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The Metamorphosis of Butterflies – Photos, Our Experiment & Study | Homeschooling

July 27, 2011 By Laura 2 Comments

Hatching butterflies is probably a pretty standard experiment and study for students, in both formal and home school educations alike. It’s one that can be used as a Science participation lesson more than once in the course of ones education, because the benefits of the lesson are different for various ages.

For very young students, such as toddlers-K, it’s a really fun & exciting process to watch every day. At this age, they are full of both intelligent, and sometimes humorous, questions. They are able to grasp the basic understanding of the stages. Some little ones may rather non-nonchalantly accept the transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly, simply as magic, in a way.

Older students comprehend the cycle and the information of the lesson at hand, on a bit of deeper level. Their more mature experiences of curiosity and intake of the study of nature and Creation, throughout their ages of years, has led them to a wiser perspective. They are more fascinated than ever, by the works of God, and the magnitude of His power. They may also more readily make observations, younger ones may not pick up on, such as happened in our family, that I’ll tell you about shortly, further into this post.

Our study was of the butterfly species, the Painted Lady. We purchased what we needed at a lovely nearby place called The Butterfly Garden Boutique, in Bourne, MA. The owner was very friendly, helpful and informative, and supplied us with live caterpillars in a container with their food, and a small net pavilion. (Larger pavilions are available as well.).

metamorphosis-butterflies-study-homeschoolig-1 We had 5 live caterpillars, and it wasn’t a day or 2 after getting them home, did a couple begin to make their way to the top of the container. Inside the lid of the container provided, is a fabric like piece of material, for the caterpillars to attach themselves to for their transformation process. We learned they do this, by dispensing a thread from a hole beneath their mouths.

By the following day, the rest followed.

Once each of the 5 were hanging, the transformation begins rapidly. They first shed their skin, revealing a the green casing that is their chrysalis.

Once we had 5 chrysalises attached to the material, we carefully took off the lid of the container, and pinned the material to the inside of our pavilion near the bottom, as instructed.

Here is a closer look. It was evident which chrysalises attached first, and which were more recently formed. It was absolutely fascinating to learn, that the inside of the chrysalises in this pupa stage, the caterpillar is turning into a complete liquid form, before forming into a butterfly. In this photo, you can see the the patterns of butterflies, through the somewhat transparent casing.

As a reference of sizes, this is our small tent-like pavilion, and you obviously can see the chrysalises pinned to the back bottom. The door is only unzipped and open for the sake of this photo. Throughout the entire study, the pavilion resided here on the shelving table-top, between our school room and kitchen. The kids were allowed to look anytime, but not touch the tent, as to not disturb the chrysalises. Of course, I carefully did open the door now and then, to take photos.

Some mornings later, there was all kinds of excitement in the house…..

Michael got up (very) early for his morning church job, and discovered a butterfly had emerged sometime during the night! He woke the little ones up to show them, and soon they were running through the house to spread the word. To {A} and Mama. Darn! We missed it.

Right above the butterfly, you can see the empty casing the butterfly emerged from.

Those who observe butterfly hatching for the first time, may be surprised to learn that the hatching process is somewhat of a messy business! The red staining you see, almost appears to be blood, but it is actually just the leftover liquid excreted from the formation of the butterfly, through the pupa stage. In other words, waste.

Just as mentioned before, it is even more noticeable now, which butterflies are likely to hatch next. Can you guess? It would be the darkest one.

Our first hatched butterfly of the 5.

As unfortunate luck would have it, we unbelievably missed the actual emerging of every butterfly from it’s casing! Seriously. The 2nd one came out while we were not aware, because we were busy doing a math lesson. 2 others emerged while we were sleeping, once again. And the 5th was while we were not home. So you know what this means! We need to do this again!

At the beginning of this post, I was talking about the benefits and differences of children doing a butterfly metamorphosis study. Our oldest, {A}, hatched butterflies twice, consecutively, when she was very little, and an only child. This time, being much older and wiser teenager, was a whole different experience for her, such as the following occurrence:

It was fairly late at night, and the little ones were in bed, when I was in the kitchen and peeked in at the butterflies, and spontaneously exclaimed, “Oh my!”. {A}, who was in the kitchen too, looked in and, without surprise or question, said “Oh yeah, they’ve been doing that like, every night.” Then gave me some wide eyes and a giggle. Butterflies waste no time, to get mating, once they are emerged! They only live 2-3 weeks, so they have little time to get pro-creatin’! ; ) Over the course of our study, there was many observations she had had, as the oldest, and more in-depth facts she was aware of. So it’s a continual learning process as the kids grow, and still the fascination of the whole cycle, never wears off. Not even for me!

