Barb, Author at Homeschool Nature Study

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Shooting Star

Outdoor Hour Challenge

Shooting Star Wildflower Study

From the Wildflower Nature Study Set #1

Inside Preparation:

¨ Look up and read about this beautiful showy flower in preparation for your outdoor time. Make sure to share images of the flower with your children so they know what they are hunting for. Look for shooting stars any time between April and August depending on the variety you have in your local area.

¨ The flowers look like rockets atop a long erect stalk growing from a basal cluster of leaves.

¨ Few-Flowered Shooting Star (Dodecatheon pulchellum) See the range: USDA.

¨ Alpine Shooting Star (Dodecatheon alpinum) See the range: USDA.

¨ Sierra Shooting Star (Dodecatheon jeffreyi) See the range: USDA.

¨ Eastern Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia) See the range: USDA.

¨ You may wish to watch most of this video that features shooting stars: Shooting Stars.

Outdoor Hour Time:

Look in sunny grasslands and shady woods.

¨ The shooting star’s unique dart shape and coloring should make it easy to identify. Look for a rosette of leaves at the base, a smooth stem, and then a cluster (or umbel) of flowers at the top.

Follow-Up Activity:

Note: Ebook users can find custom notebook pages to use for the shooting star flower and the primrose family.

Create a notebook page for the shooting star and be sure to include a sketch with the flower parts clearly labeled. Record the date and location of your shooting star for future reference.
Start a primrose family notebook page. Keep a running list over time of the flowers you observe and/or study in this plant family.
Advanced study: Learn how the Shooting star flower is pollinated. Also, sketch the life cycle of the plant in your nature journal.
Advanced study: The genus name dodecatheon means “twelve gods”. Research to find out why they chose this genus name.

How do you get the new Wildflower Nature Study ebook?

Members of the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey levels have access to the new ebook in their library. You need to click the “Members Area” button at the top of the website, sign into your account, and the ebook is there to download and save for your family to use when desired. If you don’t have a membership yet, I am offering a $5 off discount code that will be good towards your Ultimate Naturalist membership.

Discount Code: Wildflower5

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Barb — 3 Comments

Outdoor Mom – April 2017

Outdoor Mom’s Journal

April 2017

The past month has been a month of wildflowers. Coming out of the wettest winter in our memory, we are so grateful for the green sprouting grass and the pops of springtime color.

It has been a time of yard work as well. We listed our house on the market so that meant a whole yard tidy and sprucing up. I weeded and weeded until my hands were sore and I still didn’t get them all.

Last week we flew to Southern California to meet up with my son who was out from New York to be in a friend’s wedding. What did we do with our time together? We hiked of course! I realized we could take advantage of the “super bloom” of wildflowers and using Instagram search, we found a place near where my son was staying to visit for a long afternoon hike in the hills.

Point Mugu was a perfect place to hike right along Hwy 1 on the coastline of California. You start at the day use parking lot and head up the hill on the fire road. Masses of wildflowers covered the hillside!

We could identify many of the flowers and the others I have images of to use with a field guide. I quizzed my son about flower names and he remembered quite a few which made my Outdoor Mom heart happy. Don’t be fooled…they are paying attention even when they don’t act like it.

I have been struggling with keeping up with my nature journal but I am determined to keep my page a week goal. Look for my nature journal entry later this month or follow me on Instagram for my Wednesday nature journal posts.

Many of you have heard by now that we sold our house in California and we will be moving next month to Central Oregon. I am so excited to start learning about my new habitat along the Little Deschutes River. I am going to try to keep up my posting routine here on the Handbook of Nature Study so hopefully you will not notice much difference here on the blog except for the topics I will be covering in my nature journal.

How Do You Join?

Answer all or just one of the prompts in a blog entry on your own blog or right here on my blog in a comment. If you answer on your blog, make sure to leave me a link in a comment so that I can pop over and read your responses.

During our outdoor time this week we went….
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)…
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting….
I added nature journal pages about….
I am reading…
I am dreaming about…
A photo I would like to share…

Posted on April 8, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Field Mustard and Wild Radish

Outdoor Hour Challenge

Field Mustard and Wild Radish

From the Wildflower Nature Study Set #1

Inside Preparation:

The two wildflowers in this challenge are usually considered weeds and grow along the roadside or in fields. They bloom in early spring and are easy to spot with their colorful blossoms. Look for the mustard and/or wild radish plants in the early spring and on through the summer months.
Field Mustard (Brassica rapa)- Read about this plant. See the range: USDA.
Wild Mustard (Sinapis arvensis )- Read about this plant.
Wild Radish: (Raphanus raphanistrum)- Read about this plant. See the range: USDA.

