Sunday, May 22, 2011

Nature Study From Around Our Home


As I mentioned before, our homeschooling methods are very eclectic.  Some here take well to workbooks and textbooks, others are very hands-on and we somehow mesh the different styles to find a stride that works for us. 
This is an example of a nature study activity...and a day when I got the True Homeschooling Mom award.  So, we were observing the prepared slides that came with a microscope set.  I was the donor of a drop of blood for another slide, and we tried a few other things.  Then, I sent the kiddos out on a hunt to find something they thought would be interesting to view under the microscope.  We got earthworms (who wiggled and squirmed) , dust, and various other items .  But I won the award by allowing my children to swat a fly and take the corpse as their specimen.  By hand.  Yes I did!!  And they loved it.  Above, you see the wing. Our nature lover looked for the fly's suction cup feet, 600 eyes, and all else that he could recall. 
Some days, their assignments involve a nature journal entry, but I didn't want to kill the joy they got out of this by asking them to document it....they were just enjoying the discovery of it all.  That, in my opinion, is where the learning takes place.

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