We decided that the evening of {A}’s 14th birthday, was the perfect time to release our butterflies. We had had a wonderful family day together, and the time had come, and seemed right.

Our gardens seemed to be the perfect place to let them go, as well. We hoped perhaps they would stick around the garden beds for at least a few days, and do some pollination work for us! But first, the kids took a few more minutes to just watch their Painted Ladies, and say goodbye.

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Then they opened the door, to set them free.
One flew out right away!

The others needed some encouragement.

Finally, out flew another. {A} was reaching in to lift one that was determined not to move…

….while out flew 2 more.

This one seemed quite as hesitant to leave us, just as we have been to let them go.

metamorphosis-butterflies-study-homeschoolig-20 Soon, it fluttered off the kid’s hands, to a nearby garden flower.

We really enjoyed this study, and plan to return to The Butterfly Boutique again very soon, to spend some time in their Butterfly House, which is a screen house guests can enter, full of plants, flowers, a water fountain, and you guessed it…..lots of live butterflies! There’s also a Gift Shop, with beautiful butterfly-related jewelry, home decor, and more. And the Hungry Caterpillar Snack Bar! The boutique as a whole is a small but charming and fun place, for kids and adults alike. If you live nearby, or find yourself visiting Cape Cod, The Butterfly Boutique is very near both the Sagamore and Bourne Bridges. Visit their web site to get more information, and their exact location, which is so easy to get to.

As you probably know, butterfly kids can be ordered online as well, such as from here. There is also numerous resources to assist you and your children with educational information and activities. I have gathered just a couple of links for you today. For your younger ones, this web site has simple and minimal basic information about the life-cyle of the butterfly. Here is a print-out as well, to just review, or use as a guide with what to expect, as you are hatching your own butterflies. For your older children (middle school +), this link offers more in-depth information about the life of butterflies.

It’s important to remember, that children who have fun learning, will enjoy it and seek to learn more. Case in point, our children have continued to use the butterfly pavilion, with self-launched studies all on their own. Following the release of our butterflies, the kids found a HUGE furry, nasty-looking cocoon in our woods, and were excited to see what would emerge! (I was rather scared. I thought maybe a bear….or one of those seemingly evil hummingbird-moth-things.) I will share photos of what came of THAT pupa, on our Facebook Page, very soon! So be sure you are following us! At this very moment as I type, that pavilion now holds 11 moths, and 1 large grasshopper, as the kids study them.

The learning never ends, at Our House Of Joyful Noise. Thanks for visiting with us for this post, and please feel welcome to share your own experiences, studies and observations, with butterflies, or any other insects!

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Now (Book) Reporting |Elementary Homeschooling

July 7, 2011 By Laura 7 Comments

It’s always nice to have friends, who care about your kids in a sincere way, almost as much as you do. Don’t you think? I have had a friend in particular like that, for 13 years now or so. About half-way into our friendship, I began homeschooling our oldest, and at the time, only child. Eventually, we added 3 more students to our school, 😉 and are now transitioning into our 7th year of homeschooling . As of this post, the triplets are 9 years old and ~ 4th grade level.

My friend had 3 kids of her own, all close to my daughter’s age, adding a 4th along the way. She has also happened to be a teacher. But somehow, all along, those two facts or common interests, have never really come together between us. Until this year. Oh, I may have, at times, happened to say something to her about our schooling, as a friend would in sharing what is happening in their life in girlfriend chit-chat. She in turn, has talked about her teaching, as a friend would in catching up as well.

Mind you, we are good friends, and see each other frequently enough. Our families get together here and there. So it’s always apparent we care about each other & each others’ kids. But I was especially impressed when on one day she came over this past winter, she brought something for my kids.

A big bag full of books, for them to borrow! She knew how much they loved to read, and perhaps I had mentioned to her how difficult it always is, to keep up with keeping new material around for them to read as well. They devour them, tending to read every book 2-3 times, because they’ve read them all. And we can only hit the library so much, you know? With 4 kids who aren’t easy to remove from the library once we’re in, I think twice some days! Oh the guilt. So, I was thrilled with this surprise delivery! So were the kids, gathering around.

But wait….she had more….

