Let me tell you: I am sooooo happy to not have to bundle under three layers today! It's 46 and sunny out so we were happy campers to be outside.
Monday: We did our Handbook of Nature Study seasonal tree observation, which you can read here and did a couple of worksheets related to groundhog day.
Tuesday: It was freezing cold so I laid out a balance beam activity with floor boards for the kids, complete with sharks, snakes, alligator and a Loch Ness monster as pictured below.
Then we worked on our art activity for the Cherokee Nation's "Valentines for Vets" program using sponges cut into heart shapes and regular ol' tempura paint. We made a dozen and mailed them later in the week. This is a project Hayes and I have done every year since she was about 2.
Wednesday: We met friends at the "jumpy jumpy" place and the kids wore themselves out for almost three hours and I got to have adult conversations with the other moms! Then Hayes and I worked on reading and using maps from a US Geological printout that I've had about a year. She loved it and then we had a quiet afternoon of watching PBS' "The Journey of the Monarch Butterfly."
Thursday: Hayes taught Chooj from her worksheets on synonyms and antonyms and we started our watercolor valentines for family members from Art Projects for Kids.
We just finished them today.
After learning about Tennessee and Georgia for our 50 State Friday (a homeschooling idea gratefully stolen from Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers), we took a walk down the road and Hayes checked things off on her winter scavenger hunt and nature journal sheet. On our way home, I heard one of our dogs, Ruffian, making an uncommon sound. I knew he was onto something but couldn't see. Then out of the woods came our dog, Shadow, carrying this:
We were reminded of the Cherokee story of how possum came to have such a long pink tale as we watched this one.
We watched it "play possum" for a long time. Everytime we'd step away, it would move a bit more. It wasn't hurt at all. We kept staring at it, standing right next to it and I said,"That thing is going to snarl and snap and all of us are going to jump up in a tree!"
10 comments:
What a fun week! We have so shamefully abandoned the Outdoor Hour Challenge. I really do want to pick it back up though. And we will. Eventually.
That's funny about the possum. We have friends who raised an abandoned baby for awhile and set it free when it was big enough to make it on its own. They're so ugly that they're almost cute. Almost.
Thanks for participating in the Wrap-Up this week!
Hi Shannon-
I thought that Nova show on the Monarch Butterflies was so cool - taking 5 generations over the year and yet, returning to the ancestral wintering grounds. I know Chuck has been there - will have to ask him about it tonight at the astro-club meeting - he just came up from nearly a month in Mexico...
-Dean
I would say the Opossum was the highlight of the week, haha! My kids would have loved that :)
Sounds like a great week and the oppossum must have been really neat to watch!
Those possum pictures are fascinating. I have an irrational fear of wild animals, so I would never have gotten close enough to really enjoy that experience. Your pictures were enough for me.
Very cool!
Erin
I loved hearing about your homeschooling week! Whatever happened to the possum? Did it ever snap at you or did it simply get up and head back into the woods peacefully?
What fun activities you've done this week!! I wish it was 46 degrees here. I can't wait to spend some time outside again!!
What a great week. I really like winter, but I'm ready for some warmer weather too!
Cheryl- somewhat crunchy mama
I love the valentine's cards. What a wonderful tradition. I had also forgotten about the nature study walks. I had every intention of starting that but never did. I will have to take a look at that again. We have heard the opossum story when we visited our local nature museum and learned about Cherokee heritage. Very cool how you got to see one so close up and personal. :)
Wow, great nature study opportunity! Our possums here are a lot bigger than that one, do you think it was a youngster?
I have to tell you a funny possum story. My mom called me not too long ago to ask me about something she saw in her yard at night. She thought she had seen an anteater....my mom lives in CA so we have no anteaters here. I tried to convince her it was probably a possum but she is sure she saw an anteater. Makes me laugh every time I think about it. :)
Thanks for sharing your wild animal.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
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