Nature Day

As I am sure I have posted on numerous occasions (and maybe not), a huge part of our school day is suppose to be getting out in nature. Charlotte Mason recommended hours outside to just observe God's creations. It sounds really, really good in theory but sometimes pretty hard to put into practice. A good share of our day is playing outside and we are very thankful to have a pretty big back yard. It has different kinds of trees, a variety of birds and bird nests, a pseudo garden, a humming bird feeder, lots of bugs and even a snake that hangs out in the wood pile. Daily the kids can see how are backyard changes.

But one of the things we really enjoy is going to the creek which is part of a land management area. We started going last year at the beginning of the school year and went every other week. Then EG came along and we never made it back. At that point, I was happy just to get regular school done. No extra trips anywhere.

So, one of the main things I wanted to do this school year was actually finish what we started last year and go to the creek during all of the "seasons." Yesterday was the day. We woke up and it was raining. But not hard and no thunder and lightening. I really wanted to go because I wanted to get started observing nature! Not to mention the kids would have been so disappointed. Anyway, daddy watched EG and we went. It was perfect! It wasn't hot, there was a breeze and there was so much nature to observe. So much more than I remembered from last year. Four different kinds of caterpillars. A half dozen or so different flowering plants. A rushing creek. Deer and raccoon tracks. Plenty of moths and butterflies and dragon flies and crickets and spiders. Different types of fungus. The kids were the ones that found everything. They are so observant. They found things that were so well hidden by nature's camouflage. They would find one thing and then a few minutes later someone would yell that the found some other really cool thing. Ms. Terri and I would randomly through out questions to point them in the right direction or just to get them thinking about what they were observing. I could go on and on! I do wonder sometimes who I am homeschooling for, the kids or me . . .