Unit Study on Birds

Sometimes I wonder if I am doing enough. It is hard to keep everything balanced between the different subjects. I do not have a curriculum like many other homeschoolers. We really could not afford one. I use my imagination and the library. We have a science curriculum and math workbooks. Everything else is resources that I found useful.

So I worry about holes in my plan. And it often seems as though I lose track of something. Like it has been a long time since we did science, although we did lots of writing and math. And other times, it seems like weeks since we pulled out our math workbooks. Now that is not to say we were not doing math as I used my own creativity to teach M adding and both M & R the concept of odds and evens.

On top of that, I am a working mom. A working mom who is about to lose her job to outsourcing. So I have been investing extra time in writing and in art, hoping to find a lucrative way to work from home. Can I find a way for my hobbies to bring in an income? Will it be big enough to support the family?

Then something happens like it did last night: my husband TJ pulled out one of our library books. TJ has taken over science lately, and he had decided to do a unit study on birds. So we all sat down on M's bedroom floor (well, K was already asleep), and we began to look at the pictures of different kinds of birds. The books were organized by category (wading birds, predator birds, large birds, flightless birds, etc.)

Now M has a crazy imagination, and she frequently makes up stories about animals that don't exist. Like hole hogs. Hole hogs are imaginary animals that have tales like beavers, antlers like a deer, and big ears like a rabbit. They are as big as bears and they build large underground dens. I went through weeks and weeks of detailed descriptions of hole hogs and all that they do, including how they take care of their babies, how they build their houses, and how they trapped snakes to eat them.

So when we began the unit study on birds, we started by tossing bird seed out by our back door. The winter birds flocked to our yard, and the girls got to watch them all day long. Then my husband got at least 25 books from the library, everything from field guides to story books. With the new topic of birds, M started making up a story about a "sweet sweet" bird that has fur instead of feathers. We were frustrated because she refused to accept facts over her imaginary world. How do you teach a child that all birds have certain characteristics (feathers, wings, beaks, etc.) when they make up an imaginary animal to defy all logic?

The book that TJ picked up last night was called DK Guide to Birds. And when we opened the book, M started telling me about a bird that does not have wings. (OK, here we go again!) Well, actually, there is a bird that does not have wings, and in fact, it has fur instead of feathers too. It is called the kiwi bird.

Surprise! Surprise! These bird books have sat in M's room for several weeks, and it looks like she has actually been reading them! She started flipping through the books, telling us about the different birds. We noticed a blue-footed boobie, which is a grey and white bird with bright blue feet. TJ said, "Look at this bird. He has funny blue feet!" M said, "Oh yes, he waves them at his mate to say hello." Sure enough, that is exactly what the text says.

We talked about partner birds, parasite birds, predator birds, extinct birds, endangered birds, big birds, little birds, flightless birds, and strange birds. M had so many questions, usually centered around the word "why." She was particularly moved by the extinct and endangered birds, and I had to explain why seabirds were harmed by oil spills. Of course, I also had to explain what oil spills were.

So after we left her at bedtime, she sat on her bed looking through the books. She has become so familiar with the books that she knows what books have which information, and which pages to go to in order to find what she is looking for. Her knowledge of birds has far exceded mine.

Some of the books she enjoyed most:

Birds

DK Guide to Birds

You Can't Lay an Egg If You're an Elephant

About Birds

Falcons Nest on Skyscrapers

I especially liked the Falcons Nest on Skyscrapers book because it is more story oriented. The book explains why falcons are endangered and what pains have been taken to restore the falcon population. Then it tracks two falcons who build a nest on the windowsill of a skyscraper. The office employees get to watch the two falcons raise their young through the glass.