We never did see a single chickedee. No wonder Mrs Comstock recommended that the teacher hang up suet near the classroom so that over the winter, children become accustomed to watching chickedees. we did enjoy the nest, coloring sheets, song from the internet, and Thornton Burgess story however, and heard many birds as we sat in the church picnic area.
I prepared two subjects for the last class; club moss, and salamanders. My DH can find a salamander (Jefferson’s variety) very easily. Me? I can’t seem to pick the right log. It is also the time of year when they migrate to vernal pools to mate, so perhaps thats why the logs were vacant. So, we checked out the logs, then looked at the club mosses. In the pouring rain.
The great advantage of studying plants in a co-op setting where you have to find the nature in a scheduled time is that plants don’t get scared off or crawl away (or migrate or…) so they are there when you are.
My wonderful helper mom bought the kids hot cocoa in the classroom, while they tried not to drip on the reference books from the library. The boys especially took great pride in that we truly did go outside "no matter what."
So this co-op season I’ve confirmed again that the families I work with are wonderfully creative, flexible, organized and gracious. I’ve also learned that I can indeed do nature study. I do need a scouting walk for topic prep, and a regular set aside time to take the kids out. I’m not completely sure how to add it to the just me and my kids part of homeschool though, with the baby’s naps to work around, meals not getting done so well when we take an afternoon in the nature preserve, and the kitchen table school’s drumbeats about never finishing anything ever. (The kitchen table lies, but it sounds so scary).
Of course, I should not be blogging at this time of day (the boys are finishing chores) and I do need to learn how to use the crock pot.
But the big point is, yes I can do this. It is a whole lot easier for me to do it in a co-op setting though with other grown ups around. Maybe I need a nature buddy family and a regular scheduled time of hitting the trail.
Any New England takers?
I absolutely think that doing nature study in a co-op requires a certain amount of flexibility. It sounds like things are going along fine though and that the children are taking something away each week.
I think if you are regular in your study that sometime the learning curve will catch up to you and you will have a whole reserve of lessons to call on as you find the subjects you have prepared in the past.
Keep up the good work,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
I agree with the myriad of things that crop up in the late afternoon that make nature study have a high E(a). Today I hollered at the kids maybe 10 times because we haven't taken our late-afternoon clean-up time very seriously… maybe it will all come easier when the nap schedule stabilizes? We can hope. Thanks for your comments on my existential crisis. =)