Ok, I am the first t o admit that I really don't like slugs. Their slime is horribly sticky and it doesn't come off very easily, they're rather ugly, and it really freaks me out when I step on one.
However, I'm a live and let live sort of person and as long as they stay out of my container garden I just ignore them. Even when I do find them in a plant, I just have the kids transplant them back to their proper area. The kids? Yep. Something about those slimy little things fascinate my littles and has since the day we moved in and they discovered them.
We share our garden with Limax maximus, otherwise known as the Great Slug or the Spotted Leapard Slug. Does that give a good indication of appearance and size? They're a rather drab greyish brown with black spots. The first day the kids saw them showing their slimy little heads, we looked them up. And let me tell you something. You can have an exceelent Nature referance library including a complete 12 volume set of the Audubon Nature Encyclopedia and you will be able to find almost nothing about slugs! Everything refered us back to snails! Thank goodness for the internet because there is a plethora of info out there.
My children will now routinely go hunting through my garden containers to find these creatures and they delight in them so much that they even leave bits of food out for them! LOL But why am I posting about this now? Because Deedee, bless her little heart, managed to find a slug in the act of laying eggs! She came in the house yelling about something and I'm in the midst of canning appricot jam so I wasn't paying much attention until she shoves her hand in my face that was full of a rather large pile of eggs with a good sized slug on top of it! Talk about a heart attack!
All of that has revived interest in slugs in my household and my kids have been wanting to know everything. So for the last day or so, we have been looking at lots of pictures and reading lots of stuff about slugs and I thought I'd share some of it. I regret that I was unable to get a picture of Deedee with her prize before I had her return it to the nice safe dark spot where she found it behind her play kitchen outside but I do have some pictures taken of the Limax maximus a little over a year ago that I will share.
I've been so busy lately that this one kind of snuck up on me. :D I knew it was soon and already had a few ideas in mind that I would like to do with the kiddos. But was I ever surprised this morning to check my email and discover that a good friend had sent me a Happy Earth Day card. Ok, I thought. She's on the ball and getting it sent out early so she doesn't forget. So I did a quick search thinking it was a couple of days off and t hen just sat there when I saw that the date was TODAY!! Argh!
So, here's the line-up that I had planned (in no particular order):
Get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather (and our Home at the same time)
Going on a Nature Hike and pointing out local flora and fauna (I guess this goes hand in hand with #1)
Tend to our garden! Feed and care for the plants to ensure a bountiful garden. This not only helps your garden but refreshes your spirit as well. Care for your houseplants as well. If you don't have any, today is the day to plant some seeds or buy seedlings at your local nursery. Make a terrarium! My kiddos did this yesterday at their craft group. You can find an easy one at Kaboose. I especially like this one because you're reusing what you already have!
Watch Wall-E ~ This is an excellent movie that really, sadly enough, protrays where we're headed if we don't start taking better care of our Home. We have the power to change the path we are on but it will take a concerted effort by everyone to take care of the mounds of trash that are already starting to form in so many areas.
Pick up trash in our neighborhood and on our walk. It's amazing just how much you find when you're looking for it that we often pass right by. Assorted toys (lost, broken, or otherwise), beer bottles, fast food wrappings, water bottles etc.
Paint the Earth. This is a super easy craft. All you need are round paper coffee filters (white is best), some blue & green water color paints (or you could use water w/ a heavy concentration of food coloring for little kids that get frustrated trying to remember to dip the brush before getting paint) and a brush. Just randomly brush blobs of color onto your Earth to form the oceans & the land. These look really pretty taped up in a window!
We can't forget the animals we share our Home with! It's great any time to put out feed for them but today is especially appropriate so we'll be filling our bird feeders and cleaning their water containers. There's lots of stuff you could do for this but it seems that birds are the easiest to feed. If you don't have a birdfeeder, make one by smearing peanut butter on a pinecone, dipping it in birdseed and then hanging outside. Or you could make birdsee biscuits! You can find two different versions at Kaboose and Family Fun. For those of you with older children something I did recently with a group to welcome Spring and the return of t he birds are birdseeed mandalas. All you need are mandalas printed on card stock (Mandala Healing has a few appropriate ones ~ they need to have large open spaces), assorted birdseed, and peanut butter. Just smooth the peanut butter onto the area you're working on and then cover it with your birdseed. When you're finished place them outside for the birds to enjoy. If you're concerned about the paper, simply go through in a few days and police it up. Craft Test Dummies also has a fun birdbath craft.
