Bull Thistle- HUGE plant- 4 ft. high, 4 ft. wide
Because Barb at Handbook of Nature Study is taking a summer break, we have decided to start at the beginning of the Outdoor Hour Challenges. These early ones have given me a lot of great information and we are having a good time doing challenges again. We used our backyard visitor, the Least Chipmunk for Challenge #1.
We went for a walk (or bike ride for the kids) around our neighborhood this morning. Before we left, the kids and I reviewed the 5 senses and talked a little about what we might see, hear, smell, feel, or taste.
I have been searching for and taking pictures of wildflowers or native plants to identify, and the kids are always trying to help me with this. We found 3 new ones today.
Teasel- Will have tiny pink blossoms coming out from between all the spikes
What made today's walk a memorable adventure wasn't because of nature, but was when Austin was speeding down a hill on his bike, across an intersection without stopping or looking for traffic, and a dump truck was also approaching the intersection on the street he crossed. I knew the dump truck wasn't close enough to be a real danger, and the truck also had a stop sign, but it was just scary enough for him to be a good learning experience and be the highlight of their journal entries.
Prickly Poppy- And it was very prickly!!
Once we were home we did the following exercise in their journals: One word to describe something they heard, two words to describe something they saw, and three words to describe something they felt. I also asked if there was anything else connected with their senses they wanted to share, and then they had the option to draw a picture about our walk if they wanted.
Austin
Truck
Driving By
My Bike Handle
Nyah
Dog
A Bush
I felt flowers
Nyah's Picture:
I think Prickly Poppies are very pretty. I just had a photo of mine enlarged and gave it to my dad for his wall...lovely.
ReplyDeleteWhat an experience! In the Last Child in the Woods book, the author talks about lessons we can only learn when we are outdoors. He says that we lose our senses if we are indoors too much and that time outdoors helps us develop ways of sensing things...like trucks!
Thanks for sharing your nature study this week. I am so glad you are going back and completing the earlier lessons.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
Austin's journal entry is like a poem! That's awesome!
ReplyDeleteI'm just blown away that you do all this with your kids. Sometimes I get really overwhelmed thinking about it all. I've started tutoring a girl who's going into 2nd grade and her mom is all worried because the school district requires them to memorize math facts 1 to 10! This experience has kindled my homeschooling flame a little more. Kids should learn what they want to learn when they're ready to learn it. And when they realize they need to just know 5+3, they'll know it. That's what happened with me. Forcing doesn't work. Sorry, I've been needing to vent that all day. Can I get your email address again, I can't seem to find it. Mine is lawsbykatherine@gmail.com. Thanks a ton, Katie #2
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