Nature Fix

The kids and I recently needed a day of running wild. After finishing up a week of early mornings, late nights, missed naps, and long trips in the car, we just needed to move.

We took a picnic to our local botanical gardens. We played chase and explored and threw rocks in the pond. Homeschooling gives us the freedom to go when most other people can't: weekday winter mornings. Except for the occasional retired couple, we had the place entirely to ourselves.

What I love about the Gardens is that it is different every time we go. We see new and exciting things with each visit, and learn more and more about animals and plants that are local to us. We discover all kinds of things that we want to Google when we get home. Every time we leave, we have an exciting story that we want to share. And after an hour or two or non-stop running, my kids are calm and ready for a nap.

Oh, the wonders of God's creation!

Here are some of the pictures I took that day. I always take too many.
Whenever we visit the Gardens, the kids run,

and run,

and run!

The kids love to throw rocks in the fish pond.

 

There were signs of spring everywhere!

While we were busy playing by the pond,

our picnic was attacked by wild dogs!

We had an impromptu lesson on camouflage.

Can you spot the frog?

Peek-a-boo...

I see you!

Hey, what's that in the bushes?

 

Peacocks!

 

One of the peacocks decided to pose for the camera!

Darling decided to pose for the camera, too.

We feel so refreshed after our picnic. It's like we got our nature fix, and it's carrying us through the week.  I'm hoping to squeeze in another visit to the Gardens soon, if the weather is good. We go so often that many of the volunteers know us by name. We're blessed to live close enough that it feels like it's our own special place.

Butterflies

We did a two-week unit on butterflies, and I wanted to share some of my resources. There is a lot out there to do!

We used this butterfly unit study and lapbook from Homeschool Share as the basis of our study. 

Videos
I found some wonderful nature videos of the Monarch butterfly here. ARKive is a wonderful site---just be careful as there are some graphic videos of animals mating and giving birth. Best to preview without young children to make sure which videos you want to watch.

Activities
We made this mobile of the butterfly life cycle from Enchanted Learning.

We put out plates with slices of bananas and oranges in the yard to attract butterflies.

The girls acted out The Very Hungry Caterpillar as I read the story

We used these fingerplays here and here from Cullen's ABC's.

Books we read (most from our local library)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons
Waiting for Wings by Lois Elhert
Are You a Butterfly? by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries
The Butterfly Alphabet by Kjell Bloch Sandved
From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heiligman and Bari Weissman


Tie-Ins
We used The Very Hungry Caterpillar and this song to learn the days of the week.

I also the The Very Hungry Caterpillar to start a conversation about the importance of eating healthy.

We used this math fishing game. I printed out the symmetrical butterfly  pdf from Homeschool Share and used it as a template. Then I cut out a butterfly in each of ten different colors of construction paper and numbered them 1-10 to play the game. I figured the colors would be a helpful clue for Doodlebug, and once she has mastered the game, I will cut the butterflies out all in one color for a bit more of a challenge.

Question Asking and Answer Seeking

I have to admit it: the more we go into our homeschool, the less structured it is. In this early stage of learning, though, I'm not sure that's a bad thing. Instead, we go outside and observe, do science experiments, get paint and glue on nearly everything, and ask tons and tons of question then attempt to find the answers (sometimes asking questions takes a little guidance from Mommy). I hope that by nurturing this curiosity and teaching them how to seek out information that they will have a solid foundation for research later on.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago Darling wanted to know what sound a giraffe makes, and our search for the answer turned up this video from the Blank Park Zoo in Iowa. I thought the answer was pretty interesting, and wanted to share.






We've watched a few more videos from the Blank Park Zoo, and really enjoyed them. I wish our zoo did something like this. Enjoy!

Today's the Day!

This is it: the day we start homeschooling. When my oldest was born, it seemed like this day would never come, but here it is! And at the risk of sounding cliche: it went by too fast. It seems silly that I am so nervous and anxious about it. I mean, I was homeschooled myself, for Heaven's sake! I should have this in the bag! And it's just kindergarten: alphabet, cut and paste kind of stuff. Right?

