Leisure by W.H.Davies

What is this life, if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like stars at night.
No time to turn at Beauty; glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Working at Believing

    We were doing a Bible Study at our church mums' group the other week about how our salvation is a gift from God which He wants us to receive gratefully but without feeling like we have to 'earn it back' or 'do something in return'. The culture in which we live here is a bit like that. At first we just thought people were extremely generous, bringing gifts of food and toys and clothing for the children whenever they came round; and they are very generous people, especially considering how little they have, I don't want to diminish that. However, it didn't take us long to realise that there was an expectation in return that, as part of their wider 'family', we would be there for them when they needed something, like borrowing money, or giving a lift in the car somewhere. God's gift of eternal life, however, has no strings attached, and there's nothing we could ever do to pay Him back for it.

    However, I digress. What struck me as I was reading the Scripture passages which talked about this subject was the implication that 'just believing' is also something you work for. Don't build on sand, build on rock. Don't store up treasures on earth, store up treasures in heaven. Don't work for food that spoils, work for food that lasts. Make every effort to be holy. 'Build', 'work', 'store', 'make' - they're all active verbs, not passive ones. What particularly struck me was in John 6:27-29 where Jesus says 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent'. Now maybe He was just drawing a comparison and I'm reading too much into it, but I did get to thinking that perhaps I need to 'work' harder at believing.

    There's a temptation to get a bit lazy about faith, and just have a 'let go and let God' attitude, but with any relationship, of course, our relationship with our Heavenly Father needs constant tending to if it's going to grow. I was challenged that afternoon to make more effort not just to get to know God better in my Quiet Times but to work harder at believing - believing that God is always present with me, in His character, in who Jesus is, in God's promises to me, in what He says about me...

    These past couple of weeks I've seen my early morning alone times with God as an absolute priority. I need to give more of my time and energy and effort if I'm to live a more joyful and abundant life in the Lord Jesus, which, ironically (and I love it that life in Jesus is filled with ironies like this) will mean that my normal daily life will seem less demanding on my time, energy and effort. I need to actively fill my thoughts with heavenly things and not earthly things during the day. I need to be more mindful of God's presence, more spontaneous in prayer and worship. These things are not natural to me, but I trust that as I work at them there will be great rewards. I have already seen rewards. It’s amazing how much more smoothly my day goes, how less irritating the children are, how much more time I seem to have on my hands if I’ve spent some time that morning worshipping and talking to God.

Outdoor Hour Challenge Week 6

This week's challenge is to think about starting a collection. We already have a little cardboard box on our school table where we put all the things we collect on our nature walks - leaves, pine cones, acorns, pebbles, berries etc. The children love collecting things, and it's a habit now to pop things into the pocket at the back of the pushchair if they want to take them home. The other day carting home 4 large sticks (almost tree branches) was a bit of a problem, and I had to convince Hubbie that it was worth keeping them in the garden for the bbq for next summer :-)

I decided, since our focus is on trees, that we would collect photographs. The plan is to choose 10 different trees that we see regularly and to take a photo of them once a month (hopefully from roughly the same angle each time). At the end of 12 months we'll be able to print them all off and make an interesting display of how each tree has changed through the seasons.

We already have an ash tree and a hawthorn tree that we're keeping an eye on, so we've added a fir tree, a sycamore tree, an oak tree, a lime tree, a willow tree and a crab apple tree from the park, and also an apple tree and a plum tree from our garden (hopefully for some pretty blossom next spring!).

Here's the willow tree we chose in the end after lots of deliberation:

Willow Tree

On the way home we noticed a birds nest left in one of the trees that had lost all its leaves. We tried to think of which kinds of animals actually live (not just climb) in trees, and all we could come up with were birds and squirrels. Back at home Sophie found the chapter in 'The Adventures of Pip' by Enid Blyton (which is a fantastic nature book for little children) where Pip the Pixie learns about how birds build their nests.

Bird's nest

Maybe when we're more experienced students of nature we'll be able to identify which bird this nest belongs to :-)

Outdoor Hour Challenge Week 5

It's been a while since we completed an outdoor hour challenge, but we haven't given up! We've had a month or so off homeschooling because of various travel commitments. However, I'm hoping it won't be too difficult to get back on track.