Outdoor Hour Time:

Look in fields and along roadsides.

The challenge this week is to get outside and look for wildflowers, especially those in the mustard family. If you made a list of plants to be on the lookout for in addition to the mustard or radish, keep those in mind as well.
Make careful observations (Ebook users look for a notebook page to print and use.)

Follow-Up Activity:

Create a notebook page for the field mustard and the wild radish plants. (Ebook users look for a notebook page to print and use.)
Start a mustard family notebook page. Keep a running list over time of the flowers you observe and/or study in this plant family.
Advanced study: Research how the wild radish was introduced and spread across a lot of the western U.S. landscape.
Advanced study: Printable for field mustard.
Advanced study: Research and list in your journal the many edibles found in the mustard family.
Eat something with mustard!

Note: This week’s challenge is also the sample for the ebook: Wildflower Nature Study Set #1 Sample

How do you get the new Wildflower Nature Study ebook?

Discount Code: Wildflower5

Save

Posted on April 7, 2017 by Barb — 2 Comments

Special Note:Mustard OHC Postponed

Rarely I have to postpone an Outdoor Hour Challenge, but this is one of those times.

My husband and I have been in Oregon all week looking for a new home. We found the best house in the most gorgeous setting ever. This of course took up much more time than I anticipated and coupled with the fact that I can only use my iPhone for posting, the Mustard and Wild Radish Outdoor Hour Challenge will be posted tomorrow.

I am looking forward to sharing our new habitat in Central Oregon in the years to come.

Thank you for your patience!

For Ultimate and Journey level members, you can download the challenge anytime by logging into your membership. You can click the Join Us button at the top of the website to learn more about the benefits of purchasing a membership on the Handbook of Nature Study. Or, look for the mustard nature study challenge tomorrow on the blog.

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter – April 2017 Wildflowers

Note to my loyal readers:

My apologies for sending this at such a late date but it has been absolute chaos here for the past few weeks. We sold our house after it was on the market for only a few days and then we needed to scramble to find another house for us to call home. This we did after extensive research, driving 450 miles, and a whirlwind day of house viewing. It will be so very worth the effort but in the meantime I am much distracted and am struggling to keep to my routines.

Note:

Subscribers should have received their newsletter links already. If you aren’t a subscriber yet, you can still get a copy by following the steps below for a new subscription.

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter

April 2017 Wildflowers

Please read the following explanation outlining how to get this month’s newsletter.

The newsletter link is not in this email but will come separately. Members should have received their link already.

If you don’t receive the separate email with the download link, you probably aren’t subscribed to the blog yet. This will take less than a minute to do if you follow the steps below.

If you are a subscriber and you haven’t received your newsletter email yet, check your SPAM inbox. Some subscribers have found the email buried in SPAM inbox.

If you need to subscribe:

You will need to go to the Handbook of Nature Study, look to the top right corner for the box to type in your preferred email address, and then confirm the email that comes to your email inbox.
Once you subscribe, you will receive a thank you email from me with the download link for the current month’s newsletter.

This month’s newsletter link will be available only during the month of April so be sure to download it before 4/30/17.

Remember! All of the archived and current newsletters are available as part of the Ultimate Naturalist Library…every level!

Contents of this edition of the newsletter include:

The April newsletter theme is wildflowers. In honor of the new ebook, I am featuring some interesting articles and ideas for a wildflower study.
There are two contributing articles by loyal Outdoor Hour Challenge participants: Shirley Vels from Under an English Sky and Angie from Pebblekeeper.
Printable: Trillium coloring page.

Resources for your Nature Library: I have started to build a nature library store on Amazon that will feature by category my favorite nature study books and resources. Take a look and see if there is anything you would like to put on your wish list for your family’s nature study library: Handbook of Nature Study Nature Library Suggestions on Amazon.com. Note this is my affiliate store to items I personally recommend and have read or seen in person.

Please note that Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level members have access to members only printables each month in addition to the newsletter printables. You will need to log into your account and then go to the “Other Releases” section.

