Stuff We Like :: 12.9.16

Nature & Art

• With all the depressing news in the media lately, I’ve had to start looking for stuff I like to peruse online. For example, instead of following the news on Twitter, I mostly follow wildlife photographers. I especially love this and this and this.
• And even though I’m not on Instagram, I tend to find myself on the Audubon Society’s Instagram page anyway.
• Oh, and I follow lots of super talented artists too. (Check this one out. And this one!)
• And it’s always nice read about good news.
• I also learned about this cool new resource on migration for kids from 5-12 years old. It’s over 50 pages of activities, information, resources, live links & so much more. Can’t wait to dive into it. (Note: It costs $10.)

Home | School | Life

• Home: Enjoying a bounty of apples as we always do this season, and I’m making my favorite apple turnovers with them.
• School: My favorite little find has been all these short educational films available on Amazon Prime. Sometimes in the mornings I have my boys watch an episode of Symbols of America as I throw in another load of laundry. (I count this as social studies!)
• Life: My family was happy to find out that a local homeschooling mom has started a chapter of Classical Revolution in a nearby town. If you want your children to experience classical music in an informal setting, check their website to see if there’s a chapter near you.

Books

• My ten-year-old recently finished reading Jeff Corwin’s The Great Alaska Adventure, and now he’s digging into I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944. He is also hooked on Garfield comic books.
• My seven-year-old is begging me to read Garfield comics to him every night, but if I whine a little, he might let me read Make Way for Ducklings or Alligator at Saw Grass Road.
• I love starting our homeschool mornings with a read-aloud, and right now we’re into The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich. 
• I also read to my ten-year-old at night. We just finished reading my favorite book from when I was a kid, My Side of the Mountain, and now we’re into its sequel On the Far Side of the Mountain.
• For myself, I am digging into some nature/science books. I found Ravens in Winter at a recent library book sale, and I love it. 

Documentaries

Here are a few of my recent favorites. (If you want more, I try to pin everything we watch here.)

• Nova’s Great Human Odyssey (PBS)
• Wild Europe (Netflix)
• Nova’s Super Tunnel (PBS) – A must see for all those budding engineers out there!
• Nature’s Super Hummingbirds (PBS)
• Nature’s My Congo (PBS)

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