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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Wildflower Study Resources

Posted by Cindy on August 31, 2009

Here are the wildflower resources we used over the past month of nature study.
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Frederic Chopin

Posted by Cindy on

Frederic Chopin Composer Study Resources

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Classics for Kids

Listen

Book We’ll Read

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Paul Cezanne

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Paul Cezanne Artist Study Resources

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Olga’s Gallery

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The Mount Sainte-Victoire

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Still-life with Apples

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House and Trees

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Boy in a Red Waistcoat

Lesson Ideas

Cezanne Still-life

Another Still-life Idea

Math Lesson for Older Students

Cubism Lesson

Books We’ll Read

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Ending our Month Spent with Wildflowers

Posted by Cindy on August 28, 2009

I admit that wildflowers are quite possibly my favorite of all nature studies.  I’m always in awe of God’s creativeness, beauty and majesty through such delicate little things like wildflowers.  I’m also amazed at how each season presents me with new flowers that I’ve never noticed before – each with awesome characteristics that are different from any other flower.

A field of wildflowers can move me, while a single wildflower observed closely makes me marvel at the constant, yet diverse design that makes a flower a flower.  And to think that wildflowers are “planted by God” reminds me that He cares about me enough to bring me flowers!

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Last week, we took a very up-close and personal look at wildflowers through comparisons and dissection.  There was no long nature walk involved – only long enough to collect several flower samples to bring back inside.  Since the yard wasn’t off limits for picking, the kiddos brought in a couple of flowers that aren’t considered wild.  No matter, it made for a great opportunity to discuss the difference between the two!

The first activity was to compare two completely different flowers for similarities and differences.  This is another of the notebooking pages that comes with the Wonderful Wildflowers NaturExplorers unit.

The second activity was flower dissection to identify all the parts of a flower.

We own a very old dissection kit that made the dissection not only easy, but exciting for the kids.

We were able to see the ovules (eggs) in the ovary!

We were able to see the ovules (eggs) in the ovary on this hollyhock (not a wildflower).

Eli always gets in on the action!

The third activity was drawing the cross-section of a flower and labeling all the parts.

And the final activity was to complete a watercolor still-life of wildflowers.  We have been studying Cezanne, who painted several still-life works, so this tied art and nature study together quite well.  And to get composer study in the mix, we listened to a CD of Chopin (our composer of the month.)

“Wildflowers in the Rain”

Undefeated!

Posted by Cindy on August 27, 2009

Mahayla played softball again this year after a three year break.  We were a bit worried about how she might fair in the 12-15 year old fastpitch league after such a hiatus.  To our surprise, and I think hers, she played VERY well!  Even earning the most improved player ball one night after catching two fly balls and making an awesome throw to 1st base!

Her team went undefeated the entire season!!  Last night was their trophy ceremony at Sonic.  It was fitting to meet at Sonic one last time since they were treated to ice cream after every winning game (which was every game!)  Great job, girls!!

The girls in motion shaking hands after their final game.  They were SO excited.

A dust collector – um, I mean a beautiful trophy to remember the season!