This new ebook is found in the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships.

As a special promo, you can use the discount code WILDFLOWER5 for $5 off the Ultimate Naturalist Membership.

Handbook of Nature Study Ultimate Naturalist Membership

Join us in April for this interesting series of nature study challenges!

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenges- Spring Observations

Outdoor Hour Challenge

Spring Splendor Walk from the Archives and the More Nature Study Spring Ebook

Use the links above to find a variety of ideas for making spring observations with your children. We originally called this challenge the “Spring Splendor Walk” because it aimed to open your eyes to what early spring looks like in your very own neighborhood. You need to use all your senses and then create a nature journal entry using some of the suggestions given in the challenge.

There’s even a Spring Nature Walk Senses Scavenger Hunt printable included in the archive challenge!

Be Encouraged! Be Inspired! Get Outside!

From the Forward of the More Nature Study – Spring Ebook:

“Nature study using the Outdoor Hour Challenge aims to introduce you to your own backyard and neighborhood, seeking out the things that interest your children. I invite you to get to know your child’s special area of interest and to build from there a foundation of knowledge and experience outdoors. Using the Outdoor Hour Challenges, my own family has been enriched with a love of nature, a bond with each other, and lots of wonderful memories of seasons past.”

If your family would like to use this ebook in its entirety, you can find it in the Ultimate Naturalist Library (contains all 18 ebooks I have written).

Here are the topics included in this particular ebook:
Spring Weather, Spring Tree (buds, catkins, and blossoms), Robin, Buttercups and Poppies, Ferns, Dogwood, Goats, Vines (Sweet peas, dodder, hedge bindweed), Garden snails, and Iris.

Save

Posted on March 28, 2017 by Barb — 1 Comment

New Ebook! Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflowers Set 1

Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflower Ebook 1 promo button — Ultimate and Journey Level members can click this graphic to go directly to the library to download a copy of this new ebook. Make sure you are logged in and if you are having trouble with your password, please leave me a comment or send me a direct email to receive my assistance. Email: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com

Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflower Nature Study

Set #1

Here are the specifics:

This 46 page digital ebook has 5 challenges and supplemental activities that will help you learn about a few of my favorite early spring wildflowers.
There are custom notebooking pages for each of the five wildflowers featured. In addition, there is a general notebook page for recording information for each of the plant families introduced in this ebook. There is also a page for use with any spring flower study and a page for following up a flower dissection.
Full color photos of every wildflower included in the ebook.
Five coloring pages.
There is enough material in this ebook to provide 5 weeks of wildflower study or more depending on how long you take to complete each challenge.
One of the resources in this ebook is a chart that coordinates each study with the Botany in a Day book.
Sample: Print an ebook sample here:OHC Wildflower Nature Study Set 1 Sample

Here are the specific flowers included in this ebook:

Wild Mustard and Wild Radish (mustard family)
Shooting Star (primrose family)
Lupine (pea family)
Purple Chinese House (figwort family)
Yarrow (composite family)

Note: If you don’t have the specific wildflowers listed above in your area, there are suggestions for studying an alternative flower or you can focus on the plant family instead. This ebook will work no matter where you live if you want to just focus on the plant families and use a local field guide to look for flowers you can observe during a nature walk in your own habitat.

How do you get the new Wildflower Nature Study ebook?

If you don’t have a membership yet, I am offering a $5 off discount code that will be good towards your Ultimate Naturalist membership.

Discount Code: Wildflower5

How To Get Started With This New Ebook!

Make sure you have a membership to the Handbook of Nature Study website! Click the Purchase Now button above or the Join Us button on the website. If you don’t already have a membership, use the discount code above for $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Membership. If you are a member, sign in to your library and download the book.

You may wish to subscribe to the Handbook of Nature Study blog so you can receive the prompts in your email box each Friday. Also, subscribers receive my free monthly nature study newsletter on the first of every month. It is full of nature study encouragement, activities, and printables.

Posted on March 24, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

No Technology Nature Walk

Outdoor Hour Challenge

No Technology Walk

Taking a walk without technology can free up your eyes, ears, and hands for a more careful and engaged time outdoors with your family.

I have to admit I rarely am without my iPhone these days so going without it on a hike feels sort of like I’m naked. But, the few times I have done it lately and gone completely unplugged, it was very enjoyable. I have challenged my family to do this more often and see what fresh observations come to light when we go without our modern technology.

