Our Wonderful Little Nature Study Group

I have to say that this year has definitely been our best year homeschooling thus far. Partially due to the fact that we have formed (together with two other area families) a wonderful nature study group. Charlotte Mason recommended nature study to her students, and now I know why. My children are so much more in touch with their natural surroundings now, than I ever was as a child. We have been taking weekly nature walks with our group in an area park near our home. There are many different paths (mowed) for the children to explore their natural surroundings without the risk of poison ivy, snake bite, etc... We meet every Friday morning at 10 a.m. What a wonderful experience for our children.


At the end of our daily excursion, we sometimes do a nature craft, and most often have a picnic.

In our daily studies, we have been going through the book Pocketful of Pincones by Karen Andreola. What a wonderful example she has set for us each day, and the children are loving drawing in their nature notebooks, and learning the scientific names for plants and animals. After we finish this book, which should take us through the year, we will be starting Anna Botsford Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study. This will probably take us through the next several years, as it is over 800 pages. I do believe my children will be richer in knowledge for learning about their world in this fashion. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to give this wonderful gift to them.

PS... If you are interested in learning more about Anna Botsford Comstock, there is a wonderful movie that we found at the public library called The Girl of the Limberlost that is all about her life as a child, and her love of nature.

Our Vacation-- Day 3, Part 2

After we left the Cozy Dog Drive-In, we decided to go to the Illinois State Museum. We had a slight problem finding it however, as it was smack dab downtown. We looked at the map, and parked in a lot, that looked as if it was somewhat close to the Museum. Well, we walked, and we walked, we passed the State Capital, we passed the IRS building, we passed all sorts of things, but no museum. After about 10 blocks, we asked someone where it was. Only 5 blocks ahead they said. We didn't tell them that we had already walked 10 blocks. Did I say that it was 98 degrees out? It was, but we finally made it there. Whew!!!

A nice photo of the State Capital building, while on our long walk to the museum.

Truthseeker and I in the exploration room, at the Illinois State Museum.
Truthseeker looks at some different kinds of fish that are native to Illinois.

The boys play an interactive educational video game about sharks.

The highlight of the afternoon was going up and down the escalators.
Truthseeker stands in front of an 1980's "teen" bedroom in the Journey through Time section of the museum. I pointed out quite a few things that reminded me of my "teenage" bedroom. I think this person was a bit younger than me though, because a lot of the music tapes were popular when I was in college. Oh well, it was neat for him to see, anyway. I don't recall my bedroom being that messy though. Was yours?
Skaterboy is grinding corn into cornmeal the old fashioned way in the Exploration section of the museum. There were a lot of areas in this particular museum where photographs were prohibited. I kept thinking about Night At The Museum, as we walked through here. I don't ever think I will look at a museum in the same way, after seeing that movie. We loved it!
When we returned home, we had a new friend waiting for us. Earlier in the week we had went for a walk down our street to pick wildflowers near the woods. We found a little caterpillar crawling down the middle of the road. I picked it up, and thought.... hmmmm... nature study project, we'll see if we can hatch a butterfly from this little critter. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take, but I was willing to give it a try. So we put the little caterpillar in a large jar with some of the wildflowers that we picked in there, and a tiny bit of water. Thank goodness there was some nettle in with the flowers, because the caterpillar loved them, and started munching right away on them. A few hours later, we noticed that our caterpillar was hanging in a "J". I knew that soon it would be turning itself into a chrysalis, which by morning it had formed. Imagine how surprised we were when we returned home this day, and found the caterpillar hatched (so quickly), into a beautiful butterfly. The wings were dry, and it was ready to be let free. So we said goodbye, and opened the window, and away it flew.

We identified this butterfly as a Common Buckeye. Here is some more interesting facts regarding this butterfly:

Buckeye Butterfly

Buckeye Chrysalis

Buckeye (Junonia coenia)

Where do they live?

- Illinois State Map

- National Map

Buckeye's year-round range includes Mexico, the Caribbean and extreme southern parts of the US. During Warmer months, Buckeyes migrate northward to the midwest, sometimes as far as southern Canada.

What do they eat?

Buckeye Caterpillars eat Plantain(above), Snapdragon and Toadflax.

What is their habitat?

Buckeyes prefer fields, dunes and other open areas with flowers, especially where the vegetation is short.