Supporting a Global Community in Their Nature Study
I have attached the newsletter download link to the bottom of my blog feed so if you are a subscriber you will receive the link to the latest newsletter at the bottom of every post for the month of February. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can still subscribe and receive the newsletter in the next post that comes to your email box. You can subscribe to my blog by filling in your email address in the subscription box on my sidebar.
Make sure to click and save the newsletter link from the email for future reference.
The OHC Newsletter is a companion to the Outdoor Hour Challenges that are posted here on the blog every Friday. There are special printable activities, additional links and ideas, as well as articles and photos from a variety of OHC participants. I invite everyone to subscribe and get the newsletter each month in your inbox.
If you have trouble getting the newsletter to download, try right clicking the link, save the link, and then open it. (The link is in the email and not in this blog post.) I am not going to be archiving the newsletters at this point. You will need to SAVE the FILE on your computer each month if you want to save back issues.
Available Now! Watch my introductory video on YouTube.com.
Make sure to read the February 6, 2012 entry for an extra special link-up that I have planned with five other bloggers. We will each be offering a free printable to encourage you in your nature study during the month of February. Coming February 6, 2012!
I am also hosting the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival on 2/7/12 and I would love to have lots of you contribute. The theme is nature study…of course! Make sure to get your entry in by the 2/6/12 deadline. Thanks!
The end of January is already here! This has been a very fast moving month with weather that was very conducive to getting outdoors for nature study…at least in our part of the world. There is a wonderful mix of winter nature study blog entries for this carnival and I hope you can make some time to visit each entry and be encouraged. I gleaned some good ideas and loved seeing all the children getting outside for nature walks, bird watching, twig gathering, and have a good time!
Thank you to everyone who participated in this edition of the carnival.
Our Winter Window Garden – Cactus
Winter Wonder
Shirley Ann writes about their Winter Wonder Silent Nature Walk on her blog Under An English Sky. She does a wonderful job documenting their experience in words and pictures.
Another Winter Weather Walk from Angie at Petra School finds its way to the carnival for this edition. She includes their journal pages which demonstrate that everyone can follow-up in a way that fits their personality.
Winter Wonder and Weather Walk shows how Tricia and her family completed this challenge. I loved seeing nature study at different age levels and hearing why worms are pink. 🙂
Julie from The Homeschool Balancing Act shares their version of the Winter Wonder challenge with Winter Walk with Nature in California. It sounds like they had a great bird day!
Kelsey has combined their Winter Wonder walk and their Chickadee study into one entry: Winter Hike. She always has such great images of their outdoor time and this entry doesn’t disappoint.
Janet from Across the Page has submitted their Winter Walking: Tracks and Birds entry for your delight. It is jammed with birds, tracks of all kinds, and animals too….you will want to share this one with your children. They also share their nature journals for your inspiration.
Diana shares their Winter Weather – Silent Nature Walk entry with carnival readers. She has written such a creative entry showing all the natural and man-made things they observed during their outdoor time. Thanks Diana.
Barbara from Schoolhouse on the Prairie recorded their Silent Winter Weather Walk and I invite you to click over and read how many interesting things they found on their walk. Don’t miss the hawk photo!
Our Backyard Resident Hummingbird
Winter Bird – Chickadee
Makita from Academia Celestia shares their family Chestnut-backed Chickadee study as part of the carnival. Don’t miss seeing their chickadee artwork from the chickadee pastel tutorial.
Shirley Anne shares their UK version of the chickadee study with some wonderful research information and images. Check out their Coal-tit and see if it doesn’t look like the Black-capped chickadee: Under An English Sky- Chickadee/Coal Tit.
Angie has put together their Winter Bird Study on her blog Petra School. Their family spent some time observing and researching one of their Winter Wonder questions, “Why do the birds only hop and never walk?” Excellent entry full of information and images of their feeder birds. Thanks for sharing your research!
Julie from the Homeschool Balancing Act shares their Winter Bird and Twigs entry in this edition of the carnival. Her son proclaimed it the “best day of his life”. That must have been some great outdoor time! They also realize that there is a lot to know about twigs.