She then told them that she brought each of them their own journal, and she wanted them to write book reviews in it. She kept the suggested format simple, and their excitement grew. Because she’s not only a very qualified & passionate teacher who loves kids, but a mother too, she knew just the manner in which to communicate with them. Her presentation was exciting, and so they were inspired. I was smiling inside, a great big grin!

The very simple and casual format she suggested they use to write, following each book they read, was as follows:

Book Title
Author
Whether they liked the book or not, and why.
What their favorite part was, or what part they really did not like, and why.

She told them she really loved so many of these books herself, and she couldn’t wait to read all about what they thought of them.

And they were off! They couldn’t wait to get to work.

Now honestly, my kids need no encouragement to read, as you may have gathered by now. Writing, they actually don’t mind doing too much either. But I like them to write as much as possible. Not for the sake of penmanship, but for the sake of formulating thoughts, organizing them, and putting them down on paper in a meaningful way. As a homeschooling educator, I strongly feel that developing strong writing skills is critical. So needless to say….but I’ll say it anyway….This ‘surprise activity’ was one I thought was FABULOUS!

On the other hand, some of the kids’ penmanship can always use more practice too! In the course of our school days, they have days where they print super-neat, and days when they don’t. That depends on one thing: effort! Sometimes, they are excited to express what they want to say, or are just in a hurry for whatever reason, so they just whip it out at lightening speed! So it comes out messy. Some of them need to practice s l o w i n g d o w n, and being a little more mindful of each letter (or number) they are forming. Other times, they are not focused enough on the use of space between the lines: being sure capitals go to the top, and lower case are around half the size of the upper case. They need to practice adjusting their letter sizes, to the kind of paper they are writing on.

But for their book reviewing, in these journals, the qualities of their penmanship, was not a factor that mattered to me to press at all. I mostly wanted them to focus on their thoughts about the story they read, and what they had to say about it. Keeping it a fun and leisure activity, was the approach our friend gave them, and I wanted to maintain that. I had them for all of their schooling, to address the rest. And I sure do. 😉 Also, correct use of punctuation, spelling, indenting, paragraphs, proper grammar. < I’m a freak about these things, Yo. > 😉

I was amused to find a book in the pile,that brought back some fond memories for me …..

Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson.

My memories involving this book, make me smile. When I was a kid, I started a new school, in 6th grade. I had only gone to one other school, in my whole entire life. 😆 It was scary to start at a whole new school, with all new kids. But I got a teacher that I not only loved, but my whole class loved. Mrs. Curry made everything o.k. She was petite, and pretty, with dark eyes and long black hair, and she had such a soft-spoken voice, with an accent….that was really fun(ny) to listen to.

And we got to listen to her a lot! Because every afternoon, for a little while, she took off her shoes, climbed up on an empty student desktop and sat on it, facing us, with her bare feet on the chair, and she read to us. I loved watching her read, and listening to her voice. Soon, however, we learned Mrs. Curry was going to have a baby. We watched her belly grow, her walk turn into a cute waddle over the weeks, and how she started sliding up on to the desk with her big belly and arched back, rather than the way she so used to so casually just hop up there before. She read us many books throughout that year. But the only one I really remembered, was Bridge to Terabithia. I think the story line drew me in enough at one point, to make me forget about focusing so much on how nice Mrs. Curry was, that I was actually, truly listening. Studying the book cover that faces us, as we listened, was another part of story time, for me. I was an illustrator in the making, so the cover was almost everything. If the cover was lousy, I’d probably never find out if the rest was good, because I wouldn’t bother reading it. I don’t remember now, exactly what this book cover (of Bridge to Terabithia, that year in school) looked like, but I recall quite enough to know that it was different than this illustrated cover above, from the kid’s bag. The one from 6th grade had a brilliant yellow/orange/red color fade, and I believe a silhouette of kids on a bridge.

Or something similar.

Turns out, my own daughter (the girl triplet) loved this book best too….

So strange to to think of it, too long. As I do.

A full circle of sorts, from my own grade school life, to my own childrens’, and this book.

My daughter’s book review reminded me of more of the story, than I originally remembered. I think it effected her in a deep and sad way, as it probably did for me. Maybe that’s why it is the book I remembered most? Possibly. Disturbing things do tend to stick with me. But tragedies are a part of life, and it’s likely best to start grasping that reality through books first, in our young lives, before we are faced with such difficult circumstances in real life.

