Outdoor Hour Challenge #4 - Focus on Insects

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew vi, 19).

Outdoor Hour Challenge #4 - Choosing a Focus Area - Insects

Once again, I feel as if we are "out of order" with our Outdoor Hour Challenges but I want the children to be able to enjoy them all and not miss out on any of Barb's wonderful ideas. This worked great for us because we started "school" last week and our first term's nature study "focus" is going to be insects. I love Barb's ideas so much - we essentially created our term "focuses" based on what she had planned :).

So - we have been focusing on insects. You can see from our last few blogs about the squash bugs, butterflies, and moths - we've been QUITE enjoying it! I can NOT wait to work on this week's Bee's Challenge! They are fascinating to me so I'm excited. I think today will be a library trip for more books on bees since our Outdoor Hour Challenge happened accidentally last night!

If you read many of my posts - you will see that I prefer the Charlotte Mason method of homeschool. And the more I pray on my homeschool decisions and topics - the more natural things seem to occur. As a mom who feels "called" to homeschool - this only encourages me and I LOVE IT! There is nothing better than feeling the Lord's presence in important things that you do! And for all homeschooling moms -- what WE do to me - is one of THE most important things that women can be called to do!

What does this have to do with our Virgin Tiger Moth? Not much :) but since I have been so incredibly blessed to have these challenges fall into our laps almost - I wanted to give praise to our Creator for making things so clear to me - and hope that helps someone else!

Our focus then is going to be insects and we have been blessed to have Barb's challenges every week for an extra "umph" to help us out! The kids have really enjoyed it and just like with every other Nature Study term - hop right in! I'm always amazed at the knowledge they soak up when we do indeed use the CM methods! From my son identifying the squash bug nymphs to all three of them narrating to me the differences between arachnids and insects during our nature study on the golden orb spider last week simply because the Lord put the beautiful creature there so we caught him to sketch and observe and then it NATURALLY led right into the discussion about the differences in our spider and the insects we'd been learning about.
I can not express to you (especially those that have never tried the CM method before) the joy and peace that I find when they absorb so much information from the "gentle art of learning" style!

Objective #3 for this challenge states, "Be alert to ideas for further research in your focus area." I think (I'm very long winded as you know) my point is that the good Lord seems to be making this SO easy for us lately that I just KNOW we are on the right track.


As my husband is getting a drink last night, he looks out of our kitchen windows and exclaims, "What is that big bug on your van?" I (of course lol) take off to the window PRAYING its a NEW insect to study!! Afterall - this is our FOCUS area! Sure enough it was. And it was rather large - I'd say a good 3 inches. I immediately (to my husband shaking his head as if to say, "I should have known better." lol) take off outside in my bare feet to my van and WOW! I was so glad I did!

Here was a BEAUTIFUL moth! And large to me - at least larger then the others we'd been watching around our lights at night. It was just striking. I grabbed the bug jar and brought it in so I could WAKE UP ;) my children to see it! They were ecstatic and not at all upset to be awaken.

It's a great feeling to get "Wow! Thanks mom!" at the end of the day over a part of our Creator's world.

Again- I feel so inclined to say - letting me know in MY HEART that the Lord is at work in our studies! After they were able to look at it- it began to flutter around in the jar and we were PLEASANTLY surprised by a brillant red color on its hind wings and body. It was quite an amazing moth. Probably the most attractive we've seen. I allowed them a few minutes to ooh and aah and talk about it then told them I'd get pictures so they could sketch it in the morning and put them back to bed.

The children's nature journal pages.

I could not find this moth in the HNS but I did find some fairly generic moth observation ideas on page 324 which I used to discuss it with the children.

1. Where did you find this moth? Was it flying by daylight or in the dusk?

2. What is the shape of the moth's body? Is it stout or slender? What colors has it? How is it marked?

Since my children are so young (5, 5, & 6 yo) I used these to get us started in our conversation as they are sketching their journals and we went from there. I had downloaded a free lapbook about butterflies just yesterday from Homeschool Free Share for those of you that enjoy lapbooks. I have never used a lapbook but had been contemplating one over the weekend to add to our studies - we normally notebook but I thought it might be fun and considered giving it a try. We used the Venn diagram to discuss the differences in butterflies and moths.

