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Wyning Academy Donations
If you would like to help our homeschool with supplies, field trips and extracurricular activities please feel free to make a small donation! You can also help by utilizing my affiliate links on the right.
*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my
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Courtesy of ebird.org
I had really hoped to have this posted on my blog on Saturday but I had to take an unexpected trip to the emergency room for a kidney stone. So better late than never, right? And there is still one day left to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count 2016.
What is the GBBC?
Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National
Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online
citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display
results in near real-time.
Now, more than 100,000 people of all ages and walks of life worldwide
join the four-day count each February to create an annual snapshot of
the distribution and abundance of birds.
We invite you to participate! Simply tally the numbers and kinds of
birds you see for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count, February 12-15, 2016. You can count from any location, anywhere in the world, for as long as you wish!
If you’re new to the count, or have not participated since before the 2013 merger with eBird, you must create a free online account to enter
your checklists. Learn more about GBBC here.
Why count birds?
Scientists and bird enthusiasts can learn a lot by knowing where the
birds are. Bird populations are dynamic; they are constantly in flux. No
single scientist or team of scientists could hope to document and
understand the complex distribution and movements of so many species in
such a short time.
Scientists use information from the Great Backyard Bird Count, along
with observations from other citizen-science projects, such as the Christmas Bird Count, Project FeederWatch, and eBird, to get the “big picture” about what is happening to bird population.
FREE Audubon Bird App:
For a limited time you can download one of my favorite field guide apps. But hurry the Audubon Bird App doesn't stay FREE for long.
FREE Common Birds of Atlanta printable checklist:
Each February for nature journal club I always have a club meeting on birds. This is a printable I made for my class to make counting the common birds of Atlanta easier for the children. Get your copy of the Common Birds of Atlanta printable checklist for FREE.
*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for details.
Spring is finally in the air! This will be our first Spring and Summer with a backyard and we are just a tad bit excited. I am pretty sure I will loose my children for hours each day, but luckily they are exploring and learning so I don't mind. With the nature bag in hand they set out to learn about bugs, birds, bunnies, squirrels, rocks, minerals, trees, leaves and more. They set traps, try to start fires (I'm very happy they haven't succeeded yet), go on archaeological digs, climb trees, build tents and play with animal friends.
So have you been watching the birds get ready for Spring in your backyard? For the past couple of weeks we have been having a blast watching them. We have a sliding glass door leading to the backyard so we can sit at the kitchen table and easily watch the birds, chipmunks, squirrels and bunnies eat from our bird feeder. Armed with our trusty nature apps from Audubon we are always ready to learn about our backyard animal friends. We have seen Cardinals, Brown Thrashers, Blue Jays, Carolina Wrens, Woodpeckers and a few others so far this year.
Here is a video that I finally finished editing, it's from last Summer. We had the privileged to watch a Carolina Wren family build their home, lay their eggs and send off 4 little baby Wrens into the World.
For more great bird nature study resources check out my previous bird posts and Audubon.
*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for details.
Spring and Summer = BABIES!
Everywhere we look new life is emerging.
About 4 weeks ago I wrote about Investigating Nature. In the post I had mentioned the Carolina Wrens that built a nest on our balcony in an ice cream pail. Over the last 4 weeks we have been watching and observing them. It took them several days to build their beautiful dome shaped nest. They very carefully placed each leaf and twig to make it the perfect home for their babies. They didn't seem to mind us watching out the window (which made us very happy).
After the nest was built we kept an eye on it, patiently waiting for eggs to hopefully arrive. A few days later there were 4 little cream eggs with brown speckles. We took a peek at them, being very careful to not disturb the nest. Mamma bird was very diligent and did a fabulous job taking care of her eggs. She made sure they were nice and warm and didn't mind us checking in occasionally on her and taking some pictures. About 13 days later 3 little fuzzy pink and grey babies were hatched. Yes sadly one of the babies did not make it. The kids were in complete awe of these new little lives. They grew quickly and each day we could see changes taking place. First their eyes opened. then they began developing feathers. They constantly cried for food and their parents did a great job of going back and forth with food. We noticed that their was one baby who was larger and more dominant than the others. Yesterday, about 11 days since they hatched, the first baby (the dominant one) left the nest and entered the World. We saw him outside of the nest on the ledge of the container and by the time I grabbed my camera he was off. The kids got to see him take his first flight! It was a fabulous experience for our entire family!