Come to think of it, I think that was the last book Mrs. Curry read to us. And perhaps it did prepare me for an imminent tragedy in my own life. Well…through the perspective of a 6th grader, anyway. But not enough for me.

Mrs. Curry announced she was leaving. To be at home with her baby on the way that summer.

I was devastated. Sr. Cathy, who replaced her, was just o.k., on a really good day. She was a far cry, from Mrs. Curry.

Our oldest (14) got her own bag of books, being of an age that was suitable for more mature content. She is a true, true book lover. A collector already, I would say. In fact, maybe I should be sure she returns these books she took on loan from our friend, come to think of it. ; )

Along with her books, came this from our friend too……

This is a scan of just the front page. In reality, it is 9 pages, stapled together, full of writing prompts.

Wow. No excuse for ‘Writer’s Block’ this time, huh?

(Gosh….maybe I should grab it, for my blogging! ; ) )

As I said, with schooling, all 4 kids write a lot, anyway. It’s required in my school here. Their reports for me are actually much longer than these brief book reviews they do.

But the point of these was to encourage both reading & writing, and keep it in the light of a leisure and enjoyable activity, that is always available to us throughout our lives.

To update you as to how they did with all of this :

When the kids quickly made their way through the first bag of books, my friend picked it up, and brought another to replace the first. : ) As a multi-grade-level teacher over the years, she has en enormous collection of books, off the shelves of her various classrooms. The younger kids read probably 95%, if not every book, she has brought, and they have written reviews for….far fewer than that. They started off gung-ho with the writing part! But it lost some fizzle along the way, as they jumped straight from one book to the next, to the 8th, to the 14th, in a matter of a week or 2, before I thought to casually ask if they were continuing journaling for each. “No, not for all of them. But some!!” And that’s ok, because again, there is plenty of writing not only in school, but willingly on their own for other things as well, such as personal journaling, poems, notes, copying (they do this for fun? lol…), recipes, and more. They have all read 100’s of books, besides this bag, as well, since February. They just blow through them.

So the book-reviewing in their journals is stop & go, giving random reviews in their journals along the way. But the book reading is non-stop, in their day-to-day life. They play hard outdoors, and everywhere we go. But they have always used reading as their way of resting. I love that!

Oh the places they have been, and the places they will go, through the pages of a book.

I’m really so happy to have such a good friend, who deeply understands the joy of teaching and encouraging children in their learning process, and watching the rewards of their development in them, along the way. It’s one more mutual appreciation, we can share now.

So I’ve shared all of this with you, for your consideration in getting your own little scholars a journal for some book reviewing, suggest the simple format above, or your own ideas, and see what they do with it. You may just find you have new & entertaining reading for your own enjoyment!: their reviews!

Happy Schooling!

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A Baby Raccoon Study | Homeschooling

May 23, 2011 By Laura 8 Comments

Some of our most exciting homeschooling lessons, often times turn out to be ones that were not part of my day’s lesson plan at all! Like the countless opportunities of teachable moments that pop up throughout every single day for us as parents/teachers, to utilize in educating and guiding our children down the right paths, we’ve had many days, where a lesson to study has sauntered right into our yard! And it can be a darn cute lesson!!

baby-raccoon-study-homeschooling Such was the case the other day, when we spotted this baby raccoon, right up on the hill, outside of our school room windows! (For the sake of reference in this post, we’ll assume the baby was a girl.) She was enjoying the banana peels & strawberry tops we had thrown out there.

She was poking around and frolicking about up there on our hill, all afternoon, and gave us plenty of time to study here, research facts about baby & adult raccoon, and of course as always, abandon all self-control, and take more photos than necessary. : )

The kids get so very excited, when we spot wildlife, whether it be here on the homestead, or out in a (small) worldly travels. We all learn so much, gathering both fun, useful, and definitely good to know kind of facts! So as we share with you all of the photos of this adorable masked critter, we’ll also share with you a lot of what we have learned, as our unexpected study unfolded.

Maybe you’ll learn a new thing or two about raccoons, that you didn’t know before! (We sure did. That would be more than 2 things though.) We’ll see.

Well, every life starts with mating season. Right?

That would be winter, for raccoons. January through the end of March. Although we had some raccoons up in our tree one night around 9 pm, making ALL kinds of racket. We could have sworn they were ‘busy’, if you know what I mean. (HOLY LOUD!) In fact, until we got further into researching, we joked that this baby was probably from once upon a night! 😉

Baby raccoons are called ‘kits’.
They are born after 63 days of gestation, in the spring, and are born in litters of 4-5. They generally stay with their mother until the Fall, unless their has been some interference of the nest, or tragedies brought on by man or nature.

