Well, it seems like we have been stuck in the house for quite a long time now. After my family left, all 3 of the girls took turns with a nasty cold. Now they are better, but it seems, we are in for quite a few days of rain. I am dying to get back to the pool. Public schools start back up here on Thursday, and then the pool is only open in the late afternoon and evenings until Labor Day, and then only on nice weekends. I should probably be grateful that we did get in one nice day at the pool after everyone was mostly better and when the rain began. I am sitting here listening to thunder and hoping that the storm passes quickly so that we might get an hour or so this afternoon, but I don't think that is going to happen.
So, what do we do on days when we are stuck in the house? Well, I would like to say that we spend the day on school work so that we can be sure to get out and play on those nice sunny days, but that is not always the case. We do some school work, but the girls always find ways to amuse themselves, and it seems that these are the days they take over their own education. First, this morning they decided to examine the Monarchs that we have living in our house in various stages. They checked out the caterpillars and the chrysalides. They actually got to watch one caterpillar change into a chrysalis. They ran outside during a break in the rain to get some more milkweed for the caterpillars to eat. They watched the 3 butterflies we have that we have here waiting for a nice day so that they can go free. We made some "nectar" for the butterflies since they will be staying with us for at least another day. Then, they decided to make their own book about the Monarch life cycle. They drew pictures of each stage, and even included several of the caterpillar instars. I love it when they take on learning for themselves!
Here are Madeline and Hailey looking at the Monarch butterflies.
This is Isabella's Monarch life cycle.
Egg on the leaf.
A small (first instar) caterpillar on a leaf.
A larger (fifth instar) caterpillar. The circles are the holes that have been eaten in the leaf.
A chrysalis.
A flying butterfly.
After they finished their little exploration of the Monarch life cycle, they decided to make themselves and their dolls a cozy place to hang out. They love to make houses and forts from the pillows and blankets around the house. Once they had found their spot (they decided to use the entire guest room as their fort today, they proceeded to have a snack. Then they turned their attention to finding new things to explore. They played with magnets and with blocks.
Isabella and Hailey sitting with their dolls, eating a snack.
Isabella's block tower.
Afterwards, they went back to check on the Monarchs, to find that 2 more butterflies had eclosed from their chrysalises. We had to watch them for a while, of course. It is so cool to watch their wings expand as they get ready for their first flight!
This is one newly eclosed Monarch with a couple of empty chrysalises.
This is the other Monarch that eclosed today. You can see that the wings as still a bit folded. In the picture you can also see part of another Monarch; a chrysalis that has not eclosed yet (green); and the clear, empty chrysalis from which the butterfly just eclosed.
Maybe we will get to my lesson plans later!
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