I've been trying to focus in on teaching my children how to see the beauty in all seasons. Towards the end of Autumn when the leaves are mostly off the trees, and things have found themselves to be a dry brown color we focus in on details, because there is where we find remarkable beauty. Taking macro pictures helps us to see this beauty even more closely than our human eye can.

We find if we look close enough we can still find splashes of color.

What small details of God's creation are bringing beauty into your life?

Autumn for us this year has been very wet. Lots of rain and overcast skies. But, on those beautiful sunshiney days we've been sure to get outside to enjoy the brillance of the fall colors. Cranberry Red, Flame Red, Pumpkin Orange, Deep Purple and Golden Yellow are some of the colors we've been appreciating. Here are some photos from a couple our nature walks so I can share the beautiful colors with you.

Be sure not to miss getting outside during this wonderful, beautiful time of year with your children!

During the last few weeks we've been studying Deciduous Trees, I also wrote a post over at Shining Dawn Books about studying trees with Preschoolers and Toddlers. Check it out too if you'd like!

As the winter season approaches many animals are preparing for what lays ahead. Plumeting temperatures and lack of food drive many animals to migrate or hibernate. Yet still some stick around to tough it out by adapting. This last week we've been busy watching the many signs of animals preparing. We've seen large flocks of migrating birds, insects disappearing, animals foraging for food to store up and many, many more.

Just two days ago my son came running in the house with a Monarch stuck on his jacket proclaiming that the poor thing just flew right over and landed on him. I was shocked that it was still here since I figured they were all well on their way migrating south.

Also, I shared previously with you a photo of our backyard groundhog. Well since the temperatures are plumeting even more he's been getting a bit more daring by allowing us to get closer to get a photo! He's fattening up for sure, looks plumper than the when we saw him the day before! Soon, he will snuggle down deep in his burrow for a long winter snooze.

We are trying our best to enjoy these wonderful creatures because we know it's only a matter of time before we will have to say goodbye for the winter. What signs of animals coping with the cold are you observing? If you have a chance check out our newly released unit, Coping wih the Cold - How Animals Survive the Winter Season, over at Shining Dawn Books. It is a perfect nature study for this time of year and throughout the cold winter months!

I imagine it like one of those talented entertainers, such as jugglers, who can spin six or more plates on the ends of tiny sticks all at the same time. Except I am not talented to do so. Whenever I get too many things on the schedule, I feel like a juggler trying to keep all of my responsibilities spinning at the same time effectively.  It never fails that at least one of those plates comes tumbling down crashing to the ground. This past couple of weeks one of the plates that has fallen has "blogging" written on it! So sorry I've been missing for so long. I'm truly struggling to balance everything in my life right now. BUT, nevertheless I'm working on it, slowly.

So if you are still with me, thank you! And I'd like to share a couple of photos of signs of fall. The local groundhog has been visiting our yard daily to fatten himself up for his upcoming long winter's nap. This is the best photo I can get of him with my zoom all the way in. He's very jumpy, at the slightest sound he takes off running as fast as his little stubby legs can go and hops back in his burrow.

The second photo is of one of the many cool air foggy sunrises that I've been enjoying.

I genuinely hope to be back to my regular blogging schedule soon. Until then, I'm praying that you are enjoying the crisp Autumn air in your neck of the woods.

The goldenrod is yellow,

The corn is turning brown,

The trees in apple orchards,

With fruit are bending down.

- taken from September by Helen Hunt Jackson

Crowns of Goldenrod are showing themselves across the fields and along the creeksides. This is a sure sign of Autumn around my house. On my nature walk just a bit ago I snapped this photo of one with the sun beginning to make its descent in the western sky behind it.

There are other signs of Autumn showing themselves all around. Be sure to take a nature walk this week with your children and make a verbal (written if you want) list of what signs you are observing. Here are a few things we have noticed:

• Fall Wildflowers - such as the Goldenrod and all kinds of Asters
• Lowering Temperatures - temperatures this week will be mostly in the high 60's
• Migrating Flocks of Birds - we are just starting to see them
• Leaves Changing Colors and Falling - leaves are just beginning to change colors and fall off the trees, especially the early sleepers like the Black Walnut
• Insects Diminishing - because of the cooler temperatures we are seeing less and less butterflies and bees
• Clearer Skies - less humidity in the air makes for crystal blue skies; this is a GREAT time for cloud gazing
• Less Daylight Hours
• Squirrels and Chipmunks Gathering and Cracking Nuts
  

What signs are you seeing in your neck of the woods? Or perhaps you are on the other side of the equator and are beginning to enjoy the signs of spring!

For our nature walk today we visited the empty lot next to our suburbia house, which is a place we frequently go for nature study. While I recommend visiting different places for study, I also recommend visiting the same places often too. You might think that we'd tire of walking and studying the same areas; however I've found that just about each day we can find something new, something interesting that we hadn't noticed before. Especially through the changes in seasons there are many new discoveries to be had right in the same area.

This is very beneficial in the area of observation skills. By visiting the same place multiple times you are able to notice more and more things that perhaps you hadn't noticed before. Just like when you watch the same movie more than once you notice something different you hadn't before; except with nature study the scenes never get old because the canvas is always changing. Back in the winter this same field was covered in sparkling ice.

Also, the more experienced we become in our nature study the more details we notice in things. It seems kids are particularly naturally good at this, I'd venture to say even better than adults at noticing the details in God's creation.  They've taught me to look closer and then closer again.

Another way to notice details is using the modern technology of macro photography. There have been so many times that after a nature walk I've uploaded my photos into our computer and looked at a photo and have been in awe of something I'll see that I hadn't noticed when I was taking the photo. Such as in the case of this closeup of a Queen Anne's Lace wildflower that has gone to seed. I never noticed the little thorns all around the tiny seeds. Obviously God's gift to the seed to help it spread by latching itself on to travelers passing by. The kids and I marveled at this photo for several moments talking about how amazing it was.

We also marveled at this photo of an ant hill that I took while we were out there. Somehow macro brings even grains of dirt alive.

Another detail we noticed was that while something may look quite dead such as the above Queen Anne's Lace or this Thistle below, by noticing the seeds it once again becomes just as interesting to us as when it was fully in bloom. We think it's amazing that God gifted this wildflower with the ability to spread by wind! Isn't it beautiful?!

Of course we were obliged to help it along by pulling some of the seeds out and tossing them in the breeze.

If you havn't been much into the details of nature before, start now. The next time you are out on a nature walk alone or with your children, notice something simple, something that maybe perhaps you might not have noticed for it's lack of flare. Then lean in and look closely. What do you see? Then look closer even closer. What do you see now? It just might be the most amazing thing you've ever seen.

This month we have moved on to studying a new composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

I have made up a journal/worksheet for my kids to grab and use. If you would like to download the Classical Music Journal, click on the link below.