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Posted on September 5, 2016 by Barb — 2 Comments

Homeschool Wishlist Cash Giveaway on Instagram!

This giveaway is now over. The winner will be chosen and notified soon!

I’m very excited to be a part of an Instagram centered Homeschool Wishlist Cash Giveaway! I have teamed up with 39 other bloggers to give you the opportunity to get a little extra cash to finish off your curriculum buying for the year or provide you with a little fun money to take that special field trip or get some additional resources for your homeschool nature study.

In order to be eligible, you will need to use your Instagram account (free app) to follow and like all 40 of the participant’s Instagram accounts and the giveaway post. You must like and follow each of the 40 accounts in order to successfully be entered into the giveaway.

This isn’t as complicated as it sounds and I will list the steps below. I think it will be totally worth your effort to do lots of clicking on Instagram to have the chance at winning the extra cash to take your family on that dream nature-related field trip you have always had in the back of your mind. I would love to hear that one of my readers or Instagram faithful followers has won this giveaway!

$800 in cash!

Start by clicking over to my Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/outdoorhourchallenge/

1. Like this giveaway image and click follow above if you aren’t already by clicking the little heart under the image on Instragram.

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2. Tap on the image (on Instragram) to find the next person in the loop (their Instagram name will pop up). Tap on their name to go to their profile.

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3. Find this same giveaway image on their Instagram page.

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4. Repeat steps 1-3 on every photo/profile until you make it back to the profile you started with.

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When you make it back to the person you started with (ME), you’ve completed the loop.

This Giveaway will run for 10 days (September 5th – September 14th midnight your time). The winner will be announced by @marlenegriffith within 72 hrs of the giveaway closing.

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*Money will be sent via PayPal (this giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or affiliated with PayPal.)

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RULES: All entrants must make their account public for the duration of the giveaway. This is to verify entries and ensure that you are following all of the participants. The winner will be chosen at random and will have 24 hours to claim the prize after being tagged in this post. If within 24hrs we do not hear from you, another winner will be chosen. Account to contact: @marlenegriffith

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DISCLAIMER: This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or affiliated with Instagram, Inc. By entering, entrants confirm that they are at least 13+ years of age, release Instagram of all responsibility, and agree to Instagram’s terms of use.

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Posted on September 1, 2016 by Barb — 2 Comments

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter – September 2016 Insect Homes

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter

September 2016 – Insect Study: Insect Homes

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. There may be a delay in your receiving the email so please don’t email me until the second day of the month if you haven’t received the link on the first. For some reason, some email providers take longer to receive the newsletter email.

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 September so be sure to download it before 9/30/16.

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:

This edition of the newsletter will focus mainly on insects and their homes. This is a more difficult topic but please don’t be intimidated. Read the newsletter for a variety of insect-related nature study ideas and lots of free printables.
This month I have reprinted from the More Nature Study Autumn ebook the Gall Dwellers Outdoor Hour Challenge. This will give you a real look at what a challenge in an ebook is like…please enjoy this freebie with your family when the opportunity arises.
September Nature Study Planning Page that gathers lots of ideas for this month’s nature study (including links to the four Friday OHC studies that will be coming up in September).
I wrote an article for this edition that includes the Insect Home Nature Journal Topper for you to use with your family.
Plus as a bonus, I am including the Insect Study Grid and Bookmark printable page from the archives.
Especially for younger students, I have included a coloring page for your insect study in this edition of the newsletter.

As you can see from the list above, I am back to a more full edition of the newsletter. I missed the freedom that having more pages allowed me to include a little of this and that to round out your nature study. Please let me know if there are things you would like to see in up-coming editions of the newsletter!

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.

Please click over and read the step by step instructions for using the Handbook of Nature Study and the Outdoor Hour Challenge in your nature study plans starting in September. Let me know if you have any questions.

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

Our Wildflower Observations – July and August

Here in California, July is a dry month. No rain at all falls in July in an average year. So, that means everything starts to turn brown (or some say “golden”). August has been dry as well…not a drop of rain!

