Cattails in Winter

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Winter Series - Cattails in Winter

We reviewed our Cattail pages from the Autumn Series and talked about how the cattails we brought home exploded in the kitchen one day - seeds everywhere!! I also reviewed the pages in the handbook Of Nature Study.

We did not spend much time outside for this challenge - its still pretty cold around here!! And my two toddlers pretty much turn into posicles as soon as we get outside. After getting up close for a few minutes, We sat in the car and discussed the questions in the challenge at Handbook of Nature Study.

Journal Pages: While we were drawing we discussed the different parts of the cattail plant. We looked at a student's diagram I found at Google Images to help us. The diagram is about halfway down the museum page.

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Composer Study - Winter 2010

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart - Wikipedia - General info

Mozart - Classics for Kids - Radio programs and other resources for kids about Mozart

Mozart - Classic Cat - "the free classical catalogue"

25 Mozart Favorites

Library Books:
Young Mozart
Mozart Finds a Melody
and others . . .

The Story of Mozart

Classical Kids - Mozart's Magic Fantasy: A Journey Through the Magic Flute. Our library doesn't have the other Classical Kid cd's for Mozart which makes me sad.

My kids are loving the Magic Flute story! We also found a dvd through our library called Mozart's The Magic Flute Story- narrated in English and sung in German, its a fabulous introduction to this opera (dragon, bird caller, magic flute, Queen of the Night, prince and princess, labrynth - lots to interest kids!).

Artist Study - Winter 2010

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso - Wikipedia

Pablo Picasso - Taschen Portfolio

This is the only Taschen Portfolio for Picasso I could find at Amazon, but the cover is different from the one we have, so the pictures we are using may be different than the ones found in here. As a personal preference, I am using the pictures that don't have nudity.

Google - "Pablo Picasso Lesson"

TONS of lesson ideas can be found for Picasso. We probably won't be doing any of these lessons in particular, but we will talk about Picasso's different styles and subjects, such as faces/portraits, Harlequin, Blue Phase, Cubism, etc. The lessons I've found on the web have given me useful information for this.

YouTube:

I love doing modern artists because there are videos where the kids can get to see the real person they are learning about. Here are a couple that look interesting- (preview before you show to your kids, I know I will!)

Meeting with Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Library Books:

We will potentially be reading more than I have listed, but here is our starting list-

Oooh! Picasso

What Makes a Picasso a Picasso?

Picasso and the Girl with the Ponytail

Draw with . . . Pablo Picasso

The kids are already enjoying this book - It gives instructions on how to do some of Picasso's simple drawings.

Nature Study Follow-Up

On our walk today I answered one of the questions from our list for the Handbook of Nature Study's Autumn Series-Winter Jumpstart Challenge, which I posted here.

Today's Question: What are the horned owl's nesting habits? Do horned owls migrate? They especially want to know if we will be able to find and watch the nestlings again this year.


Earlier this week I reviewed some excellent information about the Great Horned Owl at the following websites:


The Owl Pages - Forest Preserve District of Cook County - The Great Horned Owl

Answer: Great Horned Owls do not build nests of their own, but will overtake an abandoned nest. Nesting season is January-February, lay 2-4 eggs at a time which incubate 26-35 days. Families stay together during the summer, nestlings leave in the fall, adults remain in their breeding grounds year-round. Average home ranges are about 1 square mile.

So we have a good chance of seeing the owls again this next year. Hopefully we will be able to find their nest again.


Here are some of my previous posts about our owl family: First Sighting, Getting up close & Owl Pellets .

My kids reminded me of how we first found the owls- I was pointing and talking about some other birds when my daughter said there was an owl. I, of course, corrected her and continued to tell them all about the birds I was talking about, only to be corrected myself when I realized she was pointing at a different tree with real owls!! Originally I thought it was 2 adults, but we later determined there were 3 nestlings and the parents were usually away from the nest when we came to visit in the early evenings.

On our walk we were very sad to find that one of the trees where we had spotted our owl family had fallen over. The kids are hoping the owls will come back to the same nest. I hope we haven't scared them off.

We walked down to the trees and found lots of evidence of the owls from the past year- owl pellets, feathers, bones, and this handsome skull.

My kids couldn't resist climbing in the fallen tree.
In the tree still standing we were able to see the large nest high in the branches.

And I couldn't resist sharing this video of our darling Dade, hopping through the snow like a rabbit.

It was good to be out, trudging through the snow and breathing the fresh air.

EEEEK!!

We are starting our next school semester on Monday, January 4th!

Are we ready??

Am I ready??

Happy St. Lucia's Day!!

One thing we do in December that I forgot to mention is celebrating some other holidays. We do this to learn more about other countries and cultures, but also to help make December a more special time.

Today, December 13, is St. Lucia's Day. You can read the story of St. Lucia here, and another version here. A more fictional, kid-friendly version here with a St. Lucia paper doll (just found this site and it has lots of beautiful crafts/ideas- can't wait to explore it more!).

You can go here to learn more about the holiday.

Some years we have had more elaborate celebrations, but mostly we keep it simple. We make a paper crown for N with green leaves and candles. We make cinnamon rolls of the Pillsbury variety (this year we also did caramel rolls - yum!) and we also have hot cocoa and juice. We light candles and turn out the lights. Then N serves everyone their breakfast and we talk about the story of St. Lucia while we eat.

Go here to for a great idea for the crown/hats, and some more links about this holiday.

We also usually celebrate St. Nicholas' Feast Day on December 6, but this year we forgot :(.

Here is a list, and another list, of other holidays to learn about in December -- December 18th is Wear a Plunger on your Head Day!!

Christmas Plans

What fun things are you doing this Christmas season?


This year my kids are making some the presents they will give away (mostly to grandparents). I sort of had visions of them being really excited about it and getting them done fast enough to make some for lots of family and friends, but I was delusional. Maybe if we start in January they can do this next year. They are willing and happy to work on their projects most of the time, but they are also kids and get frustrated when things don't go the way they want. And I'm not going to ruin any surprises by telling everyone what we are making, but here are some hints . . .

We usually make some kind of new ornament each year. Last year the kids colored these wooden ornaments from a craft store, but this year we hot glued pinecones to ribbon. We are not elaborate crafters.

The kids were given this advent calendar at church. I found it online at Sugardoodle - a great website with lots more ideas (and wonderful helps for many church callings)!! I love how it has pictures to go with each day.

LDS About.com Advent figures - I printed these out, let the kids color them, cut them out, and they are using them like paper dolls to act out the story.

We are also singing favorite Christmas hymns (i.e. the ones the kids know) during our morning devotionals. Even O and J are singing Christmas Bells with us. And we are working on classic favorites, such as Jingle Bells and Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. I also like to play the Christmas cd's we have.

I love Christmas stories, so we are reading lots of these as well!!

Our favorite is Hilary Knights The Twelve Days of Christmas (I love her Cinderella too - I remember reading it as a kid!!)

And favorite movies!!!

Frosty the Snowman, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Prancer, The Little Princess, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and so many more!!