The children and I enjoyed a lovely nature study morning in our local park last Friday. We've been having wonderful weather for the last couple of weeks - around 20 degrees C and it's amazing to be out and about in just a t-shirt in mid-November. However, the trees are losing their leaves fast because winter is supposed to be on its way soon, so I thought this might be our last chance to collect any autumn leaves for craft purposes.

First stop was to check out Sophie and Charis's trees, and they'd both lost all their leaves:

Sophie's Ash tree

Charis's Hawthorn tree

We haven't started started our list of trees in our nature journal yet, but the first entries to go in will be Ash, Hawthorn, Sycamore, Lime, Crab Apple, Willow and Oak, since those are the trees we come across most often in the park. The kids had a lot of fun, and I'm so glad that they seem to be enjoying our nature study walks more than when we first started, although it's not every day they get to jump in huge piles of crunchy leaves! We picked up several leaves that we thought still looked pretty, although many were already dry and brittle. Sophie and Charis also had great fun collecting sticks and spotting a jay and a squirrel in the trees.

Back at home we tried to iron our leaves between sheets of wax paper and stick them on the windows. I'm sure there's a better way to do it, but it came out pretty well I think (the large red one is actually from our neighbours grape vine, which we spotted on the ground when we came back home):

Autumn leaves

We also used some of the leaves we'd collected to make greetings cards by covering them on the front of the card with clear laminate.

Sophie, who's a budding artist, has been voluntarily drawing lots of trees in her pictures recently. I don't know if it's got anything to do with our nature focus! She's getting pretty good at seeing how the branches come off the trunk. I asked her today if she'd like to draw one of the apple trees in our garden so that we could put the picture in our nature diary, which she did. As you can see, it's still hanging on to a few of its leaves:

Apple tree in our garden by Sophie aged 5

Handbook of Nature Study Notes 5 - on Trees

    I've decided our focus this term will be Trees. Here are a few of the things I've learned by reading the introductory section in the Handbook of Nature Study:

• Parts of the tree:
• The head, or crown, is composed of the branches as a whole, which in turn are composed of the larger and smaller branches and twigs.
• The spray is the term given to the outer twigs, ..which bear the leaves and fruit.
• The branches are divisions of the bole or trunk, which is the body or stem of the tree.
• The bole at the base divides into roots, and the roots into rootlets, which are covered with root hairs.
• The roots:
• First, they absorb the water and minerals from the soil (through the root hairs)
• Second, they hold the tree in place against the onslaught of the winds.
• There is as much of the tree hidden below ground as there is in sight above ground. 
• The trunk, or bole:
• First, it holds the branches aloft...to expose the leaves to the sunlight.
• Second, it's a channel by which the sap surges from root to leaf and back again.
• The branches are divisions of the trunk and have the same work to do.
• A trunk cross-section:
• First, there is the outside layer of protective bark.
• Next comes the cambium layer. It builds on its outside a layer of bark and on its inside a layer of wood around the trunk.
• Then there is a lighter coloured portion of the trunk called the sapwood, because it's filled with sap, which moves up and down its cells in a mysterious manner. The sapwood consists of the more recent rings of annual growth.
• Within the sapwood are concentric rings to the very centre or pith; this portion is usually darker in colour and is called the heartwood; it no longer has anything to do with the life of the tree, but simply gives to it strength and staunchness.
• Leaves:
• A leaf would be of little use unless it could be reached by the sunlight.
• It's made up of the petiole and the blade, or widened portion of the leaf, which is sustained usually with a framework of many ribs or veins. 
• The petioles and the veins are sap channels like the branches and twigs.
• The leaf is a factory; the raw materials are taken from the air and from the sap containing minerals from the soil; the finished product is largely starch, which is plant food. The starch is then stored in sapwood to be used for the growth of the next year's leaves. 
• By midsummer most of the tree's work is done. The chlorophyl in the leaf cells has been safely withdrawn and secluded in the woody part of the tree. The autumn leaf which glows gold or red has in it only the material which the tree can no longer use.
• A thin, corky layer develops between the petiole and the twig, and when this is perfected the leaf drops from its own weight at the touch of a slight breeze. 
• Growth:
• Each year the tree pushes higher, deeper and wider through the tips of the twigs and rootlets.
• There is also a layer of growth over the entire tree - roots, trunk, branches and twigs - each year, as if a thick coat of paint has been put over the whole tree. 
• Prevailing winds cause the tree to grow more luxuriantly on the leeward side. 

