Barb, Author at Homeschool Nature Study

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Barb — 1 Comment

Ranger Rick Jr Magazine – Review

Ranger Rick Jr. Magazine published by the National Wildlife Federation is a new magazine written to entertain and inform children between the ages of 3-7. This attractive magazine is a combination of story-telling and fact giving, all presented along with colorful images. Our family has long read and enjoyed the other magazines available from the National Wildlife Federation and Ranger Rick Jr. lives up to their high standards. In fact, National Wildlife magazine is one of my favorite nature-related magazines and it sits on my living room coffee table as I type this review.

When the opportunity came for me to review Ranger Rick Jr. magazine, I didn’t hesitate. National Wildlife offered both the magazine and the new iPad app Ranger Rick Appventures – Lions which works together to provide early readers with a way to learn more about animals. I am partnering with Tricia at The Curriculum Choice on this review-click over to see how her family enjoyed the iPad app!

My children loved learning about animals from an early age and this new magazine nurtures a curiosity about the animals we see in our own neighborhoods as well as animals from around the world. You can preview the article A Lion’s Tale online. The easy to read text is perfect for younger animal lovers to read with a little help from mom and dad. I found my teens paging through this colorful magazine and I am going to be keeping it on the shelf as a reference for drawing projects. I know if I had little ones they would use these magazines as sources of images to cut out and put into journals and reports.

Suggestions for getting outdoors with your children!

My favorite page in the whole magazine is a regular feature that is called, Green Time. This would be perfect for using during your outdoor time each week as part of the Outdoor Hour Challenge. In my review issue, the subject for Green Time is evergreens. The prompts are much like my grid study printables, giving you tasks to do and things to look for outside. I love this feature!

Each issue has a removable poster

Here are some facts that may interest you:

There is no advertising in Ranger Rick Jr. magazine! Love that!
36 full color pages with a variety of activities- stories, puzzles, crafts (the review issue includes instructions for a lion mask)
Large images of animals with basic facts (save these for future nature journal entries)
Available for the Nook
Replaces the previously title magazines: Big Backyard and Wild Animal Baby
10 print issues per year for $15 – Online ordering at: http://www.nwf.org/rickmags

I am always looking for ways to share a love of creation with my friends and readers….this would be a perfect gift for any young ones you have in your life.

I know when I was a child, getting something in the mail was the highlight of my month!

Engaging stories based on familiar wildlife

I highly recommend Ranger Rick Jr. magazine for your family…big paws up this month for a new magazine sure to delight and nurture the nature lovers in your life.

Don’t forget to click over and see Tricia’s review of the companion iPad app: A Lion’s Tale on The Curriculum Choice.

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Barb — 6 Comments

Backyard Birds – Hawks and Their Calls

Bird watching year after year, you begin to have favorite birds that visit your feeders. You know the comings and goings of the common feeder birds as they stop by to eat each day; sparrows early in the day, scrub jays perched on top, the titmouse speeding in and out.

But sometimes you have birds that bless you with a rare visit…not even to the feeder but still close to your yard and within binocular range of your front window. We have had several hawk visitors over the years that we have observed in this way. This week there was a bird on the telephone wire across the street from our house. I spotted it from the window and then grabbed my binoculars. I grabbed my “big” camera with the really good zoom lens and stepped outside and across the street to see if I could capture him in an image.

It was as if he was posing for me. The look on his face was cautiously curious. I snapped away and here are a couple of frames that really give you a feel for this beautiful hawk.

I think he is a Red-shouldered hawk, both from the description in my field guide, looking at AllAboutBirds, and listening to him as he later soared up in the sky.

Isn’t this a magnificent bird? Look at all those colorful feathers and the patterns are amazing. All hawks are beauties but this one is especially beautiful…I am in awe.

Here is what AllAboutBirds.com says about the call of the Red-shouldered hawk:

“A Red-shouldered Hawk’s most common call is a plaintive, rising whistle that sounds like kee-ahh. The call tends to be repeated 5–12 times, with each note lasting about half a second. Hawks use it to claim their territory and when alarmed.”