The few colorful wildflowers that bloom are a welcome sight in an otherwise dry landscape.

So we felt like we cheated a little and used our time in Oregon to spy out some colorful and abundant wildflowers for our nature study delight. I filled my wildflower notebook with a whole list of flowers we found. See an image of one of the pages at the bottom of this post.

These were flowers around our campsite in Southern Oregon. Such diversity in shape, color, and scent!

Pearly Everlasting is one of our all time favorites and during July it is along most of the trails we hiked.

Amazing and wonderful gentian was spotted at Port Orford on the Oregon coast. This was a new flower for me and its color and dots make me smile.

This is a new insect for us that we discovered on the coast of Oregon. It is called the Red shouldered ctenucha and it has a blue body and silver tips on the wings. Incredible find!

Isn’t this a pretty flower? Looks a lot like sneezeweed but my field guide doesn’t show it growing along the Oregon coast…anyone know what it is?

I am continuing my wildflower journal as part of my 2016 nature study goals. I endeavor to keep track by hike what specific wildflowers we find. It is a great lesson in learning how flowers bloom at different times of the year and I hope to continue this project into next year and beyond. It makes me happy to page through and see all of the different flowers we know and have enjoyed on each and every hike. My journal is small enough to fit in my pocket or in my daypack and it doesn’t weigh much at all. It is now a habit that I stop and record my list right after my hike if I haven’t taken time during the hike to do so.

Have you been looking at wildflowers?

Here is a link to the original challenge from earlier in the month: Summer Wildflowers

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Posted on August 26, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Summer Brook Study

Summer Brook Study – From the Archives

Brook Study

For Members: This challenge is found in the Autumn 2015 Nature Study ebook.

We last visited our brooks back in December and I always like to do a comparison study in a different study. Even if you didn’t complete the brook challenge back in the winter, get started with your own brook nature study now during the summer. We always find something interesting along the water’s edge and if you can take a container to dip and fill with water, I am sure you are going to find even more to be excited about. Use the ideas in the archive challenge to get started.

Make sure to look for things like tracks in the mud, insects hiding under gravel or rocks, and insects (like the caddisfly or the water strider).

For Members:

Look in the Ultimate and Journey level printables for this Brook and Stream Nature Study printable.

Plus members can download and use the February 2016 Rocks and Creeks newsletter for additional ideas to use with this challenge.

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Barb — 3 Comments

Outdoor Mom’s Journal – Summertime

If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen some glimpses of our outdoor life this past month. We keep finding excuses for getting out of the house and taking advantage of the summer temperatures and sunshine to explore some familiar and new to us places. My husband has worked in wildland fire fighting for over 20 years so we never really had a “normal” summer where we could take a week’s vacation. Now that he is nearing his retirement, he is making the choice to arrange his schedule to be able to take off a day here and there and even a week for a camping trip. It is wonderful!

I realized as I wrote this post that I haven’t taken a really good photo of us in the kayak…I promise I will this month and share a little about our new water adventures using this slow and quiet means of transport. It makes for some wonderful nature watching!

In the garden….we are experiencing a lot of butterflies this year. My office window is on the second floor over the front yard garden and I see butterflies flutter by as I work. Sometimes I just can’t resist running out there with my camera to try to capture their beauty. This tiger swallowtail was a perfect subject against the bright summertime blue sky. I never get tired of watching these magnificent creations.

Not quite as majestic, but still amazing, are the fiery skippers with their huge eyes and antennae.

We had such a great time learning about the marine snails (mollusks) on our trip to Oregon. There is just so much to learn and my husband has become my most devoted nature partner. We read and explore and then research some more about whatever catches our interest. This is such a great way of learning as we self-direct the topics and ways in which we learn. If you have any doubts about this kind of learning for your children, you may want to try it yourself to see the way it reaches your heart. It is the connections we make as we learn that make the deepest impact on our life. I will never look at the lowly marine snail in the same way again.

