Sweetness and Light

Favorite Nature Study Resources

Nature study is as much a part of a Charlotte Mason education as is reading living books.

I thought I would share some of our favorite Nature study resources and our usual "go-to's" when we study the natural world.

We're enjoying this recent inexpensive download at Currclick from Katie's Homeschool Cottage  Along with some great books from the library we will have a nice nature study for the Fall. I see right now it's even less expensive  during Currclicks Trunk or Treat sale, check it out!!

Of course Anna Botsford Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study  has been a staple on our shelves for many many years. We are consulting it today, as we have a Wooly Bear that we are observing. Matthias found it last week and he's been carefully tending it with grass and dandelions (loves them) and today he's baking a little mud "hideout" for it to winter over in. We will be anxious to see it spin a cocoon next Spring and then transform into an Isabella Tiger Moth!!

For sketching and nature journalling ideas we have Jim Arnosky's Sketching Outdoors in Autumn, Drawing from Nature  and Field Trips. Also on our shelf is Claire Walker Leslie's Keeping a Nature Journal. We also like The Brook Book as it is nice to consult after our Salmon Watch field days.

Because it's autumn we are cherishing  various tree and leaf picture books  as well as Tree field guides. These take-along guides  are nice too. In the Pacific Northwest we do get a pretty good change of seasons with all of the deciduous trees turning color and watching the leaves fall. Thankfully we are still profusely stocked with evergreens however, to keep things from looking too bare in winter :)

Our days have turned rainy for the time being, but here's a peek at some nice outdoor nature work from earlier this week:

And some of their finished work:

(Seamus' creation)

(Sean-Paul's)

Looking forward to a lovely weekend with my sweeties, what are you all up to this Autumn?? Many blessings in your day :)

Stunning

 

 

Hope your Memorial weekend was wonderful! See you again soon :)

Sightings!

Look at this guy!! He really wanted there to be something tasty in the pool :)

 
Great Blue Heron

We've seen him two mornings in a row! I hope he will be a regular visitor, it's just like having your own personal Pterodactyl living nearby!! Happy Thursday to You! (Sung ala Frances style.)

Intoxicating

 
I was delighted to discover that a few lilac trees grow in our side yard that I hadn't noticed when we moved in last year! Their scent is absolutely intoxicating and lovely. I can never resist walking past any lilac tree without smelling their perfume and delighting in their exquisitely designed flowers. I do believe we will be crowning Our Lady with these delicious beauties this year!! Oh Joy!

May Blooms

 
 

 
 

My window sill companions enjoying all the beautiful May goodness blooming around us!

Have a blessed Feast of Our Lady of Fatima  tomorrow, may you be abundantly favored by Our Lady on this very special feast!

Looking for Fish

On Monday afternoon we headed out to a local stream to see if any of the Peamouth Minnows had yet returned to spawn. My father is part of the stream watch team and there were reports that these fish were late this year. Possibly due to lower than normal temperatures??

 
We recorded the water depth and temperature, but sadly did not see any fish.

 
 
Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon and I received a call from Dad (Grandpa) and he said they're here, let's GO!!

First we checked the fish ladder, but didn't see much action there...

 
We then went back to our original watch location from Monday, and low and behold...FISH!!!

 
 
The water was really shallow, only 4-6 inches in some parts of the stream, so the minnows were literally climbing and swimming over each other to settle in to spawn. We did see evidence of spawning as well, lots of little tapioca-sized eggs, so that was really cool. These fish will only remain in this part of the stream for another day probably and then it's back to the lake.

 
The best part besides seeing all the fish was to spend a great trek out with Dad/Grandpa!!

 
What are you all doing for nature studies these days???

Have a great rest of your week, hope you are enjoying a bit of Spring sunshine and adventures with your sweeties :)

 

We've Got Snow

Woke up to a dusting and it's still coming down....

 
 

And here's Bob, all puffed up and busy at the feeder...

