By Holly Giles | Family , Florida , Great Outdoors , Mama's Musings
As we head out this weekend on another camping adventure, I thought I would continue our adventures from last year. In part one of camping, I talked about the idea of camping versus the reality. Now I will share our run-ins with critters and nature as we venture on exploring the outdoors. This time last […]
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By Holly Giles | Florida , Great Outdoors , homeschooling , Nature Study
We just finished reading The Last Egret, by Harvey Oyer. I was not prepared for the fascinating true accounts of Charlie Pierce, a native of Florida in the late 1800’s. History has become a favorite subject for us all in our homeschool, especially Florida history. I am a fourth generation Floridian with roots from the […]
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By Holly Giles | Field Trips , Florida , Great Outdoors , homeschooling , Nature Study
Manatees show up in the springs of Florida from December through March. During the winter months, manatee move to warmer waters and a large number of them find their way to Blue Spring State Park. We have been taking Grayson and Grant to the park to see them since they were little. They seem to […]
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By Holly Giles | Florida , Great Outdoors , homeschooling , Nature Study
Around here, science need not be planned. On any given day, it falls from the sky or slithers by for us to take notice. Why not seize the opportunity. On this day, we were reading on the couch when a loud thud hit the back window. As we searched the deck, we found a Red-Eyed Vireo. […]
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By Holly Giles | Florida , Great Outdoors , Mama's Musings , popular
The anticipation of cooler days is approaching. Our annual fall camping trips come to mind. This past spring, we seemed to hit a camping marathon, three trips in five weeks, that left me pondering the idea versus the reality of camping trips! Just the word “camp” sounds fun doesn’t it? Nature hikes, trail mix, campfire stories and smores. The fresh air […]
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By Holly Giles | Boy Crafting , Florida , handicrafts , homeschooling
There is more to the county fair for the family than candied apples, fried Twinkies, and the Ferris wheel! It can be used to educate your children and learn a new skill! As a child, I loved going to the fair. My grandparents lived very close to the property where the Central Florida Fair took place […]
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By Holly Giles | Field Trips , Florida , hen house , homeschooling , Mama's Musings
The Volusia County Fair is in 2 months and we are gearing up for our entries! The fair association and 4H were offering a “Fowl Fun Day” to teach you about entering chickens. The flyer I received sounded too good to pass up! They would teach anatomy, breeds, disease and pest control, and show you […]
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By Holly Giles | Field Trips , Florida , Florida field trips , Great Outdoors
Last week we had family in town. My husband’s Aunt and Uncle from Tennessee were here for a few days. We decided to cool off at Alexander Springs. We were going to meet them at springs, which is located in the Ocala National Forest. The Forest was established in 1908 as the FIRST national forest east of the […]
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By Holly Giles | Florida , Great Outdoors , homeschooling , Nature Study
Zebra Longwing butterflies are the state butterfly here in Florida. In June, they started taking over our backyard by the hundreds. What can we find out? Their host plant is the passion vine. We have several planted around the backyard, but the one they favor is growing up the railing on our back porch. We have […]
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By Holly Giles | Family , Field Trips , Florida , homeschooling
How can you turn a morning at the farmer’s market into a homeschool lesson? Follow our morning and we will show you how. I gave each boy $5 and a food challenge to last a week. See how they did… Cowboy was given a $5 challenge to purchase fruit for our family of four for […]
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