In this image you can see the stack of books I had on my desk this morning. I have been doing a lot of reading and research and it really shows in the variety of books that have collected there on my desktop.

I have a pot of morning glories outside my back window and I can see it from my kitchen sink. Every morning there is a beautiful surprise unfolding in the early hours. I love this image of the flower puffing out and bursting open. This is the actual color of the blossom as it was opening today…amazing!

Outdoor Mom’s Journal

Whether your family spends a few minutes a week outside or hours at a time, share what is going on in your world.

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…

You can use the free monthly newsletter along with the Handbook of Nature Study book for your nature study. Adding a membership gives you access to the Ultimate Naturalist Library’s ebooks and printablse which provides members with even more in-depth studies each month.

Read more about it!

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

Snail Observations at the Tidepools

This month as I wrote the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter, I really didn’t think I would find any snails to observe up close. Some topics are like that and I don’t anticipate having the opportunity to see the month’s focus topic in person. But, many times I am proven wrong and all of my preparation for the study is rewarded with an awesome experience.

This happened while camping on the Oregon coast when we found lots and lots of black turban snails (Tegula funebralis) to view up close and in detail.

Here is a short YouTube video that we uploaded showing the animal that lives inside the shell:Black Turban

This is the star of our nature study…the black turban which in real life looks quite blue or purple. We discovered the reason for this doing some research once we were able to get on the internet. Take a close look at who is living on the outer shell of this black turban! Amazing since the size of the snail shell is probably a little over an inch….it just looks bigger in my close up images. (click on the photo to really see it)

They get pounded by the surf and it actually wears away the outer shell to expose the colorful layers underneath. This image shows just how plentiful they are on this part of the coast. This is only exposed at low tide so the black turban actually can capture some water inside its shell and then “plug” it up with the operculum to keep itself moist until the tide rises again and they are under water. Amazing creation!

If you look closely at the images, you may spy some limpets and barnacles on the rocks surrounding the snails and also on the snails outer shell! This was not apparent to use until we looked at the images and is quite common.

Want to learn more about the Oregon Tidepools? Here is a wonderful and helpful link: Oregon Tidepools.

Just a sidenote: I found a wonderful page on the Monterey Bay Aquarium that features many invertebrates that you might like to share with your children. So many of these don’t look like they should be invertebrates so it may spark some interest in the topic for your family. Plus, it is a beautiful page! Invertebrates – Animal Guide

Here is my very sloppy journal page for our discovery…it is more about the learning than the journal at this point in my life. I hope it inspires you to create something after your snail study!

There is still time to subscribe to the blog and receive this month’s newsletter link in your confirmation email.

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Posted on August 19, 2016 by Barb — 1 Comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Ant Insect Study

Summer Ant Study – from the archives

Ant Study

This is a topic that never gets boring…ants are everywhere and once your children start hunting they will find more to observe than you ever imagined. Use the options below to complete a nature notebook page for ants. If you don’t find ants, look for any insect of interest!

Printable Notebook Page:
There are two versions of the generic insect notebook page for you to download and use with any of the insect challenges.

Insect Study – record your field guide notes and a sketch
Insect Notes – simple page with wider lines for younger students

For Members:

This challenge was originally published in the Spring Nature Study ebook. If you have this in your Ultimate Membership library, you may wish to print out the custom notebook page that goes along with the nature study ideas.

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

Step by Step Instructions for the Outdoor Hour Challenge as of September 2016

Here are some more detailed instructions for using the Outdoor Hour Challenge in your home for the up-coming school year. These are hopefully going to clear up any questions you have about how to proceed and what resources are needed and which ones are optional.

Specific Steps

Receive my monthly newsletter on the 1st of the month. The newsletter comes to email subscribers on the first of each month. You can subscribe HERE. When you subscribe in the middle of the month, you will receive the current newsletter link in your confirmation email.
In the newsletter, view the printable planner page for the four topics for the up-coming month. If the topic is from the archives, I provide the link to the challenge 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.
Print out any activities you wish to complete with your family. Keep these handy!
To go more in depth, members will be using two ebooks for the autumn and winter seasons: More Nature Study Autumn and More Nature Study Winter. These two ebooks are included in the Ultimate Naturalist Library membership. Members 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.