So now that I can listen for the two syllable call (kee-aah) of the Red-shouldered hawk, I will easily be able to identify it when I hear it while on hikes. There are several other hawks I hear from time to time and they are much different:
Sharp-shinned hawk – which says kik-kik-kik.
Red-tailed hawk – which says keee-eeeek-aar (like a scream)
Cooper’s hawk – which says cak-cak-cak-cak-cak

Do you have hawks in your neighborhood? Can you identify them by their call?

According to the Cornell website, many hawks are now stalking backyard birdfeeders and finding a meal of smaller birds to be much easier than hunting in the wild. I thought that was interesting.

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Barb — 3 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Rock Grid Study and Games

A whole month spread out in front of us to focus our nature study on rocks! Preparing these challenges, I started off with a lack of enthusiasm but as they unfolded I realized I was looking forward to learning more about rocks through the activities suggested in the Outdoor Hour Challenges. If you lack enthusiasm, I suggest reading the article in the January Newsletter, How I Teach The “Hard” Subjects. It gives practical suggestions for making your rock study a success.

Outdoor Hour Challenge:
Use the Rock Grid from the newsletter to get you started with your rock related nature study this month and then play a few rock themed games. Pick a few of the suggestions and get outside with your children and see what you can accomplish. If current weather conditions make it difficult to get outdoors, you can complete the square that says, “Find a rock you want to learn more about using a book from the library.” Use a rock from your nature table or from your collection.

Special Activity: Rock Games Printable

I have gathered four simple rock games and activities for you to share with your children. These make great additions to your nature table as well.
Rock Games Printable

Memory – Rock Version
Rock Tic-Tac-Toe
Sorting Games
Mystery Rock Game

Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #1. Complete the notebook page that goes along with this challenge with any rock-related observations you made during your outdoor time.

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Barb — 15 Comments

Nature Study Goals for 2013

I love making goals and then seeing them achieved…but honestly, I love the journey as much as the achievement. Especially when it comes to nature study, always having a goal or focus helps make things happen. The Outdoor Hour Challenge is really just a way of breaking nature study goals down into weekly steps. Each challenge gives us a way to focus for a few minutes with our children on something that could easily be skipped if we aren’t careful.

This year I feel a shift is coming in our family’s nature study. I am for the first time making my own personal nature study goals and inviting any of my family members along with me when they have time and an interest. I find that as I become involved in a particular area of nature study that my family naturally falls in line with that interest and in the process of supporting my nature study, they learn something as well. (Sneaky but it works.)

Would you like to see my personal nature study goals for 2013? Some are related to the Outdoor Hour Challenges we will be completing together here on the blog and some are more specialized to my area of the world. Feel free to make your own list and you might like to do what I am doing, print out a copy of the goals and insert them in the front of your nature journal. I am also taking each goal and actually scheduling in some dates in my planner, in pencil of course just so I be flexible as the opportunities arise.

Barb’s Nature Study Goals for 2013

Learn about ten new birds, including nature journal entries and learning their calls.
Learn about five new trees in my local area.
Learn about five scrubs that I see along my walking trail or our favorite hiking trail.
Take four new hikes. (These are tentatively planned in my planner along with maps.)

1. Leopard Lily, 2. 7 09 Deer at Yosemite, 3. Sequoia, 4. Steller’s Jay at Yosemite National park

Visit Yosemite in all four seasons and focus on some aspect of nature each time:

Spring – trees/birds
Summer – wildflowers/waterfalls
Autumn – mammals
Winter – rocks

I am not sure if I will stick to the topics listed above or allow each trip to unfold some aspect of nature to learn about. I am also going to invite some friends along with me, sharing my love for this awesome place with people who have never been there even though we live just a few hours away.