I was listening to a download by Steve Lambert, husband of Five in a Row author Jane Claire Lambert, speaking at a homeschool convention. He put into words what I have always thought, but have never been able to clearly express. To paraphrase:

You, the parent, are solely responsible for how your child is raised and educated. You can do all the work yourself (as in homeschool), or you can contract out some of the work (such as sending them to school), or you can contract out all of the work (boarding school, maybe?), but in the end when you stand up to be evaluated, only you will be responsible. Those other teachers and nannies and mentors and daycare workers won't have it on their heads. So you have to make sure it's done right, and there is no second chance.

*gulp*

"It's just kindergarten. It's just kindergarten. It's just kindergarten."

But I have my paper bag handy, just in case....

Library List: 1/16-1/22

Since we've settled into our new house, we've also settled into our new library. Our weekly visits have returned. Our library has an excellent story time and a pretty darn good children's department. Much better than I would have expected. Here is our book list for this week:

The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson
The Cow That Went Oink by Bernard Most
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin
Curious George Learns the Alphabet by H. A. Rey
When Pigasso Met Mootisse by Nina Laden
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Our weekly theme is "cows" this week. The Curious George title was an impulse. I have been incorporating more alphabet books into our reading because Darling is obsessed with letters all of a sudden. You should see her pouring over Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom! We love Curious George and when I saw it sitting on the shelf, I snatched it up for them. The Snowy Day was also an impulse, since it snowed. The girls had a wonderful time listening to the snow crunch! crunch! crunch! under their feet, just like Peter.

Library List

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of our library lists! I've been taking the kids to the library and hope to make it a weekly habit. My kids love to read. Well, they can't read yet, but they love for me to read aloud, and they love to look at pictures books by themselves and "pretend" to read. In fact, they know some of the stories so well, that it seems like they are reading because they can recite all the words, verbatim, from memory. Many nights, when it's time to turn out the light, Darling will plead, "Can I please read books by myself?" I've been trying to read to Doodlebug especially, as she still isn't talking very much (which is why there aren't as many stories about things she says....she doesn't say much).  I am thrilled to see her taking such an interest in reading, too.

I have lots and lots of children's books that are supposed to build the foundations of literacy, but I've been looking for books to build other subjects, too, like science, social studies, math, and geography. Here is a list of books that we have been reading this week.

Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni. When we finished the first reading of this book, Darling said, "That was good!" Very simple story about an inch worm who measures things. I have this idea to cut an inch of string and let the girls go around and measure things. Good to introduce the idea of measurement.

How to Bake and Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman. This was great to introduce the idea of geography, but also science (the recipe!) and social studies (different cultures). I think it will be fun to make an apple pie after reading this story and talk about where the ingredients come from. Even more fun: eating the apple pie!

Elmer by David McKee. I checked this book out simply because my kids are fascinated with elephants. Cute story about being different and being comfortable with yourself. My kids liked it, but I'm glad I just checked it out of the library.

Uncle Elephant by Arnold Lobel. Author is more well-known for his Frog and Toad stories (which my kids also love), but I checked this out, again, because the main characters are elephants, and my children love elephants. These stories definitely have the same flavor as Frog and Toad. Easy to read, short, and a little odd.

Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne. You might think that the pictures have a familiar quality about them, and that's because the illustrator, H. A. Rey, is famous for the Curious George series. This is a cute story about Katy Kangaroo, who doesn't have a pocket to carry her baby! We talked about the points outlined in Before Five in a Row. Great for science! It was a nice way to introduce how different animals carry their babies.

Is This a Home for Hermit Crab? by Megan MacDonald. My girls wanted to read this over and over and over. Good for toddler science! They loved it when I would read the little noises that Hermit Crab made on the sand. They loved the repeating phrases. We must have read this ten times in a row and it's always the first read before bed now. I think I'll take them to a pet store to look at Hermit Crabs. We'll be re-checking this one!

