Homeschooling One - Nature Study

When you are homeschooling only one student, there can be challenges. To name a few:

• you can feel like there is no one you are accountable to on any given day, so you can slide into a loosey-goosey attitude where your plans are not concrete and the urge to change your plans can win at a moment's notice;
• these whimsical changes in result in you not getting as much done as you had hoped;
• when your student argues to not do something, it is hard to stand firm since you often feel like it really doesn't matter overall;
• there is not "competition" between students, so it can be hard for a student to be motivated to do their best or to do a better job -- it can become an attitude of just getting it done because mom assigned it.

 

 Some methods I employed over the years to combat these tendencies toward malaise:

• Make plans to do group activities so that there are set plans, a set time and date, and other students so that there is good peer pressure for the student to do a good job.
• Blog, and join blog rings where you post certain blog posts on certain days.

Overall, though, most of our days did just slide into slogging through it, just my student and I. So my friend became my daily lesson planner. If I planned it, I tried to make it happen.

For our Nature Study efforts, in the style of Charlotte Mason method studies, we were using the Ambleside Online curriculum. I discovered another blogger, Barb, over at Handbook of Nature Study, and she had a weekly Outdoor Hour Challenge (with a free subscription), and that kept me going for a long time. I loved being able to complete the challenge, write a blog post about it and link up on her blog. And Barb would comment on my blog posts -- a small thing, but it kept me going.

It is fun to look over my nature study posts. My student isn't in every post, but he is in many. It is fun to see his growth through the years. You can visit my nature study posts here:

• Monarch Life Cycle
• Leaf Study 
• Thistles
• Preparation for Winter - Plants
• Silent Walk Challenge
• Winter Bird Study - Chickadee
• Chickadee Study - Part 2
• Twig Study
• Mullein
• Snow! 
• Second Snow 
• Birds
• Nature Walk 1 - 2013
• Nature Study 2 - 2013 
• Nature Study Through a Window
• Slate
• Arizona Grassland Flora
• Arizona Grassland Fauna
• Arizona Sonoran Desert Flora and Fauna
• Reptiles and Amphibians
• Identifying Native Plants (Boy Scouts Requirement)
• Autumn Leaves 
• Bird Feeder
• Clean as New-Fallen Snow
• February Flowers
• How Does Your Garden Grow

Nature Notes - Birdfeeder

I'm having so much fun watching my bird feeder I just wanted to share!
Right now there's a white-breasted nuthatch on my feeder - I haven't seen any red-breasted nuthatches this year.

       

     

We have at least a pair of tufted titmouses ("titmice"?).

 

We have at least a pair of North Carolina or black-capped chickadees (or both).      
The chickadees and titmouses move so constantly it's hard to ever see more than two at once. There are probably more nuthatch, too, but we only see one at a time. There were blue jays... 

    

There are, of course, lots of house sparrows, and then a song sparrow!

Surprisingly, though, I also had a visit from an Eastern Bluebird (no photo) and some goldfinch  sporting winter colors!

I have had visits from downy woodpecker(no photo) and hairy woodpecker (below): 

  

I saw red again and thought the woodpecker was back again, and then realized it was a Northern Flicker!

Wish I could have gotten a photo of that Eastern blue bird! I seldom see them in my yard, and I didn't think they winter here! I thought they went south!
So that's what's been hopping at my birdfeeder this week. What's going on in your back yard?

Mother's Journal - End of October

Fast end of October entry, call it an Urban Outdoor Hour. Thought I would show some autumn color in my neighborhood.

Nature Study - February Flowers 2015

This post is a tongue-in-cheek response to the Handbook of Nature Study's post yesterday entitled "February Wildflowers 2015".

So, I looked out my windows and decided to photograph my snowdrops:

and my hyacynths, daffodils and tulips:

I hope you have enjoyed this tongue-in-cheek look at my mid-Atlantic states February 2015 flowers. Maybe I can post something cheerier in a month or two or three...

Why Squirrels Fly...

This incredible video shows why squirrels seem to fly -- why they need to!

Eye See You, Africa- A Book Review

September of this year found my family taking a late-summer vacation week in Chincoteague, Virginia.

I posted about my trip in September.

What I did not yet post about was visiting a gift shop and, as serendipity would have it, meeting Dr. Jay and Miss Caroline, and learning about their recently published book, Eye See You, Africa - a photographic book of discovery of animals of Africa for children. Dr. Jay and Miss Caroline gave me a copy of their book to read with my son and review. It should not have taken me this long, but there was some surgery, and I'm still recovering...

Eye See You, Africa is the first in a series of children's books dedicated to children and animals who share our planet. The book's Foreward is written by Jack Hannah, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, and Host of TV's "Into the Wild" and "Wild Countdown". My oldest children are in their 20's, and I remember Jack Hanna from children's television twenty or more years ago!

In the book's pages we meet animals through first, the eyes, and an accompanying poem to give a clue as to the animal's identity. Having been an educator for over twenty years, what I did not expect was that I would meet animals I had never met before!

 "Rock rabbit" they call me when I hop about.
To stay warm I use thick fur and SUN.
My screaming at night can give people a fright,
but I'm friendly and just having FUN.

This book works best as a read aloud; at this point the reading adult pauses and the children take guesses at the animal. This animal, the HYRAX, was a new one to me! And to my son! (My son is 15, and it would have been possible for him to know of African animals I do not know of, but this animal was new to both of us.)

So, the day I wanted to read this book, I sat down on the couch, and my big son sat down beside me, and for a few bittersweet moments I enjoyed a flashback to his younger days as he enthusiastically leaned against me and leaned in as I read aloud, and he guessed on each animal before we flipped the page to the reveal. Many of the animals we knew, and some we did not, and we were both surprised by the animals we had never "met" before.

