We struck out

Yes, it happens, I don't always get it right!

We have been planning to study birds in the first 'term' of this year. I had chosen Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day Young Explorer Series by J. K. Fulbright as our 'spine' text. I pre-read it and I thought that it MAY be a little above the kids but I was excited about it. Well, I learned a lot from it! Forgetting, of course, that it was actually the KIDS who were meant to be learning not me!

I read the first few pages today and it sailed completely over their heads. Their eyes glazed over as I talked about Latin names and taxonomy. They had nothing to contribute when I asked questions and asked no questions of their own. Honestly, they learned more about birds from our reading of the Ugly Duckling this morning!



It was an honest mistake. I got excited about the information and know it is stuff I would love them to know about, but forgot about THEM in the mix!

So the brain cogs start whirring. What do I want Erin (the boys are pretty much just along for the ride on this one) to know about this? How can I teach her effectively and light her spark for the subject matter without drowning her in dry 'facts'? Honestly, the best way I think Erin can learn about the basics of taxonomy and scientific names is by labeling sketches and pictures for her nature journal with common and Latin names. And that's it! In my passion for this subject I forgot the golden rule of teaching a five and a half year old: KISS! Keep It Simple Sweetheart!

So I am putting this book on my bedside table to read. I will probably mention things I find out about to the kids as we brush over each subject area and I daresay it will be getting some airplay when birds next come around in our Nature subject rotation. But for now, I'm going to leave my kids alone, let them look at bird books and peek through binoculars and do my own learning - leave them to do theirs!

Our Summer/Autumn Nature planning

Planning time! Here is a peek into what we are planning in the 'nature' componant for February, March, April and May this year.

I like to start planning by keeping in mind the "Big Idea" or the "why" of why we are studying this topic. This keeps our planning on track and helps cull out "busy work".

It is the aim of the Our Family Homeschool that each child will be given every opportunity to:

o Develop a curiosity about and appreciation for the natural world
o Confidently use scientific method and a variety of research methods to learn about the natural world
o Record their learning and reflections about the natural world
o Communicate effectively about the natural world with other people
o Explore many different aspects of the natural world both directly (direct observation and experimentation) and indirectly (research, reading, viewing a variety of media)
o Pursue personal interests in this area.


Now to the nitty-gritty, where the rubber hits the road type planning. This Summer and Autumn, as well as our general observations of the natural world, the children will be given opportunity to learn about birds.

We will use a variety of resources including the following core texts:
Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day Young Explorer Series by J. K. Fulbright
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock


As well as these core texts, we will select some of the following texts (sourced from our local library and our own bookshelves) to complement our learning:
• Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
• Stella Luna by Janell Cannon
• Song of the Swallows by Leo Polloti
• Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
• Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
• The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen
• Blue wren by Belinda Brooker
• Good-night, owl! by Pat Hutchins
• The bag of wind by Gerald Rose
• The story of karrawingi the emu by Leslie Rees
• The imaginary menagerie by Hazel Edwards
• Little falcon by Jutta Goetze; illustrated by Marg Towt
• The best beak in Boonaroo Bay by Narelle Oliver
• Pelican by Pauline Reilly; illustrated by Will Rolland
• The pinkish, purplish, bluish egg by Bill Peet
• Edward the emu by Sheena Knowles; illustrated by Rod Clement
• Waddle giggle gargle! by Pamela Allen
• Birds, beasts, flowers: Australian children's poetry by William Hart-Smith; edited by Brian Dibble
• The Egg by Gallimord Jeunesse
• Chick Egg Guidebook by G.Q.F. Manufacturing Co
• Chickens Aren't The Only Ones by Ruth Heller
• Big Egg by Molly Coxe
• Egg to Chick by Millicent E Selsam
• Who's Hatching (Scholastic Inc.)
• Bird behaviour by Louise Dawson and Mike Langman; introduction by Bill Oddie
• Birds by Paul McEvoy
• Australian backyard wildlife by Jim Grant and Bob Winters
• I wonder why vultures are bald, and other questions about birds by Amanda O'Neill
• Birds by Stephen Savage
• Whose chick is that? by Jill B. Bruce; illustrated by Jan Wade
• Australian bush birds by Harry Frauca
• The Puffin book of Australian birds by Helen Hunt
• Birds by Joy Richardson
• Gollancz children's encyclopedia of birds by Jinny Johnson
• Birds by Diane James & Sara Lynn; illustrated by Sue Cony
• 100 things you should know about birds by Jinny Johnson; consultant, Steve Parker
• Famous Australian birds by Gisela Kaplan
• Amazing Australian birds by Barry Silkstone
• Feathers by Cassie Mayer
• Australian owls, frogmouths & nightjars by Jill Morris, Lynne Tracey
• Bird by David Burnie
• Eggs and chicks by Fiona Patchett
• Penguins by Bobbie Kalman
• How birds live by Barry Silkstone
• What is a bird? by Barry Silkstone
• Where birds live by Barry Silkstone
• Field guide to Tasmanian birds by Dave Watts
• Birds by Kylie Currey
• Birds by Peter Holden
• The Gould League book of Australian birds by Don Goodsir
• How nature works: fascinating projects and experiments that reveal the secrets of nature by David Burnie

