Welcome to my Nature Study blog. I have been influenced greatly by the Charlotte Mason approach to studying God's marvelous creation. I'm learning so much, along with my children, that I'm sharing it with you here. Enjoy! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:27:00 -0500 Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:27:00 -0500   These clouds loomed ominously overhead during my son's birthday party a couple of weeks ago. I love the clouds. I love watching them...always moving...changing and in so many beautiful patterns. We did a weather unit when my older two were younger, but I actually don't remember much. I'd love to do one again now that the little ones are getting older. It will have to wait a year though, this year's science has already been decided on. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/745661/ Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:27:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/745661/   Simply Beautiful! While at a local garden park, we wandered through the conservatory greenhouse.  It was there that I saw this lovely flower. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/745658/ Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:21:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/745658/ On a lovely, sunny day last week I took the kids for a nature walk . A young Oak.     New growth . Humph, not so nature-ish.   Also not so nature-ish, but too cute to resist! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/745653/ Wed, 27 May 2009 11:08:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/745653/ We've had some very thick fog lately and below zero temperatures at night creating a beautiful frosted winterland come morning. One morning I went a bit crazy with the camera.  I just loved how pretty everything looked.  It reminded me of the kind of frosts they get in England because the air is so damp.  I even caught a little junco searching out scattered bird seed.  There are a few more pictures at the end of the slideshow that don't appear at first.  My favourite is the one with white scraggley(that's a word right?) branches against a dark background. Enjoy! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/649999/ Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:15:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/649999/ A few weeks ago, we went on a 'photo walk' organized by a mom from our support group.  We met at a park where she gave a short talk on photography and then the kids were free to take pictures.  With all of the Fall foliage, nature was the primary focus(no pun intended!). However, there were other subjects of interest too,  like the garbage can lid that Chickadee captured that I thought looked like a face! These aren't all of the pictures we took, just some favourites.  The ones above were taken by me and Chickadee took the ones below.  The picture of my son running with his backpack was taken by my other son.  It looks better blown up because you can see the blurred effect evoking movement.     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/627212/ Tue, 2 Dec 2008 18:23:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/627212/ The other day, while eating lunch, my son thought he heard a bird hit the livingroom window.  He looked over and saw something fluttering in behind the curtain.  He went to check it out and discovered a little bird on the window sill!  None of us saw it fly in the house.  It was a warm day and so the back door was open and we had all been outside, so I don't know how long it had been there. The poor little thing kept flying up and hitting the window.  It didn't understand that it couldn't get out! We opened all of the windows and doors and I made a little trail of birdseed that led out the front door. I have never seen my kids stand so still while we waited for him to find his way.  He seemed to study the trail for a few minutes and then eventually flew out the door.  He had to make a turn to do this, as the door was on the same wall as the window.  I like to think my little trail helped him find his way out! Anyhow, I'm pretty sure that it was a Sparrow.  They come to our feeder all  the time.  It sure was neat to see one up close! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/570508/ Tue, 5 Aug 2008 20:16:01 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/570508/   You know you're a homeschool mom when you're taking pictures of interesting creatures at 11:00pm so you can identify them in the morning! That's what I was doing the other night as I brushed my teeth before turning in.  I noticed the striking colour of this specimen on the pale yellow bathroom wall. If this moth had been brown or gray, I might not have taken a picture, but it was such a pretty blue that I couldn't let it get away without a snapshot. I never did get an accurate identification of it, I think it might be blue version of a White-Fringed Emerald (Nemoria Mimosaria), which is typically green, or a type of Pyralid or Geometrid . However, I did find some  neat bug websites: Bug Guide and What's That Bug. Check them out if you need to identify an odd insect! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/558388/ Tue, 8 Jul 2008 17:47:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/558388/   This is a slideshow(and it's my very first attempt at one!) of our nature walk at Serpentine Wildlife Area.  The walk was 4km long and we were all worn out by the time we got back to our van.  I can't believe that even my little 4yr old made it the whole way! As you can see there were plenty of clouds around, and a cool breeze, but when the sun came out it got quite warm rather quickly. The area is protected for wildlife.  That wildlife is mainly birds.  Over 175 different types of birds use the sanctuary during the year at some point during their migration.  We were there at the wrong time of year to see any great variety, but we did manage to see a hawk, a heron, a red winged blackbird and some ducks.  As you can see there are no pictures of any birds as they were too far away to get a good shot. There were plenty of observation towers and the kids had to check out each one.  Now my Hubby is thinking we should build something like that in our yard!! The river is the Serpentine River and it was very low, but there was evidence that it had recently been quite high.  It was interesting to see the current in it change as the tide came in.  We were only a short distance from the ocean, although you can't see it in the pictures either, and you could actually see the water coming in a going up-river. Thanks for visiting!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/549726/ Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:09:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/549726/ We're finally having some warmer weather and were able to get out to a park yesterday.  I didn't make the kids do any official nature study, but there was plenty of observations to be made. Inspecting a small, stagnant pond... On the trail... Western Bleeding Hearts(Dicentra formosa) lined our path... I'm not sure what these little white flowers are.  There were so many in our nature book, that it made them hard to figure out exactly which ones they were.  They might be Goldthreads(Coptis) or Wood Anemones(Anemone quinquefolia). The larger heart shaped leaves are a different plant.  The nature guide said they are Dutchman's Pipe(Aristolochia durior), but it was hard to tell because there were no flowers.  It could also be Western Wild Ginger. A tempting creek... Unfortunately, not only was everything fairly muddy(too muddy to play in) from all of our recent rain, but there were signs up asking people to stay out of the creek.  It also said not to throw rocks in it.  Why?  Well, apparently this particular creek was home to a rare little fish called the Salish Sucker and it is only one of five creeks in BC where this fish lives and so it therefore protected. We had a nice day, a little picnic topped off with ice-cream bars from DQ. I hope to do more of these even through the Summer, if my pregnant self will grant me the energy! Thanks for stopping by! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/533882/ Sat, 17 May 2008 19:34:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/533882/  One of the things I try to do, is sketch along with my kids, when I've given them a sketching assignment.  I don't have as many entries in my sketchbook, because I'm usually distracted by my 'little ones' and a good sketch often takes time.  I do what I can and I hope to do it more. Here is one of my sketches of some English Daisies.  I'm not sure of their real name as I already threw out the tag.  I have them planted in one of about a dozen containers around the house. (I do not have a 'real' garden yet, we're renovating our yard at the moment, so maybe next year! In the meantime containers will have to do!)   Here are the real ones, although not the exact ones I looked at while sketching.  I was trying to focus on the bee, but he's still a bit blurry! I have not sketched these, yet, but I thought I'd share them anyway as they are just a few of the pretty blooms I have to look at from my kitchen window. (Petunias and Osteopernum-I think?) I love planting flowers and watching them bloom.  All of the different colours are so pretty. Hopefully next year I'll have pictures of a real garden to share! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/529913/ Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:21:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lilywhite/529913/