Junior Ranger

This past weekend Hunter earned his status as a Junior Ranger at the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. He is now an official Blue Jay level (five to eight years old) Junior Ranger. They let him pass even though he isn't five yet.

We were given a little booklet with different activities for different ages. One of the Jay level requirements is to either hike a trail by yourself or attend a ranger-led hike or cave tour. We went on our own hike and did one of the other requirements, a scavenger hunt.

The first section was all about rocks, and we found all of them:

• A smooth rock
• A flat rock
• A rock bigger than you
• A rock as small as your fingernail
• A rock that fits in your hand
• A rough rock
• A round rock

There were a couple other activities in the rock section, like finding a rock and labeling all the different colors you see in it. And drawing a picture of your favorite rock (he just drew circles). He was also supposed to give his rock a name that described it. He called it Robert.

We had a lot of fun trying to find everything on the other part of the scavenger hunt too. At one point we sat on the side of the road for five minutes just trying to see if that was really a bird singing that we heard so we could check it off of our list. We kept our eyes on the woods while we were driving trying to find a tree that had been on fire. And we were so excited when we saw a little bug flying out of our car, another check for the list. Of all the things we found were:

• A giant sequoia cone
• A tree that fell down
• An insect
• An acorn
• A pine needle
• A seed
• Bark of a tree
• A rock
• A pine cone
• A bird
• An animal track (we found a deer track!)
• A tree that has been in a fire
• A bird singing

The things we didn't find on the list were: signs of a squirrel, a squirrel, a mushroom, a deer, a flower, and a feather. We were also asked what was the most fun thing to find and Hunter put "a cave" (we found a real bear's cave!)

While we were scavenger hunting we were also garbage hunting, as you're also supposed to bring in a bag of recyclables or garbage that you find. We found a box, an old board, some cans and bottles, and even a large metal object that appeared to have come off of a car.

He did two activity pages, one where he drew a line from a pile of objects as either "safe for bears" or "goes in a food locker" and learned the importance of keeping food where bears can't get it. The other activity was a picture where he was supposed to circle children were doing good things to help the park (like recycling, observing birds, and storing food safely) and put an x on children who were doing bad things that harm the park (like washing dishes in the river, picking flowers, or carving on trees).

He learned a lot about rocks, wildlife, and the importance of taking care of the park, leaving things where we find them, and respecting the animals, plants, and habitats for future generations.

After we completed all the activities, we went to the ranger station with our recyclables, our filled-out booklet, and Hunter was quizzed on some of the things he learned. 

Hunter was then "sworn in" as a Junior Ranger, promising to protect the park, share his experience with others, and continue to learn more for years to come. He was so proud!

He got a little plastic ranger badge, and we bought him a Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park embroidered badge to put on a jacket we want to give him for all the places he has gone. We are looking forward to exploring many more of the amazing places this beautiful country has to offer!

"The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness... and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory." 

Psalm 29:8-9

Hunter is 4 years, 10 months old

Little Fish in a Big Pond - A Look at the Known Universe

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day was actually a video, called The Known Universe by the American Museum of Natural History.

We started making it an (almost) daily habit to check out the picture of the day, which are generally really, really cool. Sometimes Hunter is fascinated by them, sometimes he's not really interested, which is ok. But today he was totally enthralled, which he had good reason to be. This video was amazing.

All I could do was sit there and think, wow. What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Astronomy sure has been a fun thing to study!

"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?"

Psalm 8:3

Hunter is 4 years, 10 months old

The Atmosphere of the Earth

Hunter's depiction of the earth from space. He drew this after looking at one of his flashcards of the earth's atmosphere.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." 

Isaiah 55:9

Hunter is 4 years, 9 months old

Adventures in the Lithosphere

lith⋅o⋅sphere

[lith-uh-sfeer]

1. the solid portion of the earth (distinguished from atmosphere, hydrosphere).

2. the crust and upper mantle of the earth.

The main science topic we have been covering this school year is earth science, which by definition is pretty broad but, for us it least, mainly constitutes the study of astronomy, geology, meteorology, and certain terms of geography.

Today, at random, on a walk to the post office we had a fun little exploration in geology (the study of rocks) and of the pedosphere (the layer of the earth in which soil formation occurs).

