Bird Banding Station - Bird Unit

Have you ever been to a bird banding station? Where was it?

A bird banding station is a place where scientists trap birds and place a small metal ring around one leg to track migration and study birds. The data is used to learn more about birds, and help to protect them and their habitats.

When we were living in Denver, CO we stumbled across the local bird banding station through the Audubon Society and it was fabulous. Banding is done twice per year (May and September) when the birds are migrating. It happens in the morning from about 7:00-11:00 when the birds are most active. After the birds are trapped they are weighed, measured, banded and then set free. Banding sessions are open to the public for observation. After the Denver scientist Marideth, weighed and measured the birds she took a few minutes to educate the public about the bird she caught. She talked about what it ate, what kind of bird it was, interesting features to help identify it and how it lived. Then she let someone hold the bird just before it flew away. My children and I learned so much.

The experience of being so close to the birds inspired a unit study on birds. Here are the excellent living bird books we found to read in conjunction with our study.



Burgess Bird Book for Children is free on-line. We found all the other books at the library.

After reading and observing at the bird banding station my daughter created a beautiful lapbook.

What are your favorite living books about birds?

This post is linked to:
Mums Make Lists


* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.

Twin Books - Lucy Fitch Perkins

We recently discovered this wonderful series of geographical-cultural and history books written by Lucy Fitch Perkins. They were written for school children in the early 1900's. Each book follows a set of twins through adventures in their daily lives. Many of them are free at The Baldwin Project and can be downloaded to a Kindle.



Geographical Series
The Eskimo Twins - Grade 2
The Dutch Twins - Grade 3
The Japanese Twins - Grade 4
The Swiss Twins - Grade 4
The Filipino Twins - Grade 5
The Irish Twins - Grade 5
The Italian Twins - Grade 5
The Mexican Twins - Grade 5
The Scotch Twins - Grade 6
The Belgian Twins - Grade 7
The French Twins - Grade 7

Historical Series
The Cave Twins - Grade 4
The Spartan Twins - Grade 5
The Colonial Twins of Virginia - Grade 6
The American Twins of 1812 - Grade 6
The Pioneer Twins - Grade 6
The American Twins of the Revolution - Grade 7
The Puritan Twins - Grade 7

* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.

Hand-Made Pooh and Friends

When my oldest daughter was seven years old I helped her make Eeyore from a pattern in The Pooh Craft Book.

We had to transfer the patterns onto paper then to felt, cut them out, follow the directions to handstitch the parts, stuff and close.

She went on to create the entire family of Pooh Characters within the book. After the first couple she was able to create them on her own. Not long after she created a second set of characters. When she was 9 years old she gave each of her siblings one set for Christmas.

This was a wonderful activity in so many ways. - gift giving, crafting, following directions, measuring, math, intrinsicly rewarding, improves fine-motor skills.............

This post is linked to: 
We Made That
Empty Your Archive

* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.

Flying a Kite

One day my son decided to create his own kite. He tied a string to a plastic bag then closed the string in the window so it wouldn't fly away. He will stay outside for hours on a breezy day watching his kite fly. He is learning about drag, lift, gravity and wind while having a great time playing outside.

Have you ever created your own kite? How did you do it?

Method for Encouraging Writing

I have been searching for a way to encourage my children to write as opposed to giving them a topic and requiring some type of writing assignment that feels like a lot of work and not much fun. I finally found a great method in this book - A Place for Wonder: Reading and Writing Non-Fiction in the Primary Grades by Georgia Heard and Jennifer McDonough. The best part is that the co-author is a childhood friend of mine who is a public school teacher. I haven't spoken to her in twenty years, but found out about her book after our parents ran into each other in our hometown....... Anyway, back to the book.

It was written for public school teachers, but I have found the method and activities adaptable to homeschool. First children are encouraged to wonder about the world around them. Things the children wonder about are then transioned into writing topics. The children are taught how to research their topics in different ways, add interesting details and edit their writing. The book outlines the steps and activities very well.

The classrooms in the book are Kindergarten and 1st grade, but I am using this method with my 3rd and 5th graders. Implementing it with older children simply results in more developed writing. Therefore, I would recommend it for all elementary students.

I am so excited about this book! If you have used it or anything similiar (an approach to writing that is more about method and less about individual assignments) please let me know.


* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.

Scythian History Co-op. Week 2: Clothing

Week 2: We made Scythian hats.

The Scythians lived on the plains of Asia. The cold wintery weather influenced Scythian clothing. They typically wore warm woolen, hemp or flax clothing which included hats and boots. Fibers were spun on drop spindles typically made of bone. Flat decorative strips of cloth made by card weaving often adorned the edges of their clothing. In addition, images of animals often drawn in a curved body position commonly appeared on articles of clothing. Their hats were pointy and looked similar to Smurf hats. Incidentally, pointy hats made from felt are still worn in the region of the world where the Scythians lived.