 "With long pointy horns and a dark shaggy coat,
I graze wherever I PLEASE.
With white stripes down each side camouflage helps me hide,
and I can jump fences with EASE."
What am I (my words)?

I found this book would be great with emerging readers, learning their "sight" words. Each of the words I typed in capital are capital letters in yellow in the book. If my son had been a young reader, I would have paused at each word, pointed to it, and waited for him to try to read it.

So, you're going to think I'm a stinker, but I'm not going to tell you what this animal is. I'd never heard of it! If you want to do a Google search you might eventually be able to find it, but wouldn't it be much nicer to buy a copy of this book for yourself? It is suitable for your home school, your class room, your library, your museum, wherever you interact with children!

Eye See You, Africa can be used with children in ways that enhance studies in language arts, social studies, animal protection and environmental stewardship. The lines are written in rhyme (language arts). Animals are introduced from Africa (social studies), and you can make sure the children know or learn where Africa is located in the world. Learning about these African animals can be expanded to discuss endangered species (elephants, etc.), and how their environment is being encroached upon, further endangering them (environmental stewardship).

A portion of the proceeds of every copy of Eye See You, Africa will be donated to the Wilds, Save the Children, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Thanks to the universal appeal of the book, and to Dr. Jay's generosity, the Eye See You series has the potential to become a perpetual source of global philanthropic revenue for this and for generations to come.

Eye See You, Africa is available at the Smithsonian Institute museums, but you can now purchase a copy on Amazon.com or from the website eyeseeyoubooks.com. Eye See You, Africa is priced at $24.95 (US). If you buy the book on Amazon, be sure to purchase a new copy so that donations will go to the charitable organizations that this series will support.

My son and I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I am forwarding my copy along to my niece so that she can share it with her sweet family. I know they (in Alaska) are going to really enjoy reading about these animals in Africa! Let me know what you think when you have read the book!

Manual of Natural History Study - Introduction

I am a lover of antiquarian books, and some of them, although gems, just sit on my shelves. I recently opened one that I have had so long that I don't know where I got it from. It is entitled Manual of Natural History Studies, Pupil's Manual, and it was published in 1898 by Franklin Publishing Company.

Since it's copyright has long since expired, it is something I can post here to share with you all. I was thinking it might be fun to do that. I found that my lovely little tome is actually available on books.google.com - and I linked it above - but most people won't go there, stay there, and puruse the book, so maybe posting sections of it here on Thursdays will be welcome to my readers. Let me know.

So, to start, I thought that today I would share with you the Introduction, and see if anyone is interested in seeing more. Here we go:

_________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION:

     At the present day nature study is finding a place in the most elementary courses of instruction, and nothing could be wiser or more reasonable, since it is in childhood that interest is most readily aroused and the observing faculties are most easily trained.

      If it were possible to have a menagerie and an aquarium connected with every school, the natural history of animals might be studied with the original objects always at hand, and the ideal method of instruction could be pursued. This, however, is not practicable; and the nearest approach that can be made in the great majority of schools is by the use of pictures which represent with more or less fullness and accuracy the objects that are to be studied.

     The Natural History Studies, for which this manual has been prepared, seek by the use of large and carefully colored pictures to introduce the pupil to a large number of representative animals. Over one hundred of these are shown in the series, accompanied by a descriptive text, presenting in popular form the most interesting features of the animal described. The text referred to is reproduced in the manual, and it is here accompanied by very carefully prepared class studies in the form of questions and suggestions, which must prove of the greatest help to both teacher and pupil.

     The Readings accompanying the text will lighten the labor of the study, and will further impress on the child's mind the lessons conveyed by the text and the pictures. They consist of poetical and prose selections from the works of the foremost authors, and are valuable as a study in themselves, irrespective of their application to the subject matter.

     A combination of the chart and text-book methods, which is made possible by placing this manual in the hands of pupils, is the ideal of many teachers, and it is believed that the best results will follow its adoption in this study.

     The class exercise in this subject should be as frequent as once a week, and it would be better if it could be had two or three times each week. The study is not confined to any particular grade. Any class that uses a text-book in geography or arithmetic can take up this study, and even the younger pupils in an ungraded school will derive a great amount of information from the general class exercise. The ground should be gone over carefully and slowly, several lessons being given to each chart; and many interesting matters in the way of anecdote and side readings may be brought in to give additional interest to the study.

     The selections from Longfellow, Emerson, Holmes and Whittier are printed by permission of, and arrangement with, their publishers, Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Company.

_____________________________________________________________________

 

As Clean as a New Fallen Snow

So... I don't live on a farm or anything... I don't have any type of beautiful white field of snow to photograph, so I'll show what I've got -- a photo of my back deck.

 Doesn't that thick layer of snow look clean and pretty?

So for our nature study this week we tested the snow for purity. We started by collecting snow in a canning jar with a funnel.

When the snow stopped we brought the jar/funnel stack inside so the snow could melt. So at this point my son got excited about the experiment. He did the whole thing, showed me the results, and then dumped everything. And then I said, "Oh! I forgot to take pictures!" So I had to recreate everything. The results were easier to see the first time, but I think you'll still see well enough.

So full jar, funnel full of snow too, on the counter to melt.

Amazing how little water we got from all that snow! (See photo below.)

Next we poured the melt-water into a coffee filter to see how clean or dirty it was.

My son used to eat snow, in spite of my warnings. Now he says he won't ever eat snot again. Another thing we had noticed was not only how much dirt was caught in the photo, but also how dirty the filtered water still looked But I did forget to take a photo of that. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about our snow experiment!