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Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog – anyone doing it?
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Is anyone following the new challenges on the Outdoor HourChallenge blog (http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com)? She is starting a year of topical studies with tons if help, ideas, and resources. This month is insects. (Gulp. Totally jumping into the deep end here.) I was curious if anyone else is following along with her.
Dana
Oh Dana, I am just sitting here smiling in sympathy because OF COURSE she had to start with INSECTS for a person who hates to be outside! =)
I am not following her schedule as of now, but really like her stuff. We have a lot of things around here to study on our own and the kids love nature study.
I don’t follow her schedule because not everything is applicable to my area. I really like her blog, though, so I use it as a resource for ideas and I pick and choose challenges that are best for my current schedule, season, etc. Having said that, I am so guilty of not doing nature study regularly
but I keep trying to get it into my schedule!I know. Bugs. Right!? 🙂
I’ve just determined this a very weak area for me and I know it’s a matter of the will (I am I ought I can I will!) so when I saw that she was beginning a year of topical studies I thought, “This is my chance to grow in this area!” I am ever so blindly following the challenges, following mama duck like a little obedient chick. 🙂 This takes all thought out of it for me. And takes all thoughts of, “I would go outside but don’t know what to do.”
Today my ds4 called me into his room, “Mommy, there’s a live spider in here! Will you get rid of it?” Against my first thought of “no, let’s get Daddy to do it” I said, “Well let’s watch him.” I’m trying! Haha! 🙂
So here’s to it! 🙂
Dana
I have been looking at that before but never decided on getting started.
We have been attending a Nature center program once a month which has been super awesome to get us in the groove!
How does this blog thing actually work, you have to pay for the first 10 lessons now?
Wondering if it is worth it?
Well, yes! We try to follow her Outdoor Hour Challenges. This week, as it happens, the first insect is the ant, and we actually have ants trying to live in our house. How convenient?
Petitemom, you don’t have to pay anything ever if you don’t want to buy her ebooks. You can sign up on her blog to receive her monthly newsletter and weekly challenges. It is definitely worth it.
I would note that she uses in her challenges the Handbook of Natue Study by Comstock. If you don’t already have that behemoth, she has a link to the free book online so you can still read the corresponding pages.
Now get out there and find some ants!
We are! I am so excited to FINally just do it 😉 Like Dana, I too, am a duckling lol! I have wanted to try this so many times and felt overwhelmed bUt……since it is now convEnIently “starting” anew, well I realized now is the time 🙂 In fact the girls and I went out earlier this week and this is what it looked like:
Sunscreen? Check! Water bottles? Check! Nature notebooks? Check! So feeling sO organized, and quite proud of myself, I decided to multi-task and took the dogs along for their walk 😉 Not counting on the kitty who tries to ninja-swipe the dogs at every opportunity, of couse. Which she did, repeATEdly—and it was sooo hot, and sticky humid, and the mosquitos were a bother ( oh hOw in my great moment of organization could I have forgotten about the bUg sPRaY?!) And I was losing patience with the dogs, and wondering how long it would take the kitty to come back if she sOmeHOw found herself suddenly on a farm say, atleast 20 miles from home? When amid my trying to untangle their leashes, I heard my 8 year old dd yell at her 5 year old sissy….DON’T TOUCH IT! IF IT’S PRETTY IT MIGHT BE POISONOUS!! >insert the screaming of 2 little girls<
So of couse I ran over yelling…..NOboDY tOUch iT!! Not even knowing what “it”was…
When to my horror/fascination I saw the biggest, hAIriest ANT on the whole planet…and did I mention it was rEd?! With a black stripe?! It was running in circles, the fastest bug I ever witnessed, and all I could think of was “this is IT!” And then “oh my goodness, it’s headed straight for the girls!” And we ran….all.the.way.home.
So–It was a red velvet ant, which is not really an ant at all but a wasp! Aka: Cow Killer because the sting apparentlly hurts bad enough to take down a cow…lovely. But I am counting it ! And I think we will wait a few days before trying it again 😉
Oh Monika! Count it for sure! You poor thing! Our first nature walk consisted of trying to find a path in the woods near our house. They all stopped shortly off the road so I decided to just walk on through. We found lots and lots of spiders and webs. Ack! Haha. My ds loved it though. Good for him. haha. And we watched a bunch of ants surround a worm. Eventually it was gone. I guess they ate it. Ahem.
Anyhoo. Do those of you doing the challenges link up on her blog too? And, so, this week is ants and she posts her study on Friday? It would be nice to see hers first… So I’m just finding ants and watching them right? Well, at least they’re easy to find!
Tomorrow is another nature walk for us. Hopefully we’ll find a trail this time! 🙂
If anyone wants to share their week’s nature adventures I’d love to hear them!
Dana
I completely forgot to add…..we had bent over for one last crazy look at the weird bug-creature when it stopped, squeaked and the zipped right for us….THAT is why we ran 🙂 lol! I think it was a terrific, exciting start to our Nature Study! Can’t wait to see what else we find!!
Monika, That IS exciting! We found a red velvent “ant” recently, too, for the first time. Have your kids document your experience, draw a picture of the “ant,” and call it your nature journal for the week! The good thing is that your insect is much more fun to draw than a regular ant.
Monika you are too funny!
Kris thank you for your answer, how do you join the blog? Is it the blog carnival?
that link in the first post is not working.
but I keep trying to get it into my schedule!
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