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Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival – August Newsletter Edition

August Newsletter Activities
Andi from Declared Unto Him shares how their family used the Study Grid from the August Newsletter in their garden: Creation Study-August Garden.  They share images of some of their finds like a spiral and an insect pollinating in the garden. Thanks for the glimpse into your summer nature study and journals too.

Tricia from Hodgepodge shares how her young daughter wanted to use the August Newsletter Study Grid all by herself: Cultivating Curiosity with Nature Study.  Tricia says, “She’s six. And she’s had practice. We’ve noticed nature together for some time now. And for some time now, she’s pointed things out to me. She wants to study nature as part of her day.” Warms my heart.

Cristy shares their entry, Working Through the August Outdoor Hour Challenge Grid, with carnival readers. She struggled with the suggestion to “make a little mud and walk through it with your bare feet”. In the end, two of her children enjoyed the experience and made some great mud observations. A+ Cristy for working outside your comfort zone.

Jenny Anne from Royal Little Lambs writes about their End of Summer Nature Study. They did some observations in their garden and then followed up with some nature journal entries. Lovely images! Looks like they used the study grid from the newsletter too….nicely done.

Carol from Journey and Destination submits their August Nature Notebook. This entry will give you a glimpse into their flower study in Australia.  I especially liked the camellia, the iris, and the daphne. I’m sure she would love to hear your favorite flower in a comment. 🙂


 
Granite and Other Igneous Rocks
Phyllis from All Things Beautiful submits their families Granite and Other Igneous Rock Study to the carnival. Their family compared pegmatite (an igneous rock) and granite for their nature journals. Nicely done!

Zonnah and her son studied Igneous Rocks this month and you can see a book suggestion and a sample of his nature journal in this entry. I always enjoy seeing how families adapt challenges to fit their needs.

Heidi from Home Schoolroom shares their granite study in this entry: Gearing Up and Cleaning Out. They were able to visit a granite quarry as part of this nature study! Check out the excellent journal examples too.

 

Monarch Butterflies
Robin from Acadmia shares their entry, A Trip to Beaver Creek Nature Reserve with carnival readers. Don’t miss the insect images including the very last one…a beautiful monarch butterfly. You can also read her entry: Jewelweed and Tabbi’s Garden for your nature loving pleasure.

Cristy from Crafty Cristy submits their Fritillary Butterflies and Caterpillars in the Garden entry which no one should miss viewing! She has each stage of the fritillary butterfly life cycle going on in her garden..on her passionflower vine. What an excellent way to learn about this beautiful insect.

 

Potpourri
Phyllis From All Things Beautiful has done an amazing job at writing her own lesson for the Venus Fly Trap in the style found in the Handbook of Nature Study. She outlines the study just like you would find in the book and includes ideas for study and images as well. Makes me want to study this interesting subject! Phyllis also has submitted another interesting post for you to glean some ideas from: Habitats, part 4: Adding Isopods to the Terrarium.

Jen from Snowfall Academy shares how they completed Our Sunflower Project, growing sunflowers on their fourth floor apartment balcony! They completed this long term project with careful observations and journal entries. This is such an encouraging example of how you can make the opportunity for nature study happen just about anywhere.

Barbara from Schoolhouse on the Prairie is going to entertain you with her Summer Photo Challenge entry: Summer Photos that Tell a Tale. I loved seeing how they adapted the challenge ideas to fit their trip back east and then home again. My favorite? The blue crab for rocks/sand/shells.

Makita has submitted three wonderful summertime nature studies they completed with follow-up nature journals. You will love seeing their Tide Pools and OIMB adventures.  They were able to see the Perseids Meteor Shower 2012. Finally, their Wintu Trail Nature Study. What a busy summer!

Don’t forget to share your blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in September are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 9/29/12 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).