Tricia from Hodgepodge submits their family’s Backyard Birds in Winter entry for you to enjoy. She captured quite a few of their feeder birds and their extra activities too.
Diana from Homeschool Review and Crafting Too wrote about their Chickadee Study…they were able to consult a local nature center to find out which species of chickadees live in their area. This is a great idea.
Winter Weeds and a Sweet Pea
Winter Tree -Twigs
Zonnah is sharing their Twigs Entry with carnival readers this time around. Her son was a more than willing participant and we even get a glimpse at his nature journal.
Tricia and her family treat us to their Twigs Nature Study entry showing us that this opening your child’s eyes to the world around them gives them a special sort of vision. I also love the way her son shares that twigs are also useful for playing in rain puddles. Perfect.
Shirley Ann shares their Twiggy Challenge on her blog Under An English Sky. Make sure to check out her additional links for some resources you may be able to use.
Our Sharp-shinned Hawk – Verified by Cornell University
Potpourri
Nicole from One Hook Wonder has already completed their Gall Study for carnival readers. This is an awesome entry! Nicole also has submitted their Winter Cattail Study . She does a great job showing the comparison between summer and winter cattails. Makes me want to study cattails again!
Bethany shares their Nature Study with a Naturalist entry from their blog Little Homeschool Blessings. They share photos of many of the interesting things they discovered in their little woods.
Makita has a written and entry sharing their over-wintering ladybugs: Ladybugs, Ladybugs, Ladybugs. Read her entry and learn a little about this interesting place…shhh it is a secret place.
Kim shares their Winter Bird Feeding entry with carnival readers. Lots of great information and plenty of ideas to share.
Janet from Across the Page has got a wonderful idea in her entry: Back Yard Bulletin. Check out their family nature newsletter!
Robin from Harris Homeschool shares their Tracks in the Snow. She did a great job of capturing a tough subject.
Amy from Hope is the Word made the effort to get outdoors and enjoy the fresh air. You can read their account A January Jaunt and be inspired to get outside with your family soon.
See you all next month! Remember that February’s Newsletter link will be for subscribers of the blog only. You will need to subscribe by entering your email address in the subscription box on the sidebar of the blog.
Make sure to read next Monday’s entry. I am linking up with five other bloggers for a nature notebook event. We will each have a free printable to encourage your winter nature study. Another great reason to subscribe to this blog…you won’t miss a single entry!
This was the study I was most interested in when I wrote the new More Nature Study ebook. It truly is something we have never studied before and I was interested to see what we would learn.
We chose three of our backyard trees to collect twigs from: sweet gum, white birch, and pear. Later we added a twig from our silver maple and a few branches from our forsythia bushes. All week I have been enjoying just looking at them in the vases…still not taking the time to do the study.
Well, the time finally came to actually do the formal study after we had done lots of casual observations. We pulled out the new ebook, printed off the notebook pages, gathered our tree field guide, and fired up the internet. I love doing nature study with older kids since they can ask and then answer many of their own questions with the tools we have at our disposal.
Here are some of our observations:
1. Mr. A cut the twigs with his knife so we could observe the shape of the pith inside. They were all round inside.
2. Each of the twigs had different shaped terminal buds, with completely different colors.
3. We have never noticed the leaf scars before and now we know what to look for.
4. The lenticels on each twig were very different. Now we can use this observation to identify a tree since we know what we are looking for.
Stay Tuned for a Bud Study in the new Spring Ebook 3/5/12
This study has brought into focus once again the design of each living thing around us. Who would have thought that you could identify a tree by looking at its twigs and buds? I enjoyed getting to know how to use a new tool with the Winter Tree Finder guide. All of us are going to look at twigs with a new eye now and some new vocabulary as well. This study would be a perfect supplement to a high school biology course.