The kids really enjoyed it! I think we will continue to use this lapbook as we work on our butterfly and moth studies. Here is the excerpt from Homeschool Free Share for this topic:

Butterflies Versus Moths

Butterflies and moths may look alike, but they are very different insects.

-most butterflies fly during the day while most moths will be out and about at night

-butterflies have knobs at the end of their feelers (on their antenna), but a moth's antenna end is feather like or plain

-most butterflies rest with their wings held up above their bodies while moths rest with wings spread out flat

-butterflies usually have bright wings and moths usually have dull colored wings

-most butterflies have slender bodies; most moths have fat abdomens

-butterflies are usually hairless; moths are furry

-butterflies form a chrysalis during the pupa stage of their lives; a moth's chrysalis is usually contained inside a cocoon

-insects, birds and spiders eat butterflies; bats eat moths

Lapbook Component: Butterfly vs. Moth Venn Diagram

I also created an insect "running list" sheet for the back of my kids' nature notebooks. I created one for my son and another for my daughters. I do not have the latin names on here although there is a space for "information". This is more for younger children as mine are 5, 5, and 6 yo's. Please feel free to use it as a running tally for your own kids. :)

http://www.savefile.com/files/1748912

my_insect_list_boys.doc -

Thanks, Barb, for another great study!!!!

Outdoor Hour Challenge #25 - Squash Bugs

Outdoor Hour Challenge #25- Initially this Outdoor Hour Challenge was scheduled to be about houseflies and we will complete a study on houseflies once we catch one ;). In the meantime - we had the opportunity to witness something else that was interesting to us so we "ran" with it!

SQUASH BUGS!

I could not find any information in the HNS about these particular bugs (and they actually are a bug - one of the 4500 true bugs found) so we began researching elsewhere. Initially we thought they were Stink Bugs but quickly learned otherwise. My dear mother in law was joking around with my DS and DH and bravely picked one up to prove that they didn't let off a stink when "harrassed". I, on the other hand, took a safer route and came inside and found a basic field guide. Peterson First Guides - Insects. This book is not terribly detailed and certainly not enough information for most insect identifications but we were lucky and right on pages 36 & 37 we found exactly what we needed - Squash Bugs.

http://www.vegedge.umn.edu/vegpest/cucs/squabug.htm here is a great website about squash bugs. It gives all of the basic information we needed.

It CERTAINLY explained why our squash plants are wilted and dying. The website details EXACTLY what was happening to our squash plants and I found these pests purely on accident. I went out to water my DH's squash plants for him and suddenly these black bugs were crawling everywhere! Well - of course I yelled for the kids to bring me bug jars! Ha! Ha! My DH says, "Most moms would yell for a fly swatter or broom - you yell for bug jars!" And tell the children, "Catch one! Quickly!" Oh - the joys of being a CM homeschool mom!! :) I'm not boring!

So - once we have them contained - we bid a good night and awaken this morning with a nature study on our table :).

The children get out the magnifying glass and begin observing and sketching these insects. As they sketch - I casually provide them with information I found from the website above and information from the field guide above. The children's nature journals were not just about the squash bug but also the differences between arachnids and insects that they've been learning about (another post lol). Their journal entries turned out rather nice:

Alyssa's Nature Journal Page- you can see she drew a "squash bug" and then some eggs on a squash leaf. We learned that the adults lay eggs on the underside of the squash leaf in V patterns.

Chance did 2 pages. On one page he shows the Squash Bug on squash and on the 2nd its a closer look at the bug with the triangular "sheild" they have that protects their wings.

Briana's nature journal page. She also remembered they had a protective shield.

The bad part is these squash bugs are agricultural pests and the reason for our squash plants demise. They suck the nutrients from the plant foliage (and fruit later in the summer). This causes the plants to wilt and turn black because the bugs are taking all of the plants' water and nutrients. Here is the damage to our squash plants.

The amazing thing happens when I go to release them back outside. First - I'm unsure what to do because they are KILLING my squash. But - as usual - my son reminds me of his favorite "Hurt No Living Thing" poem so he says to let them in the yard and "take care of them in the morning before he has to see it." lol. I'm thinking - sevin dust TONIGHT. Horrible, I know. But as I take them outside, I decide to see if I can get some better pictures of them (before I sevin dust them) and WOW! I was able to catch a female adult laying eggs right then.

