At the moment I'm collecting resources for a very last-minute fall and winter tree study. I'll post those plans when they're complete, but in the meantime I wanted to share what I've discovered thus far.

A tree and forest study for younger kids can be found at Small Things; Pinterest also has some fun ideas. Exploring Nature with Your Child by Dorothy Edwards Shuttleworth has a lovely chapter entitled "Trees and How to Know Them" and the second and/or third book below would be perfect.

Projects: Gelatin Leaf Prints, Pressed Leaves, Leaf Relief, Wax Dipped Leaves

Tree Information
Tree Identification
Just for Fun
Other helpful resources:



 
This was all hastily pulled together, a mere two weeks ago, because I was far too busy enjoying our summer break. There are a few small details that I'm still working on, but I'm mostly pleased with M's schedule this year. For the first time, she'll be my only student at home and she's quite excited about that!

Morning Work
Religion
Language Arts
Memory work was selected from a list of "Poetry Suggested for Learning by Heart" in an 1897 pamphlet, "Stray Thoughts for Mothers and Teachers" by Lucy Soulsby.

Math
  • Saxon Algebra 1/2
This program is brand new to us as we've been loyal Teaching Textbooks users over the years. However, M is excellent at Math, so I decided to go for something more rigorous this year.

History / Geography
Additional Literature (+ 1 Novel Inquiry Guide per quarter):
Foreign Language
Given that we've tried (and failed) to get into Latin a number of times, I thought this nice gentle approach might be just the thing we need.

Science
In addition to the seasonal nature studies suggested by Natural Science Through the Seasons, we'll be spending a year getting better acquainted with our local forest ecosystem. This includes an in-depth exploration of its plant life. Books on our shelf include an array of field guides (I  highly recommend Donald Culross Peattie's incredibly poetic classics, Flowering Earth, A Natural History of Western Trees and/or A Natural History of Trees of Eastern and Central North America) and many other assorted books which I'll be discussing in a separate post.