Oh WOW! It’s what we all said when we reached our destination for our monthly Creation Club. We’d heard from friends that this was a wonderful spot. But we didn’t expect the size. And practically all of our topics for August nature study, as suggested by Handbook of Nature Study, were right here. In one spot.
The lily pads were what we noticed first. Gracing the water’s surface. Blossoms, open to the mid-morning sun. And, when one of the children stepped out to reach for a blossom, she found that the roots went all the way to the pond floor. But easy to gently pull.
The boys scooped minnows with friends’ borrowed nets. Eldest boy collected a pond specimen. Another friend hollered there was a snake – to stay away from the bridge.
We saw dragonflies darting and seeming to bounce on the surface. Breezes blew across the lake and moved the lily pads just a little.
The key ingredients were all there. Water, mud, buckets and friends. We spent a little over an hour exploring the water’s edge. Walking the bridge. Getting completely wet. It was a fine morning.
Guess what? We even saw cattails!! Those things we have the hardest time finding around here! We couldn’t explore them up close though because I wasn’t willing to let the children swim out to see them. But we know they exist!
We inspected the pond specimen a little closer when we got home. It included two minnows – which went into the backyard plastic swimming pool – turned pond. We released our frog from last week because Eldest Boy was concerned the frog couldn’t get out of the pool himself and he was looking a little different.
But the two minnows are still happy.
Observations/Favorites:
- Middle Girl -” minnows, lily pads and lilies!”
- Eldest Boy – “going out into the water until it was above my knees”
- Littlest Girl – “tadpoles swimming around frog eggs and tadpoles with legs! Then, near the eggs and tadpoles, hidden in a patch of cattails, there was a frog. I could have caught him but he swam away.”
- Littlest Boy – “scooping with buckets and nets:
- Eldest Girl – “the pond was very pretty and I got to see the snake!”
Later this afternoon, we’re going to see how we can make lily pads and their flowers with pastels: Lily Pad: A Pastels Tutorial.
Many thanks to Barb-Harmony Art Mom for prompting us to enjoy this time and learn more about pond life. And to Angie @ The One Thing for hosting our monthly Creation Club!
Barb-Harmony Art Mom says
August 16, 2011 at 2:51 PMWahoo! What a day! This was the perfect “laboratory” for the August Challenges….wonderful day for your all. I love reading the observations/favorites list from your children. I tried to put on my very best GA accent to get the full effect. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your pond day with the OHC.
Hodgepodgemom says
August 16, 2011 at 3:01 PMWe had a great time Barb!! Laughing at you putting on a GA accent. ‘ All of y’all had a mighty find time at the pond! And Littlest Guy got absolutely soaked 🙂 ‘
All Things Beautiful says
August 16, 2011 at 5:44 PMI am saying, “Oh, WOW!” too. What a great place to go. And you are right- it was all right there for you to explore. We are hopefully going to visit our friend’s pond, but it is a small ornamental pond…not the get into explorations like all-you-all have had. ; )
Melissa says
August 16, 2011 at 6:16 PMLooks like an absolutely wonderful day!!!
Kim says
August 16, 2011 at 8:51 PMYour blog was the perfect inspiration that I needed today. I am embarking on homeschooling my twins, with my son who is on the spectrum. Today is one of those days when everyone shares their negative opinion and I started to truly doubt my decision. I prayed for strength, courage, and guidance. Just as I’m ready to head to bed and put an end to this depressing day, I discovered your blog. Tricia, just your brief intro is enough to reaffirm my decision. Thank you for taking the time out of your very busy and blessed life to share this blog for folks like me to stumble on when it’s needed most. I can’t wait to look around some more! God bless you & yours!
Kim
Hodgepodgemom says
August 17, 2011 at 8:05 AMPhyllis – this really was an ‘oh wow!’ I look forward reading about your pond adventure. Melissa – it really was. Kim – a comment like yours encourages me so. It’s a passion of mine to encourage fellow homeschool moms. And guess what? Last night I got to go to the first meeting of our homeschool support group. The montly moms meetings are always such a huge encouragement in so many ways. I admire your decision. And it always seems that once that firm decision is in place that there will always be negative comments to discourage us and melt away our resolve. I hope that you too will surround yourself with fellow, like-minded homeschool friends. It truly makes a huge difference in the day to day. My online friends in the comments above have encouraged me more than they will ever know too!
Angie Wright says
August 17, 2011 at 10:47 AMWhat a fun day, and minnows in the water brought home? Bonus. So glad you got to see a cattail! Yeah!