Now for the big goal that I will need help from my family in achieving. I am challenging myself to take on a rock related nature study project which will hopefully teach me new skills and lead to some adventures. My husband and I are going to try to collect all fifteen rocks discussed in the Rocks, Fossils and Arrowheads (Take-Along Guides). After going over each rock in the book, we searched online for places that we could realistically find each specimen. It will mean taking a few trips to new places and finding ways that we can legally collect each one. Several of the rocks we have access to on a daily basis like granite and slate but even for these specimens I want to make a proper display and journal entry. We just came up with this idea a few days ago and already our wheels are turning, plans are being made and our hopes are high that we can achieve our goal.

I am going to be taking the year of 2013 and trying to use far less plastic than we have been as a family. I am slowly going to be adding new routines and habits that will support a lifestyle that will use less disposable plastic. I will be sharing my journey.

I am looking forward to what we will experience and learn this year as we continue our journey learning about the wonderful awe-inspiring creations we have all around us.

If you had to pick one nature study related goal this year, what would it be?

Leave me a comment with your goal and perhaps I can work some of your ideas into up-coming Outdoor Hour Challenges or write posts with suggestions on how to achieve your goals.

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Barb — 6 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival – Weather

The Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival time is a highlight of my month, viewing the nature adventures through the carnival links encourages me to get outdoors as well. The end of December marks another year of the Outdoor Hour challenge and reflecting back on the last twelve months as it relates to our family’s experiences with the Outdoor Hour Challenge, we have had a rich, full year.

The highlight of 2012 was traveling to upstate New York to visit the cabin in the woods built by Anna Botsford Comstock. Not only visiting, but being invited to stay there and experience her woods, birds, trees, wildflowers, and lake. What a gift!

Top left: Makita and I meet in Oregon. Top Right: Atlantic Ocean. Bottom Left: Cornell Lab of Ornithology-Blue Heron nest. Bottom Right: Heather and I meet up in New York.

Special Memories from 2012

First visit to the Atlantic Ocean!
First whales sighted in Hawaii…a whole pod of pilot whales.
New birds to my life list: Cowbird, Great blue heron (while visiting Cornell Lab of Ornithology with Heather and her children).
I got to meet two long time Outdoor Hour Challenge participants and friends while traveling – Heather and Makita.

Looking forward to the coming year, I have a special trip planned to Florida and another new-to-me habitat on the Gulf Coast (maybe even the Everglades). Thanks to the Homeschool Blog Awards prize package, I will be going to San Antonio, Texas. How exciting is that? Thank you to all of my readers for voting for me and giving me the opportunity to spend some time in Texas with my family. Later this week I will be sharing my nature study goals for 2013 which includes a personal challenge involving rocks and traveling.

There is always something fresh to learn in each new place.

Shirley Ann made this amazing collage of frosty images from their walk!

Weather Walk

Shirley Ann from Under An English Sky shares their Frosty Walk. They decided to set aside the school books for a few hours and get outdoors to see their frosty, cold world.
Robin from Academia writes about their Walk in the Woods….dusting of snow, signs of animals, interesting trees and roots. There second entry shows their Winter Walk in the Woods and more snow!
Rachel from United For Christ has submitted their Seasonal Weather Walk-OHC for carnival readers to enjoy. They had a snowy winter day to enjoy with smiles and then with cocoa! Looks like fun!
Jen from Snowfall Academy seized the opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy their first real snow in a long time: Winter Weather Walk. I loved seeing a glimpse of their smiling faces.

Weather Grid Study

Angie from Petra School submits their Weather Grid, Weather Sounds, Nature Study entry for you to be encouraged by. She explains that she knows she needs to build up her own enthusiasm before she can expect her boys to be on board. Great encouragement for us all.

Angie from Petra School does some review of cloud types.

Cloud Observations

Angie at Petra School shares their Weather Walk-Cloud Vocabulary entry with the carnival. She says, “Weather is our life.”
Cristy from Crafty Cristy has collected for the carnival some wonderful cloud images and a selection of book recommendations. You can read her entry: Cloud Observations. Thanks!
Robin from Academia broke her foot and has had to do nature study with her daughter from the window in their home. They observed and recorded with watercolors their changing clouds and you can see them in her entry: Clouding Around.