Don't you just LOVE - LOVE when your nature studies seem to fall in place? It gives me such a joy and feeling of our Lord watching over me and nodding in approval of the children's studies. It feels so natural and warm!

Once we saw this - we decided to turn over some more squash leaves and WOW again- we're swimming in the eggs!


The next thing we saw were TINY little white bugs. I thought - maybe aphids? Then my dear 6 year old son says, "Maybe its the babies- what are they called again, mom? NNY--" And I shouted, "NYMPHS! Goodness, I bet you're right." Then I ran inside and sure enough - they were the squash bug nymphs!! Another amazing AND natural part of the lesson - the next stage of their life cycle after eggs is the nymphs! Yeah for a vocabulary word learned through nature study the natural way!!!

Although the excitement over our finds were balanced with a GOODNESS we have a mess of pests here - it was a GREAT OUTDOOR HOUR CHALLENGE. As usual!!!! Here are some pictures of the eggs we found and more close ups of the Squash Bugs as they suck my squash dry! :)

What's the Story Morning Glory?!?

What's the Story Morning Glory?!?

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

3 John 1:4 (NIV)

What a GLORIOUS scripture to start off the homeschooling morning! As I took a moment to walk through our garden this morning ~ I thought I'd share what things are doing. When I came inside with camera in tow - I found this scripture awaiting me from one of my daily devotions and I thought I'd share it with all of you as I share our photos from this morning.

I planned on starting off this morning by laughing at myself! :) Those wonderous "bean plant" photos I've been blogging about -- that my DD grew from seed? Well~~~ ha ha~~~

Evidently - these are NOT beans! lol - as I stated in an earlier blog post - there is something to be said for being more organized next year and labeling our seeds! Turns out - as you can obviously see - her wonderous bean plant is actually morning glories! This was a NICE suprise - however - I think we're more excited to have morning glories! They are just simply beautiful - a true spectacle every morning of the work of the Creator. I can clearly see them from my kitchen window so as I clean breakfast dishes every morning I have a gorgeous vine to look at!

The rest of the garden is slowly dwindling in the cooler weather we are having. It's always a fun time of year with school starting. Fall has always been my FAVORITE time of year - I LOVE the cooler yet not too cold weather - the pumpkins, apples, parties, and cider! After having my own flower gardens for the first time this year, however, I feel a bit saddened that I'm going to lose my beautiful flowers (especially my roses) for some months. Although - being my favorite time of year - I know it is a season and everything has a season-

Ecclesiastes 3
Everything Has Its Time

1Everything on earth
has its own time
and its own season.
2There is a time
for birth and death,
planting and reaping,

And I'm sure I'll quickly remember why Fall is my personal favorite!! Here is a short collage of a few of the garden flowers I photographed this morning

So enjoy your time with your children, the last remnants of your summer gardens - take as much Outdoor Hour time as you can while we still have such gorgeous weather... we will be doing as much school time outside as possible - from reading to nature study!

Charlotte Mason Back to School Planning Bash

I've been planning to participate in the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival for some time but it continued to be put "on the back burner". When I saw this week's topic on Barb's page about back to school planning ~ I knew I had to participate! :)

I've been "planning" for weeks now but I seem to be accumulating more books and downloads and notebooking pages than I'm putting to use. Do you ever do this? I become so excited and filled with ideas of wonderful things I want to do with my children that I spend all of my time gathering and not as much planning and USING! So - now that I have FOUR different notebooking sets for birds - which we're not even returning to until spring (other than a 15 minute weekly bird feeder count) - it's time for me to stop printing and purchasing and start planning and implementing! The goal now is to really decide what I'm going to use when and how. :)

It's hard to be a "bookaholic" lol - I LOVE BOOKS! I can't have enough or even check out enough from the library. The goal was to really buckle down and decide which books we're using for certain and which are on the extra or free reading list.