It started when, as we were waiting for the post office to open, we were noticing gravel on the side of the road, and started talking about erosion - how rocks break down to smaller and smaller pieces, from the big rocks we saw over in the landscaping to the tiny rocks on the side of the road. We had talked about erosion before, but this was a really good example, especially because of noting the cause of this type of erosion (in this case, mainly the cars breaking it up) and also the size variety was great, highlighting the bigger-to-smaller process. We also learned some new words - asphalt, concrete, and cement - a few words I noticed he didn't know when one of the clues on a birthday party treasure hunt this weekend was "concrete" and he looked at me with a blank stare.

As we continued our walk, another part of the roadside contained an excellent sample of mud, with lots of visible leaves, grass, and rock fragments. Which lead us to talking about what soil is made out of, the little organisms that help decompose organic material such as leaves and grass, and the different kinds of soil.

He, of course, wanted to make a footprint in the mud, which you can see in this picture. He sort of regretted it afterwords because the mud was a little deeper than it appeared.

As we cut across an open field to get to a park, we noticed the many cracks in the dirt, and talked about how the dirt made cracks like that because it dried up, and all the water had gone into the air (picture at top). I reminded him that it was called evaporation, and he said, "Yeah, like on the Magic School Bus!" (a video that my mom has. The dry parts, I said, is the place where water used to be, but now that some of the water is gone there is empty space there. We have been talking a lot about how water is in just about everything, and most things are mainly water (our bodies, food, etc.) even if it doesn't appear to be "wet", so it was fun to see another example of this.

The last thing on our little geology adventure was collecting a few rocks on the way, which were mostly remnants of landscaping rocks that had made their way across the street. I usually don't let him do that, and we talk about the whole concept of this is what would happen if everybody did, but for this time only (and since the base is somewhat deprived of very many nature experiences) we collected a few and are going to add them to our geology collection. (I know, it's bad)

It was a fun walk. I just love it when little homeschool experiences just "come up" like this. Even though it is really happening all the time and this is how a huge proportion of our "school" gets done, this day just happened to be an especially learning-filled little adventure.

"He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing." 

Job 28:10

Hunter is 4 years, 9 months old

Seasons and More

Earlier last week was the winter solstice, or "first day of winter" and longest day of the year. We talked about how the days have been getting shorter and shorter little by little, but now they will start getting just a little bit longer and a little bit longer until the longest day of the year in June.

This is actually something that has been really close to Hunter because, not only does he notice that his daytime playing hours are certainly less than before, it is especially noticeable to him because of the time Brandon goes to work every day (4:30 pm). When we first got here, there were several hours from between the time Brandon left and the time it got dark, but now the sun is setting as he leaves.

Anyhow, we made a chart of the location of the earth in relation to the sun at the different seasons. I made the earth and sun pieces out of construction paper, and Hunter glued them together and glued them on the paper. He also cut out the sun, helped color the sun beams, and wrote the season words. We talked more about the opposites of summer and winter in the northern and southern hemispheres and why summer is summer and winter is winter (tilt of earth creating longer/shorter days as well as making us closer to / further from sun).

We also learned some words - summer and winter solstices (shortest and longest days of year) and vernal (spring) and autumnal (fall) equinoxes (equinox means "equal", where the day hours are as long as the night hours).

Later we'll talk about how on the equator it is always hot (they are always close to the sun) and that they always have equal nights and days.

I like making crafts like this because it's not only something that is a fun project and a fun lesson, but something that we'll use again and again. We'll refer to this often to talk about a lot of other things (like the north and south poles and the magnetism of the earth, how the earth rotates as well as spins counterclockwise, the gravitational pull of the sun, etc., etc., etc. It's fun to learn these things as we relate them to real life experiences, making it simple and interesting to understand.

I was going to hang it up in the school room, but Hunter protested, "No, I'd like to hang it up in my room."

"He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing." 

Job 26:7

Hunter is 4 years, 9 months old 

Santa Teaches Geography

This morning my sister sent me a link to a site called noradsanta.org. It is this world map with little marks of "where Santa's been" in live action time. The locations are (I think) in every major city of the world, and if you click on the little present icon over a particular city, it tells you the name of the city and a picture. There are even a bunch of "newscast-style" videos in select locations, such as the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal. So far he has covered most of the Eastern Hemisphere.