We were sitting outside in the warm afternoon sunshine and noticed that the silver maple has burst open its buds. We then noticed that there were probably a hundred bees buzzing in the top of the tree. Is it early for the bees to be so busy in the trees? I’m not sure. This is where a nature journal record is valuable. Stay tuned next week for a free printable to keep track of your seasonal “firsts”.
When I posted on Facebook yesterday that we were going to head out to snowshoe, the weather forecast said something like “partly cloudy, high of 52 degrees, and 10% chance of precipitation”. Sounded good to me. Well no one told us that between our house and our hiking spot that there was going to be dense fog, drizzle, and the temperatures were falling into the 30’s.
I knew Mr. B was anxious to test out his new snowshoes so I didn’t want to disappoint him and we kept going up over the mountain. Once over the mountain it cleared up and we had lots of clouds but no rain.
Needless to say, we kept our eyes on the sky, checking for signs we were going to get rained or snowed. We had the snow to ourselves, not counting the many animal tracks that were visible. So many tracks going so many directions…there must be a whole forest full of animals out there.
Isn’t this a surprising sight of brilliant blue on this winter day? Steller’s jays are common and this one was posing for my camera. I love the blue feathers on the nose. My field guide says that these jays are “inquisitive, intelligent, and noisy”. Yep, that totally describes this bird.
We couldn’t resist seeing if we could lure the jay closer and Mr. B had a pocket full of pretzels. One little bit of pretzel and that Steller’s jay came swooping down for a tasty treat, making his shook-shook-shook sound as he flew.
We had to go the long way around since the beavers have now completely dammed up the water in the creek and the resulting pond has spread over the normal trail. This is where we saw the salmon spawning last fall and the mama bear with cubs. No signs of them now, although it smells rather fishy around this bend in the creek from all the dead fish remains.
We hiked along the creek a little way and we noticed that there are places where the creek mud is piled up onto the banks. We could see lots of little animal tracks around the mud but I’m still not sure what kind of animal did this and what they were doing. Winter hikes can lead to lots of questions. You can see the muddy sludge…it is the black stuff there along the edge.
I never get tired of looking at the landscape here at Taylor Creek. The patterns of the tree trunks against the Sierra sky in the winter is amazing and beautiful. Some people get to look out their living room windows and view a similar scene and I wonder if they stop seeing the awesomeness of it. I come here a dozen times a year and I never tire of this place.
When you are on snowshoes, you can follow tracks as much as you want but I am always a little afraid of getting out into the forest too far….I have a terrible sense of direction. This area is easy to navigate because I can hear the highway in the distance and I generally know which direction I need to head to get back to the trailhead. Here is an example of a nice clear print in the snow.
We did a little preliminary winter weed study while we were out traipsing around the woods. There were plenty of subjects even with snow on the ground. I just liked the way this one looked. I think it is a corn lily. Next week we plan on doing a whole winter weed study so we will revisit these images then.
So our first real snowshoe of the year is over and we didn’t get rained or snowed on. We were bundled up warmly so it was really a delight to be outdoors exploring just the two of us. Mr. B decided his snowshoes were perfect and now we will be able to explore the woods in winter as part of our Outdoor Hour Challenges.
You can read more about hiking in winter on my Squidoo page for tips on how to make it fun: Winter Nature Walks
Inside Preparation Work:
1. Read pages 270-274 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 66). Since most of us do not have access to a real sheep to study up close, use this information as preparation for any future encounters with sheep. For this challenge you can spend time learning about how man uses the sheep’s wool to make fabric. Make sure to have at least one item made of wool for the children to observe (or a ball of wool yarn will work as well).
2. View these videos on YouTube.com: Sheep Dogs in Training and How It Is Made-Wool.
Outdoor Hour Time:
If you have the ability to observe a real sheep and make direct observations, this is the best way to learn about sheep. If you don’t have access to sheep, there are several alternative ideas.
1. Take a walk outdoors wearing a wool hat, sweater, mittens, coat, or scarf. Enjoy the warmth and be grateful for sheep.
