Showing posts with label Nature Study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nature Study. Show all posts

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Nature Notes - Turkey Vulture


YOUNG TURKEY VULTURE SIGHTING

I always have good intentions, Nature Study in our home school is one. God brought us a gift last week. On a drive to another city, I saw what I think was a Vulture. It and several Raven's were scavenging on a large dead animal in a clearing along tree line. Here's a visual for you. Where I live, the next town is roughly two hours away. For roughly two hours all you see around you are trees, a bit of water, and the occasional moose, deer, bird (usually raven). So to see this large bird was amazing for me to see. Looking on the internet all I could find similar to it was a Turkey-Vulture, apparently all we have in Alberta. It had light brown/grey feathers with a speckled light grey all over. The head was not red like pictures. Unless it was a young bird, is my guess, looking just like the picture below. The only unfortunate thing about this story is that the only people in the vehicle were my husband (driving) and I. Wish I had my camera ready. I happily told Eagle the story this past week, but he was obviously not amazed as I was. It's always better seeing God's creation in the natural rather than in a book, isn't it?
CREDIT

A twist to the story. Over a month ago, Eagle was telling me from a library book all the many birds of Alberta. A Vulture was one of those birds. I remember stopping what I was doing running over to look and amazed that I had never known there to be vultures in Northern Alberta. I was shocked! Growing up, I always thought vultures were a bird of the south and other countries. God is so cool to show me this bird just weeks later on a drive down a road we always travel on. God is good!


Have a Happy Day,
Mo

Friday, April 6, 2012

Week 35 Wrap Up


We had a really good week.

Last weekend finished up the indoor soccer season for both of our boys.

Last Friday (forgot to mention this last week), we had our third Presentation Day (since I've been with the group) with other HS families. It was a good morning of sharing along with a few performances. With all the business with our life lately, I didn't expect my boys to present anything this year. I am the organizer, so I've felt obligated in the past for my kids to have something prepared. This year I let go and just asked them to bring their favourite thing, and they could decide to talk about it or not. Eagle brought his Geography notebook, but chose not to speak and Zazu brought Botony and chose to briefly say a few things. Zazu's favourite page in his notebook was his flower dissection page, he spoke briefly about what Botany was, "the study of flowers". It's actually plants, but who wants to correct a cute six year old, when with a slight smile o his little face says "the study of flowers". My boy likes flowers. He'll be a great husband one day. 


Now on to MONDAY

Our week was full, and to start it off was as always, chores, then to a little book work.
After lunch we had our friend over with her little baby girl, which was such a treat. Zazu was able to hold her for a moment, which really warmed his heart. 
Those moments are times when I do the "school vs homeschool" scenario. Do you ever do that? I do it often. Now, if Zazu were a typical classroom kid, he would have missed out on cuddling our friends little girl just after lunch on Monday. He would have also missed out on Eagle's Lego Club live class through currclick that afternoon.
Monday was the first time we've actually been able to log on to be part of the Lego class. Our schedule or lack of time management prevented logging in. We were thrilled when I happened to be organized enough for Eagle to participate. Eagle enjoyed the class. He anticipates the next class. He found it interesting to be able to chat with kids not just in the USA, but in Australia.  


This windmill came out of the Live Lego currclick class.
TUESDAY was my morning ladies bible study, and the kids stayed home with Dad to get school work done and to spend a little time at home with Dad instead of me. Love those mornings, again because my husband is a shift worker, the kids are able to spend whole days with their Dad during the week. Not possible with in a typical school situation.
Later that afternoon Eagle and I had a dentist appointment. It went well. The hygenist refreshed Eagle in proper care of his teeth and gums. We also talked about braces for him and maybe an invisiline product for myself. It was a good day.


As you can see, we are nearing the end of winter here. Although there hasn't been much of winter here or anywhere else for that matter. Nothing like kicking around a soccer ball in a light sweater and big winter boots. My guys are cute.


WEDNESDAY, I took the opportunity to book a study room at the library. Zazu had a hard time focusing, wanting to drink and drink and run to the bathroom, and whine and drink water and whine. 
We were meeting some HS friends to play at the facility (library is part of it) after, and getting things done with a good attitude was a requirement to have play time. I made it clear several times what was expected and the possibility of missing out. He missed out on most of the play time. Lesson learned. I always, always cave. I didn't this time, because I felt convicted if I continued on that path of feeling guilty and caving in, that in the end I was doing him a disservice. 
The HS guilt. Do you get that too? The empty threats then the, "It's OK if you don't do that, or have a bad attitude about that, you can still play with a HS friend, no problem." The as some nonHS people might call it "socialization" or how I like to call it "hanging out with somebody other than your siblings and mother all the time" syndrome. Let's face it. Sometimes I just need to talk to someone else other than my kids, and well so do they. That's the HS guilt. Putting aside what you had planned or warned them not to do or do. And that's why I ALWAYS cave, execpt for that day. I hope he learned a lesson. I felt good when I did it too. Empowered almost, like "you're not walking all over me today kid".


