Favorite Foto Friday

Is it Friday again?  Here you go!  Favorite Foto Friday!

I was weeding in the front yard and walked into the back yard to see this, I ran and grabbed my camera before she seen me and caught some classic kid have fun in water and mud pictures.  I love it!  Yeah she was messy, but it was a wonderful afternoon and she had FUN!

Botany Nature Study

We are blessed to be a part of a homeschool meet-up group that has some very talented women that are creative and plan events that full of educational wonder.  Peirce and Thurston County Homeschool is a wonderful addition to our homeschool lives.  Do you have a great group of supportive parents that you are able to chat and visit with occasionally?  I hope you do have such a group.

Last week was full of nature learning.  Monday we released ladybugs,  Tuesday we continued on with a few more ladybug studies that we started the week before, Wednesday we enjoyed some rubbings on different objects located in the yard, and Friday we spent an enjoyable afternoon at a Clarks Creek Park in Puyallup.  Our Botany Scavenger Hunt involved about 30+ kids ranging in age from infant to teenage looking for different plants that we could identify.  Our group was diverse in ages as well.  I think everyone had fun. 

Putting samples into our bag
to share with the other groups

Liberty (her blog Our Creative Day) planned the study for us this week.  She shared her botany list and I thought I would share it with others here.  It came from a web site called Basement Workshop:  Botany Scavenger Hunt. 

For some of the members in our group, we were very curious about the parts of a flower and I wish I would have printed out and shared the work sheet I made recently telling about the flower.  I think I shocked everyone when I nonchalantly said that flowers have ovaries.  I need to watch that, working in the medical field for so long I forget, sometimes we need to tone it down.  So on the work sheet, you will see the word ovary, if this is something you are uncomfortable with your child saying, delete that portion or use a word you prefer that means the same thing.  You might print both if you do this, I know I will when we do it again in the fall.  My little worksheet can be found here, A Little Flower Tale, for those curious minds.  I think this hunt worked well with the broad age range we had, though it was maybe a bit long for the kids that were in the 4-7 age range.  Adjust for your age range and group.  I really liked the list from the web site for the scavenger hunt.  

I believe this was stinging nettle

When we got done with our walk and the hunt (we took 45 minutes or so and divided into 3 groups--I think) we made notations in our journals.  For Sarah this meant we did leaf rubbings and I labeled them with the date while I could.  It was a very enjoyable afternoon.  We followed up all this learning with a picnic and more than an hour of free play. 



I hope this little glimpse gives you an idea on some things you might be able to do in your neck of the woods.

Have a great week, we are preparing for family visiting and memorial day lesson is in the works.  We will be planing to go to Seattle on Saturday as well to attend to Bear's Grandpa Jimmy's grave site. 

Our group found a fun log and pitch on the log as well. 
I was more impressed with the pitch, the kids were more impressed with the dirt.

Bear's new little friend, almost her exact age.  Her dad brought her. 
I really enjoy seeing other dad's activley involved in their family's and the homeschool journey.

Ontop of botany, we also collected bugs. 
An outing would not be complete with out this project, right?

Our nature journal, a leaf rubbing, followed by trying to color it in.

Ladybugs, Ladybugs, pretty little bugs

Five Little Ladybugs

Five little ladybugs resting at the door.

One flew away and then there were four.

Ladybug, ladybug happy all day.
Ladybug, ladybug fly fly away.

Four little ladybugs sitting in a tree.

One flew away and then there were three.

Ladybug, ladybug happy all day.

Ladybug, ladybug fly fly away.

Three little ladybugs looking at you.

One flew away and then there were two.

Ladybug, ladybug happy all day.

Ladybug, ladybug fly fly away.

Two little ladybugs sitting in the sun.

One flew away and then there was one.

Ladybug, ladybug happy all day.
Ladybug, ladybug fly fly away.

One little ladybug left all alone.

One flew away and then there was none.

Yep, this week we learned about Ladybugs.  It was prompted by a ladybug release our homeschool group did in a local park.  Ladybugs are beloved by us all though.

You can buy ladybugs yourself and release them as well in your garden.  They are amazing little creatures and I plan to buy some when Bear's cousins are visiting and allow the girls to release them together in the garden. Check your local nursery's.  Locally you can check Windmill Nursery in Sumner, WA, Marlene's Health Market in Tacoma, or the Home and Garden section at Fred Meyers.  I would also contact any more reputable nursery near your home, odds are they will have them.  They are good garden bugs, so don't worry.  (From a friend--Release them at dusk for better retention in your yard). 

Our lessons have included coloring ladybug pictures, reading Ladybug girl goes to the beach (a book we got from the library) and talking about things that make lady bugs so amazing, like the fact that they have sticky legs!  Sarah tried to include that information at the homeschool group but she got so excited I think all she said was "Ladybugs have legs!"  Funny girl!

Some of the facts we learned about lady bugs this week: 

• Ladybugs are related to beetles.  Beetles and ladybugs are insects.
• Ladybugs are considered good luck.
• Ladybugs come in many colors--yellow, orange, pink, and red. Some ladybugs are black with red spots. Some have no spots at all.
• Birds don't eat ladybugs because their bright colors are a warning that they don't taste good.
• Ladybugs use their feet to smell. Do you use your feet to smell?
• Ladybugs have sticky feet too.  Do you ever have sticky feet?
• Ladybugs like to form large groups, like families.  It helps to keep them warm, according to scientists. 
• Ladybugs experience four stages of growth.  --Like other insects, ladybugs will go through four stages. They are egg, larva, pupa and adult ladybug.
• Ladybugs can fly about 15 miles per hour.  --The highest speed of most ladybugs is about 15 miles per hour. That is much slower than other insects. (Some dragonflies can fly 60 miles per hour).
• Ladybugs hibernate.   -- During the winter, when it is very cold, ladybugs will hibernate. That means they rest until it gets warmer.
• A female/girl ladybug will lay more than 1000 eggs in her lifetime.
• Aphids are a ladybug's favorite food.