Also, the September Newsletter link will be in tomorrow’s blog entry so make sure you are subscribed so you can download your copy as soon as possible. To subscribe to the Handbook of Nature Study, you can enter your email in the box below and you will receive each blog entry and the link to the monthly newsletter in your email inbox. Thank you so much for reading and supporting this blog!

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Looking Back At Our Summer – Outdoor Life

As I file away photos from the past few months, it is wonderful to think back on all the outdoor things we have done as a family. Even though the sons are all older (16, 18, and 24), we have been able to squeeze in things that are fun for them and have made such great memories for this nature loving mama.

Our summer started off with a dreamy camping trip to the Oregon Coast. The weather was perfect for most of the week and we were able to fit in hiking, bike riding, kite flying, beachcombing, tide pooling, exploring, and lots of good food.

Now that the boys are older we can pack up a dinner picnic on a weeknight and enjoy an empty picnic ground and some smooth water on the lake. We can sit and watch the geese and ducks as they paddle near the shore and then head out onto the lake to see the awesome clouds and sunset. My middle son is the wake boarder in the family and we all get a kick out of his skill at jumping and flipping. I am content to ride in the boat and watch the mountains and trees zip by.

For me personally, the summer has been full of quiet time with my hubby as well. We have explored new areas of California and also spent time at our favorite spots too. We counted bees in the garden for the Great Sunflower Project and our Kona dog has been my constant companion. As a family we decided that kayaking is a great sport to do together since we can all have our own boats and go at our own speed. I like to take it easy and notice the sky and clouds as we paddle along the shore of Lake Tahoe. (Kona loves to eat dandelions and this particular day she came up on the deck with one hanging out of the side of her mouth…made me laugh out loud!)

On most of our outdoor adventures I bring along my nature journal. Even just a quick sketch to be finished at home makes a great entry in the journal. We have used the Study Grids from the Outdoor Hour Challenge newsletters to stimulate a bit of nature study this summer as well. We all participated in the Beach Grid and I recorded our findings in my nature journal.

I will finish up this entry with a collage of our Summer Photo Challenge images. We really enjoyed having a photo assignment and I am hoping to put one together for next summer as well. You can see all the images from all the participants on the Summer Photo Challenge Pinterest Board.

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Updated: How To Get Started With The Outdoor Hour Challenge

 

Outdoor Hour button
Step By Step Instructions for the Outdoor Hour Challenge
Updated June 2016
  • Receive my monthly newsletter on the 1st of the month (subscribers to the Handbook of Nature Study blog).
  • In the newsletter, view the printable Planning Page for the four topics for the up-coming month. If the topic is from the archives, I provide the link to the challenge on my blog and the link to the ebook it is from if applicable.This way you can prepare for the challenges ahead of time if you wish. The challenges are going to be topical and not seasonal.
  • If you own the applicable ebooks, you can open those and print the coordinating notebook pages to use during the month. This is not required but would supplement the current month’s work.
  • Print any activities from the newsletter that you wish to complete during the month.
  • Read my blog each Friday for additional supplementary ideas, activities, or printables that coordinate with the month’s topics. Please note that the challenges can be done at any time that is convenient for your family…even months later. For instance, the topic for September is insects but if in November you come across an interesting insect, go ahead and come back to the September challenges and complete them with your November insect.
  • Complete the challenges at your own pace.

Big Picture
The newsletter will focus on a specific topic of study from the Handbook of Nature Study. But, there will always be general ideas for study as well so you will find at least one challenge a month to fit any area, any season, and any age level. During months where the challenges offered fit your family’s interest and habitat, you can complete all four challenges if you desire or if you find that you can’t locate the current topic you may only complete one or two of the more general challenges. I hope that each family will find something to encourage them in their efforts to get outside as a family each month.

 

Getting Started Cover Button

Resources Needed:

  1. Monthly Newsletter so you have the topic, the challenge ideas ahead of time, and the newsletter printables.***
  2. Handbook of Nature Study book by Anna Botsford Comstock – I recommend the edition with the butterflies on front: Handbook of Nature Study.
  3. Highly recommended: An Ultimate Naturalist Library membership so you will have access to every challenge we cover during the year.
  4. Highly recommend: Nature journal or nature notebook.

