How do you use the Burgess Bird Book?

[mohop]

I was wondering how people use the Burgess Bird Book with their young children?  I downloaded a free copy on my kindle and was thinking of reading a couple of chapters a week to my 5-year old.  We read the first chapter to her tonight, and she really likes it.  But I feel like I should be doing more than just reading it to her.  Maybe have a mini bird study for each chapter?  How do you all use this resource?

 

Also, part of me wants to hold off on doing anything substantial with it until my youngest is able to also appreciate it (a couple of years maybe).  In general, do you think it's a silly idea to wait to do something that an older child will like in the hopes of being able to include a younger child in the future? 

[Coco_Clark]

Can't much help, we just read it, one or two chapters a week. :). Personally I think that's more than enough. I often wonder if our constant desires to "do something more" are helpful or detrimental KWIM?

 

I suppose we did occasionally sketch one of the birds.

[Coco_Clark]

I think it's good to do it now, while she loves it, by the way. You can always read it again, and maybe she will have fond memories and a "this is gonna be great!" to her sister.

[maize]

I would not choose to put off something I want to do now because another child might like it in the future. Two years from now you may have other things on your plate and not get to it, or your older child might have lost interest.

[sagira]

I tried reading it to ds when he was in first, and.. it just seemed too long-winded and his eyes would glaze over. I don't want to read it out loud anymore, so I'm going to hand it over to him to read. He's 10 next week and should have no problem with it. I could have him identify the birds and read a bit about their size and hear their song, but other than that, I think we're peachy.

[Cricket]

We use it with this book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081187138X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=081187138X&linkCode=as2&tag=acommshep-20

 

I found it on clearance for $25 at B&N last year. My dd (7) loves it. It has beautiful, large, color prints along with recordings of the bird calls. Another option would be to look up videos on YouTube. I've noticed a big difference in how my dd7 remembers the birds we've read about than how my older dd did at that age. I think the visuals and audios help.

 

Sometimes I will print out a good line drawing and have dd color the picture (making sure she at least matches the correct colors). www.birds.cornell.edu has good printables.

 

Another thing I do is point out birds when we are out, commenting on the shape of the beak, crest, whatever. Now dd is constantly noticing differences in birds and pointing out birds she hasn't seen before.

[Mena]

We just read it. :) My kids can listen to stories over and over, so I've never worried about "saving" a book for when my younger kids are old enough. You will literally never run out of books or things to study, so I'd go ahead and read it to your Dd now, while she's interested. 

[My3girls]

We read a chapter at a time and look up pics of the birds online. Sometimes we will watch a video on YouTube to hear their "songs". We made bird feeders for the backyard so we can watch for birds through the window. We've had birds show up, but none of them have been the birds we've read about yet. The girls enjoy it, and have become more aware of birds when we're out and about.

[twoxcell]

I just read a chapter to the kids and sometimes we look up the birds in the chapter online to see pictures and hear their songs.

[marylandhsmom]

Angela at Satori Smiles has put together an amazing resource for the Burgess Bird Book:

 

http://satorismiles.com/2010/03/08/burgess-bird-book-companion/

[Donna in Idaho]

If you can get your hands on a good bird book, a visual reference is really effective for a 5yo. I often had my kids draw from a picture and/or repeat back to me facts we learned about the birds. The resource from Satori Smiles looks awesome!

 

Here is a book that we love:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Bird-Songs-North-American-Birds/dp/1932855416/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377711055&sr=8-1&keywords=bird+call+book

 

And I agree with the others: no need to wait for the youngers; they will either pick it up the next time around or have their own interests they will want to pursue. Go for it!

[paceofnature]

My son loves to color while I read, so I was so excited to find the Audubon's Bird Coloring Book for free (right now) on CurrClick.

[Arcadia]

Go birdwatching?

Another free book that your daughter might like is The First Book of Birds by Margaret Williamson.

http://archive.org/details/firstbookofbirds00willrich

My kids enjoyed doing owl pellet dissection hosted by the Federal Wildlife Reserve at that age..

[swany]

Thanks for the link to the free Aududon coloring pages and the website from Sotori smiles looks great, too,

[happypamama]

We liked the videos as well.  CurrClick also has a very inexpensive bird study that we used along with the Burgess Bird Book.  I think it's a bit much for a 5yo (for that age, I'd just read the books and watch some videos/listen to some bird calls), but it filled in the gaps for my slightly older children and gave them a bit more info about birds.

[MadsandLilysMom]

Our best additions to the Burgess Bird book were the bird song bible linked about and bird feeders. A bear helped himself to our feeders so they are down until winter, but my girls loved watching and identifying the birds using a field guide.

[mohop]

Thanks for all the great ideas and links!