Impatiens Art

No, really.  We are focusing on Impatiens for Nature Study this week. 
I love their petal arrangement.  There are 5 of them; one at the top, if you will; two out to the sides, and two toward the bottom.  Think of a head, two arms out to the sides, and two legs going to the bottom. 
Too much for you?
Ok.  Today, a rainy, sloshy, dark day, we painted the impatiens bloom. 
I got the idea of using watercolors followed by ink outlines from Art Projects for Kids.  We actually used watercolor crayons mixed with some Crayola watercolors, if you want to know. 
I think they look very artsy! 

  
This is mine. 

This is Elizabeth's.  I like how she painted a background for hers.  

Twiggy - Update

A little while back, I posted this about our accidental twig study. 
Here is what our twig vase looked like.

A couple of weeks ago, I was cleaning up and decided it was time to discard these old things.  The water was dirty, and the twigs were dead.
Except . . .
that they weren't all dead!  As I was about to pick them up out of their dirty water, I saw this:

Green!  The twig is alive!
I love this little guy!  He has taught me to be patient with nature; to expect the unexpected.  
I so have to send this in to Barb at the Handbook of Nature Study blog.  It was her suggestion to place the twigs in water and see what happens. 

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Spring Flowers

As of today, March 19th, it was still technically Winter.  So I pulled out 3 Outdoor Hour Challenges from the Handbook of Nature Study Winter Study that we had not done yet, and let E pick which one she wanted to do today.

                                           

The warm weather must have moved her because she chose the Pansy challenge.  First lesson:  Pansies are winter flowers and are long gone in Alabama by now.  Thanks, Home Depot guy.

That's okay.  We're used to making changes like this.  So I let E choose the replacement flowers.  Impatiens.  The name intrigued her.  

She also chose a Snapdragon for her own personal enjoyment.  

We have a  big bag of soil at home so we take a few flowers home to plant right away.  Previous lesson:  don't wait or you'll never do it and your flowers will die.

Get out the bag of soil and put on the gloves.  Hmm.  The soil is infested with bugs.  Second lesson:  check the soil before going to the store.  

Refer back to previous lesson.  Better go get new soil right away so we can plant these babies.  

This is just the beginning, but it was a fun one.  Soon we'll be identifying flower parts and drawing our beautiful flowers.  Check back.  

The Beginning

 The Middle

The End!

Decisions ... Decisions

It's the time of year, for me anyway, to have fun looking at home-school curricula.  Not only are we inching toward the end of this "school" year, but it's a time to determine what is working well for my child and what is not.  
We already have our core units in Beyond Five in a Row for E and Five in a Row Volume 4 for Z.  
I've found a lot of good resources for Bible/History/and Geography on Simply Charlotte Mason (SCM).  We're going to tackle some Ancient Greece next year. 
While I love our current Math, Math on the Level, I think Z will start with Life of Fred.  He's my independent learner and worker, but LoF still seems to fit into Charlotte Mason's style.  Maybe E will like it, too.  
I've just found SCM's Spelling Wisdom.  It's way more fun than the traditional list, copy, write a sentence, test format. 
We already like Institute for Excellence in Writing here.  It's a keeper for sure. 
We also found and will keep following this Handbook of Nature Study blog for our nature studies.  

What else is new?  Once I find a good deal on Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (another SCM recommendation) we're going to read one play this year. 
We're going to get rid of our text-bookish Bible Study a la BJU Press.  Nothing personal.  Just too traditional schoolish for me.
Science is still up for grabs.  The Apologia courses suggested at SCM just don't fit us well.  Answers in Genesis?  I don't know if C will go for that.   I'm open to suggestions here. 
You know what else?  We are too blooming busy.  Gymnastics, it has been fun, but it's time to go. 

 Just kidding.  However, it will be easier to fit it in without having to pick up Z from school next year. 

Now, anyone up for a curriculum fair or a home-school conference?  
Road trip!

This is the House That God Made

I am in the process of transitioning E to the next level of Five in a Row which is called Beyond Five in a Row.  

 However, until "we" are ready for the level of independence which "we" need to have, we are using a transition unit.  It's called A Child's Geography (vol. 1) by Ann Voskamp.
Now, I'm not afraid to admit that Ann Voskamp totally daunts me.  She's on such a higher spiritual level than I am that I don't understand her writing sometimes.
But I do like her geography books.  They are an intelligent mix of creation science, world geography, and solar system studies so far.  
 In fact, we're in the middle of an experiment on ozone in and around our house that she suggests in chapter 2.  If it doesn't work, I'm sure it's my fault.  My experiment track record is pretty weak.   
So far, we've been through a study of all the layers of the atmosphere, finding the Northern Lights and radio waves, and a review of the continents and hemispheres.  
E makes a postcard at the end of each chapter for review.

This is her first one from Chapter 1

The best part is learning how we can honor God with what we've learned whether it's how to protect the atmosphere or to pray for the needs of others around the world.  
As with most of our subjects, I am sure that I am learning at least as much as E is.  I am glad for it, too.  I hope to model a teachable spirit for my children.