Last weekend, our first couple of days of spring break, we fixed up the playhouse! We cleaned, swept and knocked down last summer’s wasp nests. Hodgepodgedad installed shelves. Now it’s a backyard nature spot, a place to tuck the shovels and big construction machines out of the rain. We watched Tangled twice. Sunday night, with […]
Search Results for: nature study
The Spring Time Hunt for Queen Anne’s Lace
(Photo of Queen Anne’s lace full of seeds at summer’s end in September). Back last summer we had a time hunting for Queen Anne’s Lace. We went to north Georgia looking, found it on the roadsides but couldn’t find a safe spot to pull over. Then, on a regular walk up my childhood road, we […]
Nuthatch Nest
A long time ago we bought a screech owl/kestrel bird house. And some nuthatches have nested in it! One of them seems to be ‘sweeping’ the top of the house while the other stays in the house. To hear the white-breasted nuthatch call, click Cornell Lab or Ornithology. Here are the pictures: Do you […]
Signs of Spring and a Spring Visitor
“The birds are singing!” ~ five-year-old “The grass is turning green.” ~ 11-year-old “I get to stay outside later because the days are longer.” ~13-year-old “The flowers are blooming.” ~ eight-year-old “The red bud tree is blooming.” ~ Hodgepodgemom We’ve been enjoying signs of spring these last few weeks before the official day was here. […]
Weekly Wrap: Projects to the left, projects to the right
I’m the project cheerleader. “Projects to the left and projects to the right. Stand up. Sit down. Write, write, write!” We are heavy into preparations for our annual Homeschool Expo with our homeschool group. It’s just two weeks from today. We have four science projects and I don’t know how many history projects going. It […]
Winter Insects in One Small Square
After lunch we set out to discover what we could find in one square foot of backyard. I handed over the yarn, the scissors and instructions to the older ones and asked they pick a spot. After clearing the lunch dishes and setting out notebook pages, I joined them outside. They had picked a square […]
Math, Display Boards – Hold the Rest
Following last week’s sickness I decided this week would be just Math and display boards. In three short weeks we will enjoy a Homeschool Expo with our homeschool group. The Expo includes a science fair, family tables with displays of learning, plus a talent show. This year we have four science project entries. It was […]
Weekly Wrap: Stick fort and sunshine
The Homeschool Highlight of the week? Definitely the sunshine and the stick fort! We’ve enjoyed glorious spring-like weather. Sunny, clear skies and lots of outdoor time. That called for a stick fort, outdoor picnics for lunch and reading a book – all sprawled out on a beach towel. Here’s a few highlights from the rest […]
Winter Night Sky
When Daddy came home with a few things from the store, we all piled outside to help. We were delighted when we saw an almost full moon. And two of the children saw the ‘man in the moon’ for the first time. We went back in for supper and all the evening craziness. All the […]
Simple Schooling Strategies
Hodgepodge Simple Schooling Strategies Practical Prayer – how to keep a prayer life in the day to day of balancing the age range. Helpful Homeschool Habits – all the most useful ones compiled in one post. The Housekeeping Habits that Bless Our Home – a list of favorites. Jurisdictions – carving the big job of […]
Winter World of Color
After a week with snow on the ground, the rains came and cleared the way for a neighborhood walk. We set out, after lunch, in search of color. We found brilliant green moss as we swung open the back gate. It seemed a deeper green after the white of snow and the wet of rain. […]
Pastels Plus Links to Tutorials
Welcome to our Hodgepodge free listing of chalk pastels, acrylics and video art tutorials for all ages. This list of free tutorials is no longer being updated. In fact, at the following link we have an updated list of 100+ Free Art Lessons for All Ages. For the original list we began with plus a […]
Habits can drive us crazy or save us!
Today I am blogging at The One Thing, linking to this post at Holy Experience and posting it here at Habits for a Happy Home. You see my mind and heart have really been meditating on ‘good’ habits and habit training since we have just started a new year, I have one resolution to LIVE as in to […]