My first step was to read some Charlotte Mason material for myself. It's impossible to implement a Charlotte Mason education in my home if I don't FULLY understand the principles. I've been reading online and researching since last school year but I wanted to sit down and cuddle up with a real BOOK - this is how I learn best. I have enjoyed these Charlotte Mason books:

I then took some time to look through online Charlotte Mason style curriculums - there are so many WONDERFUL programs out there at no charge! I was amazed at the love and work that went into these programs for free - simply to help other homeschooling families! The three that really stood out to me were:

Ambleside Online
Simply Charlotte Mason
Tanglewood Education I gleaned a bit from each of them. I also looked at book lists for children that are the same age as mine. I browsed booklists from :

sonlight curriculum

Living Books Curriculum

I decided to glean information from each of them and use a more eclectic approach but with the Charlotte Mason style principles. I found pro's and con's to each as far as MY family went and felt that there weren't any set curriculums that would perfectly fit US. I took the pros and helpful information that we could use from each and then took on the daunting task of trying to "string it all together".

I'm still working diligently at organizing and pulling it all together but I wanted to share where we were so far! Considering I'm hoping to start school on Monday ---- I have a busy weekend!!

My children are 6 yo (approx. 2nd grade) and two 5 year old twins (approx Kindergarten level).

So here goes:
First and foremost-- I purchased the Core Book from Tanglewood Education. I LOVE this planner. It's incredibly convenient because you can now purchase and immediately download a pdf version of the planner and it really does help with planning a Charlotte Mason style education. I love the extra pages that walk one through Narration, copywork, and geography excercises. Those alone are worth the $5.25 cost. I've paid more than that for blank "teacher planners" at our local education stores. I truly enjoy these pages. And I can print out only the pages I need and the number of those pages - customize it for our use which is a HUGE PLUS for me!

With this planner - I went through and chose an order for Habits for each child and wrote them into the planner - this planner has great ideas for young children's habits to work on.

Bible Study - for Bible Study we are using a mix of Bible stories, missionary stories, scripture, the Bible (of course), and devotionals. Here are my key components:

The Bible - the only sure book of Truth and the Lord's important words and wisdom!

Missionary Stories with the Millers (Miller Family Series)'>Missionary Stories with the Millers one chapter/story per week

href="http://rainbowresource.com/product/Gotta+Have+God+2+Devotional+Series+%28Boys+6-9%29/016740/1218808386-242765">Gotta Have God 2 - for my son - every morning- 1 on 1

God & Me Devotional series- for my daughters - every morning -1 on 1

Bible Stories - 4 mornings/ week (alternate 5th day with Missionary Stories) There are a ton of great Bible stories out there for children. We use "101 Favorite Stories from the Bible" and really enjoy it.

Math- I was tempted to try a different math program this year - I've heard great things about Saxon and Math U See , however, math is my son's strong point so it is not much of an issue for him and we used A Beka Arithmetic 1 last year with great success so I decided (especially since reading and literature were more important to me at this point in his education) not to switch. He likes the bright colors, I like the review and he scored all 8s and 9s in math on the 1st grade CAT this past year. Why not use what works? :) So we will use:

A Beka Arithmetic 2 - for my son

A Beka Arithmetic K 5- for my daughters - they actually completed 1/2 of this last year in "pre -k" so they will begin Arithmetic 1 about mid way through this school year.

Language Arts - After scouring different language arts/ grammar programs I finally made decisions. I think this was the toughest decision for me because it is SO important for the education I want them to have.

Primary Language Lessons - for my son - I love this book! I couldn't wait to see it and when it arrived I was NOT dissappointed. I was back and forth between this and the Queen Homeschool Language Lessons for the Very Young Volume 2.

The 3 R's by Ruth Beechick - for my daughters. I just adore Ruth Beechick and her language books are great. These 3 books (all in one in this version) are everything I feel you need to teach your little one to read. I like that it's inexpensive, its designed by a Christian, and its all there in these tiny books. I have the seperate volumes so I'll be using A Strong Start in Language and A Home Start in Reading. I'm not using her arithmetic book so I can't comment on that one. I've not used it.
Also for follow up and reinforcement of reading lessons for my daughters -

FREE reading program at Tanglewood Education - Really Reading

Phonics

Explode the Code Series - only 2 pages / day

I like this series - its very inexpensive - not too much worksheets (at the level of 2 pages a day for MY children) and my kids seem to think the black and white drawings are funny. It's great phonics reinforcement.

Writing Copywork, copywork, copywork!

