We’re doing birds & bugs this year as well. We did the classification portion of Chapter 1 (not too in depth), then jumped to Chapter 9 to catch the bugs while we have so many. I have 2 DD’s, 7 & 8. They know the latin name is in italics, and THEY can tell you which is capitalized and which isn’t (ok…I don’t remember), but that’s about as much of Chapter 1 as they retained. For the rset, I read through it once and they tell me back what they remember. Surprisingly, they do get the big words on many occassions.
Last year we did the swimming creatures. I do one chapter over 2 weeks and I am able to complete the book in the school year. We are doing that again this year, it works well. We might read a page or two a day, then narrate. Sometimes not even that much, depends on how much information there is.
Yesterday, my parents were over for lunch. My 8 year old began to tell about an insects ovipositor and its uses. I had no idea she remembered the word, but she did. So yes, they’ll retain more then you think. An often at the most embarrasing moments!
Hope you enjoy it as much as we are!
Tonni
P.S. We found the most BEAUTIFUL catepillar today. I’ve just spent the last hour trying to ID it. We have a Spicebrush Swallowtail – Orange Morph. It’s truly lovely and going in our butterfly pavilion.