And its Friday!  Whoot! 

With another email based homeschooling group, we all went together to get a membership to Enchanted Learning.  Using the group rate and the fact we had quite a few moms join in, we each only had to pay less than $2 each.  Awesome deal for groups to consider, even if you are not meeting face to face.

We are currently studying Temperate Forests.  I'm mixing decideous and coniferous forests since we live in a mixed forest in this part of the country.  It took me a little while to decide how to study it, but I have decided to start with a mini-unit on trees and tree growth, including the life cycle of plants.  I already own a tree identification book, so on our next hike we will take it along and try to id some common trees.  I want to get a slice of a tree truck and learn what a tree can tell us.  We have bought fig trees for the yard and planting them will also go into our study.

We'll spend several days on decay in the temperate forest.  We have a great book from the library about dead trees and all they provide.  DS8 has already read it, so I think we'll make it a hands on thing - digging through some rotten logs to see what we can find.  Also, in talking of decay, dirt, and worms we'll touch on the healthy micro-organizisms found near the roots of trees and the way trees pass "information" using these micro-organisms.

Next we'll start on animals.  I'm still trying to decide exactly how I'm going to treat animals.  I'm thinking life-cycle, but I'm not 100% sure.  The idea of presenting the info in the light of a community working together - Mother Nature gives the animals everything they need and no animal takes more than it needs. So, just brainstorming aloud, Animal Jobs? The Woodland Neighborhood?  Patterns in Nature?  I'll keep thinking..