Fall is my favorite season, and with only a day left in September the season is officially under way. We are waiting for news from my sister that her apples are ready to pick and I am scoping out the different pumpkin places, so stay tuned for lots of reddish-orangish projects around here. Until then, you can check out how the pond has changed over the past two months. We'll start way back in August (which seems ages ago) and move forward in time until last week.
Week 32
Week 35 (weeks 33 and 34 missed due to our vacation)
We found grapes growing into our yard from the neighbor's yard! That will definitely go down as a "POND STUDY HIGHLIGHT".
Week 36 - pond study in the rain
Week 37
Week 38
If science isn't your thing, how about a few social studies projects? For those of you who are interested in such things, I am not a "Project-based Homeschooler", an Unschooler, or a "Unit
Study-er". If, however, I encounter a project that the kids can do mostly on their own that would enrich their textbook studies, then I am all for it. For example, Ian's history book (The Story of the World, vol. 1) suggested having the student try to build a shelter like a nomadic person would have built to live in. That was right up Ian's alley, so I sent him outside with a tarp (I live in the city - there aren't many tanned animal hides available for authenticity) and a reminder not to touch my garden stake collection. He came back inside a long time later with the realization that being a "cave man" wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I'm thinking that next I should send him out to hunt and gather his own meals - it might create an appreciation for the food we have so readily available to us (and that I put on the table for him.....).
Not to be outdone, Brynnie was interested by a project suggestion in her study of the State of Maryland. It seems that Maryland has a historically unique fishing fleet called the "Skipjacks" that are involved in harvesting oysters from the Chesapeake Bay.
Brynn decided she wanted total independence on this project and collected her supplies and solved her problems without any help from me. It was a big girl moment for her!
I was rather relieved when the boat did float - she would have been devastated if it hadn't.
Happy "doing educational stuff" everyone!
2 comments:
Way to follow through and do the pond study. I am sure the kids will remember it and it will contribute to them continuing to study nature.
Good job on the history projects and I am so glad that 1) the tent stayed up and 2) the boat floated. :)
This was a great post. It has not yet, but certainly soon will be, nominated for a literary award!!!
Seriously all the pictures of the pond were cool.
Post a Comment