Learning in the Sunshine State

Today’s mail brought an envelope from the National Wildlife Federation that says our backyard is now an official Certified Wildlife Habitat. Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? Well, it’s really quite easy to get certified. I have to give credit to Dawn, of By Sun and Candlelight, for giving me a kick start. She asked the question in her post, What Makes a Backyard a Habitat? When I read her post, I realized that we too could have a certified backyard. Our backyard doesn’t look like anything special. While I have dreams of a magazine-worthy yard, the reality is it looks a lot like many other yards in suburbia.

What makes my family’s yard a habitat? Well, here are the NWF requirements. And here are the simple ways our yard meets those requirements–

Food–
5 birdfeeders in various locatons — 3 tray feeders, 3 tube feeders
a wooden squirrel feeder attached to our fence — the kind that holds a corncob

Conserving Resources–
we practice organic gardening, composting, and mulching as much as possible

Having a backyard habitat is pretty easy to accomplish. If this is something you’ve thought about, but thought it was too difficult, think again. Anyone can do it, and just imagine how it can fit into your homeschool.
Everything from evaluating your current yard (or patio — even apartment and city dwellers are eligible) to sending for your certification, can bring wonderful nature study lessons for children and adults.

The NWF goal is 70,000 yards for their 70th anniversary in 2006. Our family is No. 67,922. Will your yard be on the list?

While much of the country is in the grip of an oppressive heat wave, we’re just having a typical Central Florida summer. It’s hot. It’s humid. Humidity runs in the 80-90+% range nearly every day, with temperatures in the 90’s. Sometimes it cools off to the upper 80’s. It will probably rain in the afternoon. This is our weather forecast until October. It only changes if a tropical storm or hurricane heads our way.

Last week I was thinking I’d blog about our Florida summer, and went searching the web for a humorous look at summer here. I had seen it before, but couldn’t find it. That very day, someone in my homeschool group posted it on our yahoogroup. So here it is — A description of July in Florida.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN FLORIDA IN JULY WHEN:

-The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
-The trees are whistling for the dogs.
-The best parking is determined by shade instead of distance.
-Hot water now comes out of both taps.
-You can make sun tea instantly.
-You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
-The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.
-You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.
-You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
-You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
-You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
-Your biggest bicycle fear is, “‘What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?”
-You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
-The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt, and pepper.
-Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.
-The cows are giving evaporated milk.
-Ah, what a place to call home.

And by the way — August is even worse.
Oh, and one more thing. It’s true. It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity

Stop by and see.

Discovery landed safely this morning, and Kiddo finally got to hear the sonic booms.

We went down to the riverbank on the Fourth of July to watch the launch (still need to finish that roll of film). I wasn’t going to bother fighting the crowds, but Kiddo said he didn’t remember seeing the shuttle launch. We’ve seen plenty of unmanned rockets launch in the last few years, but of course manned flight has been on hold. So, we watched it up close instead of from the front yard.

Last night I warned him that the sonic booms would startle him. Even when you know they’re coming, they make you jump. It’s pretty cool actually. First thing this morning we turned on the NASA channel to watch it land. The booms sent the cat flying through the house looking for a place to hide, the dog started barking, and the old windows on our old house rattled. Kiddo, of course, thought it was great.

I grew up here. The space industry is a part of life for many folks in this area. But when we were watching and Kiddo said he now wants to be an astronaut, I thought “Oh please, change your mind before you grow up”. It’s an admirable profession, but I’d prefer my child choose something safer!

I’m suffering from a severe bout of indecisiveness when it comes to next year’s school plan. It’s not that I have to decide what to buy, just what to use. If you came to my house, you’d see bookshelves full of books. And stacks of books in front of the bookshelves. And stacks of books next to my bed. And stacks of … well, I think you get the picture. So, now I have to choose what to use, and what to let go.

Things definitely in our plan:
Singapore Math — I hope to get through levels 2A and 2B. We might get started on 3A, depending on how it goes.

Sequential Spelling I am a natural speller. I never remember having trouble spelling, or even learning how to spell. I bought into the belief that with practice, all kids will magically learn how to spell. Not true. As I started to realize that Kiddo is more like his dad when it comes to spelling, I realized he would need some help. This program is really doing a good job of giving him the help he needs. He’s a strong reader, so the way this program focuses on spelling patterns seems to be just the thing for him.

Nature Study — A mom in our homeschool group has started leading nature study walks. She just sets up where the walk takes place, and each family does their own form of nature study. We’ll continue to attend these walks, as well as do some nature study on our own.

We’ll do unit studies, and those are pretty easy for me to plan. I let Kiddo have input and tell me some things he wants to study, then I fill in with units I choose.

Now comes the stuff I want to do, but can’t figure out how to fit it all in:

Art — I have Drawing With Children, Artistic Puruits, and Art in Story. I like different aspects of all three of those.

Spanish and/or Sign Language — We used to do a little of both of these languages, and I’d like to get back to it.

English From the Roots Up — I’m not sure where, or even if, this should fit into the plan.

Grammar — English for the Thoughtful Child and First Language Lessons. There are things I like and don’t like about each of these, and I’m trying to figure out how to blend the two.