Handbook of Nature Study Notes 4

The Uses of Scientific Names (pp 10 - 11)

    "My own practice has been to use the popular names of species, except in cases where confusion might ensue, and to use the scientific names for anatomical parts."
    "The child should never be required to learn the name of anything in the nature-study work; but the name should be used so often and so naturally in his presence that he will learn it without being conscious of the process."

The Field Notebook (pp 13 - 15)
"To make the notebook a success the following rules should be observed:

1. The book should be considered the personal property of the child and should never be criticized by the teacher except as a matter of encouragement..
2. A graphic drawing is far better than a long description of a natural object.
3. The spelling, language, and writing of the notes should all be exempt from criticism.
4. Outlines [designed by the teacher] for observing certain plants or animals may be placed in the notebook previous to the field excursion so as to give definite points for the work. 
5. No child should be compelled to have a notebook. 

Guarding our Hearts

    I've just finished reading 'Waking the Dead' by John Eldredge. I really enjoy his books - I seem to really connect with what he's writing about, like it's exactly what my heart and mind are wondering about and are in need of hearing. In 'Waking the Dead' Eldredge tells us that our hearts are good, not sinful and wicked like we think we're supposed to believe. God has given us new hearts. Yes we still have old, sinful habits and the enemy attacks are disguised like the thoughts of our own hearts, but basically we need to believe that our hearts are good, that they matter to God, that they are the treasures of the Kingdom and that we desperately need to look after them if we're going to live out the life of joyful abundance that Jesus came to bring us.
   Eldredge really brought home to me the reality of Satan's attacks on my heart and his desire to steal my joy. I'm going to try to pray through his daily prayer for freedom for the next couple of weeks and try to be more alert for enemy attacks. Recently I've been feeling quite depressed, discourage and depleted. Perhaps life is not meant to be like that! Perhaps having three small children at home doesn't mean inevitable drudgery and an endless succession of mundane, thankless tasks. Perhaps someone is trying to crush my spirit and steal my joy. Perhaps someone is jealous that I reflect the glory of God because I am made in His image. Perhaps someone is trying to make me miss out on the reality of eternal, wonderful, joyful life in Jesus.
   The other day, when I was living out this new understanding, someone commented that I looked more beautiful, more radiant. I want to look like that every day! I like the images Eldredge has in his book taken from Epic stories and films. I too want to be like Eowyn and Arwen in Lord of the Rings - beautiful, warrior princesses, whose lives make a difference for the kingdom. If you're a follower of Jesus and reading this post, perhaps I can encourage you to join me in guarding our hearts and living out the joyful, Spirit-filled lives that were meant to be ours.

Outdoor Hour Challenge Week 4

    Since Autumn has just begun I decided to choose 'Trees' as our focus area. I'm looking forward to watching the leaves turn colour and making collages of sycamore leaves with the girls. There are so many different trees in our local park, and I'd love to be able to identify them better.
   I forgot this week to get the girls to stop and be quiet and tell me what they could hear, see and feel. Sophie reminded me when we got back home - it seems she really enjoys that part of the nature walk.
    Once we got to the park I asked the girls to choose a tree each that interested them. From their chosen tree we looked for leaves on the ground that had fallen nearby, any seeds or berries, and we also did a bark rubbing, as well as jotting down in a notebook any other interesting features.

Sophie's Tree

  
  
    Sophie chose this tree. Its leaves had barely turned at all so we couldn't find any on the ground. We noticed they were growing in groups of five. We thought at first it didn't have any seeds or berries but then we noticed a few long seeds and were able to take some for our nature journal. The bark was fairly smooth and almost orange in colour, with little bits of green moss growing on it. Later on when I looked it up in our tree book I decided it must have been some kind of ash tree, although I'm not sure exactly which type - possibly a Narrow-leaved Ash, although the leaves didn't look that narrow.

