Some Birds are Winter Texans Too

I have to say that personally I have always loved nature and walking out alone and quietly in the pastures behind our home when I was little.  I dreamed of one day getting a horse when I was young.  That dream never materialized but I am an avid picture taker now of all things nature including those horses.  After a visit to Yosemite I was reminded of my love of nature and it has stayed with me ever since.  Now I try to instill that same love of nature into my children every chance we get.

We have done just about all the challenges so most things we do now will be a further expansion on those challenges.  I love birds and we have done a lot on hummingbirds but yesterday we saw some birds that we might only see during the winter migration and one was the Common/Wilson Snipe.  

There is a section in the Handbook of Nature Study talking about Migration of Birds.  I looked that up since this particular bird is not in there.  Plus we looked at several bird ID books we have and my favorite place to look is on my itouch on the program Bird Explorer Pro.  We love listening to the sound of each bird.  We all agree this bird has a spooky call.  We saw this guy on the side of the road while leaving home.  He blends in well and as I was slowing down to take pictures I guess he figured if it stayed still it would not be seen.

This next one is what we think is the Orange-crowned Warbler.  We have searched and searched on this one.  We finally decided because of its call.  It looked like it had a nest in the land next to ours.  We also read in the book HONS the section on How Birds Fly.  We were out there for a long while watching this bird fly from branch to branch and give its call.      

   Our nature study this week was around our house and we found some never before seen birds.  How cool is that?  I wonder what we will come up on next week?   

The Secret Life of the Dyslexic Child

Since making the announcement that I was ordering and starting with Barton for my son I wanted to read something interesting about dyslexia.  I am forever looking for new books.  You all know how it is when you go to the bookstore, right?  You walk in with an idea of different subjects that you would like to learn about.  Well, I've been reading about dyslexia.  I walked through Barnes and Noble and it was teachers appreciation week.  Yippee, 25% off that weekend!  We don't have a B&N in my town but we were in Wichita, Kansas visiting family and I can't ever leave there without going to the bookstore especially when it's teacher appreciation week.  

I found this book called The Secret Life of the Dyslexic Child by Robert Frank.  I have a couple more pages to read before I am on chapter 6.  Wow, is all I can say about this book.  If your child is dyslexic or you just want to know about how a child with dyslexia feels then you have to read this book.  If you know of a child or older person with dyslexia then you have to read this book.  

Dyslexia is not just letter reversals or not being able to read.  It can involve many aspects of life and it does in many people from math, reading, writing and given directions for a project and they just can't remember what was told to them.  There is much more to it than that.  

I hope to be done with this book soon but so far it is two thumbs up. 

Starting Multiplication

My youngest is so excited because he has started to learn his multiplication facts.  He already knows his 0's of course and his 1's.  He worked on his 2's and has those down too.  Now it's time to go into the 3's.  Ooohhhh.....he is having so much fun with it.  Well, sometimes anyway.  Sometimes his brain seems to fail him and in rushes the frustration but a little bit of tickle time and all is better.  

Talk about being proud.  He is excited to be learning his multiplication.  That picture was taken at the beginning of the school year but he still looks like that but now it is for multiplication.  He has such great expressions.     

Frustrations

Dyslexia is a fact of our lives.  Not being able to read or write like others can be very frustrating.  No one makes fun or laughs but my son who has dyslexia tries and tries but the problem still exists.  Frustration is part of his daily life.  Everything out there for teaching children with dyslexia is extremely expensive.   When I say expensive I really mean expensive.


Up till now I've had to do without anything, but I was given the green light by hubby and just ordered a program for dyslexia.  I ordered Barton Reading System.  Now waiting for it to come so we can start.  I wonder if it will help?  Wonder if all this money I'm spending will be money well spent?  

I guess time will tell......starting on Level 1 soon.

Unexpected Detour and Our Week of School

We made a last minute trip to Kansas.  I say last minute because we got a phone call from my brother saying he was having surgery on Wed so we took off.  I hate the 12hr drive but enjoy spending time with family. 


We brought our books for some school.  We didn't do as much as I had planned but middle son did his math and did his bible reading.  My little one did his math.  The oldest did his physics and he had his bible by his bed for reading at night.  


We did lots of family things.  Between hospital and homes, it took most of our time.  We drove those dreaded 12hrs back home today and got home around 7:30pm.  Bed time is early tonight because that drive is a killer.  The boys saw frosted windows this morning and also saw me trying to rid that frost from the windows so we can start our drive.  Middle son loved to see the frost come back after wetting the window with the windshield washer fluid.  I'll have to check and see what kind of fluid is in my moms car.  Oh and next time we'll go in my van and not in my moms car.  We all hated that tiny car.  Can you say....cramped?

We Need a Change Soon

We have watched several documentaries lately about food, industry, corn, and the progressive disregard for nature and the natural way of living.  Our earth and our bodies are in desperate need of healing.



I'm glad there are people out there that do these type of documentaries.  These are eye opening dvd's.  A word of warning...although these are documentaries I would not allow small children to watch.  My 12 year old actually left the room because it was too much for him.  So watch with caution around the littles but watch and learn. 

Nature excitement

We came home on Sunday after lunch and these were out there.  They came up to us, I guess they thought I had something for them to eat.  We had never heard them before.  We have seen them but never heard them.  They are loud.  I figured I would take out my little and very portable video camera.  Good thing I did.


Then another thing we had never seen is that those wings are for something.  Check it out.



The boys had fun looking at these guineafowl.  So did I.