 
 

Hope you're staying warm and cozy where you are, and yes, it's officially a Snow Day here!!

Sighting

 

Our neighborhood watch system is pretty low-key these days :) I was fortunate to catch this guy and he was quickly discovered...The next photo is him taking off for the brush after a very large german shephard chased after this sleek fellow!

 
Any new sightings in your neck of the woods???

Happy Monday!!

"The Pageant of Summer"

 

I do not want to change: I want the same old and loved things, the same wild flowers, the same trees and soft ash-green; the turtle-doves, the blackbirds, the coloured yellow-hammer sing, sings, singing so long as there is light to cast a shadow on the dial, for such is the measure of his song, and I want them in the same place. Let me find them morning after morning, the starry-white petals radiating, striving upwards to their ideal. Let me see the idle shadows resting on the white dust; let me hear the bumble-bees , and stay to look down on the rich dandelion disc. Let me see the very thistles opening their great crowns - I should miss the thistles; the reed-grasses hiding the moor-hen; the bryony bine, at first crudely ambitious and lifted by force of youthful sap straight above the hedgerow to sink of its own weight presently and progress with crafty tendrils; swifts shot through the air with outstretched wings like crescent-headed shaftless arrows darted from the clouds; the chaffinch with a feather in her bill; all the living staircase of the spring, step by step, upwards to the great gallery of the summer -  let me watch the same succession year by year. ~ Richard Jefferies

Saturday Evening Walk

With Sean-Paul on his scooter and me with our dog Sadie, we had some lovely mild weather Saturday evening, perfect for an observation nature walk with my little sweetie :) Here's a few of our findings along the way ~

Lilacs; they have such an intoxicating smell, we think they're delicious to say the least! We both took a good whiff :)

 

I do believe this is English Lavendar?? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I love it too!

 
We also stumbled upon some Wooly Thyme that was flowering profusely on this little median planting next to the side walk. It was like a soft carpet of purple. Tiniest little blossoms, perfect for a little fairy cup :)

Apparently purple was the color of the day as I spied these incredible lobes of Wisteria. I just had stand and wish I had an arbor with these lovely creations of nature, sigh... 

Now we come to some pink finally. I am obssessed with Dogwood trees this year, they're everywhere in our neighborhood, and they are enchanting! The pink ones are just too sweet and make me happy to look at them :)

 

Our walk ended here with a dusky glow in the sky, a little hand to hold, just me and him, perfect.  
  

Sightings

While standing at the kitchen sink washing up Sunday morning I was pleasantly surprised by many new birds out my window! In the course of about a half an hour, I spied ~

• a Red-Shafted Flicker,
• a pair of Dark-eyed Juncos,
• three very fat Robins, preening themselves,
• the most adorable House Wren,
• a couple of Black-capped Chickadees duking it out over a mate, and
• a house finch pair.

There were also many crows fluttering about and our usual House and Song Sparrows were very chatty flying in and out of our overgrown tree/shrub that sits in the corner near the fence. I must admit they are contented with the smattering of fresh green leaves that have finally unfurled themselves in all this rain and sunshine. We had a morning of showers and intermittant sunshine with wind high up in the clouds, so the weather kept changing dramatically all throughout the day. The birds obviously thought this was their cue to show themselves each time the rain stopped and the sun came out again. Much to my delight the House Wren spent the most time on top of a small leafless tree singing to it's hearts content! Spring has clearly sprung!

Many blessings in this Holy Week!

December Nature Walk ~ Along the Trail

December is off and running. We took a beautiful day this past week to get outside and spend some time in nature and the very welcome sunshine!

Frst we encountered this litle critter just off the parking area. He was pretty tame (SP thought he was going to catch him, HA), he posed for us for a while and then loped off into the underbrush.

Lots of berries out this time of year, including holly, rosehips (techinically not a berry, but beautiful nonetheless), Osage orange, crabapple, and some that we have yet to identify ~

 

Anyone know what these white berries are???