Charis's Tree

    Charis chose this tree. The bark was quite rough and there was more moss growing on this trunk. The leaves on this tree had nearly all turned brown and fallen off. There were red berries on the ground that belonged to this tree too. We decided it was probably a Common Hawthorn tree. (By the way, the leaves in the photo are from another type of young tree that was growing right next to the Hawthorn).
   We enjoyed the rest of our nature walk. We found lots of acorns, pine needles, pine cones, conkers and various leaves. Sophie noticed some white 'stuff' on the pine trees, and we discovered it was sticky sap. We scraped some onto our fingers and smelt it. The girls also pointed out mushrooms and clovers and a little squirrel, which got chased up a tree by the stray dog that followed up all the way around the lake.

Playing Pooh Sticks

We stopped to play Pooh sticks on the little bridge, but the water was flowing quite fast from all the rain we've had recently. We didn't see any dead animals this week, although the girls felt very sorry for the stray dog, who was very thin and eagerly gobbled up all the crackers that we threw at it. We talked about how stray dogs and cats have to find their own food from amongst the rubbish or from people's scraps. Unfortunately there are a lot of stray dogs in this part of the world and there's nothing we can do to help.

When we got home I updated our family nature journal, writing up our findings, pasting in the bark rubbings and sealing in the leaves, seeds and berries with clear, sticky film. The girls weren't that interested in helping me. Perhaps they're still too young - neither of them can read yet. I did read the entries to them later and asked them to help me remember what we saw, but I think I just have to model nature journalling to them for now. When they're older I'd love to try doing some sketches together, but Charis and Nathaniel have very short attention spans when we're out and about!

Handbook of Nature Study Notes 3

Here are my notes from the reading from Challenge number 3:

The Correlation of Nature-Study with Language work (pg 16)

    Comstock observes that using nature journals will naturally encourage writing and spelling skills. However, this should not be overtly part of the purpose of the nature journal or else the child will object: "Nature-study should be so much a part of the child's thought and interest that it will naturally form a thought core for other subjects quite unconsciously on his part.....But there is something in human nature which revolts against doing one thing to accomplish quite another."

The Correlation of Nature-Study an Drawing (pg 17)

    Children love to draw things they are interested in! I've certainly observed this in my children. To quote Comstock: "When the child is interested in studying any object, he enjoys illustrating his observations with drawings; the happy absorption of children thus engaged is a delight to witness. At its best, drawing is a perfectly natural method of self-expression."
    However, as with the danger of forcing writing skills mentioned above, there is a danger in forcing drawing for drawing's sake too: "It is only when the object to be drawn is foreign to the interest of the child that drawing is a task." I guess my task will be to try to make nature journalling something spontaneous, creative and interesting and not a chore or something that has to be done.
    I was interested in Comstock's theory that, when left to their own devices, children will naturally choose the best medium for their drawings depending on the subject they're trying to capture: pencil, crayon or paints.

    Finally, I agreed with the sentiment that children should not be made to feel that they can't draw because they're not good artists: "Too much have we emphasized drawings as an art; it may be an art, if the one who draws is an artist; but if he is not an artist, he still has a right to draw if it pleases him to do so." Again, I need to be willing to let my child include drawings in our nature journal that I might not think are the best - something that troubles my perfectionistic tendencies!

Outdoor Hour Challenge Week 3

I've been wanting for a while to take the kids wading in the local river, so this week I decided to do that as our nature walk. I left the pushchair behind and strapped Nathaniel into the sling, put everyone into wellies and off we went. The girls were quite excited, especially because splashing about in water is something they don't always get to do.

The first thing Sophie and Charis noticed were all the snails. They were everywhere - on the sand, on rocks. They were rather concerned not to step on them. We carefully put two into our 'bug jar' complete with a layer of wet sand and a leaf and put it in the rucksack to take back with us.




The girls enjoyed poking around in the river weed with sticks, and we noticed a few frogs a bit further upstream. We couldn't get very close to them but managed to take a photo before they dived into the water.

Other things we saw: a lizard, lots of oak leaves and acorns and unfortunately lots of rubbish from people's picnics (a common sight in this part of the world where people don't think so much about damage to the environment.

We also saw this rather strange prickly plant.


On the way back to the car we saw about forty or so pond skaters on the lake. It was funny to watch them skating about on top of the water. We tried to take a photo but it didn't come out well.

