Super Fab Lab

The other day I caught a stick bug for Lu. I put it in a mason jar with holes in the lid and we observed it for awhile. Then we got her iPad out and set up a little spot with her new floor chair and lap desk to do some research. One of her favorite shows is called Sid the Science Kid and they have "super fab lab" where they investigate different science concepts, so we were having our own super fab lab about stick bugs. Online we looked at more pictures of different kinds of stick bugs and learned some facts about them. The first thing we learned is that they are herbivores. I asked Lu if herbivores eat meat and she said "No" with her head. I asked if they eat plants and she nodded yes. (She learned that from Dinosaur  Train on PBS!)  We learned that to protect themselves they will let a leg fall off and it will just grow back. When observing our stick bug we were dismayed to see that I had made it lose a leg when trying to catch it, but then we knew it would grow back, so that was a relief.  We also talked about camouflage and how stick bugs will just pretend to be a stick for hours to stay safe, and where stick bugs like to live.

Then Chad came home from work and we were showing him our science project and I said, "Lets ask Daddy if he thinks stick bugs are herbivores or carnivores and we can tell him if he's right." Chad guessed herbivores and asked Lucy if that was right and she looked right at him and said, with her voice, "Yeah!" It was awesome! Lately she has been using her voice to answer yes and no, often in the form of "Ya" and "Nuh".  I am thinking she could be somehow compensating with her voice since her head is proving to be unreliable right how and she is able to get sounds out and sometimes a word will just pop out. It is super exciting for all of us when that happens, especially Lu, who just beams with pride.

So, after our research and observations were over I asked Lu if she was ready to let her stick bug go back out into the wild. She said yes and Chad released it while we watched and told it goodbye. The next day we made a little poster of the facts we learned during our research and then Lu got to glue a pile of little twigs to the paper wherever she wanted to drop them to represent the stick bugs. She liked it and learned about stick bugs so it was educational. And it was unplanned. Nature presented us with an opportunity to learn and we took it. That's what I like about homeschooling. I still do plan some things every once in awhile, but I like to just go with the flow. And of course, Lu's only three so there's no big rush. I just especially enjoy spending the time quiet, one-one-one time with her and being able to figure out how we can adapt things so she can do things in her own way and have some freedom to create the way she wants to.