We did not have a Green Hour we had a Green Week! We have inspected, dissected, poked, prodded, virtually every wildflower, tree, insect, and bird in our backyard. Big Sis' joined in much of the adventure and has been crowned "Butterfly Catcher Extraordinaire"! In an attempt to try to keep our focus on our trees we have started playing games with our trees. "Race you to the ( name , characteristic, etc)" is a favorite with Sam.
We've set up our tree identification book differently then Barb-Harmony Art Mom suggest in Green Hour Challenge #7. We have a 2 page spread with seasonal pictures of our trees on the left and pictures of the bark, leaves and any defining characteristics such as cones, nuts, or flowers on the right. This is our first entry and I forgot to take pictures of the needles of our Loblolly pine! I have also started a nature blog that will correspond to our identification books that we will be making.....mainly to help me organize our pictures before we put it all together. The little kids have been impressing their dad with their vocabulary when talking about their trees.
We decided to let the perimeter of our property get a bit wild to see what would grow...much to the liking of my oldest son who dislikes edging the yard. Already wildflowers are taking over and Charlotte is overjoyed with all the possibilities.
7 comments:
Fantastic idea! I really love your idea for your field guide. This is going to be great.
I also love your idea of letting part of your property "go wild". What a laboratory you will have there over the summer.
Thanks so much for the great ideas.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
I love that you are including seasonal photos in your field guide - that's a great idea!
I also like that you are letting a part of your yard 'go wild' - I just read Last "Child in the Woods" and it talked about the edges as amazing places for discovery.
What a fun game you've all created - I'll have to share it with my kiddos.
"We had a Green Week!" LOVE IT! Nature study is addicting in such a great way. Love the games you are making up to help identify trees, very creative! Love the tree identification book. And so wonderful that you are letting things grow in around your perimeter! Great job all around, so many great things going on.
Blessings, Melissa
In the Sparrow's Nest
www.homeschoolblogger.com/melissal89
What a great post! There were so many neat ideas. I love the games you're using to reinforce the tree names. Great way to make learning more natural and enjoyable! I also love your field guides.
http://web.mac.com/sligting6/harvestacademy/Blog/Blog.html
What a fun nature week! I love how you and the kids are reinforcing what you are learning... with games! How fun! And, I love your field guide pages - with photos of the bark, seasonal photos, etc. What a great idea!
I like your idea of a field guide notebook. That sounds GREAT! I might be able to handle that task. :o) ~Tina
I love the idea of the game to race to the trees... I just know my children would LOVE that idea! I am going to give it a try!!!
Thanks for a great post about field guides!
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