For all 3 of my children - we will be taking copywork passages from poetry, scripture, and the literature we are reading. I did purchase Happy Scribe copywork for the kids but I'm not sure if that was a NECESSARY investment or one of my purchases because I was excited. When I sat down to actually plan the days out - I found this wasn't a necessity. I'm sure my children will enjoy them - I chose a package with 4 sets of animal copywork from Curr Click . It will work well when we are studying mammals and birds again but if you are on a budget - you can get more enriched, free copywork from your children's books.

I did purchase a copywork book also from Queen Homeschool. Copywork for Little Boys - obviously for my son. I do not regret this purchase. The quality of her copywork is worth the cost and convenience of having rich literature copywork already planned for me. I plan to continue with this (rather than the Happy scribe) with the Copywork for Animal Lovers and Pleasant Verses for Copywork.

My personal recommendation would be to go with the Queen copywork.

I did also purchase Writing Strands 1 & Writing Strands 2. They are nice little books with good ideas, however, I felt as if the 1st volume was filled with ideas I was already using with my kids. If you are interactive and conversational with your children - I wouldn't spend on the 1st volume. I have not yet looked over the 2nd volume as we are going to start with copywork and narration.

I DO recomend Ruth Beechick's Language & Thinking for Young Children for pre K children and some K age children. My kids really enjoyed these excercises and I loved having the poetry and Language activities in one handy book.

Literature/Narration

A program that I am going to try this year is Progeny Press.

So far, we are going to try these literature guides for the following books:

The Bears on Hemlock Mountain

The Drinking Gourd

Frog & Toad Together - this book is at the Independent Reader level for my son but I am going to have him read it with his sisters and I. Have him read and then narrate together as a family.

Ox- Cart Man - for my daughters

There are many other great titles from Progeny Press, however, since we are going to be using them for the first time, we are starting with these to see how they go. As with any curriculum or guide- I am not using ALL of the ideas or information in these guides. I am selecting those ideas and comprehension questions that I believe FIT our principles and family. I love that they have great ideas for incorporating scripture into the children's literature. This was the main reason I purchased them. I have a dear friend who used them last year and enjoyed them but she also used what SHE needed and let the rest go. Do not feel as if you have to do EVERY idea or number in any guide. If you focus on checking off items rather than just focusing on what works for YOUR kids - you will miss out on the best part of it - bonding and enjoying your children. Just as the guides call for writing to answer questions on comprehension and scripture references, my children and I will use these to foster conversation and ideas about the story we are reading - I will not require them to write this information out but use it to spark ideas and help me with prodding them along.

Veritas Press Guide - The Boxcar Children Comprehension Guide- same information above about PP applies here.

Some of the rest of our literature list for the year is as follows:

The Littles

The Velveteen Rabbit

Mr. Popper's Penguins

The Cricket in Times Square

The Red & Blue Fair Book

Lassie

Misty of Chincoteague

Dr. Doolittle

A Little Princess - my daughters

Little Lord Fauntleroy - my son

Follow My Leader

The Big Wave

These may change and WILL be added to as we go - this is a basic list to get us started. Often it is added to based on the children's interest. Other literature I have purchased assuming we will use it this year is as follows:

Homer Price

The Railway Children

The Family Under the Bridge

Swiss Family Robinson

Mountain Born

The Mouse & The Motorcycle

Ducktails

Stuart Little

The Secret Garden

Pollyanna

The Wind in the Willows

Lassie & Lassie Come Home

Alice in Wonderland

Peter Pan

Living books for Social Studies & Science

and so many more.... did I mention I LOVE books? I hope that by having these extras and allowing the children to move forward based on their own enjoyments of GOOD literature that I will instill that LOVE in them!

My son will be working on independent readers as well. I plan on having him read a chapter or short story to himself while I help his sisters with their reading lesson and then cuddling up with him to have him re-read it to me and then narrate and discuss it together. SOME of his independent readers are as follows:

Owl at Home

Frog & Toad series - any Arnold Lobel books

Little Bear

Dr. Seuss books - quite a few of these are too easy for him but I've found that allowing him to read easier books to himself while listening to the more difficult chapter books as a family works wonders for his confidence. I know that he is expanding his vocabulary and understanding with the chapter books I'm reading to them yet he is building confidence in his skills and ENJOYING his reading by allowing him to choose from independent readers of different levels.

