Tag Archives: birds

Our Study of Birds and Audubon ~Homeschool

02/24/2017 Danielle Huddleston Leave a comment

I am still working on how to tie lessons together for the girls and boys.

The boys do 5th grade work and the girls are in 1st grade but need a very simplified version.

So it has not been until recently that I have really been trying to include them in the history or science that the boys are studying.

Birds seemed like a perfect subject for them all to learn though.

For one of the boys studies the past couple weeks they were learning about John Audubon and birds.

I give the girls a science shelf for their independent learning and made it all about birds.

Here are some of the things I included:

Bird Bingo(one of my favorite educational games)

Bird Guides like Birds of Oklahoma

The Magic School Bus Flies the Nest

Backyard Birds Toob (I had them try to find the matching bird on the Backyard Birds of North America guide)

Bird Flash Cards

Binoculars

Owl Puke the Book

We also finally refilled our bird feeder and would identify the birds that came.

I got a pbs documentary on Audubon called John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature from the library and was having the kids all watch in the vehicle.

I had no clue that Audubon killed the birds he drew!

He posed them by sticking wires through them!

I asked my oldest if they were showing that and he said “yep.”

My kids eyes were huge.

Oops…

We did not finish the documentary.

My youngest boy(9) loves learning about animals and is like a walking encyclopedia about them so he really liked reading about birds for school.

He also told me that Audubon met Daniel Boone!

I love it when our studies intersect like that.

Just another benefit of learning History, Science, and Literature via timeline.

Audubon: Painter of Birds in the Wild Frontier was such a pretty looking picture book.

I don’t get to read many of these books anymore since my boys are independent readers.

We also got John Audubon Young Naturalist but I forgot to take a picture of it.

Bird Watching

I really liked tying their studies together!

Now I just need to figure out how to make the science shelf fun and interesting for the next study.

Microbes…

I have a feeling it will not be as pretty as birds.

Animals

Evening light, Little Birds, and Oak Trees

04/25/2014 Danielle Huddleston 2 Comments

As I stepped out our front door the other evening, I was in awe with the beautiful light.

Then I saw a little bird fly off.

I decided to sit down and wait to see if I could get some shots of birds.

There is something very restful about waiting and watching as the light slowly fades away.

I used to spend a lot of my evenings as a teenager watching the sunset.

I would sit on a little hill by the road and watch the sun disappear over my neighbors pond.

I wonder if that is why it has such an effect on me.

It is like I take a big breath when I get to see one and feel I have ended my day right.

Animals

Window Bird Feeder

12/16/2013 Danielle Huddleston Leave a comment

This is one of those things I kept eyeing at Nature Center Gift Shops.

The bird feeder not the birds…

I kept thinking there was no reason for me to lay down the extra money to buy this one instead of just a hanging one.

It is awesome though!

The birds are so much easier to see!

The boys and I do not even flinch when we see a Cardinal anymore.

Now I just need to get one for every window.

I can even put them under “school expense”, what is more educational than bird study?

I will of course just add keeping them full to the boys chore list…

Do you have a favorite tool to view animals?