2. Observe another mammal and compare it to the sheep: size, fur/hair/wool, feet, teeth, eyes, tail.
Follow-Up Activity:
1. Spend a few minutes after your outdoor time to review your experience. If you found anything of interest, make sure to talk about it and look up any additional information in the Handbook of Nature Study or at your next library visit.
2. View wool and hair with a hand lens. You can sketch what you see in your nature journal or on the back of the sheep notebook page. Ebook users: Complete the sheep notebook page with information from the Handbook of Nature Study.
3. Advanced study: The Handbook of Nature Study suggests writing about the method by which wool is made into cloth. Research at the library or on the internet and then give a summary.
4. Advanced study: Research the Artiodactyla order and Bovidae family of mammals (links below). Use resources from your public library or the internet.
You all know our family LOVES nature study. We are inspired by the colors, the patterns, the design of the many amazing things around us. The family oriented DVD, The Life and Journey of the Amazing Monarch Butterfly, feeds our passions. It is a feast for the eyes as well as the heart.
Even for families that have already studied monarchs and have raised them from caterpillars, you will learn so many awesome details that you will not look at a monarch butterfly the same…ever.
Have you seen a female actually lay an egg and know how she picks a milkweed to deposit it on?
Have you watched the caterpillar shed its final skin and eyes?
Do you have a picture in your mind of where the monarchs migrate to in Mexico and why we should care about their forests?
Do you truly understand why we should not view milkweed as weeds and remove it from our gardens?
Did you know you could tell a male from a female quite easily once you know what to look for?
This DVD will take you deeper and farther than your normal butterfly study could ever dream of doing. You will be encouraged to tell others about the wonder of God’s design and wisdom. You will be determined to nurture milkweed in your neighborhood. You will ignite a desire in your children to be a part of citizen science through the Monarch Watch and tagging program. This DVD will reach your heart.
Features I love about this DVD:
Remarkable video and images of each stage of the monarch’s life cycle: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and adult. You will see footage of things humans rarely get to see and your children are going to be amazed at the incredible close-ups that show the intricate workings of this butterfly.
The information is interesting to all ages. After watching this DVD, I heard little monarch facts being sharing among family members and with friends as well. There is enough detail for older children yet the animation and “story” make it appropriate for younger ones as well..
I was impressed with the creation focus done on a clearly scientific topic, just the way I try to present nature study in our family. Details from scientists, direct observations, and experts draw attention to the amazing design of the monarch.
This DVD is fairly long (approximately 60 minutes) but I appreciate that we can watch one segment at a time if we want to go back and rewatch a topic of interest using the buttons from the menu. This will aid us in using the study guide (see below for more information on the study guide.)
In addition, I appreciate that this DVD was a family production including all ages and abilities. The Crowe family provides a great example to other homeschooling families with their diligence.
Other information you may find helpful:
60 minutes long. In addition, approximately 45 minutes of bonus features. $19.95 (see special offer below).
The bonus features are not to be missed. You will learn how to raise your own backyard monarchs, use extra websites for research, complete a fun follow-up quiz, and see behind the scenes information your family will find inspirational.
With the companion study guide this DVD could be the basis of a whole unit study for homeschoolers.
Companion Study Guide Coming Mid-Spring!
Companion Study Guide:
The Crowe family is in the process of writing a complete companion study guide to go along with this DVD. This downloadable guide will include: content review, discussion questions, diagrams to label, sketching suggestions, essay questions, copy work and coloring pages for a variety of ages, and ideas for further research. I know our family will be looking forward to using this as part of our nature study this spring and summer as the opportunity arises. The study guide is scheduled to be released mid-spring and will cost $8.95.
Special Offer:
As part of this review, I am thrilled to offer you the chance to purchase this DVD with a coupon code to receive the downloadable companion study guide FREE! Also, with the coupon code, you will receive the DVD at a discounted price of $18.95. This offer ends on February 3, 2012.
