Tag: nature study

Summer School Schedule

Tracy2 Comments on Summer School Schedule

I’ve been playing around with our schedule over the last several days, and I think I finally have our summer the way I want it. So, here’s what we are up to and how we are fitting it in (while still managing to have lots of play time and pool time).

First, I’m planning on a four day school week, saving the fifth day for field trips and bigger projects. Then, I split up our math and phonics similar to a block schedule. In other words, we don’t do both everyday but rather do each every other day. Day 1: Math; Day 2: LA; Day 3: Math; Day 4: LA. This way, we get two lessons of each every week—good enough to maintain what we’ve learned, not so much that we don’t get a summer.

Now, for all of the fun I have planned!

Science/Nature Study

Geography (continuing with North and South America)

Art and Art Appreciation: Monet (and lots of drawing)

Music Appreciation: Bach (it’s a long story for another post)

Again, I wanted enough to cover the topic and give us an activity for each day without robbing us of the summer-time memories. So, we will do one of these subjects each day: four subjects for four days.

Thus, our schedule comes down to this.

Monday: field trip/project day

Tuesday: Math and Nature Study

Wednesday: LA and Music

Thursday: Math and Art

Friday: LA and Geography

Let the good times roll!

Testing the Waters

Tracy

I have a confession to make: nature study absolutely terrifies me. I love the idea of having my children explore the outdoors and learn about science as they observe and ask questions. But truthfully, it also makes me a little uncomfortable because I often don’t know the answers.

Last summer, our nature study consisted of using our senses. I was okay with that. All I was really doing was moderating their experiences of taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell. But this summer, as we tip-toe toward REAL nature study, I feel a little hesitant. So as I relate our summer to all of you, I’ll really be sharing how I am overcoming my nature study insecurities. Hopefully, some of you will chime in with your own experiences and cheer me on a little.

(That was my disclaimer. Now for your first installment of my rather insecure start to this summer’s nature study.)

 

The other day, my oldest asked me if he could do a craft outside. Inside, I panicked. I saw scissors on my sidewalk, melted crayons in the grass, and tiny bits of paper floating on the breeze. Then, I snapped out of my nightmare and offered my son a more mom-friendly alternative: nature study. I pulled out his nature journal from last year and his box of colored pencils. He happily trotted off to sketch the great outdoors. He came back in a few minutes later with this.

This, folks, is a picture of a mushroom; and, of course, he wanted to know the name of this creation so that he could write it in his journal. I could feel the anxiety surfacing, but instead, I led him to the computer where I typed into google the name of our state and the word “mushrooms.” A university website came up in the search, and we scrolled down through the photos until we found the one that matched his picture: purple-spored puffball.

He copied the name onto his page and went back outside. A few minutes later, he dashed back inside with a new sketch and a new question. Once again, we headed to the internet and discovered the white clover flower. (Sad, friends, isn’t it? that I didn’t know the name of that flower without the aid of the internet? I am ashamed. But I’m hoping my honest confession will inspire someone else who feels totally inadequate when it comes to nature study.)

My first day of nature study, and it was all that I feared it would be: lots of questions that I didn’t have answers for. But I realized that through my ignorance, I’m teaching my children a lesson even more valuable than mushroom and flower identification.  I’m showing them how to learn and how to find the answers they are seeking. And, Praise the Lord! Google is coming through for me.

 

Summer Insect Desk Tags

Tracy

I love to have desk tags for the kids, not only as a fun school decoration but also as a learning tool. The kids have both learned to write their names by tracing on their laminated desk tags. I also have them place their pencils on their desk tag when they are not using them.
Since insects will be a key part of our nature study this summer, I decided to have insects as the theme for our new desk tags. And when I couldn’t find what I wanted, I attempted to make one using public domain clip art off the internet. I’m really pleased with my first attempt!
Take a look or download it for your use.

Desk Tag Tutorial

Want to make your own? It really was not hard at all. I used an Open Office text document and created a table of three rows x one column. Then, I adjusted the size of each row. Next, I added a dashed line in the center of the second row. I did need to be sure that my borders for the table were selected and set at 1 point.

That’s it! Just add your stock photos or google for public domain clip art to find exactly what you want. It turned out to be much faster than searching the internet for pre-made desk tags. Have fun!

 

Nature Study: a Frog’s Life

Tracy1 Comment on Nature Study: a Frog’s Life

I mentioned in an earlier post how inspired I was by a friend’s blog to pull out our frog study and try a few of her links. This is another of the fantastic ideas featured on her post, with a few modifications.

Since I didn’t have the right kind of paper plates (all mine have dividers), I cut out pieces of blue construction paper and glued it to a piece of cardstock. The craft was easy enough, a cut and paste craft. But I was surprised how much it helped them to remember the basics of a frog’s life.

My son's having a mini show-and-tell with his craft.

 

Next up, we’ll go into a little more detail and fill out our notebooking page. I’d still love to find some actual tadpoles, if anyone has some suggestions for where to find them.

Nature Study: Frog File Folder Book

Tracy

We’ve recently had a tree frog regularly visiting our living room window each night and eating bugs, which has been so fun to watch. And, it inspired us to do a nature study on frogs. Then, a friend of mine who just started her own blog, had some terrific ideas for a preschool unit study on frogs. From the links in her post, we got started this week with a frog file folder book.

frogs nature study | frogs file folder book | mini books | lapbooks

Many of our frog projects, including the templates for this book, came from this link. To make the frog file folder book, paste the frog face to a file folder and cut the folder along the face outline. The eyes are glued to the back of the book, and the pages stapled to the inside.

frogs nature study | frogs file folder book | mini books | lapbooks

 

frogs nature study | frogs file folder book | mini books | lapbooks

What was most fun about this introductory activity, is that the story inside the frog file folder book was on my son’s reading level! He had so much fun reading the book he had made. There were only two sight words that he hadn’t learned, and he easily tackled them. Overall, it was a blast to make these, and the perfect way to open our long-delayed frog study.

frogs nature study | frogs file folder book | mini books | lapbooks

frogs nature study | frogs file folder book | mini books | lapbooks

Discovering Thunder and Lightning

Tracy

The next step of our weather study was trying to explain the idea of thunder and lightning—positive and negative forces, magnetism, moving molecules. I admit, it was a lot for a four year old mind to handle. But we managed through it with a little help from a library book and some sidewalk chalk.

Thunder and Lightning

Inside our school room, we read the book, looked at magnets, and talked about the idea of opposites attracting. Then, we headed outside for a little more hands-on approach. We talked about lightning jumping from cloud to cloud or from cloud to the ground. They both loved jumping from cloud to cloud and then crashing their molecules together into a mighty “clap” of thunder.

Was most of it lost on them? Of course, but I’ve learned that right now, I’m giving them landmarks. Later on, they’ll remember these little moments and will understand the details more readily (I’m hoping, anyway). If not, well, we sure had fun.