You can use the free monthly newsletter along with the Handbook of Nature Study book for your nature study. Adding a membership gives you access to the Ultimate Naturalist Library’s ebooks and printables which provide members with even more in-depth studies each month.

Resources Needed:
1. Free Monthly Newsletter so you have the topic, the challenge ideas ahead of time, and the newsletter printables. Subscribe HERE.
2. Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock ISBN: 978-0801493843
3. Highly recommended: Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.
4. Highly recommended: Nature journal or nature notebook.

Those four things are going to allow you a lot of opportunities for relaxed nature study in your own backyard with simple follow up activities if desired.

Use the discount code NATURE5 to receive $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Membership!

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Posted on August 15, 2016 by Barb — 219 Comments

Back to School Gift Basket Giveaway – For the Birds!

I am excited to share my latest nature study ebook with all of my readers and special visitors as part of the Back to School Gift Basket event! Make sure to enter the giveaway, look for the discount code, and subscribe to my free newsletter while you are here!

Along with the ebook, I am going to be including three bird resources that we have used and loved in our family!

Details of this Giveaway

Use the Rafflecopter gadget below to enter to win one gift basket that contains the following items. Please note that the ebook is a digital prize that will be emailed directly to you and the other three resources will ship from Amazon.com.

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Learning About Birds ebook: This brand new ebook features all of your favorite North American birds along with specific nature study ideas for each one.
Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists – Backyard Birds: This book is featured in every nature study challenge in the Learning About Birds ebook.
Peterson Field Guide – Your choice of either the Western Edition or the Eastern Edition of this amazing field guide.
Bird Log for Kids – This book is a perfect fit for young nature lovers to record their bird observations and it even includes a child’s first life list of birds observed.

Receive multiple entries by following the options in the Rafflecopter gadget below.
One Winner will be picked at random on 8/22/16. Please note winners must live in the United States and respond within 48 hours to claim their prize.

Special Discount for Everyone for the Ultimate Naturalist Library!

Use the discount code FORTHEBIRDS at check out to receive $10 off the Ultimate Naturalist Library – this includes every single ebook that has been published for the Outdoor Hour Challenge…18 in all! Discount code is good through 8/22/16.

Monthly Nature Study Newsletter

Subscribe to the Handbook of Nature Study blog and you will receive my free monthly newsletter on the first of every month: Subscription Entry!

Download your free sample newsletter here:

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter October 2013 Nature Walk Ideas

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Posted on August 12, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Summer Wildflowers

Summer Wildflower Grid Study <<<Link to study!

Revisiting this awesome wildflower activity in a different season!

I am encouraging everyone to complete another wildflower grid study this month and then compare it to the one we did earlier this year. Wildflowers bloom in succession so it is a great way to teach your children about the passing of time and when to expect to see certain flowers each year.

You will find the wildflower grid study printable in this month’s newsletter (and the May 2016 one too). If you haven’t subscribed yet to the Handbook of Nature Study, you can do so now and receive the current newsletter in the follow up email. Members here on the Handbook of Nature Study have access to every newsletter in the archives.

New printables for members!

Invertebrates- This notebook page allows you to sketch an invertebrate you are studying and then write a bit about it on the lines provided.
My Wildflower Study- After you find a wildflower to observe up close, use this notebook page to record your experiences, including a large box for sketching. This page can be used with any wildflower and at any time of the year.

Click the graphic below to purchase your membership today!

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$800 in cash!

Start by clicking over to my Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/outdoorhourchallenge/

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter

September 2016 – Insect Study: Insect Homes

Have you been looking at wildflowers?

Outdoor Mom’s Journal

There is still time to subscribe to the blog and receive this month’s newsletter link in your confirmation email.

New printables for members!

Outdoor Hour Challenges for families since 2008!