By studying the appearance and motor skills of raccoons at various young ages, we determined this kit to be somewhere between 8-10 weeks. The mother was no where in sight throughout the day. While I easily approached the baby to photograph her, I was keenly aware and cautious, of a mother raccoon coming out of nowhere to protect her young. But I was brave (any risk is often small for a good photo!), and that never happened.

Raccoons grow to be about 12-35 pounds, and 12-28 inches long.
They are omnivores, which means they will eat most anything. Both meat and vegetation.

It is not true, that raccoons like to wash their food before they eat it.

As we can surmise, by looking at these photos.

I know it is difficult to tell the scale of our little visiting kit here, but she was small enough that she could have sat in Michael’s big hand.

Another sign of how young she was, was her frequent fatigue. She needed to rest a lot between activity.

She had just scrounged around our hill, and then sat upon our retaining wall here. I could see her growing sleepy, as I sat nearby taking photos of her. Her instinct was to keep an eye on me. But her instinct was not stronger than her will to stay awake. In a matter of seconds, she put her head down like this, and then…..

baby-raccoon-study-homeschooling-11 ….tucked her head, and curled right into a ball, for a snooze!
The desire to nap, was much stronger than her fear of me, or will to protect herself!

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How cute is she? A little fuzzy ball.

After her kit-nap, she had a little more activity, and then curled up into a ball once again, in a patch of sandy dirt up on the hill. By then, we were observing her through our school windows, when it began to rain on her!! We felt so bad for her, but she kept sleeping on. So Michael grabbed a box from our basement, cut out a door, tip-toed out there, and put it over her.

We carried on with our day, but soon noticed 2 things: She had pulled down the flap of the box, to sleep on instead (smart little kit!), and then she was coming out for a little more exploring.

As much as we were tempted, and the kids were pleading their cases, it is not wise to keep raccoons as pets, for a variety of reasons. They can be very dangerous, and keeping them in captivity would ultimately end up with a sad ending.

Adult raccoons have few natural enemies. I think we as humans, dislike them more than other creatures, for their mere clever interference with our camping activities, and trash disposal efforts. They are indeed curious, and clever. Their front paws and back legs all have 5 toes each, and they are as skilled as human fingers. Raccoon have been witnessed to unlacing shoes, opening purses, and undoing zippers! They are both great climbers, and swimmers. They are members of the ‘carnivora’, such as dogs & cats, but are also related to the panda bear.

One of the most distinguishing features of the raccoon, is it’s black mask.
The purpose of their mask, is to reduce glare, and enhance their night vision. As many of us have grown to understand through our own observations and experiences with raccoons, they mostly sleep during the day, and are most active, searching for the food, from dusk through the night.

baby-raccoon-study-homeschooling-15 Our kit, who we had fallen a bit attached to, despite our best resistance (ok….the kids did not try real hard…), did not end up staying with us for life, as we had entertained notions of in our minds. She seemed to like her box, but it didn’t turn out to be ‘all that’ after all. She was in there for a good part of the evening and early dark, but later that night, she went missing. (As she had the freedom to do!). My own mother instincts kicked in. I had fleeting thoughts of going to search for her with a flashlight, and bring her home to safety. “She is still so small and helpless, ” I worried, “and prey for larger animals right now.” But I knew…such is nature. And anyway…I was tired and wanted to go to sleep!

Michael was the first one up the next morning, at 6:30 a.m. Kit was back by then, and he had the pleasure of watching her climb the tree stump, and roll around in the morning-dew grass out there, as cute as she is, while he ate his breakfast. But awhile later when the rest of us woke, she was gone again.

Our best guesstimate, as to why she was around with no mother in the first place, is that her mother was in fact close-by, sleeping in a tree, and kit wandered off to play. And nap, as needed. We have faith that she was not abandoned, as she appeared well cared for and fed. She was just practicing her independence, but will not truly be ready to be on her own, until fall.

We amuse ourselves with how hopeful we are though. The box is still out there. None of us have grabbed it and broken it down. I suppose we all carry the hope, that she may sleep away at nap time once again, and come to play and amuse us. If only for a lovely afternoon, once again.

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THE END.