Read to purchase now?You can click over and enter your coupon code to receive your copy of this amazing DVD at a discounted price AND get a code to receive the companion study guide when it is available.The coupon code is: NatureStudy
Please note: I received this DVD and the giveaway copy in exchange for a review. I always give my honest opinion and share our family’s experiences when reviewing a product. I also will receive a small affiliate commission if you purchase the DVD using the coupon code listed above.
We had a rainstorm from Thursday to Monday which dropped more than eight inches of rain…forgot to dump my rain gauge so I don’t have an accurate total. The rain was so very refreshing and brought a measure of relief to my dry yard. I know we still need more rain but it is nice to have a break now to enjoy the sparkling air, the warm sunshine, and the revived plants and bushes.
Sunday we took advantage of a small break in the rain to walk to the river, probably about a mile’s hike. The woods there are mostly oaks with a few pines and a couple of old madrones. Madrones have such wonderfully smooth red bark and perfectly leaf-shaped leaves. They are not common enough for me to pass by without taking note of just what a pretty tree they are. I didn’t stop to take a photo of a madrone this time but I promise to next time we are on this particular trail.
Cold gray winter day at the river
The river was roaring down the canyon and we didn’t stay long to enjoy its beauty since we weren’t sure how long the rain was going to hold off. Besides, it was really cold…much colder than I expected and my fleece jacket really wasn’t enough.
We stopped along the trail coming back to inspect and appreciate the many colors and textures of the lichen on the tree trunks and rocks. Can I call the fungus beautiful too? It was.
Fruticose lichen
We made it back to the car and home just in time for it to pour rain again. I am glad we didn’t miss the chance to experience the winter rain in this little woods…it was quiet, green, and refreshing.
Interested in studying moss and lichen more? You can click over to read a past Outdoor Hour Challenge: #42 Moss and Lichen
“Many times children are familiar with trees in spring, summer, and autumn but they have no knowledge of them in winter; yet trees in winter give much delight to those who know them as they do in summer. Oftentimes I have gone out on a winter day with my botany can and filled it with twigs for the pleasure that the colors and form gave me.
Home Nature-Study Course, Cornell University 1906
More Nature Study Book #2 Winter Tree Study – Twigs
Inside Preparation Work:
1. Read the Tree Study section staring on page 623 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 172). Pay special attention to #3 in the section on Winter Work. Take note of the lesson’s observation suggestions to keep during your nature study of winter twigs. You may wish to read the links in the follow-up activity and the additional links listed below before you go outdoors so you will be equipped with some vocabulary to use casually during your observations.
2. Optional reading if you have access to a willow tree: Read Lesson 179 in the Handbook of Nature Study (starting on page 654). Use the ideas in the lesson to study willow twigs and buds.
Advanced Study Option
Outdoor Hour Time:
1. Outdoor time this week should include a few minutes gathering twigs. Select twigs from three different trees to take indoors for closer observation. It would be helpful to know the names of the trees you collect your twigs from but not necessary. We came inside and marked each twig with little name tags This is primarily a challenge about comparing and contrasting twigs from various trees.
2. Advanced activity: Tie a string on a twig attached to a tree. Observe and record in your nature journal the twig’s changes for a few months.
Follow-Up Activity:
1. Use the questions from Lesson 172 to get your child started making observations for each of the three twigs you collected (or just one twig for younger children). Make sure to use your sense of sight, smell, and touch to make careful observations. Record your thoughts in your nature journal or on the notebook page (ebook users only).
2. Place your three twigs on a table. How are they different? Look at size, shape, arrangement of the buds, as well as the size or shape of the buds. Compare two buds on the same twig. Can you see the leaf scars where the leaf dropped off?
3. The main parts of the twig in winter are the buds, leaf scars, and lenticels. Sketch your twigs in your nature journal or on the notebook page, drawing everything you see and labeling the parts neatly.
4. Advanced follow-up: Complete the Twig Study notebook page (ebook users). Dissect a bud from your twig and then record your observations.
