My husband found an unusual caterpillar outside our back door, so of course he brought it inside for all of us to see (homeschool dads are the best, aren't they?) After everyone had a chance to gently touch it and watch it scoot quickly along, we put it back where Daddy found it, and decided to try to identify what type of butterfly or moth it … [Read more...] about Nature Journal: Identifying Caterpillars
Outdoor Play
Nature Study: Perspective
A Change in Perspective Our Maypop (passion flower) vine is loaded with fruit. When the boys and I check on it, we notice the leaves are all chewed up, and we take a closer look. Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar The vine is covered with caterpillars, who seem very hungry indeed.They are all actively eating and exploring the leaves on the … [Read more...] about Nature Study: Perspective
Gardening with Kids: Diggin’ Up Worms
The most fun thing about planting new flowers is seeing all the wiggly worms uncovered when we digs the holes. Each one gets named: Kevin, Bob, Wendell, George, Danny . . . And then they are carefully placed back into the holes So that they can do their work in the soil. {Linking up with Oregon Cottage for the Garden Party.} … [Read more...] about Gardening with Kids: Diggin’ Up Worms
Chicken Wrangling: Cock-a-doodle Don’t!
What do you do when your chicken becomes a rooster? Our chickie babies are three and a half months old, and we've been suspecting that Foghorn was a boy for a while. He has been such a leader and protector. The girls follow him, and he sets the terms of their activities every day. He started making some suspicious sounds last weekend and was … [Read more...] about Chicken Wrangling: Cock-a-doodle Don’t!
Backyard Chickens: Red Ears, Brown Eggs
What's the difference between brown and white eggs? Nothing, really, except their color. According to The Chicken Whisperer's Guide to Keeping Chickens, you can tell the color of egg a hen will lay (usually) by the color of her earlobes, the fleshy part under her ear feathers. White-earlobed hens will usually lay white eggs, and red-earlobed … [Read more...] about Backyard Chickens: Red Ears, Brown Eggs
Nature Journal: Leaf Bug
You never know what might be hiding when you stop to smell the flowers . . . We discovered that this leaf bug is a katydid. … [Read more...] about Nature Journal: Leaf Bug
Garden Party: Flowers in the Vegetable Patch
Exploring Vegetable Flowers Seeing the changes in the garden is so much fun. Our garden is giving us so many opportunities for learning--not only about agriculture, but also lots of nature study. Discovering that our vegetable plants have flowers, too, has been a surprise. The boys are observing the changes in the plants each day. Some things … [Read more...] about Garden Party: Flowers in the Vegetable Patch
Home Sweet Coop
Moving chicks to the outdoor coop Now that they have feathers, and the weather has gotten warm, our chickie babies moved into their new cabin/coop this weekend. They've been busy exploring and scratching and checking out their new outdoor surroundings. The big world is such an exciting place for a little chicken. Securing the coop We bought … [Read more...] about Home Sweet Coop
Chickens, Meet the Big World
What's Happening With Our Chickens The chickens are still sleeping in our house, but they have spent their days exploring the outdoors for the past week. They are getting so big, but then they seem so little in the great outdoors! We are temporarily using a rabbit pen to house them during the day while they hunt and peck in the grass, and we … [Read more...] about Chickens, Meet the Big World
Lesson Plans: Chicken Ways
Our chicks are growing by the minute. It seems like there is a visible change in their development every morning and evening. Their tail feathers and wing feathers are growing, and they are getting taller. They can stretch their necks up and reach the top of the tank if they stand on the food tray. If we leave the top off the tank when we change … [Read more...] about Lesson Plans: Chicken Ways
Backyard Chickens: The Eggs
Counting Our Chickens Chick number two hatched last night around 11:30, and the last one hatched in the wee hours. We discovered it at 7:00 this morning, and it was still a little wet. The boys are thrilled that it is yellow! Discovery learning--both by them and by us. This process has been such a learning experience for us all, and I will be … [Read more...] about Backyard Chickens: The Eggs
Hands-On Science: Hatching Chickens
Today was an exciting day in our homeschool! First thing this morning, we noticed a little pip in one of our chicken eggs in the incubator. By 11:30, a bigger crack appeared, and the egg wobbled back and forth. And then after much peeping and pushing, by about 12:30 . . . Out popped a little black chick! It began to scoot around … [Read more...] about Hands-On Science: Hatching Chickens
Backyard Chickens: DIY Egg Candler
How to make your own egg candler Our newest endeavor: egg hatching? We went on a field trip to a local farm, and the kids were each given a fertile chicken egg to bring home. We have been incubating ours and turning them regularly. We learned that different eggs need to be kept at different temperatures -- chicken eggs at 99.5. The hardest … [Read more...] about Backyard Chickens: DIY Egg Candler
Gardening with Kids: Roots and Shoots
Making Roots and Shoots We started seeds about 2 weeks ago in our little Burpee greenhouses. Tracking and investigating their progress has become an ongoing science project in gardening chemistry! Gardening with kids has become a significant part of our homeschool curriculum. The cucumbers are getting tall, and the carrots and peppers are … [Read more...] about Gardening with Kids: Roots and Shoots
Gardening with Kids: Seed Starting
Easy Seed Starting Gardening with kids offers so many rewards and benefits. It connects them to the food they eat and can entice them to try new things that they've grown themselves. It also teaches them patience as they await that first seedling popping up out of the soil. We are doing some garden chemistry--the boys started their seedlings … [Read more...] about Gardening with Kids: Seed Starting
Praise God for His Creation
A conversation with my son, age 3: W.-“Mommy, did you used to go to work like Daddy?” Me-“Yes.” W.-“Were I in your tummy?” Me-“Yes.” W.-“Was Bean [his baby brother] still up in Heaven? Was God making him?” Me-“Yes.” W.-“Wow, Mommy! You know, when we all die and we go up to Heaven, I’m going to keep my eyes open so I can see … [Read more...] about Praise God for His Creation
Craft: DIY Cereal Box Tents
A few bounty hunters and ewoks wanted to go camping with us last weekend, so we made them some tents to bring along with their playmobil camping gear. Using cardboard from a cereal box, we cut three rectangles, taped them together to form a triangle, and then used the end as a template to cut out a triangle piece for the back. Then we … [Read more...] about Craft: DIY Cereal Box Tents
Camping With Kids
It's camping weather in our neck of the woods--warm days, cool evenings, chilly mornings. We head out to the state park, set up the tent, stock firewood, tell scary stories, toast marshmallows, cook hot dogs over the fire, and rent a canoe. After several camping trips with our kids, my husband and I learned to pare down our supplies to the … [Read more...] about Camping With Kids
Nature Journal: Garden Spider
Strewn across the rosemary, a series of webs glisten in the morning sunlight. We find three woven tapestries, but where is she? We keep searching and observing the patterns in her web and notice a small downy feather sticking to it, along with bits and pieces of leaves and needles. As we scan the lengths of the webs, we spot her in the back, hidden … [Read more...] about Nature Journal: Garden Spider
Nature Study: Garden Visitors
Every time we visit the garden, there are different creatures hiding out among the stems and leaves. Nature Study in the Garden Gardening is an excellent means of nature study, and the lessons we're learning are invaluable. A science lesson awaits right in our backyard each day. Our parsley is being munched away by this very hungry … [Read more...] about Nature Study: Garden Visitors