THURSDAY was another full day. We had a little birthday party to attend in the morning. I booked a couple hour time slot to get school work done at the library again that afternoon. The time in the study room went much better if you're wondering, than the day before.


Now that brings us to...
FRIDAY or GOOD FRIDAY


We spent the day resting from our busy week. Eagle read a book, I rested on the couch in the afternoon, while the little two played with Lego and school toys. If you are wondering what school toys are. School toys are anything that is obviously educational and it's always kept in our storage room. 
Example: Stringing beads and play-dough is kept in the educational section, only to be used during school time or if I pull it out on a separate occasion. Look down you'll see the robots Zazu built, they're a school toy, but with Lego as the exception.


Hot Cross buns (store bought) were for snack. 
Eagle really enjoys these guys, they aren't my favourite.

I asked Eagle to look for the connection with Hot Cross buns and Easter in this book, Lilies, Rabbits, and Painted Eggs: The Story of The Easter Symbols
It turns out Christians and Jews weren't the only ones eating these. There seemed to be connections to non-religious activities as well. People used to eat them on Good Friday for luck that their house wouldn't be plagued with fire. Some people even hung them dried in their homes to ward off evil. We talked about what this was called. 
Eagle got it. Superstition. Smart lad!


The following are a couple shots of what Zazu worked on on Friday and wanted a photo of. 







Happy Christ filled Easter,
Mo

weekly wrap-up
This post was part of this weeks weekly wrap-up hosted by weirdunsocializedhomschoolers.com

Monday, March 5, 2012

2011/2012 CURRICULUM *UPDATE*



It's about that time of year now where we're flipping through catalogues or buzzing around the internet looking for next years picks. 
I can honestly say, that I look for new stuff more often than once or twice a year. I tend to shop around before Christmas if I notice something needs a tweak. After meeting with our homeschool facilitator this past fall (2011) and after spending some time observing and thinking on these things:

  1. How are my kids enjoying, understanding, being challenged by this?
  2. What about me? How am I doing with this?
  3. Does this fit our schedule, our goals, our lifestyle, our beliefs, etc.?
  4. Do we really need it? Can we do without? Can I use it differently?
  5. What does God want?

I chose to add, delete and even change up how we use some things from this list. Because of that I thought I'd update my list of what we're working on which will bring us into the summer. As some may not know, we are year round schoolers, so the pressure is off to finish resources and just focus on pressing on towards the goals laid out. 

Below, under the hash line is the 2011/2012 curriculum post from the beginning of the school year of my picks for our homeschool, along with my thoughts from August (2011).


HERE'S THE UPDATED LIST WITH NOTES in RED

First thing is:
I've been planning weekly and I'm really doing it! (yes, pat me on the back now, and *insert applause* thank you) I'm planning a separate post on scheduling, planning and goals soon. Just an added note to planning. That five point list above; I actually work backwards, from 5 to 1. 
What does God want? In November after I shook things up a little with our curriculum, I decided to start planning again, but MY WAY. I also brought back a three term school year, just for keeping track of our year, not for added pressure of finishing curriculum. My compass is not to COMPLETE but to LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT and TO OURSELVES.






Family Work will consist of:

Eagle (gr. 6 age 11/12) (He's on track with most things)

Zazu (gr.1 age 6) (He's on track with most things)
Zazu is still using a rolling cart (the one linked has only 4 drawers, Zazu's has 5 drawers) workbox style for his school day.


Alba (gr. Toddler age 2) I added Alba in January, because she's ready and asking for big girl things to do. Scheduling this in helps me to actually get these things done with her.





---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...with a Charlotte Mason Flavour!

Not Back to School Blog Hop


It's Curriculum Week at Heart of the Matter
I'm a little late on this but I'm participating.


WHERE do I begin?

Well... I started splitting our year into 3 terms last fall (2010) and also tried year round schooling, the spring also brought consistent Family Work time. Sticking to terms, well... it fell through. Year round, WORKED! (lowered my stress significantly) Family Work, it's working well.

These three decisions majorly influenced our curriculum. 

Just click and you'll see what I've planned to use, so far.
We've already been using half of these resources for some time now. Some others are either quite new to us and there are a few new and yet to be used. And well music study for example, I just linked a bunch of selections through Amazon.

I just want to add that I'm not posting everything we use, just the main things. we have many devotional type books, but that info is for another post.

Our Family Work will consist of:

Eagle (gr. 6)


Zazu (gr.1)






In the past when my educational facilitator comes to visit in fall, I've felt like I have too much going on. But I need to remember and so I'm letting you know also, that we touch on these things once a day or once a month. Our schedule is full but not heavy. I've weighed things out and I feel that I'm on the right track, in terms of where God is directing our studies.

And about planning our year...
I'm not concerned about week to week. When we finish one thing we just move on to the next. We've come to a point now where planning is more progressive. I've sought God for more flow in our days, and it's happening slowly. If we need to tweak, we tweak. If it only was that easy some days. He's always GOOD though! 

He's always good.

Not Back to School Blog Hop
 

Good Day Friend,

MO
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