**Continue reading the rest of this post here and don't forget to join Wildlife Wednedsay on Creation Conversations to download your FREE nature resourceslike the science observation worksheet.**
Link Up:
Don't forget about the ongoing link up where you will be able to link your creation exploration posts to share with others. It will become another avenue full of resources and ideas to enrich your homeschool.
Copy and paste the Wildlife Wednesday badge and place it in the post you are linking up or on your sidebar. Text links are fine to include in your post as well use this permalink: http://www.creationconversations.com/group/wildlife-wednesdays. Posts that are linked up may be pined to Pinterest. Please make sure you post the direct URL and not the URL to your homepage.
Grab a Wildlife Wednesday badge for your blog/website:
This month we have been studying mythology. One particular animal that comes up quite often in ever culture is the Dove. There are 310 species of Doves and Pigeons who belong to the same bird family of Columbidaes. Doves are used in a variety of settings as symbols of love, peace or as messengers. Doves appear in the symbology of Judaism and Christianity and of both military and pacifist groups.
**Continue reading the rest of this post here and don't forget to join Wildlife Wednedsay on Creation Conversations to download your FREE Dove resourceslike the copywork page I created below.
Link Up:
As a way of kick starting this party - we are beginning an ongoing link up where you will be able to link your creation exploration posts to share with others. It will become another avenue full of resources and ideas to enrich your homeschool.
Copy and paste the Wildlife Wednesday badge and place it in the post you are linking up or on your sidebar. Text links are fine to include in your post as well use this permalink: http://www.creationconversations.com/group/wildlife-wednesdays. Posts that are linked up may be pined to Pinterest. Please make sure you post the direct URL and not the URL to your homepage.
Grab a Wildlife Wednesday badge for your blog/website:
And again don't forget to enter the GIVEAWAY on the Wildlife Wednesdays Group page. *Disclaimer - As part of Wildlife Wednesdays I may receive free books in return for mentions in posts and reviews. Please note that prices indicated in the post are subject to change. I was not compensated for my review and all opinions are our own! Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.
This is the last week we will be studying birds. There is so much to learn about our Fine Feathered Friends and I know we didn't cover everything I had hoped too. But I am pretty sure it is one of those topics that the kids will most likely wish to do again when they are a little older.
This week F is for Fine Feathered Friends. We learned about having birds as pets this week. We discussed the different types of birds that you can have as pets, how to care for them and more. We also read several books on parrots and a couple on chickens since they can be pets too.
Then kids painted a picture of what they would like their pet bird to look like. The kids drew their birds with black crayon then painted them in with RoseArt watercolors. Aren't they lovely?
And we took our final bird unit study fieldtrip to a local Aviary. The kids got to pet, hold and even feed some Amazon Parrots and Sun Conures. We also saw a Ringneck Alexandrine Parakeet, a Ringneck Derbyan Parakeet, a Umbrella Cockatoo, a Red Breasted Cockatoo, African Grey and a few others. I am so grateful to Brightwood Aviary for opening their doors to our family. This fun, FREE, fieldtrip got high marks from Gwyn my animal loving 6 yr old who hopes to one day be a Veterinarian, Farmer or Zookeeper.
We watched this video on "How to choose a pet bird."
E is for Exquisite Mixed Media Artwork. We are continuing to work on our bird unit study through next week. This week we have been learning about song birds, perching birds, crows, pigeons, doves etc.
We read several great books. Nacho and Lolita was a really GREAT book and made this sappy momma cry. It is fabulous story and teaches a fabulous lesson. The illustrations are wonderful as well. I used this guide to help me discuss the book further with the kids.
Then we made some mixed media exquisite artwork. This was great craft and really encouraged the kids to use their creativity. They are super easy to make below are the instructions.
Materials:
-Large Piece of Paper
-Raffia, Yarn, Feathers, Dried Leaves, Cotton and other various items to build a nest
-Pom Poms
-Egg Shells (I saved some eggs shells after breakfast, cleaned them out really well and let them sit out for several days)
-RoseArt Tempera Painters
-Kid-Friendly Scissors
-Wiggle Eyes
-Yellow Felt
-RoseArt White Glue
-Hot Glue Gun
-Scissors
Instructions:
1) Have your children build a nest using the materials they have gathered.