Ultimate Naturalist Library @handbookofnaturestudy

 

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Getting Started With The Outdoor Hour Challenge Ebook Promotion

Important Information: 
This is a long entry but if you have any inkling that you will be joining us for the 
Outdoor Hour Challenge this year, 
please take a few minutes to read about how the whole thing is going to work.

I know there are a lot of readers of this blog that read my entries and then feel like they can’t do nature study for one reason or another. I know there are families that start off great and then loose steam. I know there are moms who just are not “nature” oriented and don’t enjoy the more difficult side of nature study like the hot/cold weather, bugs, dirt, and fear that their children are going to ask them questions they don’t know the answers to.

I would like to encourage all of you to just do what you can and try to accomplish a little outdoor time each week with your children. The purpose of this blog is to encourage you with some suggested ideas, help you learn how to use the Handbook of Nature Study, and to share with you some inspiration from other families around the world who have a desire just like you do to offer the important gift of outdoor time with your children.

To help you with your family nature study, I am starting a new chapter in the Handbook of Nature Study blog adventure. We will be using the monthly newsletters, posts from the archives, and general nature study challenges to encourage everyone from beginner to veteran to try some weekly or monthly nature study. I have lots and lots of fun ideas and free printables just waiting to share with you each Friday. The newsletter will outline the main topic for the month and give you suggested challenge ideas to apply in your family (more on that in next Monday’s post).

As another new feature of the Outdoor Hour Challenge posts each Friday,  I will be outlining a suggestion for using the Outdoor Hour Challenge Getting Started Ebook. I know many of you own this ebook already and perhaps started off using it in the beginning of your nature study journey but I am now going to show you how to use the resources in that book to enhance the current challenges. I will refer to specific challenges and notebook pages that you can use each week, making the Getting Started Ebook an integral part of your current nature study activities. You have it on your shelf…why not use it to your advantage?

 
If ever there were a time to join in with the Outdoor Hour Challenge, 
this would be it. 
It is clean slate time and we will all be starting fresh. 

Blog Logo 1
Discount Promo Has Ended: For the first time ever, I am offering the Outdoor Hour Challenge Getting Started Ebook at a special discounted promotional price for one week only. If you do not own this book already, now is the time to get a copy to use with our weekly challenges and then to continue using as you work your way from season to season.

Special Discounted Price – $6.95. 
Promo Has Ended

I will be referring to other challenges from the seasonal ebooks but the Getting Started ebook is going to take a special spot in every weekly challenge plan.

Click over to the Getting Started Page and you can take advantage of this special offer from now until the end of the month (midnight 8/31/12).

Make sure to read the post on Monday, August 27, 2012. 
I will be giving you step by step instructions for the new and improved Outdoor Hour Challenge. 
What You Can Do To Help Me

Now, tell me in a comment if you have a particular reason you have not started with nature study or you started off great and then let it drop. I will attempt in future posts to address your reasons and your particular situations. Plus I just like to hear your comments and get to know you all better. I loved hearing your thoughts when I did my blog survey a few months ago. You can leave an anonymous comment on this blog if you are too shy to use your name. 🙂

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Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival – Science of Relations

Please visit and share with us at the CM blog carnival! We'd love to have you!
This may very well be the last time I host the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival here on the Handbook of Nature Study as an active homeschooler. This is my son’s final part of his senior year in high school and he will soon be on to bigger and better things.

I won’t think about that right now because it does make me a little sad. Let’s talk about things related to Charlotte Mason and her ideas for making our homeschools an environment for learning. “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.”

The official theme for this edition of the carnival is the science of relations. There are a few entries that will help define and encourage you in your endeavor to understand the “science of relations”.

