Field Trip!

Today, we visited the Chattahoochee Nature Center. It was a great day for nature walking and exploring. We saw bald eagles and hawks who had been rescued and then rehabilitated. We also got to see a beaver up close and personal! The space inside included a "trading post" area that was (I think) pretty awesome! The kids can bring in anything they find outside and earn points for bringing it in and also for whatever they know about the item. Then, they can "shop" in the bins and "buy" other cool items (animal, plant, mineral) with the points they have earned. They also have microscopes hooked up to computer screens that the kids can use to examine anything in any of the bins. The girls had a blast examining shells, pine cones, rocks and their fingers (and Darsie even figured out how to examine her tongue - go figure!).

Cool flowers (we take pictures so we can leave the cool stuff where we find it)

Cool sticks

Raccoon?

Inside of a turtle shell

Magic Treehouse #2: The Knight at Dawn

Here are the girls' book reports on the second Magic Treehouse book, which we read this week.





Here are the books we used:
The Knight at Dawn, Mary Pope Osborne
Knights and Castles, Will Osborne and Mary Pope Osborne

Magic Treehouse #2: The Knight at Dawn

We have been reading the research guide that accompanies the Magic Treehouse Knight at Dawn book, and after reading about castles, the girls each drew their own castles, making sure to include the barbican, portcullis, drawbridge, moat and watchtower.

Here is Katy's castle:


Here is Darsie's castle:

Magic Treehouse #2: The Knight at Dawn

Today, we read about coats of arms, so the girls each created their own coats of arms to tell other knights on the battle field who they are and what they are like.

Here is Darsie's:


The crosses tell them that I believe in God.
The giraffe tells you that I won't run away, because giraffes are big and don't run away.
The lion with spikes tells you that I will kill them with just one blow!
The arrow with the cross tells them that I believe in God and that He will help me to beat them.
The bullet shows that they can't look at me because I am so scary!

Here are Katy's:




The elephant tells them that I am strong and will beat them.
The sun tells them that I am too bright to look at.
The red cross is like the shield of the Red Cross Knight in St. George and the Dragon!
The weapons on the string are supposed to scare you!

Magic Treehouse #1: Dinosaurs Before Dark

This week, we read the first Magic Treehouse book, Dinosaurs Before Dark. The girls colored pictures of a pteranadon, triceratops, tyrannosaurus rex and apatasaurus and discussed what each dinosaur eats. We also completed a vocabulary page with the terms carnivore, herbivore and omnivore on it and defined each term with a brief description and picture of the foods eaten.

Not To Be Outdone

The horn of Africa is a peninsula that juts out south of the Red Sea. It has Somalia and Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibuti. The biggest city is Addis Ababa in the country of Ethiopia. Most of the people live in seaports on the Indian Ocean.



And the continents and oceans:

Magic Treehouse #1: Dinosaurs Before Dark

Here is the book we used this week:
Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne

Spring Exploring

We had a great time today with our playgroup at the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge. Bird watching (bald eagles, cormorants, tree and barn swallows, red-winged blackbirds, to name a few), flowering trees, frogs and turtles,....

Class Outside!

What we always asked for in college! It worked out pretty well - the girls did school and Liam got to play with his cars. of course, the only thing that made it possible was the tent that I remembered to ask matt to help me set up this morning.