Assorted little Earthday activity books. You can find some at Enchanted Learning. There is also a great little freebie at CurrClick by Teacher Book Bag (one of my favorite resources for curriculum) called Happy Earth Day!. In fact, there are several Earth Day items at this great site, so check it out!
A trip to the local recycling center! This isn't something super special since we're often there but it seems a little symbolic walking our wagon over there filled with this weeks refuse on this day. My homeschool group even did a field trip there last year but I can't seem to find that post. I can't possible have forgotten to write about it? (Gasp!) However, here is a link to the Earth Day post I did last year, Earth Day Prep.
Trek Earth (this is an awesome site I discovered recently that has photos posted from all around the world. Go on a journey and check out different areas of our Home!
For those of you that watch TV, assorted kids shows are going green with special episodes for Earth Day.
BLue Boat Home by Peter Mayer is a beautiful song that is often sung by Unitarian Universalist congregations. It talks about how we're all travelers on the Earth, our Home. The notes oftentransport the listeners to a feeling of unity and moving forward as one. So this is definitely one of those perfect songs that really captures the feeling of what Earth Day is about. You can find the lyrics at The Great Story.
Michael Jackson's Earth Song also seems appropriate today. I'm not a huge fan of it, but the the children love it.
Today was absolutely gorgeous. It was almost 80! It's been one of our nices spring days so far and we really took advantage of it. We wound up spending most of the morning outside walking to various appointments and hanging out at the park. We left at not quite 9 and got home after 2! I was happy I remembered to pack stuff for a quick picnic lunch.
On our way home, our path meanders through a stand of pine trees and one tree happened to be damaged so there was a bunch of fresh sap running down the bark. So of course Deedee had to ask lots of questions! Kitty was asleep in our big Burley stroller, James was in class and Charles had ridden ahead on his bike so only Deedee benefitted from this impromptu lesson.
She smelled the sap, rubbed her fingers in (and then got upset at how sticky they became LOL), tasted it etc. This was not the right type of tree to harvest the sap for chewing gum so it tasted quite nasty. If you want to do that, you need a spruce! I know this from experience. Years ago, I read a book that took place early in our history, I think around colonization. There was a young boy that met an Indian and became quite good friends with him. Of course, they talked about chewing the sap of a pine tree so I had to try it as well. I didn't know at that time there were different varieties and that they all taste different so I tried the first pine tree I came to in our yard. LOL I can not remember what that book was called but it's right on the tip of my tongue. If I remember correctly, it was about a young boy that is left at their homestead while his father goes back to collect the mother and other siblings but he's delayed so this boy winds up being alone over the winter and his Indian friend helps him survive. If this rings any bells with you please enlighten me! It's going to drive me crazy until I remember what book it is now!
So, we talked a little bit about the origins of chewing gum. SInce we were on a "tasting the sap" expedition I asked her if she knew what other kind of sap we eat. She looked pensive for a moment, acted as if she was about to answer and then said "leaves". Sigh.... I'm not sure what she meant about that. However, as soon as I said maple syrup she got all excited. And she does know what the real stuff tastes like! I buy that over the flavored stuff almost exlusively. So she started talking about what syrup is yummy on and t he she likes to drink it! LOL
By this time, she was getting a little bored with it I think so we started on our journey again only to come to another tree with sap on it a few meters along. The difference was that this was an old wound and the sap was now hardened. She scraped at it a bit but complained it was too hard. So of course that got us talking about amber and we were off. That conversation lasted us the 10 or so minutes it took us to arrive home and then she insisted on looking at my amber jewelry. She wasn't satisfied so we went online to find more fact and pictures about it. She was even more surpries that sometimes bugs can be found preserved in it and she was really enamored of that fact. :D She also really like that it comes in different colors! Talking about amber also led to fossils! We didn't explore too in depth about that though. I've left if open for another time.
Mystery Tree Challenge from Arbor Day (PDF) Arbor Day has a lot of fun stuff for kids, including a little online game to identify mystery trees. That was fun.
Ok, the Wizard of Oz referance aside, my homeschool group had a fieldtrip to a local bear enclosure yesterday, and it was awesome.
Washington State University is the only facility in the world that houses adult grizzlies for research so people from all over have come to study at WSU. The program examines the hibernation, bavioral and nutritional habits of grizzlies and it's findings have helped with management of bears around the world.
