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Nature Notes What a pleasant Spring we have had this year! Around Easter time, we found a nest of baby rabbits in our front yard. We had such a wonderful time watching them grow, little by little. One day we looked out the window to see baby rabbits hopping all over the place. They had left the nest, and we had just a few moments to grab the camera and take a few more pictures before bidding them farewell. Every once in a while we'll see one of "our" babies hopping around the neighborhood, and we'll always remember the special days we spent with them.
Cottontail Rabbits
Mom and Dad say that the nest in the front yard has cottontail rabbits in it.
Dad found a patch of dead grass popping up and down. He got a stick and
uncovered the patch. Then, he saw cute, little, light gray babies -- lots of them.
We saw them and thought they were moles. But, then we noticed they had
strong hind feet, flat stubby tails, and long ears. We think they are about a week
old. I like having baby rabbits at our house. By Dulcie
 Read more about cottontail rabbits....
The American Flag
There are red and white stripes on the flag, and a field of blue with stars on it in the
corner. The red stripes represent courage, and the white stripes stand for liberty.
George Washington said, "We will take the stars and blue union from heaven, red from our
mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from
her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty."
There are thirteen stripes all together. The thirteen stripes stand for the thirteen original
colonies. The blue field is called the union, and stands for truth and loyalty. The fifty
stars stand for the fifty states.
The American flag is the symbol of our country, and should always be treated with respect.
We honor the flag on Flag Day, which is June 14. Narration by Dulcie, with quotation added
Egypt We've been using the Veritas Press "Old Testament and Ancient Egypt" curriculum for history this year. Making this simple salt-dough map was one of our favorite and most successful hands-on projects.
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The Visible Woman
Dulcie and Mom had a great time building this model
as part of a health curriculum this year. The model can be completely
disassembled and put back together again; this provides great practice in learning about the
bones of the body and the placement of the internal organs.
Dulcie "wowed 'em" at the local project fair this year when she spoke about The Human Body
and named all of the major bones of the skeleton. She especially likes the fact that the
Visible Woman can be "pregnant".
The Human Skeleton
There are more than 200 bones in the skeleton. The bones give the
muscles a safe place to stay. The skeleton protects some of the soft parts of the body, like the ribs
protect the heart and lungs, and the skull protects the brain. Also, the male skeleton is different
from the female skeleton. For example, the pelvis is specially designed for a baby to have a safe
journey through the birth canal.
There are different kinds of bones in the skeleton. Some are big and some are little, and some are
different shapes. Some are joints, and they make your body move -- like your knees, elbows, fingers, wrists,
shoulders, ankles, and feet. There are four kinds of joints -- hinge, swivel, ball and socket, and sliding bones.
The bones are not just hollow, they have cells like the rest of your body has. Inside them they have a layer
of periosteum which gets the calcium and nutrients that are needed to keep the bones strong -- so that's why
you need to drink lots of milk. Underneath that layer is the toughest part of the bone, the compact bone.
It's hollow and lined with the spongy bone. The center of the bone is filled with marrow. The bone marrow
at the end of long bones is responsible for making new blood cells.
Narration by Dulcie
At the beginning of the school year the girls received "passports"
and we've been "traveling" around the world ever since. We enjoyed our trip to Asia this Spring,
which included map studies, learning about indigenous flora and fauna, travelogues, crafts and
drawing, and cultural activities such as eating with chopsticks and learning about Chinese writing.
 Haiku
Dancing in the wind By Dulcie
Puzzle Corner Dulcie and Keni love making and solving puzzles. See how many bones of the body you can find in this word search puzzle....
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