Ever since our heavenly hydrangeas nature study last month we’ve been thinking about a hydrangea pastel lesson. And every time we admire the hydrangeas by the front door, the deep blues in the side yard. The range of colors in our yard this year is simply beautiful. So, for a pastel lesson, you too can […]
Search Results for: nature study
Day Trip to Daddy’s
Post Father’s Day weekend. Post breakfast Saturday morning – we load up. Head to the hills north of us. Two hours and we’re there. We hug necks, visit with Grandma L. and then get the honor of a garden tour. And this tour included so much of the nature that we’ve recently studied. Oakleaf hydrangea […]
Bird watching
Bird watching. It’s what we do. Especially eldest boy, above. He’s the one that fills the feeders and makes the homemade suet. Today we share some favorite backyard bird spottings for June: The gold finches are back and they’ve found the sunflowers! Two posing doves (makes me want to sing a Christmas song). Then a […]
Helpful Habit – Preparing for a new school year
Keeping the habit of sharing a helpful habit on Fridays… That title might make you cringe or it may make you curious. Really, this post is somewhat selfish on my part. See, I need the motivation. Preparing for a new school year is not really something I’m ready to tackle. Yes, I’ve been to a […]
Sunflowers: A Pastels Tutorial
It is always fun to follow nature study with art. A perfect combination, we would say. So, we asked Nana and she shared with us sunflowers a pastels tutorial. You can even study Van Gogh’s sunflowers and do yours in the style of the master artist. Sunflowers: A Pastels Tutorial As promised in her comment […]
Backyard Bunnies
With my coffee perched in one hand I pull up the blind with the other. That’s when I catch my breath. And I (somewhat quietly) call the children. It’s our backyard bunny at day break! Back to nibble at dandelions and dart through the grass. I’m not sure why the bunnies love our yard so […]
Helpful Habit: Sunday the best day of the week
I’m keeping up the habit of sharing helpful habits here on Fridays! Summer is an easy time to settle into a new habit since we don’t have school work on top of the regular, day to day. So, today, I’m sharing a habit that has helped our family for many, many years. Plus, since I […]
Helpful Habit: Getting Away
These last weeks I’ve shared the basic habits that bless our homeschool. One of the habits that is most important, especially for Mama, is getting away. Now, you don’t necessarily have to spend big bucks on a get away. You can plan an at-home retreat. Or Just Step Outside. Wow, what 15 minutes of alone […]
Beautiful Birds
Eldest Boy, a.k.a. My Backyard, has a passion for bird watching, is our resident bird feeder filler and is sharing our May bird study today. He wrote this up last week during our study… For our bird study, we picked the most interesting birds we’ve seen in our backyard lately. Brown Thrasher – The brown […]
Helpful Habit – Afternoon Quiet Time
Friends, I’m continuing a Friday habit of posting habits along with our weekly homeschool wrap. Today I share the anchor of our day. A habit of a dozen years. Originally posted November 3, 2009 and updated for today’s needs… When our eldest outgrew her nap I struggled with losing that quiet time for myself. I […]
Heavenly Hydrangeas: Outdoor Hour
With the excitement of the new direction of the Outdoor Hour Challenges in our minds, we turned to our hydrangeas. Not only because they are a favorite, not only because they are abundant in several colors in our yard… …but also because we are fresh from a wedding featuring hydrangeas in all the bouquets and […]
Helpful Homeschool Habits
Why in the world are we talking about homeschool habits when the school year is winding down and summer is calling? Well, I say all the time that the practical speaks to me. And, practically speaking, summer is a good time to build a new habit. To pick one area to work on without the […]
Helpful Habit – One More Thing After Lunch
In recent weeks, I’ve shared about the homeschool habits that bless our day. Habits that are helpful for our house full and age range like our Before 8:45 Checklist and Morning Room Time. But the homeschool habit I’m sharing today changed my attitude more than anything else. See, I had decided there was no reason […]