The Science of Relations

My entry from my Harmony Art Mom blog is entitled: Charlotte Mason Knew the Secret to Learning Relationships. In this entry I show how we have applied this idea to our homeschooling in high school. I hope it helps define this idea for you if it is new to your family. I also wanted to share my Oregon Rocks entry with the carnival this time.

Nebby writes about the Science of Relations on her blog, Letters from Nebby. She mentions that it is the spark of interest that takes hold of our children that makes the difference. Nicely done Nebby.

Other Charlotte Mason Topics

Nadene from Practical Pages has submitted a wonderful entry on Word Banks. Would you like to see how she helps a reluctant writer by using key words and keeping it simple? See a step by step demonstration showing how to get young writers to the next level.

Nadene also shares how her middle schooler is learning to write notes from her reading: Highlight Main Ideas.  I love seeing how she steps her daughters through this sometimes difficult process. Excellent help to homeschoolers!

A Day in the Life of a Charlotte Mason Inspired Home School is Angie’s post on Habits for a Happy Home.  This is a glimpse into the way she brings a richness into their days with some Charlotte Mason ideas. Wonderful!

More narration help is in store in Carol’s entry to this edition to the carnival: Narration/Composition.  This post is loaded with visual examples from the various stages of written narration. This post will help a lot of people with some fresh ideas for narration

The Ultimate Guide to Living Books Based Curriculum! Jimmie has put together an entry full of resources and ideas for Charlotte Mason families striving to use living books. Don’t get carried away following all those links. 🙂

Lanaya from Delightful Education writes on this theme: Overcome the Dread of Bedtime Reading- Choose Living Books. She helps us to recognize the difference between a good living book and twaddle.

Lindafay from Higher Up and Further In has submitted the second installment in her nature journal series: The Second Stage of Nature Journaling. This is a topic near to the hearts of the Handbook of Nature Study blog so dig in and find some points to apply in your nature journals.

Cultivating Curiosity with Nature Study: This post made my week…love the way the Hodgepodge family makes nature study a natural and simple extension to their life. Watch out for squishy mud toes!

Silvia from Homeschooling in a Bilingual Home My Ugly Neighborhood or Nature Study 101. She shares some realistic short and long term goals and some steps to making nature study a rewarding experience in even the “ugliest” of neighborhoods.

Leah from Home Grown Babies is Clinging Onto Summer.  I think a lot of us are feeling the same way and are trying to squeeze in a few more summer activities before the season changes.

Tricia from HodgePodge has submitted a fun chalk pastel tutorial for this edition of the carnival: Madeline Chalk Pastel Fun. I love how it ties their art and literature together!

Laura from Windy Hill Home School writes about her Plans for AO Year 2 for carnival readers. What a helpful post for those families that are going to be following along with this year too!

Jessica shares their Homeschool Plan 2012/2013 for carnival readers.They are putting an emphasis on living books right from the start. She also shares some free printables.

Nancy from the Sage Parnassus shares Gratitude is a Scattered Homeless Love. She recounts a little of the latest from the Living Education Retreat. What a beautiful setting!

A Few Additional Charlotte Mason Links 
I Think You Will Like

Printable Charlotte Mason Daily Checklists
Ambleside Online’s New Forum for Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers!
Subject by Subject: Teaching Literature (at Simply Charlotte Mason) 

If you have any entries you would like to submit to the next carnival, you can send them to this email address: charlottemasonblogs@gmail.com.

 

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Buddy Fruits – Product Review

Healthy eating while on the go can be a challenge. Packing fruit in your backpack can be messy and dried fruits can become tiresome. Buddy Fruits products have helped our family keep a healthy and whole food diet as we have traveled this summer. I received a variety of Buddy Fruits to review back in June and we finished those and purchased some more, taking them everywhere as we hiked, biked, and kayaked our way through the summer months.