Reading Literature: The Primer

Poetry- 1 daily - For those that are being memorized -study and practice gently until memorized

Favorite Poems of Childhood

Others based on studies- we LOVE Christina Rossetti

Other poets to study this year-

Longfellow

Millay

Kipling

Carroll

Lear

Stevenson

Dickinson

Anthology - Favorite Poems Old & New

Spelling - 4 days per week with test on 5th day

Natural Speller - for my son

None for my daughters

Geography -

We will be using maps and timelines for each of our stories from literature, science, and history to map out all of the events and tales. I'm also using geography ideas from the Tanglewood Core Book I wrote about earlier in this post.

Living Geography Books:

Seabird

Tree in the Trail

Minn of the Mississippi

All Holling C. Holling books

World History

The Story of the World Volume 1

The Story of the World Volume 1 Activity Book -As with the literature guides - I pick and choose which activities we will do and add/take away as I see fit.

Supplemental books as recommended in SOTW activity book and others as I see fit throughout our study.

Nature Study/ Science - Our science consists OF nature study. At this age - I find that my children ABSORB amazing amounts of information as taught in a natural learning environment. As we studied garden flowers - they were with me as I planted our gardens and my son helped my husband build flower beds. Now when we go to the nursery for new flowers or plants - even my 5 year old will say, "Look mom, creeping jenny!" Their abilities never cease to amaze me and what better way to share God's creation than spending time with the children out of doors incorporating gentle lessons as we go.

Spinebook for Nature Study - The Handbook of Nature Study

Basic schedule (can easily be changed based on thier interests and discoveries - this is just my guide - NOT set in stone)

Nature Walks- at least 2x / week

On 1 day minimum - focus on 1 group of living things

Use HNS before going out for my own reference to share information with the kids

All 3 children will keep thier own nature notebook (MOST IMPORTANT for our NS)

Supplemental Books for Nature Study

Field Guides for topic of study

North American Wildlife

The Usborne First Book of Nature

Insects:

The Butterfly Book

The Family Butterfly Book

Birds

All the Birds of North America

Birds, Nests, & Eggs - LOVE this book - I was SO incredibly pleased with this little book when it arrived!

Living Science Literature - includes

The Burgess Bird Book

Jack's Insects

The Adventures of Bobby Raccoon

Red Knot: A shorebird's incredible journey

Burgess Animal Book

Pagoo - Holling C. Holling

(at a minimum - more to be added)

Art/Art Study -1 Artist per term

Term 1 - Renoir

Dover Publications - Renoir Stickers

Dover Publications - Color your Own Renoir

Print out Renoir paintings from internet - post for children to look at and review

Other Artists for this year (not in order yet)

O'Keefe

General Art Study

Discovering Great Artists -_ LOVE LOVE this book - the children create their own art based on the style of the artist we are studying!

Come Look with Me... Art Series- these are wonderful, gentle picture studies with language ideas.

Various biographies from the library on the current term artist.

Music Study -Listen to CD's of the composer of the term. Gently discuss music with children and remind them of the name of the composer.

Stories of Great Composers - at Living Books Curriculum

Some questions to ask:

What does this music remind you of?

Do you enjoy it? What do you enjoy/not enjoy about it?

What type of instruments do you hear?

Term 1 - DeBussey

Term 2 - Mendelsson

Others not decided yet

Foreign Language - Spanish - Vocabulary words - mostly for this year-

La Clase Divertida curriculum

This is a BASIC (VERY BASIC) sampling of our plans for this year - as I said, I have TONs of work to do this weekend! :) I will add links and lists to this blog as I work through our schedules and book lists - I hope this has helped some and you enjoy in some of the books we are going to enjoy!

Verse of the Day...

Today's verse was sent by a DEAR friend of mine who is struggling with some personal and family issues that "shook her world" yesterday. She is amazing and wonderful and I'm sorry that she is in pain. HOWEVER - she is so incredibly strong - she wanted to help HER friends and sent out a wonderful devotional this morning that just lifted me up as well. For those of you who know me and know my stepfather is still in the hospital from his 6 way bypass and that my own heart failure and arrythmias have been out of control this week understand why this verse hit "home". I pray that it will find its way into your heart if you are at a crossroads or dealing with issues that seem too big. Nothing is too big for the Lord. Prayers and love to you all.