We spend a lot of time observing feeder birds as part of Project Feederwatch so this week’s focus on winter feeder birds is a perfect way to dig a little deeper. We have developed quite a list of backyard birds as part of this project. You can see our list here: Handbook of Nature Study – December Bird List. We have never seen a chickadee at our feeder but we still did the research as part of this Winter Bird Study Challenge.
We stared our nature study time focused on Chickadees as suggested in the More Nature Study Book 2 challenge. We pulled out the field guides and looked up to see what kind of chickadees we may see in our area.
My son also used Cornell’s All About Birds site to read more on the Mountain Chickadee which appears to be the only chickadee we may possibly observe. He completed the advanced notebook page from the ebook using information from the website.
We have heard the Mountain Chickadee on hikes up the mountain but have never actually seen one that I can remember. You can be sure we will keep our ears and eyes alert when we are out in that area again.
Since we didn’t get to observe a chickadee this week, I gave them the option to choose one of our feeder birds to learn a little more about and complete a notebook page recording their findings.
I chose the Mourning Dove which is a regular visitor to our front and backyard feeders. If I see one dove, I always look for the mate. They travel in pairs and seem to look out for each other as they bob along eating seed that has fallen from the platform feeders. I used a coloring page from Cornell’s Feeder Bird coloring book. I always feel so clumsy when I try to sketch a bird so having the simple outline to work from makes my journaling more enjoyable.
My son did my Project Feederwatch bird count with me today as part of this challenge. He looked up three additional birds in the field guide to complete his winter bird study.
Take a Winter Weather Walk and observe as many things in your neighborhood as possible that are special about the winter season.
Advanced study: Challenge yourself to take a walk keeping completely silent. Go as a family or all alone.
After checking our weather for the next few weeks, we realized that a winter weather nature walk was not going to happen any time soon. Our Winter Wonder Walk became our Silent Nature Walk instead. This was part of the advanced study suggested for the first challenge from the More Nature Study Book 2 ebook plans.
We loaded up the Kona dog and headed to our favorite local trail. Mr. B started off ahead of me so we wouldn’t be tempted to talk. This was a good plan since it also separated us a little as we walked and it seemed that we were all alone which allowed the sounds of the woods to be easily heard.
A few of the things I observed on our Silent Nature Walk:
1. Greenness of the ferns growing alongside the trail on the hillside.
2. Dry trail with acorns..crunching leaves.
3. Birds singing in the woods. The only one I recognized is the Northern Flicker. I also heard some wing flutters coming from the bushes lining the path.
4. The buzz of an insect which I couldn’t see.
5. I noticed a pile of feathers where some forest animal had made a meal.
Mr. B wrote his observations on a notebook page when we got home and I was impressed with the different things he noted that I missed as noted below:
1. He heard five birds.
2. He noticed the river’s rushing sound and how it changed as we walked down the canyon.
3. Scrunch of the needles and the pat of the dirt.
He brought home an acorn to sketch into his journal and I brought home a few samples of ferns, an acorn, a weed, and a feather.
I was fascinated by the spores on the back of the ferns. I won’t detail here all I learned from the Handbook of Nature Study on ferns but we will in the future have a challenge featuring ferns. I found a wealth of information in Lesson 195 on the fruiting of the fern. There is always something new and interesting to learn.
I identified my ferns as the Wood Fern, the Western Sword Fern, and California Maidenhair Fern.
Silence. It is a great way to glean a little more from a walk if you can give it a try. I have to admit that several times on the walk when I couldn’t see Mr. B or the Kona dog that I was a little uneasy. It can be too quiet sometimes. I think we become accustomed to having background noise in our life from the computers, the clocks, music, traffic, and each other. Seeking out the quiet is something I think we should do on a regular basis and I will be adding this to future challenges, at least for the advanced study option. I encourage you to grow your children into the habit of spending a least a few minutes of every outdoor nature study time being silent and really listening.
It is not too late to join us for this new series of nature study challenges using the Handbook of Nature Study. All of the challenges for this series are gathered into an ebook format along with custom made notebook pages. Click over and see the details and join us this week for a new posted challenge on Friday.
Coming February 6, 2012!