I was attracted to Buddy Fruits because they are 100% natural and do not contain added sugar. They seemed an easy way to fit in a serving of fruit at times when it was not convenient to carry pieces of fruit along on our adventures.

We received three different products to test-Fruit Bites, Blended Fruit, and Blended Fruit and Milk Smoothies.

Buddy Fruits Pure Fruit Bites-
Only Fruit Nothing Else (no dairy):

This was our favorite product and each resealable pouch of fruit bites is one serving of fruit. We shared these with some young friends at a recent gathering and here are some of their thoughts.

“Raspberry! Awesome! I am not sharing these!” 
8 year old boy.  
Art Day and Buddy Fruits
Enjoying some Buddy Fruit Bites while creating some art!
“These are better than gummies…can I have some more?” 
9 year old girl.

The kids loved them! The adults found the texture a little softer than expected and most thought they were very sweet. Personally I thought the pomegranate and acai flavor was the best, the raspberry tasted like jam, and the orange was refreshing. They worked well packed in our daypacks for hikes, giving us a burst of flavor as we enjoyed the great outdoors.

Buddy Fruits 1
Buddy Fruit Pure Blended Fruit on Our Kayak Trip
Buddy Fruits-Pure Blended Fruit (no dairy or gluten):

These pouches of blended fruits were a hit with the teen crowd. I don’t know if it was more the novelty of squeezing fruit out of a pouch or the flavors but they gobbled these down. Everyone thought the texture was like thick applesauce which made it easy to grab these and squeeze out a serving of fruit.

The pouches have a screw cap so if you want to save a bit for later it is convenient and there is no mess. Also when you eat these on the trail, there is no need for a knife or spoon and there are no sticky peels or seeds to pack out.

Picnic and Buddy Fruits
Check out the recloseable top and the pure healthy ingredients.

They are 100% pure fruit with no added sugar. They are gluten and dairy free. Worth noting are the flavors and ingredients of Buddy Fruits-Pure Blended Fruit available:

  • Apple and Multi-Fruit: Apple, banana, passion fruit juice, mango, strawberry, concentrated apple juice.
  • Apple and Strawberry: Apple, strawberry, blackcurrant juice, concentrated apple juice.
  • Mango Passion and Banana: Mango, apple, banana, passion fruit juice.
  • Apple Banana: Apple, banana, concentrated apple juice, lemon juice.
  • Apple Cinnamon: Apple, concentrated apple juice, cinnamon.

Delicious! We all had to try a bit of each one just to decide on a favorite.

 
Buddy Fruits –Blended Fruit and Milk Smoothie (no gluten):

Smoothies in a pouch seemed like a convenient way to take them on the road as we traveled but most of us agreed that they needed to be really cold in order to enjoy them. I ended up only packing them when we were taking an ice chest and my teens thought they were delicious as part of our picnic meals. They all agreed that the peach flavored smoothie was the best and tasted like a smoothie we would make at home.

We shared these with some younger children and they thought they were great and it was a novelty for them to have their own little smoothie pouch with a recloseable screw top. The moms agreed that having the ability to offer a few sips and then seal it up for later was ingenious.

Buddy Fruits 3
Buddy Fruits became a regular part of our picnic menu.

If your family finds it important to use natural products with pure ingredients and have the convenience of taking fruit along with you, Buddy Fruits are the answer. They are packaged in such an appealing way that your reluctant fruit eaters might just decide they like fruit. It is fun to squeeze the packages and the flavors are bold and delicious. We found that our local grocery store sells Buddy Fruit products so we have continued to take these along with us even after our review products were gone. I think that tells you how much we liked this product. (You can go to their website and enter your location to find the nearest retailer for Buddy Fruits products.)

The Buddy Fruits website is a wealth of information on each of the products and flavors. I encourage you to pop over and read more about these delicious, healthy, and fun products that will make offering fruit on the go a snap.

Please note that I received these products for free in exchange for a fair and honest review here on my blog. I received no other compensation from Buddy Fruits.

