Caleb's Mushroom Hunt

Days of rain and little sun have left the ground squishy soft and the air humid.  What better time for a boy to go on a mushroom hunt!  Caleb had fantastic luck in the woods this afternoon.  He is still looking through his field guide to try identify them (which is harder than it sounds) but I'm satisfied that he had a great time exploring God's creation.

Our very own Charlotte

The last few nights we have watched an amazing spider spin her web just outside of our laundry room door. Eager hands would turn on the porch light and view the wonders of web making only inches from our eyes. It has been a true testament to the awesome creativity of our God to watch the spider meticulously create a web, catch unsuspecting insects through the night, and then take her whole glorious creation down at sunrise, only to repeat it all again. This display went on for several days.

Last night however, something was different. Our spider was not making a beautiful web. She seemed slow and uncoordinated. Her web never appeared and this morning she was not resting in her usual spot above the door. In her place was an egg sack. Her life had come full circle. Goodbye Charlotte.

On nature study and heartbreak

Today we learned that nature study can be sad. Yesterday evening Caleb found a young meadowlark fluttering in and out of the tall grass near the cow pasture. When he caught it he took it to show Allie. Allie discovered that it had a broken wing and looked as if it had had a brief run in with one of the cats. They immediately brought it in to me with hopes of patching up the young bird's wing. I was right in the middle of fixing dinner, but having a tender heart, I got down a small box to put it in and gave it a dish of water and a bit of parakeet seed (desparate times call for desparate measures).

After dinner we got out our handy copy of The Handbook of Nature Study and read about Meadowlarks. We quickly learned that they enjoy a diet of grasshoppers and other creepy crawlers, not seeds(oops), and that they are out of the nest in only 10-12 days. We did not read whether or not the baby bird is still dependent on it's parent for food. Allie got her bug jar and proceeded to go outside to rustle up some nourishment for our new feathered friend. While she was outdoors, I fashioned a new home out of a large box and a piece of screening. I thought is was nice, but the bird was scared and kept flying up and running itself into the screen. Allie returned with one grasshopper (not much smaller than the bird) and three pill bugs. The latter was not on the list from "The Handbook", but they were easy to catch.

We dropped the bugs into the box, but the bird was not interested. We only managed to further frighten it. The meadowlark was bright eyed and energetic and appeared to have no other injuries, so we decided to leave it alone until morning; maybe it would calm down and eat. Morning came and all of the bugs were still intact and crawling about the box. The bird was chirping and still very frightened. I feared it would injure itself further if left in our care, so I made the decision that we would let it go. This was not popular. Allie took the box back to the tree line on our property and found a spot where the meadowlark would be able to jump up to some low branches for safety. Many tears were shed in our home this morning. Yes, nature study can be sad.

Go to the ant

This time of year I always have a few uninvited guests sneaking into the house. Yes, we get ants. I thought this season, in the spirit of our good friend Charlotte Mason, we would use this inconvenience as an opportunity for nature study. We found their home and thought it was rather impressive. When we moved a bit of the dirt, the ants scurried around like mad and started carrying away their eggs (see the brown arrow on photo #2). Such hard workers, kind of makes me feel guilty for squashing them on my counter ~ guess I'll just have to make them my special sugar borax pudding. Funny, they never return after I fix that particular dessert.

Morning Surprise

This morning was to be just another "normal" day of school. You know the routine, math, language lessons, history readings, etc. But sometimes one must throw caution to the wind and take advantage of an unexpected opportunity. Today was that day.

While doing the early chores my husband noticed a spring peeper perched on our house just above the water faucet. What a treat! After breakfast, the kids and I caught the peeper and brought him in for observation. We made him a nice home in a large apothecary jar. In the jar we placed a few smooth river rocks, a small stick, and then lined the bottom with moss. A very nice home if I do say so myself.

We have been having a wonderful time watching the tree toad move around the jar. He seems very much at home. The Handbook of Nature Study had quite a lot of information and we read it all! Ashlyn even took a turn "reading" about our amphibius friend. The older kids are still working on their nature journal entries, but Ashlyn had her "froggy" drawing done in a very timely matter.

Most days, having a daily schedule is important, and we did get to the majority of our other lessons, but sometimes the unexpected journeys are the ones that teach us the most. It is on a day like today that I am reminded how blessed I am to have this precious time together with my children. God is good!

Another Outdoor Adventure

Lately the weather has been less than cooperative for outdoor nature study, so we've mostly been reading. Today, however was 54 degrees, sunny, with just the slightest breeze. Allie and Caleb headed for the back tree line of our property and here is what they found.

The owl pellet in its entirety.

The findings before they were cleaned.

Allie cleaning the owl pellet findings.

Still cleaning....they were dirty.

Owl pellet findings cleaned. We determined the owl had eaten a mouse.

Our First REAL Nature Study

Last Sunday(03/29)we did our first "real" nature study. When we went to church that morning, everything was encased in ice. It was beautiful! By the time we came home, it was 50 degrees and the ice was replaced with puddles and mud. A KIDS DREAM! After lunch, everyone put on their boots and made their way to the waterway in our cow's pasture. Boy were we in for a treat. All the water had forced a female crayfish out of her hole and she had a mass of eggs under her tail. This was a sight we had never seen. Later when we came in the house, the kids each drew a picture and wrote a few things in their journals, as I read aloud about crayfish from "The Handbook of Nature Study". It was REALLY fun...I can't believe that we had never done this before. Here are the results of our efforts. Click picture to view full size.

Caleb's Nature Journal Entry ~ Allie's Drawing of the Crayfish (below)