Our Scythian hats were constructed from felt, and sewn together with needle and thread.

Scythian hats were pointy on top with ear flaps and a long flap in the back. A Scythian hat pattern was created by tracing around a winter hat with ear-flaps and altering the rounded top portion into a point. This resulted in three templates; a front, back and sides.  The front portion was triangular, while the sides and back looked triangular on top with long flaps. Here is another method for making a Scythian Hat.

 

 The children hand-stitched the four pieces together with four seams to complete their hats.

Please visit our History Page for more hands-on history activities.

Weekly Homeschooling Schedule

 

A typical week in our homeschool is very busy as in many others out there. We aim to have our daily school completed by lunch-time and reserve the afternoon for field trips, sports, hobbies and friends. When we first began homeschooling we participated in many field trips and quickly became overwhelmed with activities which made it difficult to fit in "school". This general plan helps tremendously.

Last year we attempted to finish school by lunch, but rarely did. This year a few changes made all the difference. First of all there is a rule that the kids need to start school for the day as soon as they wake-up. Last year they always waited for me. After preparing breakfast, starting the laundry and everything else we usually didn't get started until around 9:00. Starting school upon waking works well since they both have activities they do on their own, with each other and with me. Now some days they are finished by 10:30 am depending on how early they rise.

Each kid has their own weekly to-do list. The items listed in blue they can do either together or mostly on their own. Here is what a typical week looks like.

3rd Grader

Minutes	Days per Week	Subject
15	5	Read to Mom
15	5	Listen to Mom Read
30	2	Silent Reading Books
15	5	Writing
15	5	Spelling
15	5	Mother goose
30	5	Math
30	2	Science Experiment
30	2	German Kids Television
30	3	Rosetta Stone - German
15	2	Silent Reading - German Book
30	5	Spanish Kids Television
15	3	Piano
15	3	Geography Puzzle
60	1	Finish missed work or special movie

5th Grader

Time	Days per Week	Subject
15	5	Read to Mom
15	5	Listen to Mom Read
30	2	Silent Reading Books
15	5	Writing
15	5	Spelling
15	5	Poetry
30	5	Math
30	2	Science Experiment
30	2	German Kids Television
15	5	Write a Sentence in German
15	2	Silent Reading - German Book
30	5	Spanish Kids Television
15	3	Violin
15	3	Piano
60	1	Finish missed work or special movie

In addition to the items listed above the children play outside daily a minimum of 20 minutes per day. During this time they like to play monkey-in-the-middle, or other very physical games with my husband if he is available, or play in the creek behind our house and explore nature. We listen to folk songs and classical music in the car and during meals. Finally, famous works of art are displayed every two weeks following a short discussion of the piece.

Afternoons
Monday - history, crafts and socialization with our weekly History Co-op Group
Tuesday - music lessons
Wednesday - sports, free-time and socialization
Thursday - sports, free-time and socialization
Friday - sports, free-time and socialization

 

I am linking this post to The Homeschooling Hearts and Mind Blog which is hosting a virtual curriculum fair. Here is the list of posts from other blogging homeschooling families and how they schedule their time.

Weekly Homeschooling Schedule by Julie @ HighHill Homeschool

Virtual Curriculum Fair: Week 5: The Nuts & Bolts: Pulling it all Together by Leah @ The Courtney Six Homeschool

Our Schedule's Working! by Eunora @ All Things NoriLynn

Homeschooling: How do I do it all? by Debbie @ Debbie's Digest

Virtual Curriculum Fair--- Wrap-up Angie @ Petra School

Virtual Curriculum Fair: 5 Ways to Use an iPad in Your Homeschool by Pam @ Everyday Snapshots

A Peek Into Our School Day by Melissa @ Grace Christian Homeschool

A Day in the Life... by Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun

Homeschool and Life: How we get it done by Jen @ Forever, For Always, No Matter What

Homeschooling at My House by Jessica @ Modest Mama

Getting a Grip on Things by Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds

Making Home School a part of LIFE by Cindy @ For One Another

Now Where's That Pencil Again? by Beth @ Ozark Ramblings

Something About Homeschooling I Really Didn't See Coming by Letha @ justpitchingmytent

Curriculum, Kids, and a Frazzled Homeschool Mama leads to Controlled Chaos! by Laura O from AK @ Day by Day in Our World

The Virtual Curriculum Fair – Nuts and Bolts by Kristen @ Sunrise to Sunset

Staying on Top of Everything by Brenda Emmett @ Garden of Learning

How Does This Homeschooling Thing Actually Work? Fitting it all Together by Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory

Nuts & Bolts: Pulling it all together by Christa Darr @ Fairfield Corner Academy