Veteran homeschoolers counsel newbies to take time to “detox” and recuperate from the pressures of school. Grace Llewellyn, co-author of Guerrilla Learning: How To Give Your Kids A Real Education With or Without School, recounts this story:
After an acquaintance of Grace’s decided to try homeschooling with his eleven-year-old son, he anxiously waited for the boy to take an interest in something and get moving – while his son apparently wanted nothing more than to stare out the window. But it turned out that the boy had begun noticing birds out there. Soon he started looking those birds up in a field guide, and then he began sketching them and making notes. Most recently, he had signed up to participate in an Audubon Society field study, helping to count and identify the different birds in his area.
Okay, I get it. A relaxed educator would back off and let the child develop his own interests. But, I stink at relaxing. Instead, we’ve signed up for this winter’s Project FeederWatch to count the birds at home feeders and provide scientists with data needed to understand:
- long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance
- the timing and extent of winter irruptions of winter finches and other species
- expansions or contractions in the winter ranges of feeder birds
- the kinds of foods and environmental factors that attract birds
- how disease is spread among birds that visit feeders
We’ll be using Project FeederWatch’s Homeschool Resources to plan activities such as:
- bird poetry
- research music inspired by bird song
- Develop a time line charting the extinction of a bird such as the Passenger Pigeon
- Research famous bird biologists or artists
- Learn the history of bird-related laws
Even Martha will be sitting down, staring out her window, and counting birds. Click to see the Project FeederWatch or the bird feeding videos with Martha Stewart. I was planning on sending my hubbie to fill one or two feeders with the cheap, bulk bird seed, but thanks to Martha I see the error of our ways. Now we can add (1) hang 25 thistle feeders under the eaves of our house, and (2) make suet feeders from animal fat purchased at the butcher shop to the “honey do” list.
Yeah, right. Most of these activities are guaranteed to suck the joy, peace, and tranquility of watching birds at our feeders. We’ll keep the feeders filled, which is often a challenge with these greedy birds, and look out the window when we think of it. This way, we can still enjoy the trandscendent beauty of one of the few creatures willing to brave our frigid winters.
Related post:
{ 1 trackback }