When I took this screen shot (around noon), he was in the Crozet Islands in the south Indian Ocean. Before that he was in Enderby Land, Anarctica and a little while ago he was at the International Space Station (that was Hunter's favorite).

Cool things about this:

1. The obvious geography lesson. We are seeing pictures of all these world cities, some that we're familiar with and some that we're not, and their location on a world map.
2. A lesson in time zones. Getting a better understanding of how it is night time there, while it's still daytime here, and by the time Santa "gets to" us, it will be Christmas Eve night here, just like it was in China hours ago.
3. More on opposites of seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres. We were talking about how it's summertime in Australia and South America right now, making more references to the tilt of the earth.

You can learn a lot from a fictional fantasy character, can't you? Oh how I love technology...

"God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven..." 

Job 28:23-24

Hunter is 4 years, 9 months old

Frost

I was so excited to wake up early this morning at the crack of dawn to discover frost on the ground for the first time. Like beautiful, breath-taking frost, everywhere! Maybe it's because I keep hearing everyone back home talking about all the snow and cold weather, I was a little jealous. But alas, yes, in California it really does get cold enough to freeze water - for the night at least.

I had to show Hunter, it has been fun to keep finding little nature study tidbits in this suburban life in California.

"By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened." 

Job 37:10

Hunter is 4 years, 8 months old

Astronomy Picture of the Day

(right: ice jets irrupting on one of Saturn's moons)

I just found the coolest resource for our astronomy studies. It is NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day Website and I am so excited to start showing it to Hunter tomorrow. They post a new photo everyday (which most of them are copyright free since they are the works of the federal government) and they also have a splendid archive, dating all the way back to June 1995! The first picture, a computer-generated theoretical model of earth as a neutron star, is quite humorous in its simplicity, and a vivid reminder of how far technology has come even in just the past fifteen years.

The site is filled with so many incredible, unbelievable pictures, which left me (again) dropping my jaw at what technology has allowed us to explore about the universe. Up close pictures of Saturn's rings? Detailed pictures of galaxies thousands of light years away? Spectacularly beautiful pictures of nebula that make you think they're fake? And not only is there breath-taking photography, but brief (yet still thorough) explanations that anybody can understand (which is nice, since so many of the astronomy resources I have found are full of so much jargon it's hard to understand, much less try and explain to a four-year-old!)

It also is a great way to keep up on much of the current research and discoveries that are going on (like this month's discovery of water on the moon) in an easy, fun, straight-forward way.

And, it also got me thinking - again - about how a few months ago I was planning an astronomy unit study. As soon as I started planning it, however, I began to realize how this wasn't just going to be a unit study at all. Call me a dork but, this stuff was cool. It intrigued me so - everything about it. And I'm not the only one. Hunter still tells me he wants to be a missions specialist (even though he hasn't listened to that CD in ages) and calls math time "astronaut training". Among many other things depicting his interest. So this new daily routine (or sometimes weekly, since that's just how things go sometimes) is going to be a whole lot of fun for the both of us.

Here, some of this month's pictures of the day: (which are so much better close up. Check out site for yourself or click to zoom in)

Stellar flash of the star V838 Mon

Combined images of near-infrared light, infrared light, and xray light - a view of the galaxy with star fields, gas and dust clusters, supernova remnants, and more

Stickney crater on one of Mars' moons

Launching of the Ares 1-X

Zodiacal light over Laguna Verde

"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." 

Psalm 33:6

Hunter is 4 years, 8 months old

Parts of the Sun

For science this unit we have been learning about the sun. It is the first theme in our science curriculum this year. We're doing earth science this year, but the curriculum we're using starts out with an introduction to astronomy, the sun being the first topic on the list.

We have been doing parts of the sun bits, with the core, radiative zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere, and corona highlighted on each flashcard.

Today he colored a coloring page that I printed out for him, and did a really good job. He did the whole thing without any input from me, and chose the colors orange, red, yellow, blue, and brown to color the various layers.

One thing that I thought was really interesting though was that he actually made his own chromosphere (the blue layer, picture shown at right) which was not on the coloring page. He just made it himself after only seeing the flashcards a few times!

