Today we did all our regular work... math, reading, grammer and then we went over cardinals and mockingbirds. Emma and Chloe liked the Cardinals the best. It figures, they are colorful and loud.
The girls also spent alot of time today on Starfall.com
Sounds ominous doesn't it? Last week we took off for Spring Break, but as it happens we did have a school lesson. We were driving out of our subdivision when we came across these vultures. A bunny had died in the road and they were "cleaning" it. We have so many rabbits in our subdivision I am convinced we must be sitting on top of a massive warren. So we stopped and watched. (I know, its a bit gorey, but it was very educational). I spared everyone pics of the corpse, but got these great photos of the vultures on our light pole. They aren't the prettiest, but they are huge. The kids were really impressed when the birds flew so close to us and ate the bunny.
Today was our day to study vultures, and of course everyone reminisced about the ones we had seen. We did our math and our phonics/reading/grammer. We are trying to take it somewhat easy, and heal up. Somehow we have wound up AGAIN with this stupid cold/virus whatever it is. So we did alot of starfall.com today too.
Emma has been doing so well with her internet research. Her reading skills have just shot through the roof and I am so impressed that she can read the National Geographic and Wikipedia articles. Yesterday we researched Anhinga, Flamingo, Spoonbill, Hummingbird, Roadrunner, and cormorants. The above video shows how Japanese fisherman use the Cormorants to fish for them.
We were supposed to head to the nature preserve to birdwatch, but we are being beaten by whatever this virus is. Chloe said she needed a "4 hours nap" and John was grouchy too, so we skipped it. We were all really bummed, so we are going to try to head over there soon to make up for it.
We worked more on our reading, grammer and math. Even though we missed the nature preserve, it was a great catch up day for us.
Ummm, today was pretty much a bust. We had scouts, and that was awesome. We learned about manners. But we didn't do anything "birdy". After scouts we spent a good 2 hours at the doctors office and now I am on some antibiotics, and hopefully will be feeling better. Downside of homeschooling = there is no substitute teacher to call in when you are sick!!!
Today was our first day of our new bird unit. We introduced the idea of a report on beaks and bills. Its interesting how fun that sounds before you realize what it is... Then Emma did some internet research on red robins, toucans, hawks and pelicans. We had planning on going on a nature walk today, but I am so sick and there was just no way i was going to make it on a walk without a stretcher. So we drove to Kemah, near the docks and found Pelicans to watch. Then we came home and painted our bird houses. Emma's so proud of her birdhouse because she built it herself at her scouts!!!
During out trip down to Kemah I was excited to see that my local fish mongers are back in business YAY!!!! I LOVE getting my shrimp from them!
In addition to the math, grammer, and phonics/reading we do each day....
MONDAY:
Introduce idea of report on beaks and bills
look at bird bookmarks on web
Let Emma learn how to browse/research on the web for: Red Robin, Toucan, Pelican, Hawk, Anhinga, Flamingo, Spoonbill, Hummingbird, Roadrunner, Nightjar, Woodpecker
Use a raw chicken to see parts of bird and look at skeleton of bird online. (where is the most meat and muscle? are bones heavy?)
Go on a nature walk to find as many birds as we can
Look online for anhinga and how they eat, weaver birds and their nest, Egyptian vultures and how they crack eggs, cormorants and how they fish for Japanese fisherman, humingbirds and how they fly backwards
TUESDAY
go online to compare the eyes of an owl (front of head), a sparrow (side of head) and a woodcocks (in back). Why the differences..? (the owls hunt, sparrows spot danger and seed, woodcocks who feed in mud have to have eyes to see danger in the rear)
go to observe some birds on the lake - watch how they fly: Look at position of feet, head and wings.
Scout meeting: manners and social skills
WEDNESDAY
Baytown Nature Center Field trip
THURSDAY
research vultures on the internet
art class
FRIDAY
cover one cloth with shortening, and leave the other shortening free. Spray water on the two cloths to demonstrate how a duck waterproofs feathers.
Compare a chicken bone to a cow bone.
fill/create bird feeders, sew peanuts on a string to create edible garland for birds
model bird feet out of clay
try to sketch birds
eat a bird lunch: ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins), sunflower seeds, nectar (soda) through a straw, snakes (hot dogs), fruits.
Sounds ominous doesn't it? Last week we took off for Spring Break, but as it happens we did have a school lesson. We were driving out of our subdivision when we came across these vultures. A bunny had died in the road and they were "cleaning" it. We have so many rabbits in our subdivision I am convinced we must be sitting on top of a massive warren. So we stopped and watched. (I know, its a bit gorey, but it was very educational). I spared everyone pics of the corpse, but got these great photos of the vultures on our light pole. They aren't the prettiest, but they are huge. The kids were really impressed when the birds flew so close to us and ate the bunny.
Today was our first day of our new bird unit. We introduced the idea of a report on beaks and bills. Its interesting how fun that sounds before you realize what it is... Then Emma did some internet research on red robins, toucans, hawks and pelicans. We had planning on going on a nature walk today, but I am so sick and there was just no way i was going to make it on a walk without a stretcher. So we drove to Kemah, near the docks and found Pelicans to watch. Then we came home and painted our bird houses. Emma's so proud of her birdhouse because she built it herself at her scouts!!!
Before we left for Art class I caught Emma reading a Junie B Jones book to Chloe. I love sneaking up on these moments between the sisters.
