Moth Riker Mount Completed

The last two moths were identified by Grace today and copied to be added to the riker mount. It is rewarding for all of us to see this process completed and surprisingly professional. Pretty cool.

Read Full Post »

Let The Copywork Begin!

Today Grace had her first set of two moths to identify. Once identified she then wrote the names of both moths on notebook paper which we cut out and placed in their respective places next to the moths in the riker mount.

It is coming together!

Read Full Post »

Spread ‘Em!

For this terms butterfly and moth study, I purchased a wonderful sample of about 35+ butterflies and moths that are native to the Southeast region of the US from a venor online. This has been a big hit with the children, and has caused much excitement and anticipation. It has also resulted in at least two pulverized butterfly specimens.

The specimens arrive (dead, of course), and with their wings closed. Each one is invidually wrapped. It feels like Christmas all over again to reveal what beautiful specimen is underneath the paper. To open the wings, you relax them by injecting boiling water into their abdomens, and placing them in a humid relaxing chamber for 24-48 hours. Once relaxed, their wings can be laid flat on a spreader and pinned down with paper and pins to dry.

After experimenting with a number of samples graciously included in the set, relaxing the butterflies has worked out surprisingly well. Yesterday was my first attempt at relaxing the butterflies and moths that I would really like the children to focus on. And this morning we set about spreading the moths that had relaxed well(The Sphinx varieties).

For prep, the kids cut on straight lines to make strips of paper to lay over the wings. For Grace (5) this is a breeze, but for Jack (3), being lefthanded with no lefthanded scissors this was more difficult and frustrating. Note to self…buy lefty scissors. We were able to successfully spread the Tobacco Hornworm Moth, Pink-spotted Hawk Moth, White-lined Sphinx, and Rustic Sphinx Moth. These are all HUGE moths that were able to take on a lot of the injected water, which is why I think they relaxed the easiest.

Tomorrow Grace will have the task of identifying the moths from a group of pictures, and then for copywork, labeling the moths that were place this evening in a riker mount.

Read Full Post »

Happy 4th of July!

Thanks to better planning and familiarity with the location and event, we were prepared for everything our day had in store. We kicked off the 4th by heading to the rides early on. Grace was tickled to be able to ride one of the ponies in the corral. She almost had to be pulled out as she made sure to greet her pony face to face and offer a few nose rubs and encouraging words in exchange for the ride.

Then it was off to the train ride with Daddy!

After the petting zoo, the kids hit the giant sandbox (a big hit for us last year), and we were able to cool off a bit from the heat for the next 45 minutes as they played. It was one of those days where you can feel the sweat rolling down the midline of your back.

A couple of hours before the fireworks, Ken took Jack for a water ride, and Grace and I headed toward the cotton candy stand. A huge line had formed, and we waited for 30 minutes for that fluffy blue stuff. Meanwhile, we watched as storm clouds and lightning began rolling in. The rain held off though…until it was our turn. Just when they were about to reach in the machine to get Grace her much deserved cotton candy, the supervisor halted everything and notified everyone that they were closing shop due to the severity of the lightning above.

How could they do that to a little girl??? Grace broke down in true crocodile tears. But soon we were both drenched, as a huge downpour fell on us all, and cracks of lightning surrounded us.

We met up with Ken and Jack and huddled under our one big umbrella for an hour as we waited the storm out. Right before the fireworks were scheduled to go off, the rain stopped, and the “biggest firework display in the southeast” went off without a hitch.

Read Full Post »