Spring is a great time for studying erosion because so much of the landscape is bare and easy to observe.  Winter, too, has made her mark on several places as rain, snow and ice fell and didn’t have to contend with foliage as a protector of land and rocks.

My children and I enjoyed a much anticipated warmer weather walk yesterday with our eyes open for signs of erosion.  Here are some of the things we found.

A broken rock that none of us remember being broken before winter.

Unprotected soil on a slope that has washed away to reveal underground rock.

Trees near the creek with their roots exposed due to the water washing the soil away around them.

A hole in this rock shows where an almost constant force of water has been beating down on this particular spot from the ledge above.

This picture shows grass and other plants laid down after a heavy rain when the creek was flowing fast and hard. The grass isn't a sign of erosion, but I included this picture to demonstrate the force of the water which carries soil, rocks and other debris down the creek.

These are several pebbles at the bottom of the creek. Over time, jagged rocks are worn down to smooth pebbles from the agitation of the water and the rocks bumping against one another/things in the creek.

In our Everchanging Erosion study, we’ve included a scavenger hunt that can help your children located signs of erosion.  We’ve also included a fun candy experiment to demonstrate the process of a rock turning into a pebble, how to compare land after a flood, an experiment to determine how ice and other weather can break a rock and so much more!  I’ve only mentioned a few of the activities that happen to go along with the photographs I was able to take yesterday.  Believe it or not, there’s TONS to do concerning the study of erosion and weathering!

Don’t forget you can save $$ by purchasing the Everchanging Erosion unit as part of our Spring Bundle through March!

Off on the Hunt!

Our prized find - a beautiful Snowdrop!

Upon closer inspection, we found a Honeybee! Can you see his little rearend sticking out? Now that's a sure sign of Spring!

My Youngest Explorer - she even looks like Spring to me!

My Oldest Explorer - Feeling the Fresh Spring Breeze!

A "St. Patrick's Green" Mossy Area

Gabby loved the way the moss felt.

Bulging Buds...

and more Bulging Buds!

And what's this creature...yes the dreaded fly. Yet, I must say, it's a sign of Spring!

While we were there, we collected some seeds from conifer tree cones. Do you see the winged tip of the seed? Perfect for flying away on a Spring breeze!

And lastly, I'll share a photo of the VERY full wetland area. It is full from the 9 inches of snow melting down into it. I wasn't able to get a picture of it, but across the wetlands we saw a turtle out sunning itself!

Well, that was our early signs of spring hunt. It was so refreshing and we are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for giving us these refreshing days of hope. I hope you are taking time on the warm spring-like days to get out and breathe it in and enjoy it!

Don’t forget about our SPRING BUNDLE package on sale right now! And take your spring nature study to a new level this year.

I took some time this past Sunday when our temperatures shot into the 50’s to take a quiet nature walk by myself.  Most of my nature walks happen with my children or the entire family, but sometimes I really just want to go alone.  And Sunday was one of those days.  A little less than an hour away and my spirit was refreshed – probably because of the time alone, but God’s wonderful reminders that spring is just around the corner helped, too!

Big, bulky buds are preparing themselves on a lilac bush.

Several of the trees I passed have the very beginnings of their buds.

New growth is already evident on this young maple.

Leaving the yard to explore down by the pond turned into a much messier affair. This was the beginning of the trip down the hill. By the time I reached the pond, the mud reached well past my ankles. It was hard work, but SO worth it!

The ice was slowly melting around the sides of the pond. Giant cracks were all through the remaining ice - you can see one of those cracks at the top left of this picture.

I know you probably can't see it, but there's a water insect skating across the water near the middle of the picture. I saw a few underwater insects moving around, too. I think this is the happiest I've ever been to see bugs!

Since spring will soon be on its way, we’ve highlighted a few of our early spring NaturExplorers favorites in the right sidebar.  After my muddy walk, I’ve decided the Everchanging Erosion unit will be our family’s next focus!

“Several moms in our homeschool group want to start a nature club but we have no idea where to begin with forming a club. Can you tell me a little about yours? Thanks for the help!”

Thank you for your question Lecia and since this is a popular one I decided to write up a blog post entry about it.

This spring and summer will be my second time leading a nature club for our homeschool co-op, and I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am. Our nature club was a huge success last year and I truly loved leading it. As you probably know from my blog, I am very passionate about God’s creation and especially about sharing my love of it with others, and a nature club is an excellent way to do just that!

Here is my list of steps and recommendations for getting a club started:

Determine the interest level in your group. – Poll your group to see if you have a high enough interest level to make it worth officially forming a group. In my opinion, two or more families is great! These things have a tendency to grow quickly anyways once word gets out.

Determine a vision for how you want your nature club to be ran. – Would you like a more structured time including an appointed “leader/teacher” for each meeting and a focus topic for each meeting such as birds, wildflowers, etc? Or would you prefer a more relaxed club where you just meet and freely enjoy nature together? Again, you could poll your group to determine what the majority is looking for in the club. Determine if you want parental involvement to be mandatory at each meeting. I recommend this for a couple of reasons: parents will be responsible for their children and not the leader(s), and I highly believe in parents being involved with and connecting with their children in nature study.

If a more structured time is desired, appoint a leader or leaders who will steer the meetings, being sure the meetings stay on task to what is desired of them. – Perhaps all the members would be willing to take turns leading a meeting; however most often there are a small group of people who are “natural leaders” and/or are more knowledgeable on the subject of nature and will gladly do this. Or perhaps you will determine that having just one leader/teacher works fine too.

Determine the frequency of your meetings and the topics and locations. How many times a month will you meet? Will you meet year round or only in the warmer months? Where are the places you could meet? Make a list of local parks or other locations that your club could meet. After doing all of the previous, make a list of the dates you will be meeting and locations where you will be meeting. Decide what you will do in the case of inclement weather. Will you reschedule?

