Science: Bean Sprouts

In May, the boys started growing bean sprouts when we did a garden unit study towards the end of the month.  The boys have been observing their bean sprouts since late May and have been documenting their growth.


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At the end of  each week we take a photo of our bean sprouts and the boys write about them or draw a picture of them in their bean plant diary.  Above, you can see some of the bean

Nature Study: Bewick's Wren

Here in Texas, we are fortunate to see some birds year round because of our mild winter season but as the summer months come,  the birds are active only early mornings,  

We have been bombarded by wrens that have taken over our patio area until midday.  We were struck when we found what looked like an injured wren that could not fly our of our patio.  It remained on the floor huddled in a

Week in Review: Spring (weeks 24-25)

March 28 to April 8
We spent two weeks on our unit study on Spring.  The previous two weeks (March 14 – 25) we took off for an extended Spring break.   During our studies, we read books about the season of Spring and about animals in Spring as well as Spring activities.  Note: For those who do not know my sons are nicknamed Godzilla boy, age 11 and Turtle, age 5. My oldest son has some learning

Week in Review: All About Birds part two (weeks 22-23)

February 28 to March 12 We continued our unit study on birds. Last week we spent time learning about birds in general and this week we learned more about bird watching (especially backyard birds). We read about specific birds such as the owl, duck, cardinal, heron and hen.

We recently made some changes in our geography studies. In all honestly, we had not been doing much in geography since we

What my children are reading March 1 to March 8

This week we continued our unit study on birds. During our first week of our study, we learned what birds are, which birds fly and which do not. We read books about birds, painted with feathers. It was a fun filled week that included our Nature Study on birds in our area. You can read our book reviews for our first week, HERE. This week we focused on and spent time learning about birds in general

Nature Connections in February

This month we made a few excretions outdoors as part of our Nature Studies and our appreciation for Nature. At the beginning of the month (February 4th), our city got a treat for once in over a decade. We had a light snowfall and I mean light but it was still a wonderful experience for the boys to see snow for the first time.The boys enjoyed playing with the snow and watching their breath in the

Week In Review: All about Birds (week 21)

February 21 to February 25This Wednesday we began our two week unit study on birds (to coincide with the Great Backyard Bird Count).

We learned what birds are, which birds fly and which do not. We read books about birds and painted with feathers. It was a fun filled week that included our Nature Study on birds in our area.
Note: For those who do not know my sons are nicknamed Godzilla boy, age

What my children are reading: February 21 to 26

This week we began our two week unit study on birds. We learned what birds are, which birds fly and which do not. We read books about birds, painted with feathers. It was a fun filled week that included our Nature Study on birds in our area.The boys enjoyed the selections of books we read about birds. The book that we found valuable as a resource was Baby Birds by Bobbie Kalman. My youngest son

It's coming.... 2011 Great Backyard Bird Count

This month from February 18- 21 is the 14th annual Great Backyard Bird Count.What is GBBC?The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event where people of all ages bird watch and counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts.Why is it Important to Count Birds?Your participation in

Week in Review: a Snow day to end our week (wk 19)

January 31 to February 5This week we began our study on the Polar Regions: Arctic and Antarctic Animals.

We stayed indoors most of the week due to below freezing weather but no one mined that because the boys were looking forward the to the chance of snow that was in the forecast for Friday morning.

We used Monday to review of the previous week. Last week we did not have a unit study and

Week in Review: Winter and Trees (weeks 16-17)

January 10 to 21We took a longer break than expected but considering that we still did some sort of homeschooling during the holidays, everyone needed the extra time off including myself.On Monday during our first week back, everyone wanted to stay indoors under the covers, but the boys both had dentist appointments. I am so glad we went because we found out that Godzilla boy needs to have oral

Nature Study: Winter Tree Observation

Last year in October we chose to observe a an Oak Tree that resides by our home as part of our Nature Study. In the Fall of 2009, we identified the tree as a Live Oak Tree by leaf identification.Live oak is a large spreading tree of the lower Coastal Plain from southeastern Virginia to southern Florida and to southern Texas.For our Nature Study, we have been looking tree changes from Fall to

Nature Study - Our Winter friends (Birds)

Last month in November, the boys felt left out as our neighbors to the North got vibrant colors of foliage in the Fall while we see only brown leaves and maybe yellow at best. This winter makes up for it when we saw different birds in our area that have migrated from the north.We have been seeing a house wren that sings each morning on our patio’s ledge. The bird’s song is very loud that you don’

Nature Study: Trees

This month we began a Nature study on trees and included it in our our a thematic unit on Fall. Last year in the Fall we spent some time on tree leaf identification of the trees that grow by our home.We will be observing a Live Oak tree that grows next to our patio garden. We’ll be looking at how the tree changes from season to season and hoping year by year.We are observing the leaves, bark,

Nature Study – Fall Bird Migration, plans for study

As our neighbors to the North get vibrant colors of foliage in the Fall, we here in South Texas are not fortunate to see the many colors of Fall except in the Hill Country north of San Antonio. One thing we do get is an opportunity to see the different birds that migrate to the south during the change in the seasons.

With the cooler weather this Fall season, we will be viewing our feathered

Nature Study: Signs of Autumn

This week with a small break from the rain, we embarked on our first Fall walk outdoors. It was party sunny as we took a walk down our street and enjoyed the cool breeze.

We noticed some cumulus clouds overhead and some darker cumulus clouds not far so we knew that it was not long before it would rain. My oldest son was able to identify the clouds using the Field guide Cloud cards I made for him

Cloud Cards - Printable

Last week the boys started their study on clouds. My oldest son will be doing a month long study of them as part of his Nature Studies. We are doing a cloud journal and will be observing clouds throughout the seasons.I thought about a creative way to have on hand an easy portable method of having pictures of the different types of clouds for the boys when we do our observations. I came up making

Week in Review: 2 steps forward, 1 step back (wk 2)

August 30th to September 4th
This was our second week of homeschool but it it still felt like our first. The boys are still waking up late (and by late, I mean noontime). Hubby has been staying up late due to restlessness and is keeping everyone up. We live in a small apartment so any noise can be heard throughout our home. I am hoping that these late night antics come to a close soon. I may

Make a Fog (Science Sunday)

This week we conducted a experiment on clouds. The boys were interested in learning how a cloud forms (particularly fog). We had been reading a number of books on weather and clouds and this experiment was perfect for us.
Our Question of the Week… How are clouds formed?
Items we used for this experiment:An empty jar
Hot water
a strainer
2-3 ice cubes


Predictions
The boys each try to predict

What my Children are Reading – Aug. 30 to Sept. 4

Last week was our first week of homeschooling and we spent the majority of that week busy with assessments and showing the the boys to some of the books for our new curriculum.Over the summer I looked at our previous book lists from our weekly reading and tried to find new books that we have not explored. That is not to say that we won’t revisit some of the boys favorites, because I know it would