Back at home we talked about our nature walk and what we might like to draw for our family nature journal (which we started a few months ago. Charis decided she'd like to draw a frog and Sophie drew the snails from our bug jar, which we later deposited near the sand pit in our garden - we hope they'll be all right there.

Oh, and our dead animal this week? A dead worm in one of the rock pools.

Handbook of Nature Study Notes 2

Here are my notes from what I've learned alongside the Outdoor Hour Challenge no. 2:

From page 15, 'The Field Excursion': A very efficient field trip may be make during the ten or fifteen minutes at recess, if it is well planned. The half-hour excursion should be preceded by a talk concerning the purposes of the outing and the pupils must know that certain observations are to be made or they will not be permitted to go again. (Not sure how to carry this threat through when you're homeschooling!!

From pages 23-24, "How to Use This Book":

• The teacher should have at hand the subject of the lesson. She should make herself familiar with the points covered by the questions and read the story before giving the lesson.
• The story should not be read to the pupils. It is given as an assistance to the teacher.
• Make the lesson an investigation and make the pupils feel they are investigators.
• The 'leading thought' embodies some of the points which should be in the teacher's mind while giving the lesson.
• The direct questioning method, if not employed with discretion, becomes tiresome to both pupil and teacher.
• The best teacher will cover the points suggested for observations with few direct questions. 

Restriction by Gretchen Primack

So this is restriction: a thousand tastes
of compassion, the crisp and the dissolving,
the bowl of comfort and the bowl of bracing sour,
what is mashed and crunched, split and whole.
The zippers of wheat, the burst of a mango, the tiny
skin peeling itself from a perfect bean,
a hundred plump grains and a hundred plump
nuts and seeds, the geneses
of tall green stretches and fat green leaves.
That is what becomes my mouth
and body and my heart, and it is
my joy, and kindness, and plenty.

Love This by Gretchen Primack

If you permit

this evil, what is the good

of the good of your life?

     —Stanley Kunitz

The body floods with chemicals saying, Love this,
and she does, and births it; it is a boy
she begins to clean and nose, but he is dragged
away by his back feet. She will never touch him
again, though she hears him howl and calls back
for days.

Her breast milk is banked for others. Her son
is pulled away to lie in his box.
He will be packed for slaughter. How ingenious
we are! To make product from byproduct.
To make use of the child,
kill and pack and truck him to plates.

And when the gallons slow, we start over,
and her body says, Love this! And she does,
though in a moment she will never touch
him again. His milk is not for him.

And when the milk slows too slow,
she will join him on the line, pounds
of ground. And how we will dine!
And talk of our glossy dogs! And her body
will break up on our forks, as mothers
beg us for the grain we stuffed her with,
and children beg us for the water
scouring her blood from the factory walls.

And when her wastes and gases and panic
heat our air so hot our world stops
breathing-then will we stop? Then
will we grow kind, let the air cool
and mothers breathe?

Outdoor Hour Challenge Week 2

We reached a suitable bench in the park on our nature study morning and sat down. I asked the children to be still and quiet.

What did they see?

• trees, grass, people, benches, leaves fallen from the trees

What did they hear?

• birds singing, the wind gently blowing through the branches, people talking, cars driving along the road nearby, a lion roaring (OK, that's because the local town zoo is quite near!) 

How did they feel?

• a little cold today 

Red squirrel

We looked out for interesting things as we continued on our walk. Sophie started collecting acorns and we talked about how the squirrels were storing them up for the winter. Then we heard a noise and saw three squirrels chasing each other through the trees - one was red, one was black and one was grey. We tried to take pictures but they were too fast.

Crab apple tree

We saw lots more crab apples on the ground and collected some fallen crab apples leaves for our nature notebook.







We also saw an interesting tree we hadn't seen before. There were lots of oak leaves on the ground and Charis found a huge one that we took home.

Green moss on tree stump

We noticed lots of clumps of mushrooms around old tree stumps, and lots of trees had green moss on. Sophie pointed out a tree that had 'yellow moss' instead, which I guessed was lichen (need to check that). There were lots of 'soldier bugs' around, and we saw how some had climbed quite high up the tree trunks. We wondered if perhaps they liked the moss.

Yellow lichen?