4H — I’d like Kiddo to get involved in 4H, and there’s a new club in the making that sounds right for us.

Science club — another mom who has 3 science loving boys wants to start one. Kiddo is interested in joining.

Cub Scouts — He’ll be a Bear this year, and I want to find a way to incorporate some of his requirements into the school plan.

So much stuff, so many ideas. There’s no way everything will fit, and there’s no need to even try. As long as I keep reminding myself of that, I’ll eventually map out a plan. Whether we follow the map or take many side trips remains to be seen.

Maybe too quiet. Kiddo is spending the night at a friend’s house. Now, probably no matter how many children you have, when one is gone, you notice it. But when you have an only child, and he’s not home, you really notice it. In fact, you’re hyper aware of it.

The dog seems to be really lost without his boy. He keeps trying to settle down, but ends up pacing around the house.

Don’t get me wrong. Dh and I are glad for the time alone. And we’re glad Kiddo is having fun at a friend’s house. Still, we can’t help but realize just how different it is when he’s not around.

The 5th Country Fair, hosted by Susan at Imperfect Genius is next Wednesday. There’s still plenty of time to submit your post. You can write one specifically for the Fair, or use one you previously posted. Submission guidelines are here at the FAQ

Don’t think you have to be a great writer to submit something. While many homeschool bloggers are also good writers, most of us are just homeschooling moms (this one included) and dads who enjoy sharing our learning adventures. So go ahead, enter your post!

…is Central Florida.

And that’s where we live — Central Florida. This past Thursday we had a typical summer afternoon thunderstorm. At one point, we saw a flash and almost immediately heard an incredibly loud boom. That’s when you know the strike was close by — when the flash and thunder come so close together. I was fixing dinner, and even commented to Kiddo about that one being close by.

This afternoon, we found out how close. Apparently it hit our neighbor’s house, which is diagonally across the street. He had been out of town until last night. When he came home, he found that most of his electrical equipment was fried — computer, 2 new telephones, and various small appliances. He has power, but no cable or phone service. When he went outside to investigate, he found that part of his tree was blown away, and a big chunk was taken out of his driveway.

The odd thing is, none of us can find where it actually hit. Five of us who were outside (including the neighbor) grew up in Florida, and we’ve seen numerous trees that have been hit by lightning. This one was strange looking in that there was no burn streak running down the tree. The best we could figure is that it didn’t strike at the top for some reason. Whatever happened, its discovery was the talk of the cul de sac this afternoon. We’re all hoping our neighbor’s insurance will cover his ruined stuff. He was looking at the bright side, saying this is one way to upgrade your computer!

This is where the lightning took a piece out of the tree.

This piece of bark was found a few feet away from the tree.

The blown out chunk of driveway.

Thank goodness the house itself was okay, and that no one was hurt. I think Kiddo will now understand why I get so serious about him coming inside when a thunderstorm is approaching. You don’t mess around with this stuff, especially when you live in the Lightning Capital of the U.S.

If you come here on even a semi-regular basis, you might have noticed that I keep changing themes. I’m trying out the ones that appeal to me, so no, you’re not imagining things. Eventually I figure I’ll find the one I want to keep. Or maybe not. Maybe I’ll redecorate often, according to the season and my mood.

I can’t believe I’m having to write this post. On the day we celebrated the birthday of one of our pets, we unexpectedly had to say goodbye to another. As we were backing out of the driveway tonight to go to a Chinese buffet for dinner, we heard an odd sound and felt a bump. Almost at the same time as I asked, “What was that?” we saw E.C. run out from under the car, and we knew. Dh (who was driving and is feeling really down about this) jumped out and checked him. He said it didn’t look good, but we put him in the carrier and headed out for the emergency vet clinic. We didn’t even get halfway there, when Kiddo, who was in the back seat with the carrier, told us E.C. wasn’t breathing. We turned around and brought him home. He’ll be buried out back tomorrow, with our old beloved dog, Duke.

E.C. stands for Extra Cat. When we found him in the local Wal Mart parking lot, we already had 3 cats and 2 dogs. The last thing we wanted was another pet. So, we kept trying to find a nice home for him. That was 11 years ago. Of course, we stopped trying to find someone to take him, oh, about 11 years ago.

E.C. was not your stereotypical cat. He loved attention, and always seemed grateful to get it. He used to go on walks with us, sort of. Whenever we took a walk, we would look back and notice him following us. If it was a long walk, he would stop somewhere and wait for us. Then as we passed him on the way back, he’d follow us home. He would let you hold him on your lap for as long as you wanted him there. When you reluctantly had to get up, he never complained about being kicked off your lap. He was not at all aloof. He loved to purr and cuddle.

As an outdoor cat, he often slept under the car, but always moved as soon as the door opened, so we never really had to make sure he was out of the way. He just got out of the way automatically. There was no reason to think that this time would be any different, and in fact, none of us even looked under the car for him. There are always what if’s, but they don’t do any good.

Unbelievably, this same thing happened to my friend Cindy less than a week ago. At the time I felt so bad for her, and knew it could easily have been us. Who would have thought that I’d be writing our version of this sad event so soon?

Sweet kitty, wherever you are, I hope they have sunbeams and a warm, comfy lap for you.