After determining this, and if you chose to make your meetings a little more structured, make a list of topics your group would like to see covered throughout these meetings. When you are picking topics, match appropriate locations that would work well. For instance, a particular park may have huge wildflower fields that would make it perfect for a wildflower focused meeting. Or another park may have a beautiful creek which would make it perfect for a creek focused meeting. When determining what to teach on the focus subjects that you will be covering keep in mind the NaturExplorers unit studies at Shining Dawn Books each have a section dedicated to giving you ideas of things to do with Nature Clubs and Co-ops. I use these for each of our nature club meetings.

After you have all these details, put the information together coming up with a calendar of dates, meeting topics and locations for your club.

Now you are ready to start implementing your meetings! It is helpful to send out weekly reminders to the group, perhaps via email or another online means. In the reminders it’s helpful to list all the basics (where, what when, etc.) and also any helpful information such as if the children should bring anything special (nets, containers, etc.) or wear anything special (mud boots, long pants, old clothes, etc.).

I have tried to be very thorough in these recommendations for starting a nature club, hopefully I have not left anything out. And hopefully I have not left you feeling overwhelmed. If done correctly a nature club will NOT be overwhelming and tedious to run. It will be well worth the minimal effort! Do not make it too structured and “textbook educational”, keep structured teaching time minimal and hands-on exploring maximal.

Lastly, here is how our nature club looks:

We meet only in the spring and summer, starting in April and going through July. We meet every other Friday morning from 10:00am to 12:00pm, having a total of eight meetings. Some of the families stay after the meetings to have a picnic lunch together. Parental participation is mandatory. We start our meetings with a 10-15 minute teaching session on the chosen focus. Then the remainder of the time is spent exploring and doing fun hands-on activities. I send out reminders at least 5 days in advance giving all the details and recommendations for the meetings.

I will be happy to answer any other questions that you may have. And may God bless you in the study of His creation!

My husband recently purchased a corn product for cattle feed that he placed uncovered in an open barn.  I believe all the blackbirds this side of the Mississippi have found the pile of feed and think of it as their own.  You can only imagine the thousands of birds (and the tons of bird poo) that have been hanging out with us the past several days!

And how did we spend part of our Valentine’s Day?  We took a trip to Walmart to purchase tarps!

How was your Backyard Bird Count?

Praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the heights above.  Praise Him, all His angels, praise Him, all His heavenly hosts.  Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all you shining stars.  Praise Him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.  Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; He gave a decree that will never pass away.  Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do His bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children.  Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens.  He has raised up for His people a horn, the praise of all His saints, of Israel, the people close to His heart.  Praise the Lord. Psalm 148

During February, love is in the air. (Even if that air is very cold!) February also tends to find many of us with a bad case of cabin fever. What better way to cure cabin fever and celebrate God’s love for us than getting outside as much as possible to see and praise Him for the beauty of His creation?

When we praise Him, as encouraged in Psalm 148, we show God that we notice and appreciate Him, the things He does, the ways He provides. It’s easy for us to sit inside during colder months and stop noticing His bountiful creation. But, His creation is still full of splendor! Noticing this splendor and being thankful for the somewhat hidden beauties will encourage your winterized soul to sing again!

I’ve created a notebooking page to help you express your love for God as you note things you love about His February creation during a nature hike. Bundle up and bring along a thermos of hot chocolate as you and your children find wonderful reasons to praise God in the midst of a long winter!

P.S. Another wonderful winter activity is taking part in the Great Backyard Bird Count!

Many times in the Bible we find mention of God’s miraculous and powerful creation in nature. God clearly wanted us to notice what He made (Job 38). Not only should we notice it, but give credit to Him, the Creator, and use it to learn from. Even amidst the sin of this world, His works are plainly evident in what He made. Not just simply by observing the visual beauty of His work, but also “seeing” the lesson in it. The more I have appreciated His works in creation, the more I’ve been able to “see” His lessons and learn about Him.

One of the ways I have found to express and foster my appreciation of God’s creation is through photography. In those frequent moments on nature walks when my children and I observe something that makes us stop and give awe to the Creator, out comes the camera because I simply must capture what I see to share with others. Is this to “show off” my amateur photography skills? Well, maybe a teensy bit :), but mostly it’s to share my excitement for the beauty I observe and give the Creator the credit for making it. Even in the midst of dreary weather, there is always something to find to appreciate and find beauty in.

And as the seasons pass by I love looking back on photographs that I have taken in different seasons to remember and appreciate them for the beauty I find during that particular time of year.

I have particularly become fond of macro photography. Macro photography, to me, is simply taking very close-up pictures with the “macro” setting on your camera. It allows you to see detail, that sometimes, even the human eye cannot see easily.

Do you have to be an excellent photographer or own a very expensive camera? Absolutely not! Not every photo I take is of high quality (my camera is not a professional camera). In fact I just snapped a couple of pictures this morning of our friendly neighborhood Pileated Woodpecker and since I have to zoom so far in to take the picture, my photos aren’t the best. But I love them just the same as they are a memory to me of how excited my children and I were to observe this beautiful bird.

My children also enjoy looking back over our nature photos from previous years. It brings back many fond memories and continues to foster an appreciation of God’s creation in them too. This is a photo of my daughter from several years ago (she’s 13 years old now!) nursing a House Finch back to health that had flown into our glass sliding door. And the one below that is Grandpa holding my son (who’s 11 years old now!) up to see a bird’s nest with babies in it.

In many of our units we suggest nature photography as part of the lessons and notebooking pages for nature notebooks. We hope that you are able to make nature photography part of your nature walks and nature appreciation!

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