THE LIFE CYCLES OF BUTTERFLIES

THE LIFE CYCLES OF BUTTERFLIES by Wayne Richards and Judy Burris

Butterflies  are out and about! My older girls, especially Annie, loved catching them, keeping them for a few hours and releasing them. Now Callie is starting to get into it! What a joy it is to go through the cycles of summer from watching the garden grow, to picking blueberries, to lightning bugs, to butterflies, and on and on! Charlotte Mason (a big name in the homeschool world) was a huge nature walk enthusiast who wanted parents to step out of the way of their children's learning. She encouraged parents to let the children discover nature and then be on hand to assist with what they were finding! (This doesn't mean that the parents not share their own interesting finds.) Even if you don't own acres of land, she wrote that you can map out a small space and weekly watch the changes that happen within that space. It is so true! One way to "be on hand" is by offering resources for your kids. Whether you own them or check them out of the library, nature guides and nature books are wonderful resources to refer to. Pictured below are my resources on butterflies. The Life Cycles of Butterflies book is neat because it shows you the life cycle of each butterfly featured. It will show you by true picture the egg, the different caterpillars as they grow and shed, the chrysalis/cocoon, and the butterfly. It is fantastic! The other two books are nature guides. I find the Golden Guide to be lighter (for carrying if you are hiking) and easier to use, however the Audubon Guide has more species. If you want to take your nature study a bit farther (Please do NOT feel ANY pressure to have to do this! It is only if you would enjoy doing this! Don't make nature be a dread to your kids!) Charlotte Mason would then have children draw into a "nature notebook" what they found. You can do this if you have a child who loves to draw, but you can also snap a photograph and glue it into a nature notebook with a few notes about what it is, the date, where you saw it. If you really get into it, add things like the Latin name and more detailed information. Nature is an amazing gift from God that we could all benefit from by spending more time in it! Now go discover!