You had to know THAT was coming. ; )

So did you learn anything new about raccoons yourself? Do you have anything to teach us about them, that we may have missed? What opinion have you formed of raccoons, based on your own experiences? Are they a nuisance? Amusing? Clever? Cute? Please share your thoughts, experiences or facts, with us in the comments.

*(Love this post? How about subscribing to our blog in the sidebar, ‘Liking’ our Page on Facebook, or following me (Laura) on Twitter? Or all 3? 😀 )

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JFK Library & Museum | Field Trip | Homeschooling

March 16, 2011 By Laura 10 Comments

01_
I’m a planner. I plan everything. Call me not-very-fun, but there is not much I do spontaneously. Especially when it involves, like…..a whole day. Or traveling a small distance. Or worse……changing plans I already planned!

So when a friend of mine sent me a message one bright and early morning not long ago, asking if we’d all be up for a trip into Boston, to visit the John F. Kennedy Library & Museum that day….well, I started having heart palpitations, and immediately started brainstorming excuses to say no. For examples: I had a full day of lessons planned! The kids had a test. My camera battery wasn’t charged! (My gosh! I can’t take a field trip without taking photos! How would I blog it?!) And honestly… I had work to do after schooling the kids! And…and….I hadn’t planned, on going to the JFK Library & Museum! I can’t just TAKE OFF like that!

All of those things were the truth. But it was also true, that going to the JFK Library & Museum, had been on our field trip agenda, for at least a year, and we just hadn’t gotten to that one yet. And my oldest daughter {A}, had been nagging me about it all-365-days, (or it’s seemed like it anyway), because she’d been dying to go. Beggin’. She has a deep and peculiar passion, for American History, for a 13 year old girl. She loves to learn about past U.S. Presidents, and especially has a keen interest in the Kennedy family. My camera battery could charge in an hour. Also, my friend’s kids had a 1/2 day of (charter) school, and therefore would be out early, so that’s why it was a perfect weekday for them to go, with us. But the truth of all truths was…..it could turn out to be one fun and exciting day, if I could just wrap my brain around <gasp> changing plans, last minute.

jfk-john-f-kennedy-library-and-museum-boston-ma Well, it was, and I DID IT!!!

It actually turned out to be a very, very interesting trip. Downright fascinating, at times. It blows me away, because I could have cared less about American History when “I” was in formal school growing up, on top of several other subjects. Or, all of them. (Except art of course!). But I just love, love, love schooling now. As I always say, “I’m being re-schooled”, while I school my kids. And I thank God they are loving it, the first time around! Because 13+ years is a dang-long-time, when you don’t like school! (Ask me!)

So…..let me show you some of the things that we got to see on our field trip, and intriguing things we got to learn more about, at the JFK Library & Museum.

THIS….Is John F. Kennedy’s high school report card/transcript! But here is what is sooooo interesting. If you look closely, you will see…..

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…..He got a D in his Sophmore year!! IN HISTORY! Did you know this? Because it’s quite a shocking revelation, to me! Now, {A} is a little upset with me, that I’m telling you about this. She says, “But Mama! He really loved History though! He did!”. And she’s concerned I am embarrassing him. To which I replied, “Well, Honey, you know…come on. He’s dead.” And also, “It’s in a public museum! I think more people blow through that place, than my little ole’ blog, in a day. Don’t you?”. Because I just feel the need to tell you all! I find this little tid-bit of info shocking, but also encouraging, to children everywhere!! As I see it, if a kid can get a D in History, and go on to be the President of the United States, there is hope for anyone!

(She’s in the kitchen right now mumbling, “Poor Jack.”)

Check out the appliances of those times. My three 8 year olds just stood and stared through the window here, dumb-founded.

This display really got me. As an educated graphic and package-designer, all I can say is….it is really no wonder, why the decade following the 60’s, involved tie-dyed shirts, and psychedelic-color-inducing drugs. I mean, I do understand there was printing limitations, and limited inks to work with then. But goodness…..what horrid looking packaging. It all looks the same! Honestly, I had to walk away, as depression was setting in.
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We had a great tour guide. She popped in and out, as we made out way through the place, giving us more info here and there.
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There are mini theaters there in the museum, and we watched two very interesting films. I can say that in my own experience of watching these films, I was able to really feel more connected to exactly who JFK was. To see him in motion, and hear him speak, in his own words, was…fascinating, and mesmerizing. He had a great voice! I’m going to link you to some of the film at the end of this post, so you can experience it yourself. In case, you know, you’re as young as I am. ; )
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A mock set-up of (one of?) his campaign offices. I desperately wanted to take the desk, and the chair. And maybe the door knobs.

