We're learning

Last week I took the children for a drive along the Blue Ridge Trail. It was fun, but we were woefully unprepared. This time I had plans! We packed a picnic lunch and less science materials. We also made a point of stopping at the visitor center to pick up free publications, which will help in our future adventures.

It feels like there is so much pressure to make everything EDUCATIONAL, but I'm slowly beginning to learn my children seem to learn more when I let go and let them find their interests. That doesn't mean to say they don't learn their letters and math, but when it comes to science and social studies, letting them go on their own is best. 

Bear found this awesome caterpillar! We gathered a few nuts, which had fallen from a tree at the visitor center and brought them home to figure out what tree they are from. The children climbed all over rocks. Both fell down. They didn't break. When other tourists would say hello, they politely replied. When I asked they draw one thing from today's trip in their journal. They happily did it.

Who's children are these? haha! I really needed this day and if the weather proves good next week, we're headed back up the mountain. I'm beginning to also see the value of field trips and I'm thinking more are definitely in order.

Homeschool Preschool: Birds

(Links in this post are affiliate links and I will be making a small amount of money if you make a purchase by clicking through.  I am not being compensated for a favorable review, I just really like talking about books.)

Our Tufted Titmouse couple.

Because people seem to be interested in what we do at Bear and Bun's homeschool, I've decided to make a feature of some of our studies.

We usually have a Reading/Writing/Mathematics session daily, but I like to have also have a portion of the day devoted to "Exploration." This subject is all those fun extracurriculars that get the gears turning in little heads and they're plain fun.

This past week, we studied birds!

I love Bun's drawing of the Chipping Sparrow. Pretty good for a 2 year old!

We started out with an introduction to basic bird watching. I found Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds: Eastern Region (Stokes Field Guide Series) to be an excellent bird watching book for the children, with gorgeous photos. I loved the organization by bird color, which helped us quickly find birds.

I also used the Merlin Bird ID app, to help with bird calls. I honestly love this app and use it pretty regularly, because Bear is always asking me what sounds a particular bird makes.

Finally combining it with Buggy and Buddy's Free Printable Bird Book for Birding with Kids.  Every day, we would sit at the sliding back door and watch birds as they visited our feeder. Bear and Bun would each draw a picture of a bird we observed, usually using 1+1+1=1's FREE Backyard Birds Montessori Nomenclature Cards and a bird from our Safari Ltd Backyard Birds TOOB, so they would have a still model to draw from.

It's Chippy!

We ended up making friends with a particularly bold Chipping Sparrow who by the end of the week was bringing a mate along to enjoy our offering of seeds. Although we aren't sure, we've decided it's a boy and it's name is Chippy. The children are now happily making up stories about Chippy and his girlfriend as they likely prepare for a new family. The children also set out 5" pieces of cotton packing twine in case Chippy would like something soft to build a nest with. I had to stop them from giving our Border Collie, Rory, a hair cut so Chippy could use his hair as well.

Storytime!

After lunch, we have story time and I've been reading the children stories from The Burgess Bird Book for Children (Dover Children's Classics). The children are big fans of the stories of Peter Rabbit and have been happy to hear of new adventures. The book does have photos of beautiful paintings, however the paintings are reproduced in black and white. I'm considering coloring them in with colored pencils. But for now, we're looking the birds up in the Merlin Bird ID app. (I did say I love this app right?)

A surprising hit for Bear was The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon (Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12). It was a storybook retelling of John James Audubon as a young man and Bear was enchanted by the story. I must admit I purchased Audubon's Birds of America Coloring Book so I could color the birds. I've shown Bear and he was moderately interested in the cover (Blue Jays eating eggs), but he's really not big on coloring books, to my immense disappointment. I love coloring and I look forward to a few spare minutes of coloring, someday...