Chicory

The chicory flowers were still out, but not many other flowers.

On the way back we saw a dead mouse. Last week it was a dead dog. I wonder what dead animal we'll see next week!

Handbook of Nature Study Notes

In combination with the first outdoor hour challenge, here are some of the interesting points that I noted down from pages 1 to 8 of the Handbook of Nature Study:

• The object of the nature-study teacher should be to cultivate in the children powers of accurate observation and to build up within them understanding.
• What nature-study should do for the child:
• give practical and helpful knowledge
• cultivate his/her imagination
• cultivate a perception and a regard for what is true and the power to express it
• cultivate a love of the beautiful
• give a sense of companionship with life out-of-doors and an abiding love of nature

• If nature-study as taught does not make the child love nature and the out-of-doors then it should cease (!!)
• Out-of-doors life takes the child afield and keeps him in the open air, which not only helps him physically and occupies his mind with sane subjects, but keeps him out of mischief.
• Out in this, God's beautiful world, there is everything waiting to heal lacerated nerves, to strengthen tired muscles, to please and content the soul that is torn to shreds with duty and care.
• In nature-study any teacher can with honour say, "I do not know; let us see if we cannot together find out this mysterious thing. Maybe no one knows it as yet, and I wonder if you will discover it before I do."
• In nature-study the work begins with any plant or creature which chances to interest the pupil.
• Nature-study does not start out with the classification given in books, but in the end it builds up in the child's mind a classification which is based on fundamental knowledge.
• The nature-study lesson should be short and sharp and may vary from ten minutes to half an hour in length. There should be no dawdling; if it is an observation lesson, only a few points should be noted and the meaning for the observation made clear.
• The lesson should not be repeated unless the pupils demand it. It should be done so well the first time that there is no need of repetition.
• In nature-study, the observation of form is for the purpose of better understanding life.

I like the last point. Nature study is not just about identifying and naming things. We identify them so that we can better understand their life and purpose.

Starting the Outdoor Hour Challenge - Week 1

We've just completed our first week of homeschooling for this new academic year (yippee!). Friday mornings are going to be our nature study mornings, and I'm planning to base them around the Outdoor Hour Challenges found on the Handbook of Nature Study blog.

Today we were supposed to just find a couple of things that interested the children that we could investigate further. Charis (3) said she liked the pretty blue flowers we saw. I think they were chicory - I've looked them up before. Sophie (5) liked all the tiny crab apples we came across on the path.

I forgot to take our camera with us, so there are no photos, unfortunately. I'll try to remember next time!

We did also see a dead dog in the lake, which led to a conversation about how dangerous water is and how important it is to learn how to swim, but I'm not sure that that comes under 'Nature Study' per se!

Learning more about Birds

Here's the next section of the reading in HONS, pp 35 - 47:

1. Describe something you learned about Migration by reading this
section.

I loved reading about the Artic tern, who nests in the Artic and winters in the Antartic, making a round trip of 22,000 miles each year and has more hours of daylight than any other animal on the globe! Migrants are either summer residents in our area or winter residents, or 'visitors' if just passing through. Some species have a different migration route south than the return one north.

2. Do you have any unusual birds who migrate through your area?
Describe.

I'm not aware of any yet.

3. How does a bird’s eye sight compare to a human’s?

All birds have much better eyesight than humans. Birds such as hens cannot see the same object with both eyes at the same time, which is why they often turn their head to look at us with their other eye. However, she can see all around her all the time.

4. Does a bird have a distinguishable ear?

Birds' ears are usually just a hole in the side of the head, covered with feathers.

5. Compare and contrast the hen’s beak and its uses with the duck’s bill
and its uses.

A hen's beak is sharp and pointed so that she can use it like a pick on the soil and like a pair of nippers. The duck's bill, on the other hand, is broad and flat and much softer. It's used like a sieve to strain out the water leaving the food in the birds mouth. Both birds use their bills for cleaning and oiling their feathers and also for fighting. They also use them to turn over their eggs and make nests.

6. Where are a bird’s nostrils and does a bird smell well with them?

A bird's nostrils are situated in the beak near the base, but we don't believe they have a very keen sense of smell.

7. What is the danger of “teaching” too many details during nature study
for elementary school students?

The danger is it may take out the life and spirit of the work for the child.

