Our Caterpillar Discovery!

Today Terje and I found a caterpillar on the parsley. (James and Ezra are in KY climbing)
So we got out the bug book and discovered it was a swallowtail!

We also discovered when you touch it a Y shaped soft horn shoots out of the head. It also secretes a foul smell!

Varified by

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/insects/butterflies/swallowtail/swallowtail.htm#black

Learn to Read

I was laying on the couch reading and I took a break; rolled over and asked Terje if he was ready to learn the ABC's like other kids his age (in Kindergarten). He said he knew his ABC's. Yes that is true but only to sing them. He can't id them all on paper, let alone write them down.
I said he needed to be able to do that so he can learn to read someday.
Ezra pipes in with Mom you said one day it will all just "POP" and I will be able to read. That's how it happened for you.

True again, however, I had people offering basic information to me along the way.
Ezra "Well why hasn't anyone given me that information?"
I have tried but you didn't want it.


Anyway the conversation continued and we went off to the library with the intention of getting hooked on phonics again(it was out). but perhaps the I will try to read bug is back in his pants. Terje let it all go. He might be the one to get it by watching.

Tuesday

Terje has been all about sorting items. Today is was bugs and spiders.
He is interested in finding the alphabet in the world around him.


Both boys received prize #1 for summer reading program.

Today storytime was all about Germany.

RocketShips

Popular Mechanics for kids is a fun educational show for kids. We watch it on DVD from the library. The most recent episode was on rocketships. So here is our rocketship creations. Ezra led the way in creating these. He gathered all the materials and got us started. Dad helped too.

We ended up spray painting them. The boys choose silver, beige, and black.

Frogs, well Toads

We have been reading a lot of factual frog books, as well as folk tales and fiction. It has been a fun experience to growing our toads.

We collected some tadpoles from a local pond. We set up their home in a 10gallon tank. It had rocks, sand, a live plant, and creek water. We watched them grow and develop. Then they started dying. We read more. Turns out they were toads. Well also tadpoles eat plants, Frogs and toads are canivoruos. So the fat in their tail stump sustains them from the time they get out of the water until the time they start eating meat:)

Once we learned that we let them go as soon as they would hop on the rocks. We are hopeful for their survival. They eat a lot of insects. MAybe they will eat some aphids from the garden. THe boys put several in the shady spots of the garden.

We need to build a toad house for the garden.