Here (Ladybug Fact Sheet) is a fact sheet I put together for future use.  Feel free to download and print for your own personal use.

After we released the ladybugs our homeschool group ate lunch, played in the park and went on a nice walk around the lake were we seen baby ducks.  The learning continues the rest of the week with looking at our own garden bugs and exploring books and learning sounds, using a magnetic alphabet set as help/guides.   

after the lady bug release we went for a walk
around the lake and seen baby ducks with their mommy. 

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms I know. I am so blessed to have each of you in my life and you inspire me in your own ways. Thank you for being my friend, aunt, sister-in-love, adopted Grandma, cousins...

 

and most of all a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to my own mom, Sharon. Thank you for always being there for me. You are a wonderful mom and a even better grandma. You are well loved and your worth is beyond that of rubies.  You are known for your kindness and good works.  I love you and am so happy God made me your daughter.  I can't imagine a better mom. 

 

A special thought and love for the great mom I never met, Eula. You raised a wonderfully kind and loving boy. Thank you for adopting him, and making a warm and treasured spot in your heart for him, it takes a special kind of woman to do that. I love you because of the man you raised. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.

I'm sorry

The past few weeks I have been so down.  I want to thank you, my gentle friends, for remaining by my side.  I have been feeling very overwhelmed with work that needs to be done, things I need to do, errands that wont stop, etc., etc.  Just like each of you.  Forgive me for my "down" posts.  Changes do have to happen; I do need to surround myself with people that share my Christian beliefs and ideas more, in an effort to help me over rough patches in my life.  Sometimes those rough patches seem to flood my days and I know I need something deeper to rely on than myself.  I need a healing, not a bandaid, and I know that healing will only come from one direction.

I was reminded recently by a little girl that "God makes the details."  Such wise words from one so young.  Because He worries about every hair on our head and the sweat on our brow, I know that we need to be around people which help to foster a deeper relationship with Him.  Would we watch a program if Christ were sitting beside us?  Well if not, what makes us think we should watch it?  Does it edify or harm us?  Where do we draw the line at turning our back on what God and Christ would want for us?  I need to recenter for myself and my family.  The happiest I have been has been when I have completely relied upon God, turning it all over to Him. 

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. 

Thank you gentle friends. 

Favorite Foto Friday

Here it is:  My favorite foto this week.  Ballet Dress Rehearsal.

Nature Fun=Learning

Learning happens, even when we don’t think about it; like outside weeding.  You find bugs and worms; you talk about plants and then you talk about pollinating and how flowers are made up of parts; and that is where I have to search back 20 years to my college botany class.  Glad to know a few things are still floating around my brain.

For a refresher for yourself you can look up a web site like this one (Flower parts work sheet).  I really like Kids Garden.  If you would like to see the work sheet story I made for Bear, please look here.  Feel free to use it for personal use. 

So amidst a very warm Monday, 75 degrees in early May in Seattle, and a milder day today; we have spent several hours exploring bugs and worms.  We have enjoyed our microscope and I did promise a review of it. 

A Review:

I bought a pocket microscope from Amazon.  I wanted to keep to under $10 because, well Bear is only 4, and when you are 4 sometimes things break.  I also wanted something we could easily take with us in our nature bag.  I looked and searched and finally at last narrowed it down to a couple and went with the CarsonMicrobrite 20X-40X Zoom LED Lighted Pocket Microscope.  Most of the reviews were very good and I wanted something that would be small but substantial enough that the fingers of a 4 and 5 year old could easily work it.  The Carson Microbrite fit the bill to a “T.”

We have used this microscope to look at bugs, fingers, blades of grass, worms, dots on paper, and a list of things that continues to grow.  This serves the purpose very well and while some might scoff at a $10 scope being too cheap to be beneficial, this is a great introductory to microscopes.  I would buy it again.  The light is easy enough for Bear to use and thus far hasn’t burned out or ran through the battery. 

It has a little stand on it that can be taken off for the ease of viewing things that might be more mobile than a blade of grass.  On the little stand is a place to put a slide, which could be a fun project as well as we get older.  I bought little plastic jars and we have been able to collect samples to explore as well.  It has been a lot of fun and has served our educational purpose.  The whole world is a laboratory and this scope helps the kids see some of the smaller organisms that make up our planet.  I highly recommend it, and for under $10, you can’t go wrong.   


More Microscope pictures:

And for grins:  Working on a summer learning goal (my easy print off version), preparing more and more for kindergarten learning in September.

Summer Lesson Goals:

Continue with learning sounds letters make

Play with mazes

·         Paper mazes

·         Creating mazes in different mediums, including the sandbox where her cars can “drive”

Do picture searches with a picture search book
Kite Making
Visiting Anderson Island
Beach Exploration/Nature Learning
Geocaching/Nature learning
Gardening/Nature learning
Summer Reading Program
Star Center Art and Rock Programs

 Happy day gentle friends!