5 Days of Bird Watching - Day 5

Hello Neighbors!

This is the last post of our 5 Days of Bird Watching.  I really enjoyed putting these together.  Now for today's topic, "How to Incorporate Bird Watching into Your Homeschool".

There are many ways to add Bird watching to your curriculum.  First off, I do want to say, encourage your children to participate.  All ages can help, whether it is spotting birds, recording what you have seen, taking pictures, or helping with the feeders.

Bird Watching can be a part of handwriting, spelling, and grammar.  "How?" you may ask.  First of all by keeping a journal you will be able to watch handwriting improve.  A journal needs to be neat so you can go back and reread it when you want to.  Also, you could use the parts of a bird, bird names, their habitats etc. to make spelling word lists.  Do remember to keep them age appropriate.  Read over the journal occasionally together to help with spelling and grammar.

You can also teach math, through counting the birds you have seen.  Or perhaps you could create a chart or graph of the types of birds you saw, where they were found, how often you see them and even if they migrate or not.  Younger children can practice counting how many birds they have seen and add them up day by day.

Obviously science comes in to play when you discuss the parts of a bird, their nesting habits, what they eat, where they live, etc.  And by studying which ones migrate and where they go, you can add some geography.   Try plotting where they may have come from, or where they could be going.

A really nice science project could be made out of your experience in bird watching.  Charting the types of birds in your area, their migratory patterns, eating habits, etc.  I am sure many homeschoolers could add more ideas to this list.  Feel free to leave a comment and share your ideas.  The main thing to remember is...keep it fun and enjoy yourselves!  Thanks for stopping in At the Fence!

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