Isaiah 51:16- "For I am the LORD your God,who churns up the sea so that its waves roar-the LORD Almighty is his name. I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand-I who set the heavens in place,who laid the foundations of the earth,and who say to Zion, 'you are my people.' "

Scripture Du Jour- "I'm Afraid of the Dark"

Considering the present health concerns and fears going on in my own family- as usual Mrs. Terri Ferrell's "Scripture Du Jour" this morning spoke to my heart. It never seems to fail that no matter what joy or sorrow or good times or difficult times are going on in my life - Terri's emails "hit the spot"! I thank God for Terri and her wonderful daily emails. If you are interested in recieving her emails for yourself, simply email her at midwsunbeam@afo.net

"I’M AFRAID OF THE DARK"
To Read: Proverbs 12:1-8

We continue thinking about the fact that, as soon as the psalmist considered the end of the ungodly, everything dropped into focus. Their true position became so clear to him that his language in the rest of the psalm indicates that he not only ceased to be envious of the ungodly, but began to be sorry for them. Indeed, the same thing will happen to us too – the more we focus on the ultimate end of the unconverted, the more compassion we will feel for them.

How grim and cheerless is the non-Christian view of life, especially as it relates to the end. Dr. Marrett, a rationalist and head of one of the colleges in Oxford, wrote, as he neared the end of his life: "I have nothing to look forward to but chill autumn and still chillier winter and yet I must somehow try not to lose heart." H.G. Wells, who ridiculed and scoffed at Christianity with its doctrine of sin and salvation, said at the end of his life that he was utterly baffled and bewildered. The title of his last book summed up his view of things: A Mind at the End of its Tether. A noted atheist, when he was dying, asked one of his relatives for a lighted candle to be placed in his hand. "Why a lighted candle?" asked the concerned relative. "Because I am afraid to go out into the dark," was the reply.

How foolish to look enviously at the lifestyle of the ungodly, focusing only on their present successes and the marvelous time they seem to be having, without considering their end. We should never forget that no matter how glittering their lifestyle, the death of the ungodly is a terrible thing.

Prayer
O Father, let this sobering thought not only free me from envy but stimulate within me a deep concern for those who do not know You. May I be used in someway to halt the progress of someone on the road to a lost eternity. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Further Study
1 Timothy 6:1-10; Psalm 49:10; Proverbs 23:5; 27:24

What truth did Paul reflect to Timothy?
How does the same truth affect the way we live our lives?

Dear Sisters and Brothers,
"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Case from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret - it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall b e no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace" (Psalm 37:7-11).

This Scripture text was so good I could not just put down a small part of it. Note the advice given to the godly "do not fret…cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret – it only causes harm". Why should we worry and stew and steam over what appears to be unjust and unfair? Is not our God reigning right now? Is He not in control? What should we worry? Better to be concerned for the unsaved in the world. How can you reach out to them?

As for fearing death and the beyond, I can speak to that from personal experience. Before I was saved by and for the Lord, I used to fear most everything. When my husband went on work trips, I would lie awake at nights wincing at every creak the house made and almost jumping out of my skin when our cat leaped on the bed to spend the night with me. I could almost hear the footsteps of an intruder and kept my security alarm on the bedside table. Fear was my constant companion in the dark. Now I can sleep with confidence and security, because "God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore [I] will not fear" (Psalm 46:1-2).

Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

In the precious Name of Jesus,
Terri

"Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24: 15

Flying Squirrels!!

Flying Squirrels -

I am fortunate that my dear sister shared the below photos with us :) - it is quite exciting as I've not seen flying squirrels before. She and her husband noticed these squirrels at their feeder. At first, they thought maybe they were very young squirrels but after really looking at them - her father in law told them they were actually flying squirrels! I found this to be so interesting! My children LOVED looking at her photos of them so I thought your children might as well. Most of this post is photographs she's taken of them. I did find a few links with information on them that I will share. I did not see anything in the HNS.

HERE is a link I found with some basic information about these squirrels.

HERE is an "official" flying squirrel site that I found.