2) After the nest is built have children make pompom babies and place them into the cleaned out egg shells. Then glue the egg shells onto the nest. You can use wiggle eyes or mini pompoms for the eyes and make a little beak out of yellow or orange felt.
3) Next you will make the mommy or daddy bird. Use the fabulous RoseArt Tempera Painters to paint your child's hand (Gwyn decided to make a colorful bird, Rowyn wanted a Bluebird). Then place your child's hand on the paper slightly above the nest, keeping their spread out as far as possible so it makes the head. Add a felt beak and wiggle eyes.
4) Children can also add clouds in clouds, a sun, a tree, etc to their picture.
While we built the nests we discussed the different types of materials and why birds would choose certain materials over others. We also discussed the different types of nest construction. And we talked a little more about bird eggs.
And of course we wrapped it up with a couple fun videos like this one of a Robin Building a Nest and the one below.
What kinds of scientific or artistic fun have you been having? *Disclaimer - RoseArt (Mega Brand) supplies us with lots of wonderful products in return for honest reviews and craft project how to's. I was not compensated for my review and all opinions are our own! Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.
September 23rd-29th In our homeschool this week...
It was a great slow week. I cannot believe another month has come and gone. We are not quite done with our bird unit study so we will be extending it another 2 weeks then we will probably do a unit study on Mythology.
Here are some highlights:
Sunday we just enjoyed time at home, like we pretty much do every Sunday. Monday we had fieldtrip at Rock City, more details and picts below. Tuesday after we dropped off daddy at work went to the Nature Center to have some comfy cozy reading time and to take a quick nature walk. Wednesday we had a fun day filled with science, online learning and music. Read more and see more pictures on my Learning About Extinct and Prehistoric Birds - Like The Dodo And Dromornithidae post.Thursday we pretty much too the day off except for some math with A+. Friday Grandma and Grandpa visited for a little bit.Afterwards we had some fun in the kitchen making chocolate bird nests. Saturday we went on a mini field trip to Native American Day at one of the Historic Houses in downtown Roswell.
We also had a great week participating in the International Homeschool Spirit Week (lots of pictures from this week can be viewed at this link).
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
Homeschooling is NOT always easy (if you already homeschool you know what I am talking about). If you are considering or new to homeschooling you need to know this. There will be days you feel like giving up. You will feel unappreciated. And a lot of your time (including your personal spare time)will be devoted to homeschooling your kids. You will not get much personal time to devote to hobbies, friends, etc. But I can tell you it is totally worth it and the moment you see your kids light up when they learn something new will know what I mean. I am inspired by…
All the amazing homeschool companies that work so very hard to make quality products and encourage homeschoolers. Like Unit Studies By Amanda Bennett, Apologia, Family Time Fitness, Master Books,Schoolhouse Teachers, Bright Ideas Press and the many others. Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
This week we got to take a fieldtrip with daddy to Rock City in Lookout Mountain, GA. It is a rare treat to get to take a fieldtrip with daddy and we had a great time (review coming soon). We had a day filled with science, history, geography and more. On Tuesday we visited our favorite nature center. We read about prehistoric and endangered birds and took a short nature walk. On Saturday we went to Native American Day at the Smith Plantation in Roswell, GA.
Next week we are planning to visit some friends and of course take our weekly nature walk. Saturday we are volunteering at a local school with my husbands employer. We will be doing some painting and other various projects.
My favorite thing this week was…
Going on a fieldtrip to Rock City with daddy in tow! Things I’m working on…
Setting up Excellence in Writing which we will be using this year for reading and writing. I am super excited about this program which teaches children to read and write in a fun, stress free way. Stay tuned for a review in early November. I’m reading…
I am starting to read IndoctriNation by New Leaf Publishing be sure to keep an eye out for a review and Twitter Party announcement.
D is for Dodo Bird and Dromornithidae! Yesterday we learned about extinct and prehistoric birds. We spent the afternoon outdoors at our favorite nature center reading some books including 2 of our favorite Apologia's Flying Creatures and Master Books The World of Animals. We learned about several extinct birds like the Dodo, Passenger Pigeon, Great Auk and Red Rail. And we learned about prehistoric birds like the Archaeopteryx, Bambiraptor, Caudipteryx and Dromornithidae.
