can just get over our fear of spiders to actually collect one to observe. I urge you all to check out the website http://www.shiningdawnbooks.com/ and choose something for your nature study. After this unit I may go back and purchase again either the unit on Rain or Clouds.

Saturday + Sunshine = Nature Study

For the past few days the weather has been cooler, rainy, cloudy and misty. Today was a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine that just called for being outdoors. First thing was to let the baby chicks out in their play area and they were able to stay out for about five hours. Our study of caterpillars and butterflies has really ignited an interest for Grace. All three of our painted ladies have emerged and will be released tomorrow. We felt releasing them on Easter Sunday was very fitting. Now she is on the hunt for more caterpillars to raise into butterflies or moths. We went down to a neighbor's house that has an incredible yard and creek for nature study. In all that area (probably 3 acres at least) we could on find one caterpillar. A very common one at that. The Eastern Tent Caterpillar which will build a cocoon and turn in to a moth. Grace is still going to try.

There were lots of this specimen of butterfly on the Yellow flower. Very hard to photograph, very active. We looked up the butterfly in our field guide and discovered that this guy or girl is a Buckeye.

We still have this wildflower to look up and the bottom photo of a plant. Looking forward to more hikes and nature studies for this spring and summer.

Viewing God's Handiwork

Our first painted lady butterfly emerged this morning. Very exciting. The way that God designed this process to take place is just down right breathtaking. We watched a video about caterpillars, butterflies, and moths that blew our mind. Loving this project.

The baby chicks are three weeks and four days old today. This has been another amazing process to be a part of. They grow so fast. Yesterday when we put them in they outdoor playpen for a few hours we got to witness them take their first dust bath. So funny. Don't get me wrong though, it is alot of work. We will all be glad when we can move them outside to their new coop on a permanent basis.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #18 - Looking for Pollen

In the part of the world all you have to do is walk out the front door and you will find pollen. It is on the cars, outdoor furniture, deck floors, etc. But our challenge was to find a flower that had pollen in it. The irises in our front yard were full of pollen and easy to photograph. Another part of the challenge was to try and take a photo of an insect on a flower helping with pollination. We came very close but the bumble bee flew away. Grace did sketch a flower with a bee attached for her nature journal as well as the above photo of the iris. We were also instructed to add any new garden flowers to our journal. The photos below are of the two flowers Grace picked out a few weeks ago that she wanted to be only hers.

I wanted to add in the picture of our butterfly bush. It has been three years since we planted this and it is the first year it has bloomed. I am so thrilled. I love the fragrance of a butterfly bush. Also it will come in very handy when we release our painted lady butterflies in a week or so.

Gerbera Daisy Gerbera jamesonii

Dahlinova Dahlia