Kid's Bibliography - Books about Flying Squirrels

Poetry - (copywork)

FLYING SQUIRRELS

from the book "The Animals Noah Forgot"

Author: A.B. "Banjo" Paterson (1864-1941)Published 1933

On the rugged water shed

At the top of the bridle track

Where years ago, as the old men say,

The splitters went with a bullock dray

But never a dray came back;

At the time of the gum tree bloom,

When the scent in the air is strong,

And the blossom stirs in the evening breeze,

You may see the squirrels among the trees,

Playing the whole night long.

Never a care at all

Bothers their simple brains;

You can see them glide in the moonlight dim

From tree to tree and from limb to limb,

Little grey aeroplanes.

Each like a dormouse sleeps

In the spout of a gumtree old,

A ball of fur with a silver coat;

Each with his tail around his throat

For fear of his catching cold. T

hese are the things he eats,

Asking his friends to dine:

Moths and beetles and newborn shoots,

Honey and snacks of the native fruits,

And a glass of dew for wine.
* Please check these sites before allowing children to look at them alone- although I'm fairly certain they are fine - I have NOT taken the time to review them thouroughly. I only went on them WITH my kids and shared information with them. *

Outdoor Hour Challenge #23- Moth

Outdoor Hour Challenge #23 - Moths

Handbook of Nature Study - pp

We took this challenge thinking it would be so easy :). Most nights - as I'm always late watering my few plants/flowers that need water twice a day this time of year- I'm outside with the lights on and swatting the insects away! Normally my children have completed their bedtime routine and are in bed by this time but I thought this challenge would be a lot of fun SO when you see them in the pajamas -lol - that's why! :)

As I watered my flowers, they were trying to see the moths at our outside light. The problem being that the light is near the top of the house and they couldn't get a great look at the insects. My DH gave the kids a large flashlight to use and we turned off the spotlight on the house. At first they weren't seeing anything but my youngest was also dancing around with the light rather than setting it down :). I decided to turn on the smaller light on the back porch by the door to see what we were able to see. Almost immediately a moth came to the brick. The kids spotted it and as I tried to nudge it onto my fingers - it flew right onto my son's pajama shirt! :)


Chance & Alyssa having a look at the moth that landed on his shirt. They were really excited to be able to look at him so closely.

The moth didn't seem to mind resting on Chance's clothing at all so we all took turns getting a good look at the moth.












I am not very good at identifying moths - I went to Enature but it appears that the moths are SO similar in appearance. I have not identified him. We, instead, turned the conversation onto the differences of moths and butterflies that we could SEE that night. The kids did not do a nature journal entry this night because it was so late. My main objective was for us to have a good time finding a moth and taking a CLOSE look at one which we succeeded at! :)

We had already ordered some Painted Lady Butterfly caterpillars a few weeks before. They had arrived, eaten and more than tripled in size and were forming their chrysalides during this time. In the morning all of them had formed chrysalides so we were able to move them into their "butterfly habitat". This gave us a great opportunity for a nature sketch to follow up our outdoor hour challenge.

Here the children are observing the chrysalides and sketching them for their nature journals.

This was a wonderful time to distinguish the difference between a cocoon and a chrysalis.

Cocoon- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupa#Cocoon

Chrysalis-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupa

Other links that explain the differences:

http://www-staff.it.uts.edu.au/~don/larvae/faqs/cocoon.html

"Cocoon/Chrysalis
Cocoons and chrysalides are protective coverings for the pupa. The pupa is the intermediate stage between the larva and adult. A moth makes a cocoon, which is wrapped in a silk covering. A butterfly makes a chrysalis, which is hard, smooth and has no silk covering."

Another good website for coloring pages, printouts, and information:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/index.shtml

Butterfly copywork: http://members.enchantedlearning.com/grammar/paragraph/rewrite/butterfly/index.shtml?p

If they left the morning with nothing else, my DC now know that butterflies do not (as they told thier daddy firmly later :)) form cocoons as most people say - moths do and butterflies form chrysalides.

It was quite a bit of fun for us as always with the Outdoor Hour Challenges! I encourage anyone who's not taking AT LEAST this amount of time out doors with their children weekly to really do so! There - for me- is something so incredibly bonding and important about experiencing God's wonders and Creation together with your children. Anyone homeschooling with the Charlotte Mason method should know from her writing the importance of Nature Study and time spent out of doors.

Let them once get in touch with nature and a habit is formed which
will be a source of delight and habit through life.~~Charlotte Mason,
Original Homeschooling Series