the ducklings have arrived

and they've brought chicks with them.

my kids have taken this project much farther then i ever thought they would.

i'll upload all of their birds on flickr when i get a chance, but i am so impressed

with the bluebirds, woodpeckers, cygnets, crows, hummingbirds

and yes, even a flamingo with sunglasses on, that have all come out of

their imaginations, with just a little felt, some pom-poms and glue.

this duckling and chick don't have eyes, but beads and glitter glue

work just fine in case you'd like yours to be able to see.

and if you love usborne books, like we do, the usborne books for beginners

are great. they have links here where you can look up the book you

are reading and play, read or watch online activities pertaining to the book.

you can watch a baby chick hatching here and this website has some

great pictures of baby birds.

making way for ducklings

and swans too.




i stumbled upon this site the other day while looking for some activities to do while we read these two books.
there is also a link way at the bottom of the page that seems like it could be useful.
as you can see one is for my pre-schooler and the other is for my middle kids.
but both of them seem to be appealing to all of my students.
i know the "content" standards are for california, but if you are not in a charter, those things won't matter anyway.
just thought i'd share the info.
it is kind of nice to stumble upon free lessons that have already been planned and use them to your advantage.
and it makes less work for mama, which means i can plan crafts and activities instead!
so off i go to make way for some pom-pom ducklings......

yesterday

we are having way too much fun over here.

there was so much goodness to behold outside during our bird watching session.

which, by the way, happened during a very serious lesson on vertebrates and invertebrates.

i was explaining the serious subject of spinal cords, bones, etc. like a good teacher should and we were about to do a notebook page diagramming such and then middle son spotted a hummingbird out by the orange trees. needless to say, we all bolted (quietly) outside, armed with cameras and binoculars. and as we found nests, saw and heard at least six different types of birds and experienced the fresh air and the lovely trees and rooftops brimming with birds, there would be no going back inside until it got dark. my girl climbed the big tree in the back yard for a prime hummingbird watching spot. we moved the feeder because it wasn't getting any visitors. then middle son led me to a nest in the orange trees he had spied a few days ago and we were in awe of all the twigs and bits of this and that the birds like to gather. and well, littlest son, along with our mama cat, tended to be a noisy nuisance, but it is so awfully hard to sit still and be quiet when you've got the whole yard calling out to your bare feet to come and play.....

and yes, that tiny hummingbird kept wanting me to take his picture, that is when he'd sit still long enough and quit fighting with another male. we had no idea how agressive those little guys could get. we witnessed some pretty interesting behavior yesterday firsthand, that they could never get from just books.

so that's what we did yesterday, i don't know how structured it may seem,

but this kind of learing just happens sometimes.

i've learned in my nine years of homeschooling that this is really the best way.

we have been getting the three R's done early on so that the afternoons are more free to do what we like. the evenings have been "craftier" as i make time for myself, they seem to follow my lead and do more creative things too.

so perhaps tomorrow i'll show you some of the wonderful artwork

that pours out onto the paper when these little ones are exposed to the creation of such an AWESOME GOD!!!!

for the birds

are you sick of me saying how it
it kinda feels like
summer around here?

well, at least spring.

so we'll be doing this today.

there is a special place in my

heart for hummingbirds.

maybe someday i'll tell you why.

anyway,thank you grammie

for sending the kids

this feeder. they love it.

and i love it too

because it has my two

favorite colors on it!!!