September, Week 4

This week has been activity heavy.  Monday we went apple and raspberry picking, yesterday we went to a pottery studio to do some glazing and played with friends, and tomorrow is Shaun's first day of Zoo School at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence.  (We are all looking forward to seeing the baby giraffe, who may not be much of a baby at this point, lol.)

It is (almost) officially Autumn, and this will bring many changes to our schooling.  We are almost through the first unit of our core curriculum, next week's final project will put an end to Habitats.  Then it is on to Weather.  This makes me very happy as I am OVER talking about habitats.  In Math we have about a weeks worth of addition work left, then on to the next unit.  Subtraction.  (Roaring applause please!!)  Shaun is so proud of himself.  The new season also brings weekly pottery classes to our schedule, the kids are very excited about this new adventure!

All five of our butterflies have emerged, and all but one have flown away from us.  One lady had trouble emerging from her chrysalis, and her wings started to dry while she was still all scrunched up.  She also can not hang upside-down for some reason.  We have been watching her try to fly for at least a week now (so sad) and are amazed that she is still alive.  Sugar-water and fresh fruit have been keeping her going but keep expecting her to expire with every day that passes.  We will miss her when she is gone.  (We ended up with 3 females and two males.  The kids have learned how to sex a monarch chrysalis and butterfly.)

Here is our lady monarch trying to get out.  We have pulled open her chrysalis a bit in effort to help her, but she was still unable to free herself.

She was weak and tattered.  :(

Ella holds her "pretty butterfly" at least once a day. 

Shaun has yet let her sticky feet touch his hand.

Today she observed him doing his Math work 

while enjoying a banana peal and pretty leaf added in by my thoughtful girl.

Today Ell wanted to read more books about butterflies.

She is going to be a beautiful Monarch for Halloween.

It has been neat to watch the butterfly use it's proboscis.

Our little lady is wounded, but she has given us a unique peak

 into a butterfly's world that we will never forget.

♥

Summer Sun, Summer Fun

We have been been busy enjoying the fun & sun that summer brings, but as the season's official end looms ever closer I thought it would be fun to go back and post a little about all our 'adventures' over the last few months.....since this is the birth of the Four Little Feet Homeschool blog these first posts will be long ones.  Kind of a photographic diary of our summer- we enjoyed it, and we hope you will too!

JUNE:

June, it was all about the birds.  Hikes at the bird sanctuary, nest watching, some tye-dye fun, LOTS of strawberry picking (and eating), hard lessons learned about life and death (baby pheobes), the joy of discovering nature right in your own yard (a box turtle and shells of blue), and walking with dinosaurs.  It all ended where it began, with the birds. It turns out our feathered friends are actually reptilian descendants of the dinosaurs.  Who knew?

JULY:

July was all about the sea.  Exploration of salty critters, and an Ocean Explorium visit.  The Explorium uses a 3-D projection of the planet to teach us about the oceans and our effects on them. 

Oops, I almost forgot the blueberry picking & ice cream licking.