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Garden Flowers – Aster Nature Study

Monarch on the Butterfly Bush
I don’t know about you but ever since we really learned about Fibonacci numbers in nature we have been on the lookout for the patterns and swirls. They seem to be everywhere once your eyes learn to focus on this interesting design in creation. The More Nature Study Book #4 Summer Sizzle challenge for garden flowers shares lots of ideas for getting to know about the Fibonacci sequence and the aster family.

Our Garden Flowers Study using the Handbook of Nature Study led us to discover some different kinds of asters that we have right in our own yard. The clue is the shape and arrangement of the flower petals.

White Daisies
The challenge was actually to study White daisies, Black-eyed Susans, and Asters. We went beyond and tried to find all the flowers in the aster family that we have in our garden. We found quite a few.

Dahlia
There are the dahlias. This surprised me that it was in the aster family. My son grows dahlias in his garden box for me and this year they are all shades of pink. I would like to add a few more colors next year.

Dahlia in a Container
We do have dahlias growing in pots on the back deck. We planted these from seeds that we purchased from Rene’s Garden. The package calls them Watercolor Silksand they live up to their name.

Light Orange Dahlia from the container garden

I bring them in and let them fully open up inside on the kitchen table.

Coneflower
We have lots of Echinacea in our cutting garden. We looked this flower up and it is in the aster family! Can you count the petals?

Bee Balm
We were not sure about the Bee Balm so we looked it up on Wikipedia…no, it is not in the aster family. Knowing what makes an aster an aster, we should have known better. Sometimes it adds to the learning experience to NOT find what you are looking for because it makes you stop and take note of the different attributes of a flower like petal arrangement and the way the flower grows.

Nasturtium
The nasturtium is also not a member of the aster family. I would love to have a whole bed of nasturtiums. I settled for four scrawny plants this year. There is a study in the Handbook of Nature Study for the nasturtium and I think our family will be following up this aster study with that one in the near future…just for fun and to record this flower in our nature journals.

Other Miscellaneous Garden Adventures from the Past Month

Cabbage White butterfly
We have lots of Cabbage White butterflies in our garden everyday. I really love this link: Cabbage White. I learned so much by taking the time to look up this butterfly even though it was technically garden flower week. I love it when nature study subjects come to us and we slow down enough to learn a few facts. This is what makes our nature study so rich and satisfying. I think it is such a joy to know about the common everyday things in my garden. There is so much to learn.

Hot Cocoa Rose - Shores Acres

We visited a beautiful rose garden when we were on our Oregon trip last month. Shores Acres has a garden that is so magical that you don’t know where to look and you are afraid you are going to miss something. The rose above is my absolute new favorite…it is called Hot Cocoa. It had a slight chocolate fragrance and the color was reminiscent of cocoa.

Barb at Shores Acres
A rare sighting of me on the blog but I want you to know how much I enjoyed this rose garden. My son obliged me by taking a few photos of me as we wandered around and tried to find our favorites.

Shores Acres Rose Garden 1

My other son decided that the bench was just too inviting and he rested awhile in the rose garden…what a great way to spend a few minutes while you wait for your mom who decided she wanted to read very sign.

OHC Blog Carnival
So have you completed your garden flower study for the summer yet using the Handbook of Nature Study? I would love to see your garden entries in the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival…you have until the end of the month to post your entry and send in your links.

Jami’s Tuesday Garden Party meme is open from Tuesday to Thursday so there is still time for you to jump in and participate!

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Hearts and Trees Art, Nature, and Handicraft Kits – Bubbles and Lavender

My daughter and I have partnered to create a new edition of her Hearts and Trees Art, Nature, and Handicraft kits. The theme of the current kit is Bubbles and Lavender which was fun to work with!