Possibly the hanging light fixture, also.

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The pavilion, was a cool place to be. All glass and steel-work, overlooking part of the Boston Harbor. To think, that JFK and his siblings’ great-great grand-parents, had at one time sailed right by here on their arrival to the United States from Ireland, in 1849, because of the “black potato famine”.
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Our crew of kids.

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Here, a replica of the desk in the Oval Office. It was interesting to note, that the little door under the front of the desk, that JFK Jr. was later photographed playing behind, was put in to hide Franklin D. Roosevelt’s leg braces. They felt that, when photographing him at his desk, it may appear that the President of the U.S., was weak. (Nice.)

Also interesting to note: My flash went off when taking this photo of the desk, and I got in trouble. Once a rebel, always a rebel! ; )

Call me ‘Silly’. But this is my favorite shot of the day. RFK’s glasses.

I actually took the shot, through glass.

Bet you’re impressed now.

Or…not.

They are on his desk, shown more below. Robert was appointed Attorney General, when his brother was President.

It was cool to read all of the documents and notes lying about the desktop. And laugh at the phone.
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RFK’s Dept. of Justice badge, and the football that the Dallas Cowboys gave to Robert, because the Kennedy’s loved the game so much, and were known to play.

I have to be honest here…..some of these details I am not actually remembering all on my own. {A} is over my left shoulder, dictating some stuff to me. Lol. Just keeping it truth, People!

A bit of Jacqueline Kennedy’s wardrobe. On the right is her Inaugural Ball gown.
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jfk-john-f-kennedy-library-and-museum-boston-ma-17 THIS, I do remember on my own. I did not know, that Jacqueline (Bouvier) Kennedy was a photographer! In a round-a-bout way, it was through her photo-journalism work, that she met her future husband, JFK. I was saying to myself, out loud, “Well I’ll be a blue-nosed gopher.” And someone said, “……What?!”
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The baby with us loved this purse. He kept saying “Ooooo!!” (Short O sound.) It was rather eye catching!
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These are ‘doodles’ of JFK’s from a meeting during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the top-right, you can see where he wrote and circled several times, “Missile. Missile. Missile.”
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News publications from over the years.

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The polls.

There was another little room we went through, that was dark, and just had a few tv screens going. Airing, was the news broadcast footage, of when JFK had been shot. I can only imagine, having been born and grown enough then, to understand what was happening at that time. Because the heavy feeling we all had in that room. All silent, staring at the monitors, some with a tear rolling down our cheek. I guess it’s the closest we’ll ever feel, to having been there.
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Oh how I would have LOVED to have taken this portrait!! {A} walked up to this, and named every person in it, from left to right. As easy as counting, for her. This portrait was taken, when Joe Sr. was Ambassador to England, and they were in London. What a great photo.

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Oh…what to say here. Funny, but this vision of {A} doesn’t seem that far-fetched. You’ve got to know her, if you don’t. She’s only 13 now, but she’s really into politics, government, and planning her future! Let’s just say, she’s got a few things she wants to say, and a few things she wants done.

She’s got a dream.

We all had such a good time, and learned so much, here at the JFK Library & Museum.

We highly recommend this attraction, if you are ever in the Boston area.

There was a great little still film clip on JFK we really enjoyed.

I was really glad my friend called, and I’m so spontaneous.

So…..Did you enjoy this post? Did you learn anything new?

Please share your thoughts with us.

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Fun Word and Picture Puzzles: Building Important Skills | Elementary Homeschooling

January 10, 2011 By Laura 2 Comments

I know I’ve blogged about puzzles before. But, that was puzzles of a different kind. I believe all of the studies, that all puzzles, are just good for our brain – young or old. (People, or puzzles, for that matter.) They can help keep our brain active, quick, and sharp, and God knows I could use all of that. (Ask Him!)