Mother Robin’s Watercolor Clouds

Seasonal Weather

The December 2012 edition of the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter has some ideas for a winter nature table. Shirley Anne has submitted their entry for some additional ideas: Winter Nature Table.
Robin and her daughter share their Waiting for Winter entry with the carnival. They took time to note all the changes that the new season is bringing. Don’t get her started on ticks or stink bugs….
Makita from Academia Celestia shares both their Snowflakes Across the Curriculum and Night Tree entries for carnival readers to enjoy. Always fun to see what their family is up to for nature study.

Potpourri

Diana from Homeschool Review shares her Nature Study Winter Edition – From My Window. Nothing like a catch up bird entry to brighten up the carnival. She has a beautiful image of a cardinal for you to enjoy.
Catherine from Grace to Abide has written up their Outdoor Hour Challenge #23 – Moths for the carnival and your enjoyment. Do not miss her entry with some fascinating images of the transformation of their caterpillar to a moth!
Tricia from Hodgepodge reflects on their autumn nature study as a family in her entry: Making Memories This Fall. Wonderful images that tell the story!

Tricia and her family have just released their very first ebook! I would love for you to pop over and check it out for your chalk pastel pleasure. They have put a year’s worth of art into this ebook and right now they are running a special introductory price if you use the code: SSCP-INTRO.

Don’t forget to share your blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in January are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 1/30/13 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com or submit them at the blog carnival site (link on the sidebar of my blog).

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Seasonal Weather: Photo and Picnic

Outdoor Hour Challenge:
This week spend your outdoor time enjoying the daily weather. Keep track of your weather for a week, recording the temperature, rainfall, etc. You can use any of the free printables on my Freebies Page. Look there for the seasonal weather pages and the weather chart.

You can also use any of the Seasonal Weather Challenges from the past that are appropriate for your time of the year:

Printable Notebook Page:
During your seasonal weather observations, take a photo of something that shows your current weather conditions. Better yet, let your children take the images and then print them out for a personalized nature journal entry. This can be done in each season and recorded in your nature journal’s seasonal section.

Printable Notebook Page:My Seasonal Weather.

Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #10. I realize that this is a cold time of year (or hot for you Southern Hemisphere folks) for many of you but there are ways to make a “picnic” happen even if you just drive in the car, park under a tree, and enjoy some sandwiches and hot cocoa. Get creative! If you have a picnic, make sure to take a photo to include in your nature journal. I will challenge myself to taking a picnic in the next few weeks with my family and I will post our experiences here on the blog.

Categories: Getting Started, printable, weather

Tags: Autumn Seasonal Study, Notebooking, Spring Seasonal Observation, Summer Seasonal Observations, Winter Seasonal Observations

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Barb — 1 Comment
Watercolor Clouds Nature Journal – Cure for the Winter Blahs

We had plenty of opportunities to observe clouds in the past few days. It has been really cloudy and wet…only a few breaks in the weather where we were able to get outside and breathe some air. I tried to enjoy the rain but it really did just bum me out. I was really glad that this week’s challenge was to pull out some art supplies and make a watercolor entry for the weather in my nature journal.

I collected some water for my watercolor project from the rain gauge. Now that I had my supplies ready I was anxious about actually watercoloring in my journal so I decided to make the painting on a separate sheet of paper and then add the painting to my journal with tape.

I played with my gray watercolor pencil before starting the actual artwork, experimenting with different methods of applying the color to the paper. You should try this if you have a few minutes just to see how different the effects are on your artwork.

If you are interested in this sort of thing, here are the options I used.

Left box: Use the pencil to draw the square, then apply water with a brush.

Middle box: Dip the tip of the watercolor pencil in water, draw the square.

Right box: Use a wet brush on the pencil tip, apply to paper.

All of these squares are made with the same pencil….very different results.