While at the nature center the kids made bird nests for their made up extinct birds. Gwyn named hers a Niledong....
When we got home we designed extinct bird eggs...
And then we drew our very own extinct birds. I love the names Gwyn comes up with. Her picture is on the left and is a Blue Hen Giggler....
Today we made some feather fossils in the kitchen using Plaster of Paris...
They are super easy to make here is how we did them.
Instructions:
1) Mix the Plaster of Paris per the directions on the box.
2) Pour the plaster into a container of your choosing. A plastic container, styrofoam cup or aluminum pan work well.
3) Decide what objects you will be using to make fossils of. Leaves, sticks, sea shells, feathers, etc.
4) Coat the side you are placing into the plaster with petroleum jelly to make them easier to remove.
5) Stick the items detailed side down into the plaster.
6) Let the plaster harden about 1/2 an hour and then pop your objects out. You should also be able to remove the plaster from the container as well.
I also found these two videos which my daughter loved because she is a HUGE Myth Busters fan. Mythbusters - Fascination with the Dodo Bird Part 1 and Part 2 with Adam Savage (there is a couple bad words).
We definitely have comfy, cozy days at home (most of the time we are wear our pajamas while homeschooling) but we also have plenty of comfy, cozy days when we are outdoors. Today we enjoyed a comfy, cozy, relaxing afternoon at the Chattahoochee Nature Center on the wetlands trail. We read our fabulous science books from Apologia and Master Books and learned all about prehistoric and extinct birds. Gwyn had her pink blanket and it took her no time at all to lay it down and relax!!!!
**If you could please take a moment to vote for our photo which is entered over at Apologia (just search for Kathy Balman if you cannot find it). I appreciate your help.**
Here are some more photos from our comfy cozy day outdoors.
Homeschool Legacy Once-a-Week-Unit Studies are Christian centered and designed for grades 2 - 12. They were created by a veteran homeschool mom of 16 yrs Sharon Gibson (whom I actually had the pleasure of meeting at Teach Them Diligently earlier this year). The unit studies were designed with YOU in mind to help your children have fun learning and you have more fun teaching. There are currently eleven Once-a-Week Unit Studies. Once-a-Week Unit Studies are designed so you can dive right in and get started. Other than a trip to the library there is nothing you need to prepare (well there may be a few items you will need to purchase for the activities if you don't have them on hand). You can either complement your current science or history curriculum or you can replace it with your Once-a-Week Unit Study...the choice is up to you. They are also great for the ENTIRE family. If your child is in Boy Scouts of America, America Heritage Girls, or in 4H, Homeschool Legacy's unit studies will also help your child earn merit badges.
A moms review (warning this is a long, very detailed review):
We are eclectic homeschoolers and therefore use many different methods. One method that my both my kids and I love is the unit study method. When we first started homeschooling we used the unit study method on and off and they were only 1-2 week unit studies. But earlier this year I made a switch to month long unit studies and let the kids pick their topics. There excitement to learn grew and so did their knowledge. If you are not familiar with what a unit study is click here to find out more and here to find out why you should use Homeschool Legacy Unit Studies.
Birds was one of the topics on our unit study list this year so I was very excited when I got selected to review the Birds of a Feather Once-a-Week-Unit. This unit study is 56 pages and designed for grades 2-12. As the name implies it is a once-a-week unit study spanning over 4 weeks. We reviewed a digital copy but the copies that are purchased from the website are hard copies that will be mailed to you. These unit studies are multi-sensory and great for both boys and girls.
Birds of A Feather gets kids excited about science while studying some of God’s most beautiful creations! Children can earn Boy Scout Merit Badge: Bird Study and American Heritage Girls Badge: Feathered Friends if applicable.
Because I am very familiar with the unit study method of learning and because we do our unit study learning about 3 times a week we didn't follow recommended schedule or layout. We used Birds Of A Feather more as a resource to go along with our month long Bird Unit Study. We were able to complete most of the items in the unit study but there are a couple of activities, movies and reading assignments that we will be finishing up over the next couple of weeks.
