mamashark Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 What books are on your must have list? I'm planning on Using Ellen McHenry's Botany unit and adding additional books/projects to fill out the study culminating in a summer project of planning/planting/caring for a garden. goals include: learn how to cook/eat a variety of vegetables (is there a good resource for this or am I better off searching for individual recipes each week?) plant/flower/tree identification, including a nature journal (considering the book illustrating nature, and Botany in a day: patterns of plant identification, is there a better identification book/a good resource for tree identification?) composting with a worm box (considering worms eat my garbage) Am I missing anything really good? What else have you done that your kids loved? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 If your kids are old enough I would include some microscope work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 DD is doing this, using McHenry plus additional reading and nature journaling. I highly recommend What A Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses by plant biologist Daniel Chamovitz. It's written in a very accessible, engaging style, and it explains a lot of the current research that has been (willingly or accidentally) mischaracterized/misinterpreted in popular media. I also have Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History, which is a fun supplement, and The Essential Atlas of Botany. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamashark Posted March 23, 2017 Author Share Posted March 23, 2017 I highly recommend What A Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses by plant biologist Daniel Chamovitz. What a great looking resource! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emba Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Microscope work might be fun. Even a cheap microscope can show some pretty interesting things. Also, I just found out today that my library has a microscope that can be checked out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwdiaz Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 The Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone unit study from Build Your Library has a mini "herbology" class as part of it. The main texts for that is a DK book and this other book that looks very interesting. Kid's Herb Book, A: For Children of All Ages https://www.amazon.com/dp/1885003366/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_OKz1ybZ9BDMQM Herbs are a great way to do indoor and small scale gardening if you happen to do part of your studies in the colder weather. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamashark Posted March 24, 2017 Author Share Posted March 24, 2017 The Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone unit study from Build Your Library has a mini "herbology" class as part of it. The main texts for that is a DK book and this other book that looks very interesting. Kid's Herb Book, A: For Children of All Ages https://www.amazon.com/dp/1885003366/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_OKz1ybZ9BDMQM Herbs are a great way to do indoor and small scale gardening if you happen to do part of your studies in the colder weather. That's a good idea! I'm planning on having everything put together for next year and I'm not sure exactly when we will start. This gives us an option to either start early or continue into cooler weather. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebbyribs Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 As far as the cooking, several vegetarian cookbooks have big sections arranged by the different types of vegetables with pretty much everything I've heard of represented. I'd recommend How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman or Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. My mom also has a book called Cooking from the Garden by Rosalind Creasy, which suggests combinations of plants to grow and recipes to use them (like an Italian kitchen garden or a salsa garden). Looking up individual recipes works too, but I always like making new things from recipes in a cookbook that has already proven good. It seems like they're a little more likely to turn out well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebbyribs Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 Ooh - also check out the California Native Plant Society nature journalling curriculum: http://www.cnps.org/cnps/education/curriculum/index.php I haven't used this yet, but I keep looking at it and thinking I want to try it. It integrates science, art, and writing, which I love in principle but find hard to get done in practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamashark Posted March 25, 2017 Author Share Posted March 25, 2017 Ooh - also check out the California Native Plant Society nature journalling curriculum: http://www.cnps.org/cnps/education/curriculum/index.php I haven't used this yet, but I keep looking at it and thinking I want to try it. It integrates science, art, and writing, which I love in principle but find hard to get done in practice. Wow thanks for that link! Some of the stuff in that looks great! It's all the stuff I'd like to do with a nature journal, but organized already for me. :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahrb Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 McHenry's stuff is great -- I wish I got to it more often. My son is 6 (almost 7) and he has loved The Quark Chronicles science books (they are stories with lots of good vocabulary and semi-explicit teaching interspersed with adventures) -- we did Botany and Zoology this year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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