It's free any time to stop and watch the bears. There are several dens, each with an outer yard that open into a main walkway that also leads to a large pasture fenced off. Each den can also be closed preventing the bear either from leaving entirely or keeping it in it's yard away from the walkway. There are double layers of fencing seperated by a few feet so there's no fear of getting clawed. It's always fun to stop in and see the bears romp and play but that's as close as we could get. Our group wanted more.
So, between us, each family paid a small fee to make up the complete $125 that the center wanted for a more in depth tour and a guide to answer our questions.
I, of course, managed to get myself lost. :D So, although I picked James up from class and dropped Kitty off at a friends house (I decided it would be best if I had only three kids to chase at this, especially since I'm the one that set it up) with plenty of time to spare to drive the 8 or so miles to get there, I still managed to be the last one there and literally snag the last parking spot. :( Grrrr.... I was very embarassed. There were two turnoff's onto the road I needed and I managed to turn in at the wrong one. At one point, if I had taken a left instead of a right to go up and find a place to turn around, I was actually really close and could have seen it it not for some trees and a hill. :( So I drove in a big circle before I finally stopped and called a friend for directions. I'm just thankful I had the cell phone yesterday. It's usually with Carey but he forgot it and I rescued it from the kidlets before stuffing it in my purse.
The kids had fun running around outside the main enclosure and when our guide (a graduate student) was ready, he took us through the building along the back of the dens and into a large area along the back side of the walkway. The hall we walked through was very narrow and it had windows with heavy metal mesh that looked into each den. People were able to stand at the window's and view the bears if they were in the den. Smaller children had to be picked up since the windows were approximately five feet up. One child got into a bit of trouble when he rang a cow bell at one of the windows and a bear charged up chuffing and growling. It startled several people but of course the child had run off by then so didn't gain the full experience of his actions. There was also a bear on the end that people were directed away from since she didn't do well with people and she chuffed at us a lot as we passed. If I understood the guide correctly later, she was a bear that entered a mans tent, dragged him out and then proceeded to eat the food he had in his tent. The man certainly didn't know much about camping if he was keeping his food in his tent! She was a very pretty bear with nice markings on her face, unfortunately I was unable to get any pics through the heavy metal mesh forming her yard; she was kept in seclusion.
Outside was a beatiful day and everyone enjoyed watching the bears romp and play while the adults listened to guide as much as they were able. One thing I was interested to learn was that kodiak and grizzlies (otherwise known as brown bears) are one and the same. I had always thought they were different. I heard lots of scientific names that of course, I don't remember. However, I did look it up and grizzlies are in the order Carnivora, family Ursidae and the genus is Ursus arctos.
Want to learn more? Here are some articles and vids about the research center.
Homeschoolshare ~ Blueberries for Sal (This is one of the many books read and that we happened to Row. Will have a lapbook posted for this soon as well.)
Grizzly Rhyming & Singing Games (This is part of a Lewis & Clark Journey of Discovery Curriculum. I had also happened to get the August Book Bag from Currclick.com which not only had apple stuff in it (the group did an apple orchard field trip that we wound up not being able to attend) but it also has a segment about Lewist & Clark! So I tied these two together. Also, the September Book Bag had bear stuff in it. The monthly Book Bags from Teacher Book Bag are really cool and the kids have a lot of fun with them. I highly recommend them.)
I'm serious. We had an honest to God snowstorm this morning! And it had not been forecast. It was supposed to be rain all day. It was quite a shock (and an annoyance) to get woken up at 7:30 this morning by a call from my husband saying guess what. Sigh... Late nights and early mornings just don't go together.
We have had quick little flurries before. I remember one little snow shower on July 4th one year. However, the one's I can remember never lasted more than a few moments and were quickly gone. The snow never stuck and was was pretty much melted before it hit the ground. Today, however it not only stuck, but accumulated well enough that the whole ground was white. It lasted around three hours and while at the end it was a very fine snow, more sleet than anything else, at the beginning there were huge fat flakes. WOW
Now, as to my long and unfortunate absence. :( It had not been planned at all. Things have been super busy around here and while I've continued composing posts in my head, somewhere along the way they were never set to paper (or to keyboard as the case may be). I've missed doing this. So, here's just a quick update about what's been going on. I'll post a slideshow of pics withing the next couple of days.
Today is James' 6th bday!
James has lost two teeth within the last week.
Charles inists that Deedee is no longer his sister. She's now a magic pig.
Kitty is potty training very well. She's almost exclusively in undies now and she sleeps dry 4 nights out of 5.
