The Discoveries That Keep Me Going

Homeschooling is hard.  There is no doubt about it, but it is the little precious moments that make it all worthwhile and keeps me motivated day after day to continue this journey with them.  For us a perfect example of these memorable moments are finding wildlife in our yard. Today was an excellent day for critter spottings, maashaa Allah.   First Isa and I stood several feet away from a crow which landed right on our railing and then processed to eat the children’s left over lunch droppings.  He was so thrilled and started imitating the crow’s caws.  Later in the day, Jennah came running inside excitedly to tell me that she had found a lizard (a five lined skink) in the back.  Finally, the girls discovered a male black widow spider hanging around the woodpile. 

This is truly what makes it all worthwhile.  Just to see the excitement on their faces and yearning to learn more about their seemingly small discoveries.  Today was a good homeschooling day, maashaa Allah.

Name This Moth and Win an Insect Study

My husband found this gorgeous creature in the woods at a local park this past weekend, maashaa Allah.  Whoever can correctly identify this creature  along with naming their favorite insect and explaining why it is your favorite will win a fun multiple intelligences insect unit study complete with insect activities, insect coloring pages, an insect log, an insect observation chart and more , insha Allah.  You have until Thursday, May 19, 2011 to respond in the comments for this post and I will email you the unit study, insha Allah.  I will hold all the comments for review until May 19 before approving them to give everyone a fair chance.

Hints:  This species is commonly found in America and Southern Canada with similar species found across Asia into China. It gets it’s name from it’s eyespots and relates to “the night.”

Update-  Thanks to everyone who participated in this contest!  This is a luna moth or an American moon moth for those who were curious.

Feeling Refreshed

Since I was feeling the need for some fresh air, some spring greenery, and exercise, I decided to take everyone to Maymont.  Hawwa (3) had been pleading for me to take her there for several weeks now, so I decided that it would be nice place to visit today. 

They wanted to feed the goats, so I suggested they pull the weeds up around the outside of the fence to offer to them.  Alhamdulillah, the children and the goats were totally amused by this and we ended up visiting with the goats for a while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a bite to eat atop a hill with a panoramic view of the park, they continued exploring nature, maashaa Allah.

As the locals can attest, I got my exercise coming back up that steep hill pushing a loaded stroller, maashaa Allah.

Walking with a Naturalist

Al-Jathiyah – 45:4 And in your creation, and what He scattered (through the earth) of moving (living) creatures are signs for people who have Faith with certainty. (Al-Jathiyah 45:4) Allah blessed us to learn more about His creation today during a homeschool hike in the park with a knowledgeable naturalist.  It started out as a class about useful plants, but as the children were tremendously observant and curious, it quickly became  multifaceted.  Along the way, they spotted some interesting animals such as a brown earth snake and a click beetle which is fastest animal is the world, subhannallah.  In spite of the inquisitive children, we also gained sustainable knowledge about plants in the woods.  They learned about several edible plants including dandelions, poke weed (before the stem turns red), fiddle head ferns, and violet leaves.  Violet leaves are also very nutritious for guinea pigs.  We found some around our house and fed the furry fellow as soon as we got home.  Finally, we witnessed the tallest and fastest growing tree in the woods- the tulip popular, subhannallah.  The natives used to transform these trees into canoes.  This slideshow requires JavaScript. I truly feel blessed that my family and I have been able to come in contact with experts who are willing to share their knowledge of His creation.

Homeschool Hikes-Salamanders and Stream Ecology

This week began a series of nature study sessions for the children in a neighboring county, masha Allah.  I was pleased with the level of instruction that they received in this session on salamanders/stream ecology.  The nature center is a bit of a drive for us and I hadn’t yet met the instructor, so I was unsure of what to expect.

Instead of the usual visit to the pond or stream to evaluate its health, the children were given a pan with some pond water and organisms from a pond behind a nearby gas station.  Over the years, overfertilizing and run- off have been killing life in the pond at the nature center by starving it of oxygen. 

Nevertheless, they were able to find all sorts of macroinvertebrates, animals that have no backbone and can be seen without magnification.  We identified a leech, a toe sucker, lots of dragonfly larvae, snails, and a nematode just to mention a few.  We did not find any stoneflies which are very sensitive to pollution.  Basically, the pond in which we assessed seemed to be moderately healthy and Allah knows best.