Breakdown Of Birds Of A Feather Unit Study:
The unit study begins with information on why you should do once-a-week unit studies. Then there is a table of contents, welcome letter, further information about the available unit studies and the Boy Scouts of America and America Heritage Girls badge worksheets (badge requirements are indicated by symbols throughout the unit study).
Subjects covered:
Bible
Quality Literature
Language
History
Science
Geography
Research
Arts & Crafts
Art Appreciation
Music Appreciation
Life Skills
Field Trip Suggestions
Family Game and Movie Nights
Stump Your Dad Trivia
List of the unit studies currently offered and the corresponding merit badges:
Science Related:
Birds of a Feather – BSA Bird Study/AHG Our Feathered Friends Badge
Horsing Around – BSA/AHG Horsemanship Merit Badge
Forest for the Trees – BSA Forestry Merit Badge
Weather on the Move – BSA Weather/AHG Young Meteorologist Badge
History Related:
Knights and Nobles – BSA Art Merit Badge
Early Settlers – BSA Reading/AHG Book Adventurer Merit Badge
Christmas Comes to America – BSA Music/AHG Music Appreciation Merit Badge
Native America – BSA Indian Lore/AHG Native American Merit Badge
Revolutionary Ideas: the Story of the American Revolution – BSA American Heritage Merit Badge/AHG Dawn of Our Country Badge
We the People, Getting to Know Your Constitution – BSA Citizenship in the Nation/AHG Citizenship and Government/AHG Our Flag Merit Badge
Lewis & Clark: From Sea to Shining Sea – BSA Nature/AHG Nature & Wildlife Merit Badge
The next page discusses the sample schedule. Remember only one day will be your unit study day. The remaining days will be your regular daily studies along with your unit study reading and family read aloud. One day (recommended to be Friday) is reserved for your 3 R's, unit study reading and family read aloud, a field trip and family movie/game night. Again this is a suggested schedule and should be adjusted to best suit your families needs. If you are doing the unit study with younger children (or have a busy schedule) you may need to break up the unit study day and do an activity each day throughout the week (as was our case).
Next is a page that speaks about being a good steward towards Gods creatures. There are also several great websites listed which we used throughout the month.
Then there is a page with read-alouds for non-readers. I really love when unit studies include book lists it makes it SO much easier to get the books from the library. Now we didn't use all the books on the list but did use a several of them. I also was able to get a few on Kindle for FREE like The Ugly Duckling (I use the Kindle App on my phone).
Then the unit study is divided into 4 weeks covering the following topics:
Bird Basics and Your Backyard Habitat
Bird Identification
Ornithology
Birds of Prey
Within each week you will first find a list of recommended books and videos (it is NOT intended you read all the books listed), badge information for Boy Scouts and Heritage Girls and a list of supplies needed for the unit study day. Many of the supplies we had around the house already, but there may be a few things you will need to pick up from the store or borrow from a friend or family member. Various activities are indicated in bold print and underlined making them easier to find.
In the back of the unit study is a section called "getting the most out of your Once-a-Week Unit Study" which I highly suggest reading before you start. This is a very informational section covering more details about the Homeschool Legacy unit studies, merit badges, unit study learning, scheduling, lapbooking, research, writing assignments, reading and video choices, field trips, supply lists and more.
Breakdown Of How We Used The Unit Study:
As you may know my children are only in Kindergarten and First grade so they are a little younger than the recommended age but since unit studies are one of our main homeschooling styles I figured we would be fine using this resource and I was right. I told the kids we would be learning all about Birds for our September unit study and they were super excited. Like I mentioned above we skipped around quite a bit and I used Bird Of A Feather more as a resource. Before we started our unit study which was at the beginning of the month I went through and highlighted the books and videos we needed and then requested them from the library. Because our library didn't have all of the books listed in the unit study I added several additional books that went along great with the unit study. I also found a lot of great bird books on Amazon for Kindle.
Next I made a list of supplies that we needed. Luckily we had almost everything on hand so I only had to buy a few things. I am an improviser so for the hummingbird feeder which we didn't own we decided to try to make one. We haven't seen any hummingbirds yet though. Activities include various things like examining feathers, dissecting Owl pellets, examining Chicken bones, exploring eggs, setting up bird feeders and bird baths....see photos below.