Kitty is speaking very well, even starting to string words together into sentences. One of her favorites is "I go play".
I have been sewing up a storm. Carey put his foot down and said I had to use my enormous stash of fabrics and patterns or get rid of them. So I've started making Kitty her summer wardrobe. We have extensively downsized clothing anyway and we settled on 10 outfits for her. I need only make 4 more (but I have more planned :D). Even Deedee has gotten in on it and I've managed to make her two outfits with a third cut and ready.
Not only have I have been sewing clothing, but children's aprons. The first two I did as a last minute bday present. I had two batik fat quarters but couldn't think what to do with them. As I was digging in my stash I found a large length of canvas, I happened to see Deedee's little apron hanging from the easel and an idea was born. The fat quarters are big enough for the apron as well as a pocket so I made a reversible apron (batik one side, canvas the other) with pockets, rick rack and little buttons for decor. The party was a bug theme for fraternal twins so the boy got a caterpillar button and the girl a butterfly. They were such a big hit that two more were asked for as bday presents and a few others ordered by guests! I will eventually get a pic posted of them, and I hope to start selling them on Etsy.
James is having sewing lessons! And he's having a blast. More on that in a few days (such as the manual he's using, etc.). I have a big potluck bday bbq to plan for this weekend.
Carey finished this semester with a 3.0 and has an A in his summer class so far. (It ends next week).
James is oficially enrolled for kindergarten this fall. I'm not happy about this one but his father wants him to try. He decided because of some of James' problems, that this is the only way to get some services that he feels are needed. So, we shall see how it goes. So far, James seems excited. So, according to the professionals, other than his speech delay, he has a fine motor delay, seperation anxiety, maybe a low level autism, and Oppositional Defiance Disorder. Fun, huh? Why his father thinks he'll be treated better in school is beyond me. I'm especially frustrated because I believe in a philosphy that children aren't really ready to learn this way until they're around 7 or 8 and that this early is just pushing them too much. At least he's in K and in the afternoon so I can still control some of it. The district actually wanted to put him in 1st! Grrr... He's not ready developmentally, emotionally or academically and it was unprofessional of them to want to do this only for their convenience and not because of what's best for James. The K is in a seperate building entirley from the rest of the school, and a couple blocks away so the idea was that it would be easier for them to provide the services they promised (and sold Carey on) if he was in the main building. GRRRR..... Although he's been making breakthroughs, he's still not at a 1st grade level academic wise, and barely K. They're already insisting on putting him in special ed and if they had succeeded in sticking him in 1st, he would have needed it extensively and they would have pretty much set him up to fail. Sigh... Sorry, didn't mean to get on my soap box here.
I'm now oficially a Barefoot Books stall holder and am authorized to sell their books! HOORAY
My garden is doing very well. I have leaf lettuce, strawberries and onions right now. There's also garlic, assorted tomatoes, acorn squash, potatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, bell peppers, radishes, spinach, and a few other things I can't remember. :D
My husband found this today (he's always in Metacafe, speaking of which it's not a good idea to kids wander around in this site unsupervised) and thought it was interesting. The kids enjoyed watching it and then we looked at some books about birds, how the eggs are formed, cracked open some local chicken eggs, etc. An interestind day.
Similar to the The Great Sunflower Projectthat I posted about a few days ago, instead of tracking bees, this frog and toad monitoring program gives you the opportunity to help scientists conserve amphibians! With as little as 20 minutes a week you can collect essential information to protect frogs and toads.
This is a long-term amphibian study that is managed by the National Wildlife Federation in partnership with the United States Geological Survey. It will increase awareness of amphibian decline and gives you the opportunity to be directly involved in gathering information that can ultimately lead to ways to help stop the decline of these important species. Frogs are very important to the environment. Didn't realize just how much? You can find out a little more about that here. Also, frogs live in wetlands & swamps, a very important eco system. Check out the Magic School Bus to discover why wetlands are important as well as why frogs are equally important as signs of something gone wrong.
Lots of Frog Fun:
The Magic School Bus Gets Swamped: Activity, the episode, the book is sadly OOP but look for it at your local library.
It's easy! What better way to not only learn about your local environment and include Nature into your studies, how to observe Nature but also to help protect it! This looks like it could be a lot of fun. Oh, and there is one more really cools site that would help you with your studies. eNature is linked with Frog Watch to show what frogs are found in your area. However, don't stop with just frogs. You can learn about the whole habitat in your area from mammals to birds to even trees! So check it out. My kids loved looking it over. They were especially excited when they got to hear a Mallard duck! They've been especially interested in that bird since we got a close up view of a pair only last week!