Lovely Links

I've been scouring the four corners of the internet recently, looking for educational/craft ideas. I have found that for my family, the best defense against toddler meltdowns is a well-stocked craft cabinet and a little imagination. This has led me to find some really fantastic blogs/sites that I just have to share.

First, The Rhythm of the Home. One of my friends from NorCal posted a link on her blog to this excellent online magazine. What wonderful ideas! It is specifically for families with young children, and from the articles I have read, has an unplugged childhood vibe, which is exactly what I strive to give my own children. Check out the blueberry pie recipe!

Next, Jump Into A Book. This blog has me completely inspired! It is exactly the kind of thing that I want to do for my kids to encourage a love of reading. I think it really makes everything come alive. Although my kids might be a big too young now, I'll be saving these activities and ideas for a few years down the road when we are ready for them, or maybe I can modify them to be more age appropriate.

Next, NotebookingPages.com. I read about the idea of notebooking a few years ago, and filed it away in my memory for later. Tons of freebies, but also lovely notebook sets that you can purchase to download and print. Lots of information on notebooking, too.

Along the same vein, DonnaYoung.org. FREE printable organizers, calendars, weekly curriculum planners, shopping lists, menu planners, the list goes on and on....If you are a mom, you may want to bookmark this one.

And store it all in a Mom Agenda folio. These organizers, planners, and calendars (with separate schedules for mom and up to four kids in one weekly planner!) are pricey, but are gorgeous, well thought-out, and just plain nice. I think they make a great gift for any mom who has suffered through losing all her contacts and calendars in a computer crash or phone upgrade, and wants to keep a paper back-up. Plus, free printable pages, and the planners and folios can be personalized.


For free children's books online, check out The Baldwin Project and The Rosetta Project.

For free classical music downloads, check out Classical.com. Get a new, free,  editor's pick album every week, plus unlimited online listening. You have register, but it is free (although there is a paid subscription option) and the albums are yours to keep forever.

And to expose your toddler to great music and audio books, check out the SweetPea3 MP3 player. I'm in love. It is childproofed (unlike that $400 iPod), and can be dropped and chewed on. It also has a speaker, so does not need headphones (which are very bad for your ears) but can be used with headphones when your children are older. These suckers also come pre-loaded with songs and audio books (20 in all, which is at least $20 of free stuff) and they only cost $60, but with a new Audible.com account, you can get them for $40 a piece. Just check out www.audible.com/sweetpea. Although I went ahead and bought one for each of my girls, I'm putting them away until Christmas. However, it's all I can do to not break it out of the box. They are just so darn cute!

Things I Love This Week

My Vera Bradley Diaper bag (mine is black)
I have been saving and searching for at least a year for the right diaper bag. I needed something big enough to take diapers for multiple children, but easy to carry around. For day trips, I keep a fully stocked, huge diaper bag in the car, and carry around just one bag that isn't too heavy to keep just one or two diapers per child, some wipes, a paci, my nursing cover, and the usual things you find in a purse (sunglasses, lip balm, wallet, etc). So I wanted something that looks like a purse, but is actually a diaper bag. Needless to say, it took forever to find what I was looking for, but when I saw it in the store, I knew it was the one for me! I love, love, love it! And because it's Vera Bradley, I know it will hold up to a lot of wear and tear.

Cozy Plush Microwavable Toys by Intelex
These soft toys are filled with lavender and are fully microwavable and are so soothing to my kids. You just heat for two minutes and they are just right and not too hot. Plus they're just so darn cute! During the cold winter months, I would warm these up and set them in the kids' carseats before we got in the car. Then the kids would hold them to keep nice and toasty until the car got warmed up. I would heat them up to warm up little beds so they were nice and warm to crawl into. But even now during the hot, hot summer months, I use E's. His bed is right by the AC vent and the mattress gets COLD, and I still don't like to cover him with a blanket for fear that he'll get tangled in it or get it wrapped around his head. So I just warm up his little puppy for him to hold onto (He is one for clutching and hugging things), and the lavender aroma from the real, dried lavender inside is so calming for him, I think it helps him to sleep.

