Schedules, Structure, Accountability...

I have been working on a more structured schedule for school next year.  Both Emily and Michelle needed this, and so do I.  Even though Michelle is in 7th grade this year, she still must have a good bit of one-on-one attention - direction, teaching, etc.

I will be using these two schedules for them.  It was useful to get a side-by-side view on Word to make sure there was no overlap.  The underlined subjects are those that I will be teaching and working on with them.  I will be printing one copy for each day, which they will use to write in their assignments and what they need to work on on their own (OYO).

Science Project - Birds!

Emily has been recording her bird sightings in the backyard in her journal this summer, building a nice collection of drawings and observations, and having lots of fun with it. 

This week, we installed our new bird feeders, and we've all been enjoying watching the birds which congregate around it, especially early in the morning and late in the evening. 

Our science curriculum for 2014-2015 will be Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day.  So, out bird studies will extend through next year.
 
Living in Florida makes this project especially fun, as we have so many species to study year round.  Nevertheless,   I signed up for the Cornell University Birdfeeder Project starting this Fall.  We are also recording our logs on ebird, their amazing website where thousands of people from around the world contribute their sightings. 

Cornell has a number of projects and resources on their website:

All About Birds is an online guide to birds and bird watching. It provides information about birding basics, live video feed from bird cams, informational videos, and more.

• Check out these amazing animated maps, created with eBird data.
• The Homeschooler’s Guide to Project FeederWatch is a free eight-page teaching resource that contains ideas for families participating in Project FeederWatch. 
• BirdSleuth: Science Investigator’s Kit for Homeschoolers is a ready-to-go kit of resources and student activities designed to foster scientific and creative thinking. 

There are also three free modules to download for teaching the scientific method and graphing data called Investigating Evidence.

For field trips this year, I have planned several outings to county parks, and one longer trip to the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge  on Sanibel Island.  We are blessed to live very close to one of the county's best bird habitats - Edward Medard Park.  There are birding groups organized each Fall which I hope to join with to learn more about bird watching, etc.