8. How many toes does a bird have? Describe anything new you learned
about chicken or duck feet.

A bird has 4 toes, 3 in front and 1 behind. Ducks' legs are shorter and placed further back than that of a hen, which is why ducks walk more awkwardly when on land.

9. Which sex of bird sings most often? Are there certain conditions
which must exist for the bird to sing?

Usually only the male bird sings. Birds prefer to sing in spring and early summer, usually early in the morning, and often from a particular place in their territory.

10. Does anyone recommend a particularly good resource for learning bird
songs?

I don't know of any yet.

11. Do you have any plans to attract birds to your yard this year? If
so, how?

We put up a bird feeder during the winter, but our young dog often barks at the birds and frightens them away. I'm hoping to put up a bird bath table on one of the trees. Our garden does seem to attract a few birds, particularly since we have a lot of trees and places to perch.

12. In what ways are birds useful to humans?

Birds bring us delight, through their songs, their colourful plumage and their interesting habits. Birds are useful in consuming insects that might harm our plants and trees, as well as weed seeds. Birds of prey regulate the numbers of small pests, and other birds like vultures and gulls help to dispose of corpses and other rubbish.

13. List the main points of inquiry when studying birds’ nests.

Nests should not be examined in the summer while the birds are still using them, lest they be frightened into abandoning them. Empty nests can be documented by noting where it was found, in what kind of tree and how high from the ground.

Learning about Birds

We're starting a reading group on Ambleside Online Year 0, reading through the major sections of Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study. I thought it might be helpful to post my answers here for future reference:

Birds (ppgs. 26-35); Introduction & Lessons 1, 2 & 3

1. What discoveries are the goals of a true ornithologist?

The goals of a true ornithologist are not just to identify birds but to know their life habits.

2. Which birds should you start with when teaching your (Year 1 & up)
children?

Comstock suggests starting with chickens, pigeons, canaries, robins and bluebirds. After that she suggests studying birds that remain during the winter months, such as the chickadee, nuthatch and downy woodpecker.

3. What is nature’s method of shingling? Describe, please. (I guess
this means we have to do nature study in the rain sometimes!!!)

A bird's feathers overlap on its back and breast so that the rain, finding no place to enter, drips off, leaving the bird dry underneath.

4. What are the 3 parts of a feather?

The shaft or quill (the central stiff stem of the feather), the barbs (which towards the end join together to make a smooth web) and the fluff (which is at the base, near the bird's body).

5. What is down? What is a pin feather?

Down is a feather which doesn't have a quill. Young chicks are covered in down. A pin feather is a feather rolled up in a sheath, which will later break and allow the feather to unfold.

6. Where is a hen’s oil gland?

The oil gland is on her back, just at the base of the tail feathers.

7. How often does a hen shed her feathers (if at all)?

She sheds her feathers once a year.

8. What is the “leading thought” of the purpose of feathers (as
clothing), which will drive your study of them?

Some feathers act like raincoats, protecting against rain, wind and snow. Others act like underclothing, keeping the bird warm.

9. Comstock’s book gives a description of why birds are coloured as they
are from an evolutionary perspective; if you are a creationist, explain why
God may have created them the way they are.

Male birds are brightly coloured, since the female chooses the most beautiful to be her mate. Females are drab in comparison because they must hide their nest and young from predators and not attract attention. The young are also dull for this reason. The male birds sometimes use their colours (and songs) to distract attention away from where their hens and chicks are nesting.

10. Comstock gives several examples of beautiful birds. Are there any
birds you are particularly fond of for their beauty which are local to your
area?

We have turkey gobblers in our village who like to show off their plumage. There are a couple of male peacocks in the zoo too. I like the chaffinches in the park, as well as the woodpeckers and jays, which are also very beautiful to look at.

11. What do you have to teach a child about air before you teach him how
a bird flies (this might make a good Year 0 informal study)?

A child needs to understand that air is something that we can push against, or that can push against us. This can be done with a fan or an umbrella.

