A little square of sunshine

After a rainy day yesterday with thunder and lightning and hail, we are happy to have a little sunshine today. 

We are heading outside, with nature journals in hand, to check out some Spring buds that are starting to appear.  Whenever I see them on sale, I collect sketchbooks and blank journals for the boys to use for various projects.  The spiral bound, hardback journals are nice to use outside because they open up flat and provide a sturdy surface for drawing.  You can also download and print smaller nature journals at http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Be-Out-There/Activities/Observe-and-Explore/Keep-a-Nature-Journal.aspx and http://www.donnayoung.org/science/natj/nature-journal.htm.  (It is nice for Mommy to have her own nature journal as well.)  My boys include drawings, rubbings, photographs,  pictures cut out of magazines or brochures, and even specimens like leaves, seed pods, and feathers taped or glued on the pages.

We all have nylon mesh beach bags we found at Target a few years ago stocked with the journals and a pouch with scissors, glue stick, tape, pencil sharpener, regular pencil, and colored pencils. Whenever we are ready to go exploring and observing, they just grab their bags.  My oldest also carries a couple of field guides, and all three have small binoculars. I usually bring my camera along, and hopefully soon the boys will all have their own cameras to carry.  The mesh bags are great since they can be dumped out and washed in the sink after treasures are collected.  We've included nature journaling as part of our routine beginning in preschool.  It is nice to have a few field guides, handbooks, and drawing books on hand for reference.  My kids like to simply record some things, and at other times they want to do further research and study.  Sometimes, one topic of study leads right into another.  A feather once led to a study of  birds which led to a study of flight...

Observation and attention to detail are much needed skills in science and, really, in everything--and my boys all have such an appreciation and respect for nature and all living things. 

Potatoes and carrots and knives, oh my!

Does anyone remember McCall's?  I loved to tear the Betsy McCall paperdoll page out of my mom's magazine each month.  This little 1968 McCall's Golden Guide is full of hazards and dangers (it's a wonder any of us survived childhood in the 70s.)  From "Use inexpensive artist's oil colors and turpentine with a few drops of Japan drier added" to "Light the oven" and "Cut out holes for bases with a knife,"  this book is chock full of ideas for perilous crafting! 

I did find one activity that I remember doing as a kid, and I think the boys will enjoy experimenting with it.  I especially remember having success with carrot tops and sweet potato vines (they grow really fast.)

Now, if I can just get the boys out of their pajamas and dressed and tucked before we start gardening...

Great American Postcard Swap # 4--Arkansas

Arkansas

We were curious about the pronunciation and spelling of Ar-can-saw, and I found the history behind its name here http://www.netstate.com/states/intro/ar_intro.htm.

The South Arkansas Vine Ripe Pink tomato is both the state fruit and the state vegetable of Arkansas.  Botanically, the tomato is a fruit, but because it is usually used as a vegetable, the state legislature adopted it as both in 1987.  (Tennessee's state fruit is also the tomato, but not a specific variety.)

Havin' Fun Yet? has a post about Arkansas at http://funmajors.blogspot.com/2010/03/fun-with-geography.html along with an Arkansas-themed giveaway.

Swords and Shakespeare



Ancient book from my college days.



   Flashback to the late 80s--I was sitting in class marking up this Shakespeare text, furiously taking notes as my super-intimidating prof. lectured, and I could barely keep up.  Flash forward to life as a homeschooling Mommy, and I am so happy I saved this book!  We went to see the play Macbeth performed by a local theater group last week.  All three boys are Harry Potter fans, and they were looking forward to hearing the "Double, double, toil and trouble" scene since the choir sings it (with accompaniment by a giant bullfrog) in one of the Harry Potter movies.  {W and Bean have worked out how to actually play this on the guitar and drums as J-man sings along.  Seriously.}  Who knew that Harry Potter would inspire three boys to take an interest in the works of Shakespeare?

Double, double, toil and trouble...

   So we decided to read the play before going to see it.  I scoured the bookshelves to see what we could use, and found so many different versions to choose from.  From this graphic novel version, to simple story-form retellings, I have found something to entice both a kindergartner and a sixth grader, as well as a reluctant third grader. 

They were all sold as soon as they found out that there would be swords...

Great American Postcard Swap #3--Arizona

Arizona

The Grand Canyon State's capital is Phoenix.  The beautiful Saguaro Cactus Blossom is the state flower, the state bird is the cactus wren, and the state tree is the palo verde. 