Don't forget! Record the Ribbit 2008 is on Saturday, May 3 so mark your calendars and set up activities!
I learned about this in my Ideal Bite newsletter. On March 29 starting at 8 PM YOUR time, turn off your lights for on hour. Originating in Sydney, Australia last year, it has now gone global. Last year, it had the effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for an hour. Since this year's event is global, savings will be even bigger. Even landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Sears Tower, and the Sydney Opera House will dim during Earth Hour. If just 10,000 Biter turn off 10 lights tomorrow evening for just one hour, the amount of CO2 created by an average apartment in a whole year will be averted. That's a lot! So join the millions of people world wide and switch it all off for one hour. Earth Hour.
Ok, Earth Day is still oficially almost four weeks away, but now's the best time to prepare for it! Start with two great Earth Day sites here and here. You'll find all sorts of interesting info, including some interesting curriculum (for hichschool students this includes, lessons, virtual tours, etc.).
Lots of local activities, including a FIELD TRIP! Our homeschool group has set up a tour of the local recycling plant. How cool is that? Link up with other homeschoolers to see what they're doing here. Oh, and don't forget a fun craft to get you started! What better way to recycle news paper than to make hats!
Join the hunt for bees and plant a sunflower in your garden! A San Francisco State University scientist is conducting a study on bee pollination. Participants across the country are being asked to plant sunflowers and observe bees attracted to the flowers.
The Great Sunflower Project, run by Gretchen LeBuhn, associate professor of biology at the university, provides participants a kit that includes a packet of wild sunflower seeds, a gardening guide, species information and data forms to report bee patterns. Participation will take no more than thirty minutes, twice a month. With a $4,000 grant from the university, the project has created 10,000 kits, available in English, Spanish and Mandarin, that are ready to send out to those who request them online.
Sunflower project organizers are hoping to solicit residents whom reside in different settings, so bee behavior can be observed in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Great Sunflower Project kits are available online at www.greatsunflower.org or by calling (415) 847-1716.
How Will the Great Sunflower Project Help? (from The Great Sunflower)
Your home, school or community garden and those around the world produce roughly 15-20% of all the food we eat. And for the urban poor, who spend 50-70% of their income on food, these gardens are a real source of good nutrition and an essential route to food security.
We know very little about bee activity in home and community gardens and their surrounding environments, but we are certain that they are a crucial link in the survival of native habitats and local produce, not to mention our beautiful urban gardens. Our local pollinator populations require our understanding & protection, and to answer that call we need to determine where and when they are at work.
With enough citizen scientists collecting data, we can learn much more, much faster, about the current state of bee activity. We would love to have you join us; let’s learn about pollinators together!
Interested in getting a kit or already have one? Use Mister Linky to let me know! As the summer progresses and each do their own projects, it will be fun to link together to see what everyone else is learning about the habits of their local bees.
The musings of my childrens journey in the wonders of love, life, and spirituality. Love, Live, Laugh, and Learn. That's what it's all about. Welcome and blessed be.
* Carey ~ Beloved husband that puts up with everything.
He's majoring in history, loves to read, play D&D and Mech Warriors.
* Ami ~ Me. Busy teacher and housewife. I love to spend
time with the kids, read, garden, cook, knit, sew, make my own soaps
and salves.
* James ~ Our oldest at five. He loves to build with blocks, enjoys the guitar, adores robots and believes he
can't live without his trucks (and skateboard).
* Charles ~ My little monkey! Our youngest son at four, he
is the most precious gift ever recieved on a birthday.
He's a wonderful, sunny little guy that's very inquisitive and artistic.
* Meradydd ~ Our oldest daughter at three.
An opinionated and exceedingly bossy little girl with a temper to match her copper hair.
My little fashion diva that loves shoes, furlies, & hair pretties.
* Kathrynn ~ Kitty is my 1 year old little angel. She's a beautiful, mellow little girl that's extremely patient but is also starting to show her claws.
Abraham Lincoln ~ You have a Bible and a library card what more could you possibly need? You prefer the Charlotte Mason Method of reading living books for everything: historical fiction, biographies, real histories, nature guides, etc. No soon-to-be-outdated textbooks for you. Visit my blog: Guilt Free Homeschooling Take this quiz!