Creating a journal page always cheers me up! Between the journal page and taking advantage of the breaks in the rain to get outside, I was starting to feel not so blah.

One morning we woke to actual sunshine and we decided to take a hike to see our neighborhood waterfall. Kona loves this trail since we can let her off leash. She runs ahead and finds something interesting to sniff, following the scent until she detects another trail to follow. She definitely enjoyed the opportunity to get outside and stretch her legs alongside us on the trail.

We were rewarded for our hiking efforts with the rushing sound of water coming down the hill and over the rocks. We took a few minutes to just enjoy the moment and then we all headed back up the hill, just in time for the rains to return. I realized that without the rain we would have had no waterfall to hike to…..sometimes we need to be reminded of the benefits of all that wet weather.

This will wind down our weather study for the month. Just for fun, I will be keeping our rainfall records as we move through January. We might get a dusting of snow later this week which would be the perfect way to wind up the month.

Categories: hiking, weather

Tags: Clouds, Family Outdoor Hour Challenge, Nature journal example, Red Shack Trail, Watercolors, Waterfalls

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Barb — Leave a comment
Outdoor Hour Challenge – Cloud Observations

Outdoor Hour Challenge:

This week is another simple idea for a nature challenge. Take some time to observe clouds. Remember to look up whenever you are outside, even if you have rain or snow…the clouds are ever changing.

You can glean some ideas for using the Handbook of Nature Study in Challenge #39 Weather Challenge.

Extra links to share: Clouds That Look Like Animals and Cloud Types.

Special Activity:Watercolor Clouds
If you are able, observe clouds on several occasions and then use watercolors to record some clouds for your nature journal. To make it fun, use melted snow or rain with your paints! We do this a lot when we are out on the trail, using whatever water source we encounter.

Some added help with getting started with watercolors:
Making a Watercolor Wash
Wet on Wet

Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #3. Make sure to read the pages in the Handbook of Nature Study for this challenge. We all need reminders about how to encourage our children in their nature journals. This week you can record some cloud sketches in your journals or use the notebook page from the ebook to keep a record of your outdoor time.

You are welcome to submit any of you blog Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Entries for the current month are due on 12/30/12.

Amazon.com Widgets

You may wish to view my daughter’s Cloud Art Show and see how other painters captured clouds. There are so many ways to show clouds in your nature journal…watercoloring is just one way.

Categories: Getting Started, Handbook of Nature Study, weather

Tags: Clouds, Nature journal example, Watercolors

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Barb — 9 Comments
Weather Grid Nature Study – New Nature Journal Idea

Our week has been marked by frosty temperatures…which make for beautiful early morning treasures. Now each morning when I go out to check the bird feeders and the bird bath I need to bundle up with gloves and hat…my nose still gets frosty cold.

Using the December Newsletter Weather Grid Study, our family has been trying to notice the weather and its effects on the plants and wildlife. This doesn’t seem much like a formal study but just part of our everyday routine to notice the temperature, the clouds, the forecast.

Reading Angie’s entry for the up-coming blog carnival, I noticed that her son had cut the Weather Study Grid into squares to adhere into his journal. I love this idea! So thanks to Angie’s family I have a cool new way to record the grid study in my nature journal.

It seemed like such a natural way to customize my nature journal page. Once I had the squares cut out, I had the idea to print a few of my weather related images from the month in wallet-sized photos and then add those to my page.

After that, I added a few more of my thoughts about our weather study and voila! This is a perfect nature journal entry for this part of our weather study. Using these simple steps you end up with a journal page that anyone can make!

You can read more about this week’s weather nature study challenge here: Weather Grid and Weather Sounds. Don’t miss the free printable in that entry to record you personal weather words. You can get the weather grid by subscribing to this blog (box on the sidebar) and then in the next entry in your email box (or Google Reader) there will be a download link. The download link will be available until the end of December 2012.

Grab your own GBBC button and makes plans to participate in the bird fun!

Categories: Nature Journal, weather

Tags: Family Outdoor Hour Challenge, Nature journal example

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