Obviously since this is a Bird unit study there are lots of birdwatching activities and field trips involved. Throughout the month we learned more about the birds that visited our balcony, the birds that lived at our local nature centers and the birds that lived in a pond near our home. We also examined a couple of abandoned bird nests.
Many of the activities throughout the unit study include writing, labeling, drawing, etc in a nature journal. It is recommended in the first week that you decorate a blank journal, composition notebook or binder to record everything you learn throughout the Birds Of A Feather Unit Study. We decided to use a binder which is what we always use for our unit studies (we use binders to do a form of lapbooking). Because my children are only 5 and 6 and are not very big on writing yet we focused more on drawing. We also utilized various printouts from the internet which we then put into our Bird unit study binder. One of Gwyns favorite activities was learning about James Audubon and then drawing one of his paintings, she choose the Flamingo and did an awesome job.
And lastly there are some great recommended field trips and movie nights. We did 1-2 field trips a week during the unit study most of which included taking nature walks and birdwatching. We had plans to go birdwatching with an Atlanta Audubon member but because only a couple of people signed up it was cancelled. We had so much fun trying to determine the different birds we heard during our outings using our Audubon Bird App. The kids are pretty good at recognizing calls from Cardinals, Bald Eagles, Red Tail Hawks and Morning Doves. And of course you ALWAYS end up learning about other things too on field trips, like snakes, flowers, bugs....
There are several great suggested movies. we watched ALL 5 of the suggestions. I had to do some research to find them all so I have included the locations where I found the videos to hopefully make it easier for you if you choose to purchase this unit study in the future. I found Fly Away Home (this video does have some foul language in it) for FREE on a streaming website. The kids really enjoyed this movie. March of the Penguins is a fabulous movie and our library had this one. The kids also enjoyed this one very much, the baby Penguins are so darn cute. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill was available on Netflix. It is a documentary and moved a little slow for younger children. Winged Migration was available on YouTube in 4 parts. And Surfs Up was a HUGE hit. I found this one online as well at a streaming website. I also added a few of our own like Bird Eyewitness and Secret Life Of Birds. We had movie afternoons and nights!
Additional Resources:
-Owl Pellet Experiment Notes - this went along great with our Owl Pellet dissection -Great videos on YouTube that go along great with the unit study especially the James Audubon video.
Wrap Up: Overall I thought this was a fantastic unit study. I have used unit studies from other manufactures and this one is just as good and very thorough. The kids learned a lot and it was a great help to me in planning our unit study this month. As with any unit study you will need to use discretion on books and movies and may want to preview them before presenting them to your child. Sometimes books and movies may be geared towards older children. Personally the price for these unit studies is a little on the high end compared to others I have used, but for all the information offered the price is not unreasonable. The Homeschool Legacy Once-a-Week Unit Studies are great for experienced unit study users. There are no lapbooks, printouts or notebooking pages included with the unit study so newbie unit study users may feel a little overwhelmed by not having these items readily available (they can be easily added though by doing some web surfing). We will definitely be trying another Homeschool Legacy Once-a-Week Unit Study...the Weather On The Move Unit Study looks great (check out the TOS reviews on this one). And as with any unit study they can be used again and again. When the kids are a little older they will be able to do the Birds Of A Feather unit study again and will still learn new things. Gwyns review (6 yrs old):
Learning about birds is fun. I really like the experiments. Learning about Audubon's paintings and drawing my own was fun. The field trips were also lots of fun. I like learning about nature.
Where to buy:
Homeschool Legacy currently offers 11 different Once-a-Week Unit Studies. There are 4 week unit studies which cost $15.95, 6 week unit studies which cost $17.95 and 7-8 week unit studies which cost $19.95.
*Disclaimer - As part of the TOS Review Crew I received a PDF copy of Birds Of A Feather in return for my honest review. Please note that prices indicated in the post are subject to change. I was not compensated for my review and all opinions are our own! Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.
September 16th-22nd In our homeschool this week...
