Nature Walk

-
Nature study is an important part of Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education. It doesn't really feel like nature study to talk a walk around a city block though. We love the opportunity to escape the city and enjoy a more rural setting. Today we took the chance to visit the Hassayampa Nature Preserve. A guide took us through a couple of trails and encouraged the kids to make notes in their nature journals.


One exercise that I will use in the future was to divide blank page into four sections by drawing a cross in the middle of the page. Then devote each section to four senses: touch, hearing, seeing, and smell. Our guide asked the kids to sit for 1-2 minutes, concentrating on one sense and then to write or draw.


We came across this little fellow. His scales shone iridescent and yet he still blended in well with the tree.

"Hassayampa" comes from a Yavapai word meaning "upside down river." Most of the Hassayampa River flows underground. It is an unexpected surprise in the middle of the Sonoran Desert!

Comments

mshel333 said…
Great idea! (I'm still trying to find the "hidden" creature in that photo - lol!)
May 23, 2011 at 8:12 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nature Study

-
Image
I feel like we never get to nature study. I have it scheduled for Fridays but by the end of the week, we don't seem to have the time or energy needed for this subject. Not all is lost though. During the week we do spend time outdoors and I found a couple of great picture books that even my two older boys enjoy. The first one is Bedtime in the Southwest. It's a funny look at how southwest critters might behave when Mama and Papa tell them it's time for bed. The second one is Way Out in the Desert. It is new words to the old song Over in the Meadow. It's a great, gentle introduction to ten southwest animals as well as different Sonoran desert plants. The other night, outside our boys' tae kwon do gym, our 4-year-old daughter was inspecting some of the flowers. Suddenly she ran over to me, yelling excitedly, "I saw a bird! It had the long pointy nose for drinking juice from the flowers!" I asked, "A hummingbird?" "YES!" she yell...
Read more

Weekly Report 4

-
Image
I've missed a report so I'll combine two weeks here. I have to say that our school days are fairly boring! I need to come up with some interesting projects for the kids to do. One thing I have done to help day go more smoothly is to make an assignment book for my 9 yo son. He likes knowing before the day starts what is expected of him. He is usually ready to be done with school after two subjects. Now he know before we start what subjects we are covering that day and I don't hear the sighs when I ask him to get his history notebook. I write out that week's schedule on Saturday or Sunday morning. This is our plan for next week. As we finish a task, he crosses it out. I keep track of all our work through the online organizer at Simply Charlotte Mason . Our 9 yo son is reading the book Brighty of the Grand Canyon. After our trip through Oatman back in August, I thought he would be interested in reading about a burro living in the Grand Canyon. Reading is not his...
Read more