You may have noticed that there is a mix of fictional and non-ficton books in that list. You would be amazed the insight you can gather from a good work of fiction! Many picture books also contain amazing illustrations which are just too good to miss. Field guides are also a must. We have several sitting on the shelf by the dining room window so we can use them to identify birds we see out the window while we eat dinner.

We will also directly observe domestic and wild birds in a variety of settings. This little sentence is what will bring the whole thing to life! Peering through binoculars out the window into the back yard, patting a chook, holding a baby duckling, collecting the eggs with Nanny, taking a trip to the wetlands centre to spot birds and chat to the park rangers. This is what lights the fire within!

Of course, we will also incorporate a few web and TV resources. Bill Nye the Science Guy does a great program on birds. Enchanted Learning have some great Bird resources
and print outs. I've even gleaned a bit from the lapbooks on homeschoolshare.com

I'd love to hear about any other bird study ideas you have! Feel free to comment or leave a link.

science - how we do it.

Princess Doc doing her mad scientist impression - her grandmother made her that white coat for her third birthday, I think we need to invest in another one!


I was reading The Gentle Art of Chaos blog and she was talking about science. My comment was getting a tad long, so I headed over here and blogged instead! You see, I love science, it is my favourite subject after Bible and English. I get deliriously excited about experiments and Latin names and tables of elements!! My biggest challenge is to focus myself and not get too carried away - starting to make a volcano on the kitchen table at 5pm is NOT a good idea!

So this is what we plan to do in a nut shell.

Each season (we 'structure' things loosely by season here and take Summer off, works for us) I pick a science topic and a nature topic - our next ones will be Birds and Human Biology with a hygiene and germs focus. During the term we keep our learning journals and do any funky paper things or record keeping in there (a whole post in itself that I will get back to another day). I will also grab a number of books on the topics from the library as well as de-shelving our own books to store in a basket in the lounge room to encourage us to leaf through them. I will often choose a "spine" book to help structure things too.

At the end of the season, we have a week set aside as Science Week where we do any messy or involved crafts or experiments and excursions all at once. So we get the joy and mess but only one week of clean up sessions! I am betting that science week will be one of the highlights of our 'term' and will create strong positive associations with the subject, making the kids FAR more likely to be as excited as their mother about tables of Elements and Latin names!! This structure also means that when I find a brilliant resource, rather than getting carried away and tossing out what we are currently doing or trying to pile it in on top - or putting it aside and loosing it - I can file it away under the year and season we will need it. Then when I get to doing birds, I open my bird file and pretty much all the work is done for me!

Here are our six year rotations:

Science Focus

Year 1
Human body/biology (hygiene, immune systems, skin), Geology, botany

Year 2
Astronomy/space exploration, Human body/biology (skeletal system, teeth, muscular system), Microbiology/magnification

Year 3
Meteorology, Human body/biology (digestive/urinary systems, nutrition), Marine exploration

Year 4
Human body/biology (respiratory and circulatory systems), Technology/engineering, aerodynamics and human flight

Year 5
Human body/biology (nervous system, 5 senses), Astronomy/space exploration, electronics

Year 6
Physics, Human body/biology (endocrine and reproductive systems), chemistry

Don't let the big "science" words scare you! At the age my kids are, Chemistry will be freezing stuff and melting it, combining bicarb soda and vinegar and baking yeast bread. This will give them an idea of how matter and chemical reactions work. They don't have to be charting the molecular structure! We do not have to cover EVERYTHING in that topic because we will get back to it again, eventually! My job is to teach some of the basics and ignite a passion. If I do my job right, they will be spending their free time checking this stuff out themselves.