The largest solar telescope in the world is located in Kitt Peak.  The London Bridge was pruchased from Britain by an Arizona buisinessman in 1968 and was reconstructed in Lake Havasu. 

5 million people from around the world visit the the Grand Canyon, but Arizona is also home to the Saguaro National Park and the Petrified Forest National Park.  The famous gunfight at the OK Corral occurred in 1881 and is reenacted daily in Tombstone.

The beautiful Two-tailed Swallowtail is the state butterfly.  You can make a pretty one by drawing one half of the butterfly on the fold of a piece of cardstock, then cut it out, open it up, and color it in with markers or colored pencils following the picture in the field guide.

Here is a link to a free printable coloring page of the Arizona state bird and flower http://www.friendsacrossamerica.com/colorstateazbirdflower.html.

Lookie what we found!

Audubon's Birds of America (1950 edition)--no dust jacket, but only 25 cents at the thrift store!  We found the Willow Ptarmigan right away--Alaska's state bird, and the boys loved the vintage rendition.  The other book is from the old Dandelion Library series and has Audubon's Animals in one half, then you can flip it over for Audubon's Birds.  This one was pricier, 50 cents :)

We love scouring the shelves at the thrift store and at the used book store to see what we can find.  Bean actually said, "We find better stuff there than at Barnes and Noble!"  (Way cheaper too!)

State stats

Along with the book The Train of States, we are using Fast Facts About the 50 States to find information for the state notebook pages.  This book is full of fun trivia, and the boys love its colorful layout.

And here is a link for printable and interactive state maps http://www.yellowmaps.com/.

Great American Postcard Swap #2--Alaska

The capital of Alaska is Juneau.  Alaska's most northern point is Barrow, and the sun doesn't set there for 84 days in the summer.

The state flower is the forget-me-not, the tree is the Sitka spruce, and the bird is the willow ptarmigan.  The name "Alaska" came from the Aleut word "alyeska"  which means "great land."  Alaska didn't become a state until January 3, 1959, making it the 49th member of the U.S. 

We had two books on our shelf, which although they are not set in Alaska, they are relevant to read along with this state study.  The first is The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett, which is set in the Arctic.  Jan Brett has some great printables and activities on her website to accompany this book at http://janbrett.com/mural_tsb/mural_three_snow_bears_main.htm.

Another beautiful book is Very Last First Time by Jan Andrews and Ian Wallace which is set in an Inuit village in northern Canada.

We also have these:

Mama, Do You Love Me! has a section in the back with facts about the Inuit people and Alaskan animals.

A great resource for printables and an Alaska unit study is

http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/unitssubjgeog/a/susak.htm.

The Anchorage Museum website is a neat source for Alaskan art and history http://www.anchoragemuseum.org/.

Golden Oldies

The wonderfully vintage and kid-friendly Golden Guides are useful for journaling the state birds, butterflies, trees, and flowers. The boys can look up the things they want to draw and find some details they want to include on their state notebooking pages.

We have some "new" guides that we've bought at the bookstores, but our favorite ones are the old and worn ones we've collected from the thrift stores. We have gathered quite a collection of them, and their usefulness nevers goes out of date.

The Alabama state bird, the yellowhammer, is also called the yellow-shafted flicker. It is a type of woodpecker that likes to eat ants from the ground.

The longleaf pine tree, the Alabama state tree, has long dark green needles from 8 to 18 inches long. It produces cones that are 5 to 10 inches long and can be tapped for gums that produce turpentine and resin.

The next state on the list is Alaska! The boys are super-excited to be getting mail all the way from Alaska, and they will be checking the mailbox every day.  We are finding the states on the wall map and talking about where they are in relation to our state, what states border them, and what part of the country they are located in.  Since our focus has been mostly on world geography, this is a nice addition to our studies.

Great American Postcard Swap #1--Alabama

Our first postcard arrived today from Alabama. The boys were so happy to have mail!

The capital of Alabama is Montgomery. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus, and the Montgomery bus boycott began. The state tree is the southern longleaf pine, the state bird is the yellowhammer, and the state flower is the camellia. The state motto is "We dare defend out rights."

The boys will be filling out notebooking pages found here http://notebookingnook.blogspot.com/2009/04/freebie-state-study-notebooking-pages.html as we receive postcards throughout the swap.