Here's a closer look...we're trying to remember from summer what the flowers looked like and we can't seem to put our finger on it ~ There's lots of Oregon grape leaves mixed in, but they are not part of the white berry plant as far as we can tell...

A few excited boys running across the meadow - here's Seamus caught in mid-somersault, backpack still attached ~

We are so blessed living near the water again, and can never get tired of looking at the view from our park ~

And lastly, a peek at the explorers taking a break from their scurrying around ~

Upon returning home from our lovely outing a few of us decided to sketch our little friend ~

And my attempt ~ 

Here's hoping you'll be able to get outside and discover some wonders of nature this early winter!

Many blessings in this 2nd week of Advent!

Seen, Heard & Read ~ Week's Worth

Our past week has been filled with yet more profound and undeniable sadness as the news of yet another loss in our online community. I have truly been without words...

Never the less, some happenings and things to share :: Seen ~

A warm summer evening walk produced these lovely Trumpet Vine Creeper (Campsis radicans) blossoms. They are also called the "Hummingbird Magnet". 

 

These incredibly vibrant lavendar and white "petunia-like" flower, anyone care to gander at what this might be??? I couldn't find a match but thought it was a petunia variety??

 

We finally got around to making our Father Pine, except it's not made from pine, but we like how the cross holds our "fiddleback style" vestement which thanks to Violet came out beautifully with a little gold glitter paint :)

Here's closer look at them ~

Overheard ~

"Mommy Tyrannasaurus Rex starts with a "T"!! (Sean-Paul)

"Hey Sean-Paul, wanna be in my secret spy club?" (Seamus)

Reading Around the House ~

Read Aloud ~ Magic Tree House #7 Sabers at Sunset to Seamus/Sean-Paul at bedtime (how can these be SO boring)?? Seven Silly Eaters, Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent, I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean (Sean-Paul)

Independent Reading ~

Violet ~ Rilla of Ingleside, Nancy Drew The Case of the Velvet Mask (a bit of a light week for her reading wise as she has been at intense ballet rehersals for an exciting part in Coppelia)!

Matthias ~ The Black Cauldron (second Prydian chronicle) Jackie & Me with Seamus (still wroking through) Boys' Life magazine

Seamus ~ The Little Bear Collection (he's thrilled he can just pick this up and read it now :)

Me ~ Revolutionary Road (about 1/2-way on this, good) Around the Year With the Trapp Family

A parting shot, another beauty from our evening walk :: Butterfly bush 

 

"Best I love September's yellow,
Morns of dew strung gossamer,
Thoughtful days without a stir,
Rooky clamours, brazen leaves,
Stubble dotted o'er with sheaves -
More than Spring's bright uncontrol
Suit the Autumn of my soul.' ~ Alex Smith

I bid you a lovely Labor Day weekend with many snuggles with your loved-ones, my prayer is that you are all safe.

Jesus said, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you."

Creating Biomes ~ Ready for Research

(Repost from 2008. As I know many of us are in the planning stages for the new school year, I though it might be helpful to do a series of posts that added an element of fun and hands-on enjoyment in some of our year's past. This is great for Science and Research. Enjoy!!)

We having been enjoying the wonderful DVD's put out by the BBC on our Planet Earth and have led us to tremendous amounts of research and discovery of different biomes, habitats and many wondrous geographical features. 

Along with the Advanced Landforms Kits and Research Materials from Montessori for Everyone, the children are making the research their own with enthusiasm and delight in their learning hands-on!  Here is a sampling of what the three older children accomplished yesterday after I requested that they each gather materials and create one of the Biomes or Habitats they have seen on the DVDs. 

Sean-Paul was right by my side working with the Landforms Trays.  He loves pouring blue water for any project!