Some good Science links are:

The Exploration Station
At Home Science
Teacher.net
It's a Boy's Life - the science posts
Chemistry Lapbook
Home Chemistry
Candy Experements

Nature Focus

Year 1
Birds, rocks and minerals, wildflowers and insects/invertebrates

Year 2
the skies (astronomy), Mammals, garden flowers and weeds

Year 3
climate and weather. Trees, marine life

Year 4
Reptiles, flowerless plants, birds

Year 5
trees, insects/invertebrates, food plants

Year 6
fish, amphibians and reptiles, mammals/marsupials

The nature rotation is a tweaked version of what they use for the Ambleside Online curriculum. The Handbook Of Nature Study Blog gives some great ideas, but I have needed to tweak and change to make it more relevant for Australia - aside from the fact that I have a compulsive need to tweak and change, it is a sickness I tell you! Downunder Literature has some brilliant spine texts for Australian nature study and we often use the Bush Calender to help inform our nature journalling. For more on how we do nature study take a look at other posts with the tag "nature" but I will get back to that later too.

The next step...

in a journey through our day.


What do you do after you finish morning tea and scripture reading?

Unless it is pouring with rain we go outside and the kids frolic while I hang washing and do gardening etc.


Princess Doc and Farm Boy on a winter's day

Why?

I know, I know. It doesn't SOUND very school-ish does it? But I consider this one of the most vital parts of our homeschool.

I COULD schedule a day full of activities and challenges, but then we would miss out on all that this time offers us including:

Spontaneous learning where a child will rush in for a hand book to find the name of a strange bird.

Developing the ability to select and organise ones OWN activities. Believe it or not deciding between riding a bike or bouncing on the trampoline involves a complex set of skills. Children who are hyper-scheduled miss out on these skills.

Supporting the natural growth and development of the body and brain. I was involved for a time with remedial therapies which supported children with learning disabilities and hyperactivity disorders etc. Many of the physical activities that we had these children do to get their bodies and brains working together and nural networks forming correctly were EXACTLY WHAT MY KIDS DO IF I LEAVE THEM ALONE! Jumping, running, crawling, wrestling, jumping jacks and more. Kids will do them if given space an opportunity. Kids who DON'T do these things are at risk of their bodies and possibly even their brains not working properly.

Conducting independent investigations. Wow! Sounds good doesn't it? Let me give you an example:

Farm Boy: Mum, look, there is a trail of slime behind this snail.

Mama Bear: Yep, cool.

Farm Boy: Hehe, now it is on my finger. It is wet Mum!

Mama Bear: Really?

Farm Boy: Yeah. Look, when it dries it goes shiny!

Mama Bear: You don't say?!

Farm Boy: Yep, look, they are all over here. I'm going snail hunting Mum!

That folks, is biology 101 independent investigation #245 in progress.

We conduct experiments. Sounds like we need white coats and crazy hair dos doesn't it? Not really! Princess Doc planted some bulbs in her garden with the hypothesis that if she planted and cared for them, flowers will bloom. She checks her garden and cares for it regularly. The bulbs are growing and very soon I suspect her hypothesis will be proven completely correct! White coats and crazy hair dos completely optional.

We work on our social skills. Yes, with only us at home. One trike + two little boys who want to ride it = a ripe opportunity to learn how to win friends and influence people! Conflict management 101 right in our own back yard.

We exercise our skills of observation and attention to detail. For example, today Princess Doc informed me that she found an aphid on her finger. She saw it and IDENTIFIED it all on her own. A very proud moment.

We have fun and we like it.

Tool Man doing his Ewok impression

How?!

So where is my scope and sequence?

Don't have one!

Every now and then there will be a funky challenge on a blog a catch up with or we will have an idea of what we want to do. Other times I will have need-to-do items with the garden etc and the kids will join me. Quite often the kids disappear into the yard somewhere, together or separately, and tell me about it later. So long as the basic rules of safety and kindness are followed, I'm happy!


Farm Boy proudly displaying his collection of.....dirt

If you are wanting a few ideas to keep you occupied while the kids are playing, these are ten sites to help inspire you, in no particular order!:

The Magnifying Glass

The Snail's Trail

Elsa Mora

By Sun and Candlelight

Crafty Crow

Snap Shots

Crafty Mama

Journey Into Unschooling

Herbal RootsZine

The Handbook of Nature Study


If you are priveledged enough to live in the wonderful land of Oz and would like to learn a little more about your immediate surroundings, try these sites:

Birds in Backyards


The Gould League

ABC Science: Scribbly Gum

Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife (if you are unfortunate enough NOT to live in Tasmania, check out the parks and wildlife site for your state. You will find it full of all sorts of info)


Images of Australian Fauna and Flora


What about you? How do work "unstructured activity" time and/or nature study into the day? Why do you think it's important? What, do your kids tend to choose to do/enjoy doing during these times?

Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!

Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.


The girls bonding