Autumn Series 2010 - #5 Seasonal Tree Observations

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Autumn Series - #5 Seasonal Tree Observations

 For our outdoor time our family headed to a nearby park that has a path through a small forest of oak trees.  We were able to observe (chase?) more deer during this time as well.  In the above picture there are several deer in the grassy area near the middle of the picture.  You can also see the burn area of last month's fire on the mountains.   

 

 We brought home lots of "treasures" to look at more closely. 

 We decided to compare the oak leaves with leaves from our maple trees.  We read the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out science book Why Do Leaves Change Color? and learned about the how and why of leaves changing color, but also why Maples (red pigments=red colors) and Oaks (tannin=brown color) are different colors.  We also looked at the pages suggested in the  Colorado State Extension guide (pgs.3-5). 

For our journals:

 A decided to do leaf rubbings-

 I sketched mine by tracing the outside and adding veins.  I hope to add in the colors at some point. 

 N also traced the leaves, colored them, and created a story about a boy who shrinks to the same size and has to survive the rain and comes face-to-face with a centipede. 

Another EXCELLENT challenge!

Autumn Series 2010 #3 - Mammal Study: Horses

 Outdoor Hour Challenge - Autumn Series #3 - Mammal Study: Horses

Today we went to Farm Country for their Halloween activities.  In addition to the face painting, carnival games, and making green goo, we spent some time with the horses too. 

 Pony Rides are a favorite! We also did the wagon ride and were able to talk about how useful horses are, and "Mom, can't we please one?"  When horses can do laundry we'll make room in the basement!

One of my favorite signs here is on the horse fences and says-

 "Please don't feed your fingers to the horses."   

 At home we used the suggested Notebook Page to compare horses to our on hand dog, Dade, who was very pleased with the extra attention even if it did involve a little poking and prodding.  He also doesn't help with laundry, but is a little more compact :). 

Autumn Series 2010 #4 - Apples

 Outdoor Hour Challenge - Autumn Series #4 - Apples

We had a lot of fun with this challenge! I happened to read this challenge the day before going grocery shopping and was able to grab a bunch of apples.  We ended up with 7 different varieties:  5 that we have tried before- Gala, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Fuji,  and a couple unfamiliar varieties- Honey Crisp and Sweet Tango. 

 Then it was time for tasting!!

 N's favorite was the Gala, and she didn't like the Granny Smith or Red Delicious. 

A's favorite was the Granny Smith, and he didn't like the Red Delicious or Fuji. 

My favorite was the Honey Crisp, but I liked them all. 

My younger girls stuck with the one we usually buy, the Gala. 

Yum! Yum! Yum!

Autumn Series 2010 #2 - Bird Study: Geese

Outdoor Hour Challenges - Autumn Series #2 - Bird Study: Geese

At home I gave A and N notebook pages for a goose and a duck from Enchanted Learning.  I spent a few minutes reading some of the differences and similarities of these two birds from the Handbook of Nature Study.  We also listened to geese and duck calls from our copy of The Backyard Birdsong Guide: Western North America. 

Then we headed to a nearby park to see if we could find any geese or ducks. 

There were 4 ducks and 1 goose.  We had lots of fun throwing them popped popcorn while we talked about the differences and similarities we could see. 

Goose on the left, duck on the right.  When we came home we tried to identify the goose.  I have almost, somewhat, possibly, maybe decided it is a Chinese Goose, but you can tell how sure I am. 

Then we went for a nature walk through the woods in search of more interesting things.

N was excited to see some Rabbitbrush blooming.  She is reading the American Girls: Josephina series and in one book the characters use rabbitbrush to make a yellow dye. 

Lots of acorns . . . at least there is plenty of evidence the squirrels and other animals are enjoying the acorns. 

And we were all excited to see TONS of deer. 

There were several groups close to the walking trail.  After our walk we went for a fall drive and saw many other groups feeding close to the road.  Its that time of year!!

Weeks 7 & 8

Vacation!!!!

We have spent the last couple weeks on vacation and recovering from vacation (something that always takes longer than I think it will).  My husband, baby, and I were in Hawaii for a week, and the 4 older kids were at Grandma and Papa's.  We all had a great vacation and got to do some really neat things. 

My kids discovered a super-park by the grandparents' house, went to the zoo, went to the river to feed the birds, and lots of other things that I don't have pictures of :(.  (Psssst, Mom, Dad, can I get a copy of all the pictures you took?)

Hubby, baby, and I lounged in the sun, visited the spa, vegged in the hotel room, had a few adventures, and ate way too much yummy food.  Lovely :)

We came home this past week and spent a few days dealing with jet lag, lots of time doing laundry, grocery shopping, and being together again. 

Sooo . . . . school this week has been pretty informal. 

A had his Knights of Freedom club meeting and a field trip to the state capital building. 

Both kids went to their art class.  They talked about Renoir's painting Madame Henriot and practiced drawing a portrait from a picture.  A did Iron Man and N did a picture from an American Girl catalog. 

We spent one morning putting together photo albums my mom gave them with pictures from their vacation.  They told me all about their adventures. 

Later that day I shared some of the neat things I learned about while I was away from them - the discovery of an earth-like planet in another galaxy, Hawaiian legends, Hawaii's state bird (Nene goose), a piece of choral and shells fossilized together, and other interesting tidbits from the local newspapers in Hawaii. 

We spent time reading from their books for their clubs - Josephina's Surprise for N and George Washington for A.  We listened to some Tchaikovsky, discussed a Renoir painting, and did a Nature Study challenge.  We watched "Mercury and Venus" from the Universe documentary series. 