Violet chose to make a Baobab Forest found only in Madagascar and Australia.  She formed her trunks with modeling clay and then added white lilac blossoms to represent the enormous "banana-shaped" flowers that open only at night peeling back in seconds to display thousands of stamens and brilliant hot pink blossoms.  Then she added some animals that might live in her biome.

Here is an excerpt from her research and a closer look...

"...These interesting trees have very fat trunks with leaves only at the top to form a sort of canopy.  They almost look like giant celery stalks.  The trunks will hold up to 31,700 gallons of water to last them through any drought.  During the rainy season when the Baobab is swelled with water, they undergo a magical transformation in the night.  On the trees, there are banana shaped parts a foot long, which open up to reveal a gorgeous flower.  The flower has yellow petals, a long pink pistil and millions of stamens.  Many animals love to feast on the nectar of this flower..."

Matthias created a Asiatic grassland also with animals to represent his biome.  I really like how creatively he chose his materials to image this habitat.  The fun part for him happened later when we all realized that the dandelion stalks he chose opened into their seed plumes as they warmed up inside the house!  A veritable transformation that added an element of surprise to his habitat.

Here's a closer look before the animals were installed...

And last but certainly not least, Seamus' Biome is the Tiaga Forest in the Northern hemisphere.  He chose this all on his own and selected his materials accordingly.  I especially liked his idea of using flour to represent the snow.  He included a moose, bobcat, deer, wolverine, and wolf.  Seamus especially loved this work and didn't stop talking about his creation and the Tiaga all afternoon!

And a closer look...

This was really fun and an easy hands-on activity to further our Biomes research and to trigger memory of things seen and learned from the Dvd's.  Each time we sit down to view a particular Biome or Habitat we learn yet another interesting fact about our beloved Planet Earth!  I hope you'll try this with your sweeties and see what wonders they can create!

Have the best day and may God bless you always!

We're Goin' Seaside, Are You??

We're gearing up for a great year of Marine Biology and Oceanography with the very illustrious and nautre savvy Theresa from Lapaz Home Learning!

We have our book, we know where to find the lesson plans ;-)

Theresa will be keeping track of their year at her lovely new blog "Fieldwork" and we just may follow suit!

Violet is in 8th grade this year, but I'm thinking this is going to be some early credits for her for high school biology!

We've had many great beach days and will most likely begin right away, slowly, as our good weather days will be outnumbered by those in the southern climes, so we want to take advantage of them NOW!!

I am SO grateful to Theresa for sharing her work and that we get to tag along with Superboy, it is going to be a blast! (My boys are especially excited to get to do some "big boy" science).

We've even started our shell collection already with some very unique finds!

The top left is SO cool, it's a Chiton shell (pronouncced KY-ton) from the class Polyplacophora meaning many plates. I believe it's a Lined Chiton (Tonicella lineata) which can be found on Pacific coastlines from the Aleutian Islands to the Channel Islands, California. The shell on the right is a small Lewis's Moon Snail shell (Euspira lewisii) . These are everywhere on our beaches and they have the coolest egg casing they release into the sand that resembles a small piece of tire rubber, very interesting indeed. The front small shell is a Mask Limpet (Tectura persona), also called a "Speckled Limpet". These are usually found up at the highest tide line in crevices sheltered from heavy wave action.

The book for our study, The Seaside Naturalist is one of the best books I've encountered for this level of study and I'm so glad Theresa chose this one! We will also be consulting field guides for our part of the country/ocean/beaches, etc. Two of our current ones are: Whelks to Whales and The Beachcomber's Guide to Seashore Life in the Pacific NW, both great on the beach guides!

Well, come along with us if you can! We're off to the beach now, see you at the next low tide :)

Outdoor Hour Challenge #4 (I think) :: Noticing Walk

 

(This post has been sitting in my drafts folder for an eon, and even though it is a bit belated I still wanted to post it as a record of our nature studies.)

