Butterfly Babies and Biology {Our First Month of School}

We are about a month and a half into our 2011-2012 school year, and loving every minute of it.

Seriously, I'm not sure why some years are easier than others, or why some years present more obstacles, or why some years I just find myself in a "funk", but this year we are moving full steam ahead and having a blast!



We started by moving our schoolroom back downstairs. We tried it upstairs, but not only was it impractical to be upstairs all day, but the teenager really wanted to move in.

I was inspired by Jamie's school area and even found a table similar to hers on Craigslist.

So back down into our living room we came.

I won't lie. It was much nicer when it was all stuffed upstairs out of sight and out of my way. But seeing how much more productive we can be in a work space that flows with our day to day life is helping me to tell the perfectionist within to get over it.




Biology is our focus in Science this year so we started by picking our favorite animals and classifying them. Maggie chose the horse and Aidan chose the cheetah.

It was so neat to see why they shared the same Kingdom, Phylum, and Class, but could not be in the same Order.

We also made an Edible Animal Cell that was not only fun to make but yummy as well.

I shared the step by step instructions here.



Thanks to Groupon we were able to get these caterpillar larvae from Insect Lore. We recieved 5 Painted Lady butterfly larvae complete with food.



Before long they were making their way to the top of the lid, forming their chrysalis.



Once we placed them in the Butterfly garden, all we had to do was wait.



It only took a few days.

We woke up one morning to find an adult Painted Lady butterfly in our garden.

Isn't she beautiful?

Yes, I'm assuming it is a she.

The kids were able to see one of the butterflies coming out of the chrysalis from start to finish.

Amazing.



This little guy had a wing that did not dry correctly.

Poor thing.

When we released them all, he could not fly on away on his own.

He did however manage to flop over to the grass giving it all he had.

We prayed for him but I assume he didn't make it very far. :-/

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So far, this school year could not be going better if I tried.

I am so thankful and do not take it for granted.

How about you?

Is your year off to a good start?

What fun things are you learning about this year?








"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"