They spent a lot of time working with beads to create necklaces, bracelets, and toy animal collars.  We did some planning and shopping for Halloweens costumes. 

They *happily* did a bunch of overdue housework (bathrooms! dusting! light switches! bedrooms!) to earn money to buy some toys they've had their eyes on - a new Bionicle for A and American Girl pets for N, O, and J. 

A and N had a service project for Scouts and Activity Days - weeding at a local elementary school.  O, J, S, and I tagged along (me doing the parental support bit and the little girls playing on the playground). 

While we were outside one day N and I discussed rotation and revolving as it relates to the sun, plantes, moon, asteroids, etc., and she showed me the following demonstration: 

I love it when concepts "click." 

Tomorrow's forecast - back to our regularly scheduled programming!!

Autumn Series 2010 #1 - Nature Journal

 Outdoor Hour Challenge - Autumn Series #1 - Nature Journals

We spent our outdoor time in our yard looking at all sorts of different things:

Black Widow web

 Under rocks - worms, roly polys, roots

 Centipede

 Leaves changing

 Sunflowers - we discussed the birds who have been coming to eat the seeds

 Later in the day we saw several House Finches eating from the sunflowers - sorry the picture isn't very good. 

 It was a cloudy day so the Evening Primroses were open. 

 Deer tracks

 When we went inside I had my older two kids pick something they wanted to learn more about.  N wanted to learn the ins-and-outs of how silk/web is made.  We found some great information and pictures in one of our bug books. 

 N's journal page-

 A wanted to know more about what venom is and how it is made.  The same bug book was a great resource, and he also decided to read about several different spider species. 

 A's journal page-



Weeks 5 & 6

After reflecting on the last couple weeks I am amazed at the amount of school we managed to accomplish with everything else going on- doctor appointments, extended family visiting, and the biggest interruption was a fire that started not far from us on a National Guard base and we almost had to evacuate our home! Whew!

Field Trips & Activities

Thanksgiving Point: Farm Days- This is a favorite place for my younger girls so we go all the time.  They love riding on the ponies and feeding the ducks.  While we were there I also had A work on passing off some requirements for Bear Scouts. 

Liberty Girls/Knights of Freedom- A and N both had their book clubs.  A finished reading Benjamin Franklin by the D'Aulaire's and started the Landmark Books' Meet George Washington.  N and I finished reading Josephina Learns a Lesson.  My friend who is the leader for N's Liberty Girls group needed some extra help so all the kids came along - we learned how to card wool and got to see and touch all the tools used, and the girls made a fabric cover for a memory book. 

Scouts & Activity Days- A is getting new leaders in his scout den so he hasn't had any den meetings for a couple weeks and pack meeting was cancelled because half the cub scouts were still evacuated from the fire zone.  They are all back home now so it should be rescheduled soon.  And I completely forgot about Nyah's Activity Days after reminding myself about it a half an hour before it started.  Oy. 

Art Class- It was also my turn to volunteer at the kids' art class.  They studied The Seine at Asnieres (The Skiff) by Renoir and did a color mixing project.  And all the kids wanted to paint when we came home so we did.  Mess mess mess :).

Thanksgiving Point: Star Party- A, N, and I went to a star gazing party hosted at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens.  We saw Venus, Jupiter, and identified several constellations- Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Summer Triangle, Cassiopeia.  Mostly we had a lot of fun.  And hot fudge sundaes on the way home :).

 School

Old Testament- We read chapters 18-21, and the kids completed pages 57-64 in their journals. 

Habit Training- Still working on making "good bathroom habits" habits.  (Its best to spend 6 weeks or more cementing a habit before focusing on the next habit. Slow and steady . . . )

Math- We completed chapter 10 and worked on chapter 11.  They need some more practice with the chapter 11 concepts (estimating, adding, and regrouping 100's) before we move on.  We are also doing a schedule change with math.  We were doing it as one of the first things, but we tend to have a lot of interruptions from the little girls during this time, so I'm moving it to nap time in the afternoon.  And to mix things up (and have fun) I showed the kids how to play Sudoku.  They love it. 

Science- Finished chapter 3 on Mercury.  And went back to our basic format of me reading and the kids narrating back to me instead of trying to follow the lesson plans in the notebooking journals.  No more busy work.  They enjoyed the activity suggestion - dropping objects of different sizes and weights into flour to make craters. 

History- I decided I wanted to keep our history in the Revolutionary War/Founding Fathers time period for now.  We started reading Landmark Books' The American Revolution and continued reading George Washington by the D'Aulaires. 

Geography- Minn of the Mississippi is moving down the Mississippi.  We read 2 more chapters and filled in more states and capitals, and the Minnesota River on our maps. 

Nature Study- Finished up the challenges we were working on and started a couple more.  Raccoons and Skunks will be fast because its unlikely we'll be able to observe any (even though we have spotted a skunk in our neighborhood before).  We did a challenge on the signs of Autumn and will be starting the other Autumn challenges soon. 

 Literature - We read The Nutcracker and Swan Lake from the book of ballet stories.  And lots of library books. 

Artist Study- A picked Apple Vendor (La Marchande de pommes), 1890 for our fridge this week.  We read a couple library books about Renoir:  Renoir and the Boy with the Long Hair by Wendy Wax and Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Painting That Smile by True Kelley. 

Composer Study- Listening to The Story of Tchaikovsky, Tchaikovsky Discovers America, and Naxos CDs. 

P.E.- Swimming while the weather is still wonderful!!