Nature Main Lesson Week 1

Today we started our day with sweet potato pancakes and maple syrup. Then we decided to take a walk in the pasture looking for signs of autumn, but first we had to take our grass-eaters (horses, donkey, goats) next door to the neighbor's pasture lot because our grass has gotten so short that Weenie was beginning to lose weight and we haven't gotten any hay yet. Everyone is happily grazing and the goats are packed up tight :). Ami, Noah, Eden and I then walked around the pasture talking about how the weather is turning colder and the days shorter, so the grass is not growing as fast as it once did, we saw some gum leaves turning purple and red, then decided to go to an area of the pasture where an old tree had fallen onto the fence a few days before--the kids had been there arranging the logs previously so they were forming a sort of 3-sided house. We stacked some more logs, noting how the tree was so light and airy, how the termites had chewed it up and dried it out so completely you could just pick huge logs up and carry them around. We then ventured to another log pile and turned some old wood over looking for beetles, etc. Ami found a big beetle which rushed into a tunnel, and the wood was so damp and soft we could peel back enormous sheets of wood inspecting insect tunnel homes. We found pill-bugs, spiders, big black beetles (which emitted a nasty smell when disturbed), and centipedes, as well as other unknown sorts of insects. We found that the bugs were chewing up the wood which was rather powdery and would eventually contribute to new soils which would allow for new growth. Eden and I then went inside to start lunch while Noah and Ami stayed to play a while longer. We had crackers, cheese, cukes and leftover pancakes for lunch, and then, after a candle lighting and a short prayer of thanks to the Creator for the cycle of life (whereby nothing, not even a dead log, is wasted) Ami and Noah drew pictures of our discoveries into thier main lesson books. Ami wrote a short few sentences and drew a pic of dead log insect tunnels. A little play time, then we moved on to recorder, practicing Raindrop Fairies, Ami did really well and we sang the song and played it all the way through together. Next we sat at the table and decided to have a tea party and count coins. We practiced making dollars out of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies and found that we had $6.79 all together, figuring that would be enough money to buy 11 ice cream cones at the drug store in Hertford. After this we went to the couch to read Animals Build Amaing Homes, we read about termite mounds and Alligators (the kids have been crazy about Alligators lately). I read-aloud a few chapters of Black Beauty while Ami knitted a row onto her washcloth. We closed the day with her reading me the first chapter from Owl At Home. They are now outside playing in the horse pasture again and I am getting ready to do some needle felting.