As I have mentioned before we have the pleasure of living within a 6 minute walk to our neighborhood library. It has a lovely children's section as well as a very speedy hold request notification system, a true bonus. Sean-Paul LOVES to walk to the library and on this particular day, as I had him all to myself, we decided to take pictures of all the lovely signs of Spring that were popping up all around us! So, here is what I think is our #4 Outdoor Hour Challenge, need to check my archives!  This is our photo journal with some commentary from Sean-Paul:

"Oh mommy, look at the pretty yellow one!"

 

Cherry Buds:

 

Gorgeous Magnolia Buds (We have spotted pink, white and a delicious butter color of these magnificent trees):

 

"Mommy, those flowers have happy faces!" ("Yes, they certainly do sweetie.")

 

Beatuiful Camelias (blooming rather late as it is a winter shrub in this area):

 

And a final favorite, "Oh mommy, white daffodils too!"

We had such a delightful day, these are the ones we want to remember and repeat as often as possible!

Many blessings in your day, thanks for visiting :)

Outdoor Hour Challenge #3 :: Signs of Spring

   

We had some fun this week looking for signs of Spring.  We're having somewhat Spring like weather, but some days are of course a little remiscent of Winter with rain and wind. But nonetheless we've got many signs of Spring happening around us.

 

A vase of budding branches...

   

Pondering the possiblities...

 

Our completed work! 

Now that Spring has sprung, we're hoping to meander a little quicker through these Outdoor Nature Hours.  Please visit the delightful Handbook of Nature Study blog for more Outdoor Hour goodness!

Happy Friday sweet visitors, here's wishing you a weekend filled with lots of good family life and love!! Many blessings!

Outdoor Hour Challenge #2 :: Getting Out!

 

We have been outside quite a bit lately due to some exceptional weather, however my posting for the Outdoor Hour is late in coming, but here is one that we did a week or so ago.

Seamus found this beautiful perfect leaf caught in a small shrub in our very small yard! We think it's a Birch. He was really intrigued by this post I shared with him one day at In Heywood's Meadow. Since then, we've been looking for trees that might still have their leaves.

Sean-Paul was very busy later in the afternoon and had seen me sketching this leaf and so here is his adorable rendition ~ Pretty good for a 3 year old :)

 

Here is my very amatuer sketch with a favorite poem ~

 

And on an outing Tuesday of this week, Seamus was very excited to see this beautiful Oak Tree with so many leaves still on it :)

 

"It is a mistake to think that a half day is necessary for a field lesson, since a very efficient field trip may be made during the ten or fifteen minutes at recess, if it is well planned." Read more on this Outdoor Hour Challenge here...

This is our reality and I am so loving being able to use any outdoor time for nature and exploration, even if our yard is really, really small! 

Many blessings in all your explorations and discoveries with your sweeties.

Handbook of Nature Study #1 :: Listening Walk

 

We managed a short listening walk last week as our first attempt at the Outdoor Hour Challenge.  I can't say that we were outdoors for an hour this time, alas it's the rainy season (and I don't mean tropical rain). 

In our listening walk we heard many birds, saw many birds, and a few squirrels.  Our yard here is very small, and mostly shrubs and a pathetic excuse for a grass area, sigh.  It's a far cry from our previous acreage, sniff, but we're making the most of it!

(Sean_Paul, 10/07)

 

  Violet is the only one who managed a sketch for her journal:

 

I like how she watercolored it afterward.  Not bad for a rainy past week, here's hoping for some sunshine soon :)

Please visit the Handbook of Nature Study Blog to follow along if you would like!  Blessings in your days!

For the Birds, By Matthias

We are enjoying delving in to new sightings and nature in our new location.  The kids are thrilled to see squirrels feeding upside down on our bird feeder, alas, Matthias wanted a squirrel-proof feeder and so he made one using recycled materials! 

I think it turned out pretty good, we'll let you know who else enjoys it!

Have a blessed day and hope you are all enjoying the Feast of the Archangels!!

Love,