A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

Yellow finch in winter drab
Originally uploaded by juliecinci

My family has joined the ranks of birders who report to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology the birds that frequent our feeders. You can join or read more about birding by visiting their wonderful site.

If you are new to bird watching, here is a great site that has tips for how to identify birds you don’t recognize. One of the benefits of bird watching is that it s one of the easiest ways to teach careful observation and identification by details. Kids train themselves to be patient, to look carefully and to make distinctions (does the wing on the chickadee have a pale white stripe or not? Black-capped or Carolina?).

Additionally, keeping a log of all the birds you see, particularly what is called a “life list” where you note the very first time you see each species, is a great way to exercise those handwriting and listing skills.

I’d love to see photos of your bird watching! Send them to me. We’ll post them here.

Julie,

Just had to share.  Nature Journaling on Mondays has been a great exercise for us.  Today’s was exceptional.  We finished our morning “school” of math, dictation, history etc.  After lunch we try to go outside for at least one hour.  As I stepped out the front door the dog and I were upon a Pheobe.  It was obviously “not right” and I had to restrain our border collie from eating it.  A quick call to the boys to come see this stunned bird and “Nature time” certainly had begun.  This bird spent the next near-hour with us.  Everyone held it…either by personal choice or when it landed on us…even the dog!  Yes, we got a photo of that too.  The one I wanted to share with you was of my middle son starting his Nature Journal with the bird right on the paper.  We removed the bird from “us” one way or another to set it back on the bird bath at least a half a dozen times.  This was one of it’s landing spots…right on the nature journal.  It eventually did fly away to a tree.  What a wonderful time.  I thought you’d appreciate hearing about our nature journaling.  Learning at home can be so much fun!

~Rachel in NH

Sharon Woods
Originally uploaded by juliecinci

Charlotte Mason recommends kids spend about six hours a day out doors. In high temperatures and humidity, it’s hard to get my kids to mow the lawn for a half hour let alone playing in the direct sun for six.

One way we get outdoors is to walk in the state parks of Ohio. We’re lucky in that these parks are not only gloriously green, they have lakes, play equipment and water apparatus, and loads of hiking trails. We invested in a second pair of binoculars in order to see birds, squirrels, foxes and “that pretty waterfall way over there.” (It’s worth it to purchase real binoculars like you might find in a camera store as they do see clearly and at a longer range than the kind you find in a toy store, for instance.)

Liam and I have taken early morning bird watching walks for the last several months, once per month. Going early in the morning means you’ll avoid runners and you’ll catch the birds in morning song.

Later in the day is nice for feeding ducks, hiking, seeing the light come through the leafy trees.

When we lived in California, I took the kids to the beach and tide pools. So if you have coastline available to you, load up the car and head west (or east). You may not be able to get your kids outside for six hours per day, but it’s not so difficult to get them into nature once per week, if you plan it. 🙂