#begoodstewards

We are really starting to get the hang of Wild Math. We tend to focus on our science and nature studies while exploring outdoors and end up doing math indoors while the youngest Sprout sleeps. Afternoon outdoor time is usually free play so I’ve been reluctant to say “hey let’s do some math” so I’ve been more intentional about coming up with math games. Today I made it a point to get out 15 minutes early to work on some addition and subtraction strategies. 🌱 Of course, nature study still happened as our yard has become a breeding ground for jelly ear mushrooms, much to the Sprouts delight; even overtaking one of our tens stick bundles that was left outside. We also did some bark rubbings to go along with our B&R bark wonder. 🌱 The oldest Sprout was very pleased to find a stick with lichen, moss, and mushrooms growing. 🌱 Momma Sprout was very pleased to find some broccoli heads forming on the plants we’ve been nursing for what seems like ages. Fall gardening has been a much different beast. 🌱 The recent rainy days have brought lots of blessings. 🌱 #begoodstewards #wildmathcurriculum #blossomandroot #blossomandrootsecondgrade #jellyearfungus #bark #fallgarden #broccoli #wildandfreekids #lastchildinthewoods #1000hoursoutside https://www.instagram.com/p/CHggnbcBGCd/?igshid=1mgjzz7igy93h

We continued with our Halloween themed week today. 🎃 The oldest Sprout wrote book reports on Bats as well as “Inside Animals: Spiders and Other Creepy Crawlies” while being very jealous while the youngest Sprout did his age equivalent of Spider and Bat themed crafts (she did get to draw diagrams but didn’t agree it was a craft). 🎃 Mommy Sprout was just happy to have them both working and reasonably happy at the same table occupied enough so that I could work on some of my own crafts. 🎃 This afternoon we gathered the information we needed to make our three branches of government tree tomorrow. 🎃 #begoodstewards #halloweenhomeschool #halloweenweek #creepycrawlies #spiders #bats #preschoolhomeschool (at Anderson, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CG5u0Hzhspl/?igshid=1twe112r79fri

Had to repost Sir Walter since I just noticed Instagram cut of his antenna! #begoodstewards #snailsofinstagram #snails #explorenaturewithchildren #lastchildinthewoods #1000hoursoutside (at Cosby Campground, Great Smoky Mountain National Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGnunNlJNo8/?igshid=nowzo33hhuya

We had the most amazing homeschool day yet today! We combined Gymnosperm and Conifer week to make room for some Halloween themed science the next two weeks and we found everything on our scavenger hunt list plus everything we had missed the weeks prior. 🌿 We often do our nature walks at our local Botanical Garden just meandering and seeing what we can find, but since this week seemed more specific I dug a little deeper and found an app that you could search for every plant variety in the garden that would place it on a map. 🌿 Low and behold the Clemson Botanical Garden has a separate Jurassic Garden!! It was literally a walk through time - and the first 8 weeks of Blossom and Root Year Two. We found everything from non-vascular algae and moss, to horsetails and ferns, to gymnosperms including cycads and ginkgo trees! I literally could not contain my excitement but I think we made one of the groundskeepers day. 🌿 We then hiked over to the conifer garden and had lunch under the pines and firs and hunted and found yews, cypresses, hemlocks, and cedars. 🌿 We also fit in some nature journaling, went over the big picture points for the science wonders and read Anansi from Trickster Tales under some trees that originated from West Africa. 🌿 I just love days like this where everything comes together so perfectly and am so thankful for great resources like the Clemson Botanical Garden and Blossom and Root Curriculum. 🌿 #begoodstewards #clemsonbotanicalgardens #blossomandroot #jurrasicgarden #horsetails #ferns #fiddleheads #conifers #gymnosperms #cycads #livingfossils #1000hoursoutside #lastchildinthewoods #wildandfreekids #covidhomeschool #bestdayever (at South Carolina Botanical Garden) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGnkAl9JOxc/?igshid=zw7d6gqjvnc3

Our oldest has been quite ill with a virus so we have had a very slow week. 🌱 Monday we spent the morning watching a fantastic virtual Indigenous People’s Day celebration hosting by the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and read some about her Cherokee heritage from her father’s side. 🌱 We have had lots of fun giggling in bed reading “Fortunately, the Milk” by Neil Gaiman and coming up with our own fantastical stories and new names for things. I really hope she’s up for some crafts to go along tomorrow. I haven’t made it a secret that seeing this book in our curriculum is one of the big reasons I choose it. 🌱 Today we watched the new movies “Enola Holmes” and were blown away. I found it to be perfectly appropriate for her age (7) and phenomenally inspirational in so many ways. We are ready to watch it again and Lou has asked me to get her a book of ciphers as well as the books that inspired the movie. I highly recommend it! 🌱 "Politics doesn’t interest you because you have no interest in changing a world that suits you so well." - Edith 🌱 #begoodstewards #wildandfreekids #blossomandroot #elonaholmes #indegenouspeoplesday #bitchtophercolumbitch #sickday #fourtunatelythemilk #neilgaiman (at Anderson, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGV3FNRJmIK/?igshid=1p3hu6qb3la6

We had such a great week with leaves, trees, and Johnny Appleseed! 🍁 Today we finished up and journaled our chlorophyll extraction and made a clay leaf model. 🍁 Then we topped the week off with my favorite poetry tea time yet - but the Sprouts do proclaim, “Nevermore”. 🍁 #begoodstewards #blossomandroot #enwcautumnleavesweek #poetryteatime #theraven #edgarallenpoe #nevermore #wildandfreekids #secularhomeschooling (at Anderson, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGIvzVWJWt_/?igshid=1rq4hku6qzk2d

We got a lot done today for leaf week with Blossom and Root and Autumn Leaf week with ENWC. 🍂 We finished up our October Botanical Calendar, made a leaf shape poster which Lou labeled with leaf shape and vein type - which double as a matching game for the preschooler! - and completed our chlorophyll extraction experiment. The little guy helped cut up our green leaves - look at those chubby little hands 💕 🍂 For Wild Math we worked on counting leaves and telling if the number was odd or even and rounding. 🍂 This afternoon we were visited by some friends and Emmylou showed them how to make with potions. 🍂 #begoodstewards #blossomandroot #wildmath #enwcautumnleavesweek #wildandfreekids #1000hoursoutside #lastchildinthewoods #backyardhomeschool #witchpotions🔮 (at Anderson, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGGO_nZppPF/?igshid=7w84iv2fmrj

We decided to use these white roses for our experiment to see how stems moved water through the plant. 🌹 We are so excited how it turned out! It took about three days to see anything. You can see the big splotches of color on some petals but it’s hard to see that the overall hue of each flower has turned. 🌹 Lou also thought it was cool that because the food coloring left a water line on the vases you could see just how much water they transferred. 🌹 #begoodstewards #blossomandroot #wildandfreekids #rootsandstems (at Anderson, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGBI3nUJg8j/?igshid=pic588yf96a