Afterwards, talk as a family about the experience. Were there some positive aspects to being free of technology? Can you make this a regular feature of one of your nature walks each month?

This new ebook will be loaded into the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships soon!

If you aren’t a member yet, you still have time to join and have immediate access as soon as it publishes.

As a special promo, you can use the discount code WILDFLOWER5 for $5 off the Ultimate Naturalist Membership.

Handbook of Nature Study Ultimate Naturalist Membership

Join us in April for this interesting series of nature study challenges!

Posted on March 22, 2017 by Barb — 2 Comments

Nature Journal Examples – March Pages

Weekly Nature Journal Project
March 2017

I’m closing in on the end of the first quarter of 2017 which is a great time to take stock of how well I am meeting my nature goals for 2017.
My very ambitious goal of completing a nature journal page a week is going splendidly, partly because I have done some interesting things to journal about and partly because I am motivated to keep it going. There is great joy in looking back and viewing the completed pages.

I think I am onto something here.

The first two pages featured topics from my Hawaiian vacation with my family.

This page was done while sitting at the beach. I created a record of some of our more noteworthy things observed in the ocean…sea turtles and humpback whales!

We had such a wonderful experience at Greenwell Coffee Farm that I made that the subject of another Hawaiian inspired page. I love Kona coffee and getting to see the process from blossom to ‘cuppa joe’ was perfect.

Our family loves to see the spring green of the California buckeye leaves at this time of the year. It really does mean spring has arrived when the buckeyes start leafing out along our roads and trails. I want to keep up my observations of this common shrub for a complete year. Look for more pages to come!

Sigh…the first day of spring! No time for a long hike so I squeezed in a little walk to note the changes happening in my own yard and neighborhood. I tried to include my sense of smell, hearing, and sight to have a full first day of spring experience.

Don’t forget that I am sharing a nature journal page each week on my Instagram account if you want to see the pages as they unfold. Follow me here: Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge. And, if you want to create a page and share it on your Instagram for me to see, use the hashtag #OHCnaturejournal

Here is your nature journal tip for the month which is taken from an entry I wrote a long time ago entitled, “Drawing and Your Nature Journal”.
If you want your drawing skills to improve, you must practice.
Gulp. That is a tough one for most of us. I did not come from an artistic background so giving myself permission to try to learn to draw or paint or do anything artistic took a big shove from my husband. He encouraged me take a drawing class at the college. This was so far out of my comfort zone but I really wanted to learn how to draw past stick figures. It took time and effort. My suggestion for people who are striving to do a better job in sketching is to go to your library and go to the children’s section first and check out “how to draw” books and use them alongside your children. I checked one out on how to draw insects and one on how to draw birds and then found some nature sketching books to try. These experiences with the book open in front of you and your sketching from the step by step instructions will eventually spill over into your nature journal.
There is no magic formula but your success is equal to the effort you are willing to put into it.

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Pansy Flower

Outdoor Hour Challenge

Pansy Flower Study – From the Archives and in the Ebook

This challenge is coming at exactly the right time! Even with the snow last week, my garden pansies are blooming in their little pot. Most garden nurseries are beginning to have pansies for sale now that spring is upon us. With the variety of colors available, you could have a rainbow of pansies for your nature study observations!

Use the ideas in the archived challenge to create the opportunity for observing a pansy, planting a pansy, and creating a nature journal entry documenting your flower study.

For more garden flower challenges, click the Garden link at the top of the Handbook of Nature Study website.

If you are interested in purchasing an Ultimate Naturalist Membership at this time, you will gain access to the custom notebooking pages that go along with each of the challenges in the ebook.

Note: You do not need to purchase the ebook to participate but they are handy to have for planning and for the regular and advanced notebook pages included in each one. Click the graphic at above to go over to check out the Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.

&nbsp

Author: Barb

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Shooting Star

Outdoor Mom – April 2017

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Field Mustard and Wild Radish

Special Note:Mustard OHC Postponed

Outdoor Hour Challenges- Spring Observations

Be Encouraged! Be Inspired! Get Outside!

New Ebook! Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflowers Set 1

Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflower Nature Study

Set #1

No Technology Nature Walk

Nature Journal Examples – March Pages

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Pansy Flower

Outdoor Hour Challenges for families since 2008!