Takin it Outside

School work just seems to go much better when you can take it outdoors! It was too wet to make a pallet on the grass, so we just got out our chairs and sat in the sun. I bought these really neat marker boards for the kids and they enjoy using them. One side is blank, the other has primary lines , clock face, number line and place value chart. We have used them for math, spelling and copywork so far. Breaks the monotony of using a notebook-saves paper too :) I bought them from Rainbow Resource, my favorite place to homeschool shop!

We were also able to set free a strange insect we found Wed. I finally decided after much googling, that it was in the Mantid family. Looks like a praying mantis. Didn't get a pic but he was sure strange looking. It is really fun to watch my kids noticing nature more and more as we take more time to study it. Which leads me to a wonderful book I'm going through. Talking to Fireflies, Shrinking the Moon by Edward Duensing. It tells you how to do 'tricks' with different animals and insects. Nothing that hurts them, just cool stuff to amaze the kids. We tried fiddling earthworms this week. We didn't have a good spot, we only got one worm but it was fun and they thought I was a genius!