We had a great week. We got quite a bit of learning done and had lots of fun. Here are some highlights:
Sunday we just enjoyed time at home. Monday we continued learning about birds specifically how they eat, build their nests and lay their eggs. We did a fun experiment where we tried to eat like different birds. Read more and see more pictures on my Bird Beak Comprehension - Eating Like A Bird post. The kids also decided to make a craft that they saw in one of our library books. So they grabbed a box, an oatmeal container and the markers and drew their Atlanta Skylines. Then we put a light behind the box and Christmas lights inside the container so we could light the skylines up at night. They both turned out very cute and I will actually be including more details about the project in a post I am working on about the State of Georgia. Tuesday the kids worked on reading and math utilizing their online programs like ZooWhiz, Reading Eggs and A+ Tutor Soft Math. Wednesday after taking hubby to work the kids and I went to a park to kill some time before speech. The kids played on the playground, explored an abandoned bird nest and then we went on a geocaching adventure. We made a quick trip to the grocery store and when we got home we made some yummy bird nest rice krispy treats. Thursday after taking daddy to work and getting an oil change we had a fun science and art day. We learned about James Audubon and then the kids drew their own birds. We read more about Owls and dissected an Owl pellet. I was very bummed when I unwrapped the pellet because I thought I had purchased a "real" pellet. Turns out I purchased a synthetic one. The kids still had fun putting the skeleton together though. And then we made our very own Hummingbird Feeders (even though so far it has only attracted Bees). Friday we had a great time on our field trip with daddy to Davidson Arabia Mountain, more details below. Saturday we took another field trip with daddy to The Atlanta History Center.
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
If you have children under 7 yrs old remember to let them just be kids. They don't NEED to do learning via textbooks, online programs, worksheets, etc everyday. Sometimes they just NEED to be kids and PLAY. Remember even when they are playing, exploring and using their imagination they are STILL learning. I am inspired by…
My husband and his artistic talents. This week he and Gwyn started working on a children's book. The kids drew the pictures and he is coloring them in digitally. Then they are going to write a story to go along with the pictures. Hopefully we will then be making it into an eBook which we will sell for a couple of dollars with all proceeds going towards charity (still deciding which one). Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
This week we had fun at a local park finding a geocache and taking a nice nature. And then we had two fun field trips with daddy. We went exploring at Davidson Arabia Mountain in SE GA. We walked on the giant granite mountain, got to see some really cool ecosystems, found 2 geocaches and learn all about how they mined for granite in the early 1900's. We even got to walk inside the remains of the Arabia Quarry Office which was built in the early 1900's. Saturday we went to the Atlanta History Center Fall Festival. The festival was lots of fun. We got to pet some cute animals, make corn husk dolls, dip candles and hear some stories from a wonderful story teller.
Next week we will be going on one more field trip with Daddy to Rock City in Tennessee. And on Saturday we will be checking out the Hudgens Art Center (make sure you get your FREE Smithsonian Museum tickets for next weekend).
My favorite thing this week was…
Taking field trips with my wonderful husband. I love watching
What’s working/not working for us…
I am trying a new schedule/routine (whatever you may want to call it) where we only do our unit study 3 times a week (which covers science, history, geography, science). Also on those 3 days we do reading. Then the other 2 days we do more math, art and music. I am hoping that by breaking our days there will be less stress and we will be more likely to cover everything. The kids still have Questions/Thoughts I have…
Why are boys so stubborn? I’m reading…
I am starting to read IndoctriNation. This book comes out in October but since I am a Mom of Master Books I got a preview copy.
I’m praying for…
The healing of my tick bite (at least that is what I think it is). Also I am continuing to pray for our car issues to cease. And I am praying for my dear friend Jordyn who recently had surgery.
C is for Comprehension! Yesterday we had a lot of fun learning about bird beaks. To make it easier for the kids to comprehend just how different all bird beaks are and how their beaks play an important role in the types of food they eat we did a fun experiment in the kitchen of course (where most of our experiments take place).
I got the idea off the Birds Lesson Plan on Squidoo. I adapted it a little bit because we didn't have all the correct materials.
After the experiment we watched this video on YouTube.
Then we read some books about nests, eggs, beaks and owls.
After we finished reading we put together some bird nest building stores. The kids gathered various supplies that birds would use to build nests out of then we put them on the balcony. We also filled some saucers with water and refilled our bird feeder. We are hoping to attract some birds to our balcony so we can do some birdwatching from the schoolroom window.