With Hearts and Trees Kits you receive simple to use instructions and supplies to complete a variety of projects and activities. In this Bubbles and Lavender kit, I was able to pull together a complete nature study unit on lavender with follow up activities, including a sample of lavender from my own garden and a set of custom nature journal pages to supplement the study. Because lavender is not in the Handbook of Nature Study, I wrote up an informational page in the style of the Outdoor Hour Challenge and it is included in the kit for you to use as a reference.

After your lavender study, one of the sewing projects is to make a lavender sachet using the sample lavender included in the kit. There is another sewing project in the kit where your children can design and create a felt bracelet.

The other handicraft activities include making a bubble wand and a foam pendant.

For the artist study, we chose a bubble themed painting and a 4″ by 6″ print is included with the kit for your family to view and enjoy. There are follow-up notebooking pages for the artist and painting which use a link to download a pdf with additional prints or to view them on your computer. There is even watercolor paper included to make your very own bubble painting! We also included instructions and a notebook page on learning to write in bubble letters which is a fun skill for everyone.

  • For a complete list of the contents and supplies included in the Bubbles and Lavender Kit from Hearts and Trees, please click over to the entry on my daughter’s blog. You will find complete details for purchasing this edition.
  • These kits are not just for homeschoolers and there are many families that use them afterschool and on the weekends.
  • The kits are designed for children ages 6 and up and there will be some activities that require adult supervision.
  • Hearts and Trees kits include small parts so be careful when using them around younger siblings.
  • We have an ample supply of kits on hand but they go fast and then they will be gone.

We expect to release the next kit in October and we are working on the idea of featuring trains, prairie animals, and pioneer themed handicrafts.

Read a review of a previous Hearts and Trees Kit on The Curriculum Choice.
You also may like to read Heather’s post about a previous kit on her blog: Blog She Wrote.

As a promotion of our new Hearts and Trees Bubbles and Lavender Kit, we would love to give one away to a reader of the Handbook of Nature Study. Leave a comment for one chance to win and then if you share by blogging, tweeting, or sharing on Facebook, leave me another comment with the link to where you shared and you can earn a second entry. If you want to purchase the kit and then you win the giveaway, we will refund your money so don’t wait if you are going to want this kit. See the Rafflecopter gadget for details and deadlines.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Night Walks with the Kona Dog and her Safe Glow Dog Collar

This is a different sort of post, the one in which Kona gets a new dog collar to review….Safe Glow LED dog collar from DogTrainingCollars.com. When I was contacted about doing a review of this product, I wasn’t sure it was exactly something that our family would use with Kona. I talked it over with the men and they reminded me that they frequently take Kona for walks at dusk and after dark. We decided to give it a try since if it worked well it would make our nighttime dog walks much safer. Being visible along the road in the dark is something that we should all be concerned about.

Because of our busy schedules, Kona many times gets her walk after her fire fighter owner (my dog-loving husband) gets off his shift and that means it is almost dark. We live in a rather rural area and part of their regular walking route is actually on the shoulder of a very busy highway. With the Safe Glow collar on and illuminated, on-coming traffic can easily see our dog at the side of the road. No more close calls with cars too near the shoulder!

The collar has built into it a lighting system that you can switch on and it glows rather brightly. There are three settings for the lighted collar and our family has named them with descriptive names.

  • Flasher – just like it sounds the light flashes to draw attention
  • Disco Strobe – this one is a little faster flash and the one we usually set it on
  • Night Glow – steady glowing light

Some Quick Points to Note

  • Our collar is yellow and the light illuminates in yellow but there are a variety of colors available.
  • The collar comes in three sizes and for Kona we chose the large size for a perfect fit.
  • The collar uses a battery that can be found at most retailers.
  • The clasp is sturdy and the collar is very well made.
  • The price is $24.95 from the DogTrainingCollars.com and that is not too high a price to pay for the safety of our doggie best friend.

