Emma, 5 months

She is starting to roll over. She is a drooling mess. :) She is sensitive to noise. She is super sweet and interactive. She really likes her fingers and toes. She has big eyes and is captivated by people and objects with detailed/bold patterns.

Cottage Co-op, Birds and Monet

Our Cottage Co-op just finished out another term. Our topics this time: Nature Study-Birds, Artist-Claude Monet, Habit-Initiative, Hymn-My Father's World, Folk Song-America the Beautiful. As usual, we had our time each meeting for poetry recitation. These were great choices for our group of kids. They really enjoyed themselves and have remembered the bits of information we have given them.

Here is Olivia with her nature journal. We take them out and draw at co-op as a part of the nature study but she will often come home and finish her drawings or write some about what she learned.

This was the bird she picked as her favorite.

The squirrels had broken our bird feeder a few months back so we took this opportunity to finally get a replacement. It has been nice to have the birds back close to the window so we can observe them. I am amazed how quickly the kids have been able to identify the birds by look and sounds. We have also kept our eyes open for the various nests we see around our yard.

Below are a male and female cardinal having an interaction of some kind. It was funny to watch and went on for several minutes. The female kept ruffing her feathers and chattering away. The male kept getting food from the feeder and feeding her. He even flew away at one point and then came right back to do it again. Mating ritual of some kind?

woodpecker and ?a sparrow or type of finch (we can't find one just like it in our books)

Mourning Doves above and a Robin hidden on the ground below (nice demonstration and lead for discussion of the bird using camouflage)

This is an old nest from a bush in our yard. It has not been used in a few seasons. When we took it apart and looked it up in our books, we determined that it was likely a Robin's nest. It was made of stick and leaves with a mud cup inside. The picture below is of a nest that was built this year. We have a good view of it from our "school room" window and Olivia got to see some of the process. The birds built it early before all the leaves came in on the tree so it was easy to watch.

At home, I am reading aloud Birds At My Window (published by Rod and Staff) to all the kiddos. I have also been using my Handbook of Nature Study and we have been spending lots of time watching for birds. It is an easy subject as they are numerous right out our windows. We keep some field and bird guides on the table just about all the time for easy reference.

In the middle of our term, Olivia got to go to an art class on Monet. Nana took her and she had a wonderful time. It was at Anja's Art Playhouse. This event came at such a great time to correspond with our studies.

Olivia's Impression: Sunrise

Olivia's Japanese Bridge

Olivia's waterlilies

There are many kid books on Monet out there. Linnea in Monet's Garden (and the movie based on this book) and Claude Monet: Sunshine and Waterlilies were two that I got from the library and pulled most of my information for sharing with the kids from.

A Walk in the Park

Time at the park is such a good thing for all of us. This is one of my favorite "walking parks", as the kids call it. We started at the Bicentennial Garden and then across the street to the Bog Garden.

The kids just love the boardwalks in the Bog Garden. They also love the bridge and area around the stream. There are always ducks to entertain them.

Most of the ducks there are typical looking male and female mallards. There was also a tan beige duck that stood out from the rest and Olivia noticed right away.

Our Backyard Dogwood Through the Year

This year Olivia was to observe the large Dogwood in our backyard through each of the seasons and draw it in her nature notebook. Last year, we did this exercise with one of the Cherry Trees across the street from the house.  I am amazed at how this has helped her with observation skills, drawing skills, and also to give her a connection with God's creation.

Observing the Neighbor's Bees

We read some books on bees, Bumblebees and Honeybees. We have seen lots of Bumblebees on our recent walks so they have been easy to observe. Then a neighbor of ours invites the public to sit and enjoy his garden area. He has a Honeybee hive. So we visited his place and observed the bees. The boys and Emma were along and spent time in the yard too. I just didn't catch them on camera. Those boys just move too quick. :)

Pill Bugs

Olivia and I made a Pill Bug "trap" last week and it worked remarkably well. 

Apparently, pill bugs love potatoes, so we hollowed out a potato, cut a small hole in one end and put the shell back together with a rubber band. We placed out by the wood pile and left it for a few days. Sure enough, when we opened it, there were 2 pill bugs and an earwig.

Olivia was rather reluctant to touch them at first.

After she saw me pick one up...

she willingly let it crawl all over her hands. It moved so quickly, it was hard to get a  picture of it. :)