Toe Biter

Nematode and snails

After the class and a quick bite to eat, we went for a hike to actually see the pond, masha Allah.  I was a bit shocked to see all of these turtles sunning themselves on a log.  They were so still and fearless of humans that we weren’t quite sure if they were real or not, subhannallah.

The Tree Class

by Hannah age 9

See you not that to Allâh prostrates whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the mountains, and the trees, and Ad-Dawâb (moving living creatures, beasts, etc.), and many of mankind? But there are many (men) on whom the punishment is justified. And whomsoever Allâh disgraces, none can honour him. Verily! Allâh does what He wills. (Al-Hajj 22:18)

 

In the class I learned a lot of things come from trees like toothpaste, candy, tires, maple syrup, and much more.

When we were hiking, we found a stump over 100 years old.

This chrysalis was camouflaged in the tree.

If there weren’t any trees, we couldn’t live.

Water Critters @ the Virginia Living Museum

Spider crab

This is Hannah and I am 9 years old. We went to a class called Water Critters with my 4 sisters. I helped them answer the questions. We saw frogs, crabs, turtles, tadpoles, and fish scales.

Crab exoskeleton, turtle shell, and fish scales

American alligator

The alligator was my favorite creature at the museum.  I also saw snakes, bees, lizards, and much more. It was a pleasant day, alhamdulillah.

River City Rock Hoppers

Originally, we had planned to visit the Belle Isle part of the James River Park System in the city of Richmond as a  science field trip to examine the huge rocks in the earth.  Allah is the best of planners and due to construction and a closed parking lot, we ventured over to the south side of the river to explore instead.

Rock Hoppers

Make Shift Bridge

My husband assisted the children out onto to the rocks for a first hand experience at examining the igneous granite.  It was a little treacherous at times, masha Allah.

  

 

 

 

 

The erosion in the park was also very obvious as seen with this hole in the rock.

Erosion evidence

Not only did we study the geology of the area, but the biology as well.

Autumn flowers in bloom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was also a living history exhibit as well to investigate, alhamdulillah.

White Oak Canoe

The huge log was in the process of becoming a Powhatan Indian style canoe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is truly a blessing from Allah to have access to these free community homeschooling resources right in our backyard, alhamdillah.

 

A Mixture of Learning Experiences

Over the last couple of days, we have engaged in a variety of educational experiences including book learning, hands-on learning, and a field trip.   I have been spending some time teaching my 10 yr. old son some new techniques in spelling and listening to my 8yr. old begin a biography about Rachel Carson, an environmenalist.  In addition, the girls were ecstatic about cutting and coloring the paper dolls that went along with the chapter about the Byzantine Empire.

Justinian and Theodora Paper Dolls

Masha Allah,  the older three children and I participated in a watershed class at Pocahontas State Park where they learned about current environmental problems and solutions.    The instructor used a model of a town(enviroscape)  with a lake to demonstrate how the daily activities of people, businesses, and farms affect the health of its lake in addition to the health and economy of the town itself.

Enviroscape

After the indoor portion of the watershed class, we all hiked down to Beaver Lake from the nature center,  followed the path that the water would take downhill, and noticed what it might pick up along the way.

Tracking the water

After a marsh/wetlands game, we finally make it down to the lake.  Here, we found that the water had taken much soil and debris with it along the way. Therefore,  succession or eutrophication due to erosion has been filling up the lake.

Lake Succession

So far, I have enjoyed the beginning of this week with the children, alhamdulillah.  It has had a nice balance between at home activities and out of the house activities.  Also, I feel that the blend in presentations has been beneficial by meeting a wide range of learning styles.

It’s Harvest Time

Strolling through the garden today, we came across some fruit that we had never seen before, masha Allah.  The garden educator informed us of their names and even gave each of the children one to sample.   This is one of the advantages of visiting the garden on a regular basis.  The staff gets to know you and they are more than willing to answer questions.

Jujube fruit or Chinese date

Japenese Persimmon

As a child, my grandmother would find wild persimmon fruit and let us taste it which made our mouths pucker.  Apparently, those weren’t ripe and that is why our mouths puckered!

Luffa

Not only is the Luffa used as a sponge or body scrub, but it is also an edible vegetable.

Watermelon

Well, this is not such an unusual fruit, but it looks ripe, so I couldn’t resist a picture.