Outdoor Hour Challenge: Insects and September Newsletter Edition

 

So how has your month gone with the Outdoor Hour Challenge focus on insects using the newsletter and weekly ideas? Our family has enjoyed the easy way we can incorporate nature study into a very busy high school week. I love having a month long focus.

Would you like an example of how one family used the Insect Study Grid, the Insect Study notebook page, and the small square study this month? Get ready to see how simple it was and how successful they were in their efforts!
Sarah from Granwood Explorers shares their entry: Outdoor Hour-Focusing on Insects. What an excellent month they had and what a great example for the rest of us!

Get ready for one fully loaded blog carnival! What a great month of nature study from all over the world!

Ant Study

Andrea from The Loopy Homeschooler shared their ant study using the insect printable from my blog.

Andrea at the Loopy Homeschooler shares their ant study with the carnival. They were actually able to identify their ants and her daughter created an awesome nature journal entry using the Insect Study notebook page from the ant challenge. Read all about it: Outdoor Hour Challenge #3.

Leah from The Making of a Mom has joined the OHC carnival for the very first time! She submits this entry: Nature Study Co-Op September (Ants) for us all to read. What a lot of happy faces and so many interesting discoveries! I really enjoyed reading about their co-op and so will you.

Leah from The Making of A Mom shares their Insect Grid Study

Insect Study Grid

Shirley Ann from Under An English Sky submits their Insect Grid Study. She says, "My youngest has decided that she prefers the notebooking pages to keeping a journal, so she used her grid as a notebooking page, adding some finds to the back of the page." It is wonderful to see families adapting the OHC to fit their style of learning. You don't want to miss her awesome images of colored insects in this post as well.

Tricia from Hodgepodge shares How Summer Nature Study Complements High School Biology.  What a wonderful entry for the carnival! Tricia shows how they have been looking for insects and pulling in their high school biology work to make a wonderful mix of fun and learning.

Bugs, Insects, Butterflies, and Creepy Crawlies-Oh My! from Cristy at Crafty Cristy documents their insect study so far using the Insect Grid Study and Insect List found in the newsletter. I learned a few things about cicadas in her entry and they are definitely learning a lot this month about insects. They have also shared their September Insect List for you to view along with images.

Rachel's American Grasshopper

Rachel from All Things Bright and Beautiful has put together their month long study of insects into a gorgeous entry with images you will want your kids to see: Buggy Bugs. Which image is your favorite?

Fall Insect Walk! Angie from Petra School has submitted this wonderful example of a fall insect walk with her boys. I always appreciate their casual in-their-own-backyard nature study time and Angie's images really tell the story. Angie and her boys would like to also share their Queen Anne's Lace entry with carnival readers. They were able to incorporate some insect observations along with their QAL time...don't miss the grasshopper image in their entry!

Outdoor Hour Challenge #22 is where Catherine from Grace to Abide decided to start their insect study.  They were able to identify a few of their butterfly finds from a local park and then they visited a butterfly garden. I agree with her...butterfly gardens are magical!

Virginia from Livin' Lovin' and Learnin' shares their entry The Grid-Sept 2012 Insects showing how their family of children of all ages has enjoyed this month's focus. Another magnificent grasshopper photo in this entry! They also completed a study of a specific insect, the Illia Underwing Moth. What a beautiful creation to observe up close. One last entry from this family....Golden Ponds Nature Walk. They found many interesting and seasonal subjects to enjoy and share with all of you. Thanks for a glimpse into your nature study this month.

Carol's really big stick insect sitting on a camellia bush: Journey and Destination.

Carol shares their September Nature Notebook entry with the carnival this time around. They live in Australia where it is spring and everything is coming alive. Check out their really big stick insect! She also shares some wonderful images of other creatures they have observed this month including a Eastern water dragon!

Jenny Anne from Royal Little Lambs shares their Creepy Crawlies entry with the carnival. It must be the season for grasshoppers!

Heidi from Home Schoolroom has written up their Focusing on Insects and Spiders entry for you to enjoy. They incorporated the ideas from the newsletter and OHC Challenge #4 - Finding a Focus to continue a month long study of insects and spiders. Perfect!

Nadene from Practical Pages has submitted a round-up of their September insect studies using the newsletter and challenge ideas: Nature Study and OHC September. You are in for a treat because she shares their very well done nature journals to inspire you and your children.

Lauren from Serving From Home has written up their monthly nature study entry: Our September Nature Studies-Insects and Apples.  They have done a great job this month with their observations, outdoor time, and nature journals. What an encouraging entry!

Nicole from Journey to Excellence shares their month of nature study.  You are welcome to read their Small Square Study and their Insect Grid experiences. She also found a pretty white plant that she thought was Queen Anne's Lace but it turned out not to be: Queen Anne's Lace.  She would appreciate some help in identifying her mystery plant.

Sara from Garner Goings On shares their entry Saying Goodbye to Swallowtails and Cicadas for carnival readers. Check out her beautiful images and the final video of a swallowtail emerging from its chrysalis. 

Potpourri
Carey Jane Clark who blogs at enCouragement joins the carnival this month with her entry: Our Nature Study Backpack. She shares how they are using the newsletter study grid and a well prepared backpack to aid their nature study in China.

Michelle from Following the Footprints submits their very first two Outdoor Hour Challenges: Challenge #1 and Challenge #2. I think this quote from one of her entries sums her experience up well, "I felt so empowered by my success in identifying two plants that it changed the way I looked at nature for the rest of the week.  All of a sudden, I was looking at trees in parking lots and across the street wondering what those trees were.  I saw a beautiful brown and black bird in my backyard and I wondered what that was.  And I am so excited to find out!  Such a change in me in so little time!"

Kim from A Child's Garden shares their unexpected nature study: Puffballs!  She does a great job of explaining what they are and her images are interesting too.

Look at those little feather collectors! Image from Michelle at Following the Footprints

Michelle has also submitted their Outdoor Hour Challenge #3 for you to read. They are humming right along with their family nature study, and this time it is in their very own backyard! One last entry from this enthusiastic family: Outdoor Hour Challenge #4. So many things to like about this entry and I think they accomplished Challenge #4 very well with their feather collections in the nature journals.

Ann from Harvest Moon By Hand has put together their Hummingbirds-Outdoor Hour Challenge entry for you to enjoy.  Take a look at their Minnesota hummingbird study and be inspired! They were also able to complete their Red Birds Challenge from the Handbook of Nature Study. Ann says, "It was as if the birds that had red on them knew we were learning about them today. Such an inspiring and uplifting afternoon!" What a treat!

Makita from Academia Celestia shares their Exploring the Redwoods study with the carnival.  They were able to observe two different groves of redwoods here in California and follow up with additional reading and journals. They also had some unexpected insect study: Looking for Birds, We Discovered Caterpillars. Read their Water Quality Monitoring entry to learn more about their participation in worthwhile citizen science projects.


Don't forget to share your blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in October are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 10/30/12 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com or submit them at the blog carnival site (link on the sidebar of my blog).