A Beautiful (Almost) Spring Day

Today is February 23, 2012. It's supposed to be winter, at least according to the calendar. But here in the Deep South, the weather has been looking more and more like spring! I cannot tell you how THRILLED I am about that fact! Spring is my favorite season. Thankfully, this winter hasn't been as cold and wet and yucky as most, but we have instead had lots of really pleasant days in which to get outside. Today is one of those days.

We worked on school for a little while this morning, but the outside was just calling us. So around 10:30, I sent everyone outside to get some sunshine. I did bring a little of our school work outside with us, but mostly, I just let nature be their teacher today. And what did they learn from nature? Well....

Britches has been working nearly every day outside with Little Man's magnifying glass. She has been trying so hard to get a fire going with just the magnifying glass and the sun. She's had quite a few good flames going, too, but they go out pretty quickly. So today, she grabbed the magnifying glass and decided on a new experiment. She decided she was going to boil water in an acorn top. Why? I have no idea. It just seemed to her like a great thing to do.

I really thought it was quite funny that she was even attempting this. She had been sitting there for awhile letting it "boil" and decided to check it. Yep, she said it was getting hot. She sat there a little while longer holding the magnifying glass over the water, and then she asked if I wanted to see how hot it was. Sure, why not. I stuck my finger in it, and - OUCH!! That was HOT! She didn't tell me it was THAT hot! Or maybe she did and I just figured she was exaggerating. But it was piping hot! She even got little bubbles to form at the bottom of the acorn top and you could hear it sizzling. She was so excited. Yep, that's the kind of thing that excites her. Then she got another brilliant idea.

She decided that, if she could boil water, maybe she could make a grape turn into a raisin. She took off into the kitchen to find a grape. Well, she didn't exactly turn it into a raisin. I told her that raisins are slow dried so as not to BURN! But she sat there finding great excitement in cooking/burning that grape! (And I just have to say, burnt grapes STINK!)

And what were the others doing during all this "excitement"? Well, they weren't doing any scientific experimenting. But they were doing some clever engineering. AND they were working TOGETHER without even fighting! YAY for that! They went and found some rope and a skateboard and, well... take a look. 

Yep, they made themselves a swing. Never mind the fact that we have THREE swings on our jungle gym! Of course THOSE are no fun! It's WAY more fun to build your own! So they found some rope and a latch thingy, and they engineered themselves a swing. Those two played for the longest time, taking turns and sharing and doing it together and, oh my goodness it was GREAT! They had a blast! 

Our (almost) spring day has turned out really great! And the day isn't even over yet. I've done some planting of seeds and just enjoyed the beautiful day of SUNSHINE! I'm so thankful today that it isn't cloudy or rainy or cold. I tell Brient regularly that I'd really prefer to never move up north, because I would go absolutely CRAZY with such long, cold, dreary winters. I'm not that crazy about snow. So for today, I am enjoying what God has given us. And we are enjoying it while it lasts, because, in the Deep South, it can change in a moments notice. 

Do you ever head outside with your homeschool? What do you enjoy most about it? How do you allow God to teach your kids through nature? If you don't ever find yourself enjoying the great outdoors, give it a try. Head outside and enjoy God's creation!