12. How are feathers on a wing especially suited for flying?

When the wing is open the wing quills overlap so that the air cannot pass through them. The wing is also slightly curved, as is each individual quill (so that it pushes against the air better). The wing feathers are also designed such that the barbs on the front edge are almost parallel with the quill (and therefore not offering resistance) whilst those on the back edge are more perpendicular, so as to form more of a web for the air to press against. When the wing pushes upwards for an 'up stroke' the quill bends at the joint so as to offer less resistance.

13. What is the leading thought about Feathers for Flying? Is Comstock
missing anything in her description of flying?

A bird flies by pressing down on the air with its wings, which are made specially for this purpose. The bird's tail acts as a rudder during flight.

Drab Hens

I've just started a reading schedule with my Ambleside Online Year 0 group that hopes to read through the major sections of Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study. We've started on the section about birds. I was really struck when I read about how the female bird is deliberately drab so as not to attract the attention of predators. It has often grated on an old feminist nerve of mine when the kids have noticed in the zoo that the male birds are so much more beautiful than the female birds (especially the peacocks), but now I understand the reason why God designed it that way. I see a parallel in my own life too. As a stay-at-home mum I sometimes feel like the drab partner, whilst my husband continues in an exciting job that I also used to do once. But now I'm encouraged to remember how important it is to be drab sometimes (lol!). Also, the idea that the chicks are also drab like the mother before they reach maturity just reminds me of the great privilege I have to be the biggest influence in my children's life right now, and what a responsibility it is to know that they're imitating me whilst they follow me around!

Why I should educate myself about nature

"Mothers and Teachers should know about Nature.––The mother cannot devote herself too much to this kind of reading, not only that she may read tit-bits to her children about matters they have come across, but that she may be able to answer their queries and direct their observations. And not only the mother, but any woman, who is likely ever to spend an hour or two in the society of children, should make herself mistress of this sort of information; the children will adore her for knowing what they want to know, and who knows but she may give its bent for life to some young mind designed to do great things for the world."

Charlotte Mason, Volume 1

Labelling

My original title for this blog was 'Unless the Lord Builds'. When I was just embarking upon my homeschooling journey I read somewhere that it was good to ask the Lord for a special 'homeschooling verse'. I did so, and the reply was Psalm 127v1. It's very fitting for me because I naturally want to do and control everything myself, so God doesn't often get a look in. And then I wonder why I burn out, or things seem to melt down around me! I do need a constant reminder that, in bringing up my children and educating them (education is a life, a discipline, an atmosphere!) then I need to make sure that God's the one in control and that I'm doing everything in His strength.

However, I also love Romans 12v11,12, and I want to aim towards the label of 'joyful in hope' in my own life. I'd love to be joyful in all aspects of my life, and to be full of hope for the future and all that God has in store for me and my family. Since this blog is primarily just to inspire and encourage myself then why not have an inspiring title!

Education Tips from Charlotte Mason

Being committed to following a method of homeschooling based on the educational principles of Charlotte Mason, I've been reading through Volume 5 of her 'Home Education Series'. I'd like to post up some of the helpful tips, truths and suggestion that I've been underlining:
* "The most important thing to learn is knowledge of God. That should be the priority of education." (pg 2 of my notes)
* The child is a whole, complete person with all the possibilities and capabilities already included in his personality. (pg 2)
* The main purpose of education is putting the child in living touch with as much of nature and thoughts as possible. If you add a couple of skills that help the child self-educate, then the student will go into the world after graduation with some ability to manage and control himself, a few hobbies to enrich his leisure time, and an interest in a lot of things. (pg 2)
* Children learn from real things in the real world. (pg 3)
* The child's curriculum should be varied and generous with many subjects included. (pg 3)
* Our job isn't to teach everything about everything, but to inspire interests that will help the children make connections with the world around them. (pg 4)

Starting Nature Study

Not quite sure where to begin with this blog, I thought I'd start with a post about nature study. Not great photos, I know, but I'm still getting the hang of this!

Nature study in our local park

Cowslips

Spring is here, and I love taking the children to our local park. As well as the jays seen at the top of my blog we also see great tits, blue tits, chaffinches, nuthatches, woodpeckers, sparrows, blackbirds and pigeons. A few flowers are beginning to emerge after the cold, harsh winter: dog violets, spring crocuses, celandines and snowdrops. I'm really enjoying learning the names of the various aspects of God's creation that we see around us here.

Great tit

Chaffinch

Blackbird