Being a homeschool family has it’s advantages. For instance, we’re taking a break from our chronological study of history to delve into China’s history, We want to learn as much as possible about Lainey’s homeland. The other day, the kids enjoyed copying Chinese characters out of the book “Long is a Dragonâ€. This is a great book, giving a nice history of Chinese writing, clear directions on how to write the characters (directions of strokes, etc.), and gives picture comparisons to the characters (i.e. “man†looks like a man walking).
Okay, so maybe it’s not a true “ladybug sighting†just yet. They’re still little larva, eating their food and drinking from a sponge! But, soon (the booklet doesn’t say how long this takes!) they’ll attach to the top of the dome and become pupas. Then, after 5 days, we’ll have ladybugs! We plan on keeping them for a couple of days…feeding them a raisin or two…and then we’ll release them into our backyard.
Besides our ladybug larva, we also have 2 Eastern Tent Caterpillars currently in cocoons in our butterfly tent and they should become moths in about a week. In the past, we’ve also raised butterflies, tadpoles and grasshoppers (TONS of baby grasshoppers, oh my!) The kids are animals lovers and seeing these transformations only confirms for us the amazing work of our Creator!
April 25th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
That’s interesting what you’ve learned about Chinese writing…and the kids are doing a great job on their words! This is the best way for the kids to learn…”hands on” with writing the letters and watching for themselves (instead of reading in books) how insects, etc. work in mysterious ways. That’s one thing I learned (among many things)that children learn better by doing things themselves…seeing it and touching it, etc. when I was in Credentials classes. I’m really proud of them!! Love, Granma