This spring unit is similar to ones we did in the past. We collect an assortment of nature science books in botany and zoology, coordinate projects and hands-on activities, and round it out with some picture books and games. Sounds easy, but it’s not always so simple. This time around, I have several new books and a couple new kits I’m looking forward to trying. And as always, I don’t know how to squeeze it all in. It’s like being in a buffet. You have to make choices, and well, sometimes, I just want to have it all. Because this unit will overlap our history units (which should have been finishing up by now), we’ll have to take the first several weeks kind of easy on this unit. In a separate video, I’ll share my lesson planning process. I want material and projects for my 7 year old as well as my 11 year old. Sometimes it’s hard to find projects and books that fit that age gap.
This time around, I want to focus our lessons on the new books we got this year.
We also have some projects lined up that we did previously, so I won’t have new videos on the Pine Tree kit and Root Observation kit from Nature-Watch, but we will have on on the Herb Greenhouse kit. You can see all of the kits we’ve done from Nature-Watch here.
Since we’ve completed our Botany Main Lesson block last year, we won’t have duplicate videos of activities we did with that block, but you can see those lessons and activities from the previous year, and of course we’ll have new activities this year.
Since we have a couple pages left in our Math in the Garden garden journal, we’ll schedule two more projects. Plus we like that book. It’s packed with garden activities that incorporate math. It’s genius!
We’ve been doing nature units for several years and you can see the one we did when this channel was still brand new.
Last year we also did a mini unit on Honey + Bees.
I shared the game Wildcraft. I give a detailed review of the game. Now that it’s been two years since we’ve had it, I have more thoughts on the game. I realize I’m not a fan of cooperative games, but I find they are ideal for young children under 9 years.
I also shared Mikael’s and Becca’s channel. Check them out!