Lots more exciting news about fun things we've been learning about the sun, soon to come!

You can download this coloring page from google docs for free.

"They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations."

Psalm 72:5

Hunter is 4 years, 2 months old

Global Cooling

We haven't had a day without snow once this year. We've had years with a lot of snow, but never like this since I can remember! It has been snowing non-stop here since mid-November, with cold periods forecasting highs of negative three!

We've had about a foot and a half of snow on the ground since shortly after New Years. And now last night we have achieved almost three feet in many places... and it's still snowing!

I have been hearing that scientists from NASA and elsewhere are predicting that we will be experiencing a cycle of global cooling over the next ten years. Interesting phenomena, in spite of all the hype from Hollywood stars and liberal lobbyists. Sure puts a damper in their scare tactics!

But it's been some great fun and an awe-inspiring experience watching the snow all day. We didn't get to play in the snow today because it's been a continual downpour of white stuff all day, but we're sure to get out tomorrow - hopefully Hunter will be able to walk!

"Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created... Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word"

Psalm 148:5,8

Hunter is 3 years, 10 months old

A puddle so big you could swim in it

I am a bit of an impulsive parent, sometimes.

There are a lot of things I did as a kid which, now that I'm a parent, I think, How could my parents let me do that? Like climbing a hundred feet up in the air in a wobbly trees. Or building crazy forts out of junk. Or playing endless hours by railroad tracks.

Now, not necessarily saying Hunter will do those things but, still, I sometimes am a little on the wild side in my parenting. I want Hunter to have good, wholesome adventure in his life, and not have to go out looking for it in video games or drugs or wherever kids tend to get their "excitement" fix these days.

Which explains why, today, I took Hunter down the road to a baseball field. Which was completely flooded. Like five-feet of water flooded.

And even though at first, I was a bit hesitant (considering, we were about to go somewhere in a half hour!), I still let him go from dabbling his finger in the edge of this "giant puddle" to stripping down to his boxers and having a swim.

And in complete honesty, if it was as easy for me to redress myself, I would have gone swimming too. Just because I'm a little bit crazy like that.

He had fun. And even though it was a bit of an inconvenience, summer is almost over so might as well get what you can while it's here.

After all, life's too short to let it pass you by without doing the inconvenient sometimes. Which includes taking time to splash in the puddles. Or sometimes, swim in them.





"The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea."

Psalm 93:3-4

Hunter is 3 years, 5 months old

Playing in the Rain

Hunter was very excited to try out his raincoat today. So far whenever it's rained it's been too cold to play outside, but today we got to enjoy the summer rain from heaven.

He had a fun time, then he wanted to come in after about five minutes. Oh well, fun times.




"My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God."

Deuteronomy 32:2-3

Hunter is 3 years, 3 months old  

Making a Genesis Terrarium

My brother David brought home from vacation Bible school a small jar containing some gravel, dirt, and a little figure of a man and a woman next to a plastic dinosaur. It was a terrarium depicting what the earth was like when God first created it, before the flood.

What a fun idea, I thought, and immediately wanted to make one of our own with Hunter. I found out that the gravel was necessary and we made a field trip to the pet store.

We decided to make a big one in an empty aquarium we have and put about an inch of gravel in the bottom.

We put about two inches of potting soil on top of the gravel and scattered random flower seeds in there to see which ones will grow. Okay, so maybe not the best way to do it: but of all the seed packets we had, they were all pretty old and I wasn't sure if any of them would grow anyway, so I figured with about five packets of seeds in there perhaps some of them will sprout. I also stuck in there all the little flower sprouts that grew in spite of me in our flower flat we've had for the past few weeks.

Alright, so I'm not the greatest gardener, but I'm learning. Maybe after we learn a few things from this one we will have a real one that we can work to keep up later on. But either way, the point of this terrarium is to demonstrate the way water was distributed when God first created the earth: it circulated through the air and moistened the entire environment. It was never too hot, never too cold, it never rained, and man didn't have to do anything to make the plants grow, because they grew on their own.


"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

Genesis 1:6-8

Hunter is 3 years, 2 months old  

Snow

So far this winter we have been blessed with a lot of snow. Blessed, yes, I think so, because for me, the beauty and fun of snow makes the long, dead cold more bearable. But for Hunter, snow is just fun.