Because Kona is a big Labrador retriever and she has a tendency to pull us on walks if she is excited, we decided to not use the Safe Glow dog collar as the main collar when we use a leash. We hook the leash to her regular collar and add the Safe Glow dog collar as a safety item. She doesn’t seem to mind wearing two collars and now when she sees us coming with the Safe Glow collar in hand she knows it is time to get excited for her walk. The collar is not waterproof but this will not be a problem for our water-loving dog since we remove it after each nighttime walk.

I expect that we will be using it for a very long time. This is a product that I am glad we were introduced to and I am reassured that the Safe Glow dog collar adds a level of safety for our Kona dog and her human companion during any nighttime walks.

IMG_4504

Kona says two paws up for this product but I am thinking she just likes all the extra walks she gets now.

(Photo credit goes to my son Daniel for his awesome image of Kona at the river!)

Edit to add: I received the Safe Glow LED Dog Collar in exchange for a fair and honest review. There was no other compensation received.

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Southern Oregon Beaches – Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand



Our recent trip to Oregon let us sample the different kinds of beaches there are along this section of the Pacific Coast. The coast of Southern Oregon has become our summer getaway of choice. We enjoy the break from the hot temperatures at home and we cooled off with the misty foggy days of the Oregon summer.

Would you like to see some of the beaches we visited along with some of the treasures we found to observe and record in our nature journals?

McVay Rock tidepools and rocks (6)

Let’s start off with the most southerly location we visited, a little gem of a beach with lots and lots of agates and pebbles, McVay Rock. This has become one of my favorite rock beaches and it has tidepools too! The boys enjoyed searching for the most colorful or interesting rocks. This was a great location to start our Outdoor Hour Challenge on Rocks. Although we didn’t examine any granite, we took advantage of the time to closely examine some other rocks.

Whaleshead Beach (16)

On the other side of Brookings, Oregon we spent some time exploring Whaleshead Beach. The sun was out and we walked the sand, climbed over rocks, and watched the sea birds flying.

Whaleshead Beach (13)
There were colorful flowers and grasses growing along the rocky cliffs. It hardly seems possible that this dudleya can grow right on the rocks but it does.

Pistol River (8)
This is a close-up of another beach we visited at the Pistol River in Oregon. It was early morning and we had the beach to ourselves. We had to walk over sand dunes and then over a flat area to get to the shore. There were lots and lots of empty shells…the birds must feast here when the time is right.

Pistol River (2)
Here is a view down the beach with the shorebirds in the distance poking their beaks in for a morning meal. We have friends that come here to go clamming but we were just on a refreshing beach walk as we traveled up the coast.

Bullards Beach Sunset Kite
Here is another beach we camped at on our trip, Bullards Beach near Bandon, Oregon. This image is in the evening and if you look closely you can see horses in the distance and a family having a bonfire up sheltered in the pile of driftwood.

Bullards Beach (11)
Here is another section of the beach early in the morning. Look at all that driftwood!

Bullards Beach lighthouse
This is the lighthouse at Bullards Beach and you can see the sandy dunes and grasses that border the actual shore. Behind the lighthouse is the Pistol River outlet which is where all the driftwood comes from during certain parts of the year.

Cape Arago (3)
Farther up the coast, we visited Cape Arago and Simpson Reef. It was a wet day but we braved the rain to observe the sea life down on the rocky islands. I had my binoculars and we were able to see sea lions resting on the rocks and in the water.

Rock and Shell Nature Journal (3)
Rocks and shells are rather difficult to draw in my nature journal. It is an exercise in slowing down and really looking at the object before you put your pencil or pen to the page.

Rock Shell Collection
We had a great time looking for rocks on this trip. Not much granite to look at but we did see many things to capture our interest and to look up in our field guides.

Just looking at these photos makes me want to turn around and go back to Oregon.

You can find other rock related challenges here on the Handbook of Nature Study blog.
Quartz Study
Sand and Soil
Salt Study

If you are interested in more of our Oregon Coast adventures, here are some links.

Oregon Coast Trail

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Marine Invertebrates Notebooking Pages

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