I popped over to Homeschool Families Network recently to discuss observational nature journaling. I enjoyed writing up this guide which includes the tools, know how, journal entries and types of nature journaling. I also talked about how nature journaling is a unique reflection of one’s personality, where tastes and preferences are expressed with individual creativity. If we all explored the same nature…
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We’ve packed away the books for 2018 and are looking forward to enjoying the holidays, but first we wanted to share our finished wheels! I hope you’ll join us in 2019 creating these beautiful memories. Jo: Wife, mum and homemaker.
Jacob is an inspiring young man on a mission. He’s taken his passion for photography and created a Bird Field Guide for his local Bushland, Cussen Park. Jacob has also launched his new website, Digital Journey Photography. I hope his story inspires many young people to go out and do likewise. Here’s his story… My adventure this month is actually…
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It’s been a couple of months since our last update and I thought you might like to see how the wheels are developing. We have been using our field journals to record what we discover as we go on our nature rambles. We chose our favourite entries, along with photos we have taken to decide what we want to include…
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The Kangaroo Apple is also known as the Bush Tomato. Only when it’s blushing and bursting with ripe, red fruit is it safe to eat. It’s a magnificent plant to observe over time as the fruit changes from green, yellow, orange and red while the flowers bloom. The leaves of the plant resemble the paw print of the kangaroo hence it’s…
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It was a cold, wet day today. Prefect for hiding inside. We lit the fires, warmed the house, then took out our paints and phenology wheels. The day was spent creating April’s entry. Before we start each section I outline where we will be working with a permanent marker. This helps the younger children know where we will be working….
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We have Jacky Winters living in the shrubs on the paddock boundaries and we often see them perching on the fence. They also love to perch and hunt from a wattle which grows next to our daily walking track. They’re very active early in the morning and in the late afternoon. This is when the males are singing and courting…
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Our school holiday project was to complete the next section of our wheels… The children were debating whether this was still classified as ‘school’ work, and if they were being tricked into working on their holidays! I will be honest and say that I have a terrible habit of finding educational projects and passing them off as ‘fun’ activities for…
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The children had been planing what they might paint all month. We would see something and one would pipe up and say, “I think I might put that on my wheel.” So by the time the end of the month arrived each was excited about what they were going to paint. Before starting the next section of our wheel, we…
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Ponding is the investigation of ponds to gain an understanding of it’s ecology. The plants, animals and water is observed and monitored over a season. We recently went Summer Ponding and the experience was amazing. There wasn’t much happening on the surface of the water, but we were excited to see pond life in the algae covered rocks, pond scum,…
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Frogs belong to the animal group named Amphibians which means two-lives. We found the amphibian metamorphosis from tadpole to frog intriguing. There were so many variations between them. Tadpoles: have gills to breathe through. are herbivores which eat algae. live under water. have no arms or legs. Frogs: live on land near water as adults. breathe through their permeable skin….
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