Hunter has never gotten to play in the snow much until this winter. Last winter, he was only one and a half and our total ventures out into the snow came up to a total of one. But this year, he is enthralled by it.

We got the opportunity to play and learn in the snow today. The last time we played outside the snow was perfect packing snow and we built a snowman. But today the snow was very light, so light in fact that the trampoline (which was under a foot of snow) didn't even droop (with packing snow it droops with only two inches on it).

We talked about how light it was and compared it to the snow we played with before.

"The packing snow we made a snowman out of is more dense than this light, fluffy snow. It's light and fluffy because the molecules are further apart [spread hands apart] and with packing snow, the molecules are closer together [bring hands together]. Molecules are all the little bitty pieces that make up the snow." [smiles and continues playing (don't worry, next time it snows he will repeat every word of what I just said)]

"Look, it doesn't stick together very good when you pack it, does it?" [shakes head and smiles]

All together we enjoyed about a half hour of snow play before it was time to go inside. We didn't do much talking, but I just loved watching Hunter play with the snow. He was experimenting with everything from molding it to throwing it to rolling in it, kicking it, even eating it. I'm so thankful that I get to share these moments with him, even if it just means watching. And I am also thankful that he gets to have these moments, which could never happen in an overcrowded, overstimulating day care environment (that is, if they let the kids play outside at all during the winter).

These priceless moments of learning will never come again. The winter will soon be over, and this is his last ever winter as a two-year-old. Yes, there will be more days. More winters. More times of learning. But once it is over, you can never regain your days. I encourage parents to recapture parenting, to be their with their children and help them learn about their world. It is an honorable thing to do, and the chance will never come again. Be blessed.

"For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength."

Job 37:6

Hunter is 2 years, 11 months old

Fog

"Look at the how the air is white over there, Hunter. That's fog. When the air is warm and the ground is cold, it makes fog. It looks like a cloud, doesn't it? We can make fog on these cold car windows: watch, just blow your warm breath onto it and watch what happens..."

Hunter was enthralled at the science of fog. It was thick enough that you couldn't even see two hundred feet down the road. Pretty cool, especially to a two-year-old.

"The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew."

Proverbs 3:19-20

Hunter is 2 years, 10 months old

Feeling the Weather

"This is what packing snow feels like, Hunter. Come see!"

Hunter thoroughly enjoyed experiencing the weather this morning, first hand.

It had snowed about six or eight inches the night before, so there was a bunch of snow piled up on the window sill. He handled it for a while, then pitched it outside.

This lasted until all the snow from the window sill was gone. He then decided to climb up by the window and just stared at the winter wonderland for a long time.

Sure, it was a little cold outside. And yes, it took up some time. But we got to talk about where snow comes from, and how this crunchy packing snow was different from the powdery stuff we got last week. And of course, he simply got to experience the weather: touching snow without his mittens on, smelling the air without his scarf on, and just soaking it all in: the things mundane to adults but exciting, interesting, and captivating to little children.

"Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail?"

Job 38:22

Hunter is 2 years, 10 months old

Hunter Meets the Ocean

Hunter saw the ocean for the first time today. We had been talking about seeing the Atlantic ocean for days now, and when he finally got to see it he was very excited.

The ocean beach was very different from the Lake Michigan beach that he's used to. The waves were much bigger and stronger, and the sand was covered in seaweed and a hundreds of tiny seashells, rather than just the smooth rocks that wash up at the Indiana dunes.

He mostly played in the sand in the beginning, and eventually worked up the curiosity to venture out to the water. However, once he got out there he became aware of the loud, crashing waves and decided to head back to the safer, quieter shores. I can hardly blame him - the waves were strong enough to send me doing flips underwater, so I'm sure they must be pretty intimidating to a two-year-old.

But we eventually went out together. He was scared, but I held him, reassured him. I'm a big supporter of, um, pushing your kids limits. That is, gently encouraging them, supporting them, avoiding coddling them. Not to push them to the point of tears or anything. But it did end up paying off, because he overcame his initial fear and, once he found out that there was really nothing to be afraid of, had a wonderfully good time.

"He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength... Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea."

Job 9:4,8

 Hunter is 2 years, 7 months old