Sunday, April 22, 2007

Learning about animals the homeschool way

On Monday we went to the zoo for a class on animals that live underground. The girls like to watch the meerkats and so it was great for them to get to learn even more about them from the zoo keeper. We spent several hours at the zoo after the class and met up with some friends while we were there. Here they are feeding the goats near the farm area.
A few weeks ago, Daniel noticed a bird flying around the trees of our yard that we had never seen before. That is very exciting for us:) So we got out the identification books and figured out that they were called Cedar Wax Wings. We had enjoyed watching them and learning about them. It was so odd when on Wednesday morning we looked out our back porch to find a dead bird. It was one of the cedar wax wings. So, I called Daniel because I wanted the girls to be able to get a closer look but I wasn't about to pick it up or touch it. So he came home during a break from classes and examined it with the girls. They loved it.
On that same break from classes Daniel also noticed a bird nest in the bush near the back of our house. We got out more books and identified it as a mocking bird nest. WE have been checking on it and we will be keeping track of when the eggs hatch and the progress of the chicks.

1 comment:

William Kruidenier said...

Cedar wax wing -- cool! Wonder what happened to it? Did Tigre get it? More mockingbirds to imitate all the other birds -- just what the world needs. :-) Great pix from the zoo -- homeschooling is the best!