My Bebe Au Lait Nursing Cover.
Over the course of three long-term breastfeeding children, I've tried several different brands of nursing cover, as some have disappeared in the wash. This one is by far my favorite. The Bebe Au Lait (and Hooter Hider) provide great coverage without being overwhelming. The terry cloth pocket detail is genius...great for both spit up, and housing pacifiers or nursing pads, etc. while nursing. Of the many brands I've tried, this has the best rigid neckline. It is the only one that will stay over for me while nursing a wiggly baby.

Baby Cubes
Making baby food: round three. I have certainly gotten a lot of mileage out of my baby cubes, and they are as dependable as ever. BPA-free, microwave safe, and stackable, these allow me to freeze up lots of purees in handy, 1-oz portions and pull out just what I need. The attached lid means no searching. These are easy to clean (I hand wash) and so far have not stained.

Top 100 Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy
This really helped me sort out my "education philosophy" and pointed me in the direction of texts and curriculum that will complement my family and my needs. It also showed great advice on identifying your child's learning style. And it just made me think about things that hadn't occurred to me before, even though I was homeschooled. This is worth the price for any parent, though, simply for the list of quality "real" books (both fiction and non-fiction) in the back, that would be a great complement to any education, whether private school, homeschool, or public school.

A Child's Garden

I have two cherry "Tumbling Tom" tomatoes (one red and one yellow) that I grew from seed planted in $3.00 Lowe's all-purpose buckets on my back patio. The stems are heavy with little green fruits, and my kids and I go to look at them every day, eager for them to ripen. We have little red strawberries ripening in a strawberry pot, and several blueberry bushes with their very first crop of blueberries. They are ripening three or four at a time, and we go pick them and eat them together. I have a poor, suffering raspberry bush which is still in its original container and has yet to be planted, but it is giving me fruits despite its neglect. My oldest daughter, R, picks the ripe raspberries before anyone else has a chance. I also have yet to bring a single sugar snap pea into the house, because she eats them straight off the vine. The other day, she said to me, "It's fun to pick our food when it's ready." At that moment, nothing could have delighted my heart more. I love gardening, and have secretly been hoping that my kids would take an interest in it, too. I never mention gardening because I know if they feel forced to like it, they'll end up hating it. Instead, I just try to let them approach me about it. They'll just be playing the yard, and I'll be digging or weeding, and they come to see what I'm up to, and before I know it, they are digging the holes for my squash seedlings and wanting to see how much the plants have grown over night.

I feel that gardening is the most wonderful hobby to share with children. It is full of important lessons. Not just about where their food really comes from, but also lessons about patience, consistency, and hard work. There is no such thing as instant gratification in gardening...it's all about work up front and delayed reward. Gardening also teaches lessons about planning and working towards a goal. But gardening is more, even than that. It is a subject that directly relates to learning in all areas: young children can learn directly about the weather and how it affects the earth, they can learn basic math by counting how many seedlings you've transplanted, or the number of days until the harvest. They can learn about ecosystems, bugs and birds, predators and prey. Older children can learn about germination, photosynthesis, plant reproduction, even genetics, all by toodling around in the garden. They can practice geometry by helping to build raised beds. Gardening even provides lessons for the right lobe of the brain! I recently read about an idea of a "nature notebook"....a little pad of paper on which children can draw pictures of flowers or bugs they've seen, write descriptions, then take them home and look them up. Even though my girls can't draw very well now, I think they would enjoy that.
Many of my gardening plans have not come to fruition this year, but I'm learning all the time, so hopefully next year will be a very productive one. But big or small, I'm just glad that I can share it with my children.

And speaking of children and gardens, check out A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson (you know, that guy who wrote Treasure Island). It's a collection of wonderful poems for children, usually with beautiful illustrations. I happen to love the illustrations by Tasha Tudor, but there are so many different versions that you can find something to suit any taste.