I awoke this morning and noted that we have been sleeping with windows open already. It hit 89 degrees yesterday....

The wisteria is in bloom, gracing us with it's sweet southern scent and purpley flower clusters.

My car smells like pine trees thanks to the Freecycler who gave me a few bags of pinestraw for our garden and I got all bleary eyed thinking about how happy I am to be here on this earth gazing upon my children's foot prints in the pollen dust on our black porch.

I try to spend a lot of time teaching my little ones how to be mindful of our environment and be good stewards of the earth. Currently, we participate in two cooperative learning groups and we've had lots of fun concentrating on Earth Day! We've read Diary of a Worm and made an earthworm habitat. We talked extensively about recycling and conservation. Picked up bags of litter in our community, and visited the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens.

Today, we visited a local park and  went on a nature walk. We collected little specimens to make a nature mobile. While on our hike a keen child whose 6th birthday is this Saturday (wink) spotted a beautiful treat: a pink lady's slipper. Lady's slippers are a member of the orchid family and are a protected species in these parts. Happily, they were thriving in the shady, pine needle and oakleaf covered underbrush of Dorey Park's forest.

We also collected a few tadpoles to observe. The children ran amok, splashing in the water and squealing over a schul of minnows and the thousands of wiggly tadpoles congregating near the shore. They also met up with a couple who shared all kinds of interesting fish and wildlife stories and generally delighted in their enthusiasm for nature.

One Mom whipped out a magnifying glass and another a observation aquarium. We had come prepared !
Check out my homeschool mini lessons on the side bar for more Earth Day inspiration !