I've been thinking ahead to next year (yes, already) and how I'm going to teach Daniel. He and Shane have always been my most challenging homeschoolers, but for different reasons. Yesterday, I decided to try out one of my ideas.
A few of my kids are suddenly interested in mushrooms and have books out from the library on the subject. One book happens to be just beautiful photographs of fungi from around the world. Daniel asked me to read it to him yesterday morning. As soon as I started flipping through the pages, I knew what I wanted to do. I started asking him questions. "Daniel, everything that is alive can be sorted. What do you think: Are mushrooms animals, plants, or something else?" He answered plants, because most children would. "Actually, they are something else because they can't make their own food from sunlight. They are fungi!" Then we talked about spores, gills, caps, and how they grow in lots of different places and have lots of different shapes, colors, and sizes.
 |
| Genevieve photographing fungi, Fiona providing scale |
And then I decided to throw in the extra effort and take the kids on a nature walk. One would think living where I do, nature walks would be a weekly event. But nature walks are not as simple as just walking outside. I have to find boots and jackets for everyone. I have to dig the baby carrier out of the van. I have to make sure Lula and Heidi don't see me doing this because they will want to come, because they can't. (If we were looking for plants or bugs, yes, but mushrooms can be deadly and I don't want them thinking that searching for mushrooms is okay). I have to find someone to put on Curious George. I have to find my camera and switch out the lenses.
 |
| Two mushrooms with very different shapes (there is is brown mushroom on the right) |
Taking just Evie, Fiona, and Daniel (and Jason), I walked the kids around our property to find and photograph mushrooms. The author of the book used various household items to show scale, so Fiona decided to bring a penny along.
I used my zoom lens because I knew that with Jason in the front pack, I wouldn't be able to get close enough to the ground for good pictures.
 |
| Part of a Fairy Ring | |
 |
| This was the smallest mushroom we found |
 |
| And this is the biggest mushroom we found |
The three kids are old enough to know to not touch mushrooms, and certainly not to pick and eat them. But I had Genevieve collect some specimens to bring back to our schoolroom for further examination. We used plastic baggies on our hands when we handled our samples.
I researched this mushroom and think it is a shaggy parasol mushroom and is edible! But since I am not an expert, I will not cook it up. Better be safe than sorry, right? The three adventurers drew the mushroom, labeled the parts, and wrote an age-appropriate account of our trip. Evie answered the Five W's. Fiona wrote What We Did. Daniel told me what he did and what his favorite part was and I wrote it down for him. Very Charlotte Mason-y! And in conclusion, I think I can squeeze a few more "studies" like this into our routine. As long as the Double Trouble team is occupied.