So when a puzzle sort of exercise came up in my triplet 8 year olds’ Language book, we ran with it. Puzzles come in many different forms. Any exercise, of trying to figure something out, can be considered a puzzle, in my book. It’s the search in your head, for a solution – whether it be for a problem in life, a jigsaw, or 17 Across. Regardless, I love puzzles. (OK, I actually do not love the jigsaw kind. They are o.k. on occasion. )

As I was saying…..when a puzzle sort of exercise came up in…..uhhhh, my 3rd grade Language Arts class ( <—solution! ; )… I was thrilled. Because, puzzles are beneficial for the above stated reasons. But these particular kind we came up to in our daily lessons, I saw how they had other benefits to offer, after accessing them. Here’s in what other areas: Comprehension, and following directions, through reading words that direct one’s actions, is pretty important skills for our kids (yours and mine, collectively speaking), to develop. Right? Kids especially, need to have opportunities to develop these skills, to continue succeeding in their advancing education, eventually in the workforce of their choosing (if they want to keep their job), and naturally for everyday occurrences in the process of living. That’s what these exercises, I called puzzles, would help develop. But…..it just-so-happens, they are FUN too! And as I have always said, having fun is always the best way to learn!

So, without too much more chatter, I thought I would share with you first, the two puzzles my three 3rd graders did, show you their results following them, and then welcome you to print them off for your kids to do, if they are in the appropriate age range, and would like to do them, too. (But I have to tell you, I’d enjoy doing them myself. So if you are inclined to print them off for yourself, I won’t tell a soul. ; )

Puzzle ONE

1. Draw a circle.
2. Draw an upside down ice cream cone above and on top of the circle. ·
3. Draw a half circle on each side of the big circle.
4. Draw a U in the big circle.
5. Make two dots over the U.
6. Make one dot lower than the two dots, but above the U.
7. Make a circle on the point of the upside down ice cream cone.
8. Make a W under the big circle.
9. Color your picture!

WHAT AM I?

If directions were followed carefully, the drawing should look something like this:

That is just one of my student’s puzzle solution /drawings, after following the directions. Of course all 3 of them had similar results, with only slight variations. But all were correct in terms of following the directions correctly.

* If you would like to print off the directions to this puzzle, just click on the link above named ‘Puzzle ONE’, or click here. It is a downloadable and printable Word document, if I did it right.

Here’s another:

Puzzle TWO

1. Draw a big circle.
2. On the left top of the circle, draw an upside down V.
3. On the right top of the circle, draw an upside down V.
4. Draw a big W inside the circle, near the bottom.
5. Above the center point of the W, draw an O.
6. Near the left side of the W, draw a V lying on its side with the point of the V toward the W.
7. Near the right side of the W, draw a V lying on it’s side with the point of the V toward the W.
8. Near the middle of the circle, draw two small circles beside each other.
9. Color your picture!

WHAT AM I?

Here’s the results of this puzzle, by one of my student kids:

fun-word-and-drawing-puzzles-for-elementary-age-kids-hoeschooling

*Again, if you would like to print off the directions to this puzzle, just click on the link above named ‘Puzzle TWO’, or click here. It is a down-loadable and printable Word document, if I did it right.

The kids had such a good time doing these, that I thought I would keep working with these puzzles a little more, but put their own writing skills to use. In fact, I was reversing their role, from puzzle solver, to puzzle creator. I gave them the assignment, of each writing their own puzzle directions. Then later, they would have the opportunity, to solve each other’s puzzles the other 2 had written. They loved the idea, and had a great time doing it!!

SO……I have their puzzles, that they wrote themselves, to offer you too! I am displaying them in this post, (as their handwritten papers, which I scanned) but their titles are down-loadable links for you too! Now this time the downloadable links are PDF documents, and they are just what you see below – handwritten by the kids. Why? Because I totally did not feel like typing them all over. I think they are readable enough for you to figure out, and they have some endearing homemade character. Especially, my spilled coffee stain, on {S}’s paper. ; ) Just keepin’ it real!

J’s puzzle

O’s puzzle

fun-word-and-drawing-puzzles-for-elementary-age-kids-hoeschooling-4 –

S’s puzzle

fun-word-and-drawing-puzzles-for-elementary-age-kids-hoeschooling-5

You and/or your kids, may have more fun than you think you will, doing these puzzles. If you do, I will take total credit for that. You may also have less fun, than you think. That will not be my fault. I am easily amused, and often presume everyone is as easily amused as I am. : )

If you do download the kid’s puzzles, or follow them from the computer, YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BE FUN? (Or, you know, I think it would be…). Letting us know the solution you came up with, for each kid’s puzzle!! What does your drawing look like? Let us know in the comments section below, afterward. Don’t worry. We’ll tell you if you are wrong! ; )

Hope you enjoyed this post! And hope you enjoy the puzzles too!!

Don’t sprain your brain, now! ; )

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