Tadpole Obsession

One day recently T. and a few friends found a bunch of tadpoles while exploring our beach. Recent rains had formed huge puddles and some toad had decided to raise tadpoles there. T. thought this was just the coolest thing ever and I saw an opportunity for a great lesson. We have been in and out of town though and when we finally got the chance to go catch some they had been eaten by birds most likely and there was only one left that we could find. We captured him but he died the first night we had him. Still, we have been studying tadpoles and frogs and toads and salamanders. T. has recently perfected his skills as lizard-catcher and was anxious to get to frog catching. We caught a few toads, examined them and then made them little clay pot homes in hopes that they will stick around to eat bugs for us. Then we made a trip to the library. I have to say that of course I am a fan of the library but I also have to admit to being a terrible library patron, returning books late and making infrequent visits. But this new toad obsession called for new books and our book collection has grown ridiculously huge, we have acquired many books on lots of subjects and the truth is they won't get as much use as they deserve once this interest evolves into something else. Our library is very small and I have been disappointed in the past with the selection of books but I was pleasantly surprised by the selection of amphibian books!

T. also made a book of his own. I absolutely love these Bare Books, we use them for all kinds of different projects. This is T.'s first book that he made himself though. I wrote the questions (obviously) then wrote his answers on the bottom of the page and left him to draw the pictures. He worked on it in three different sessions over three days. I was very impressed! He was very proud of his work as you can see here. There will be many more of these in our future I hope. I dated it as I hope it remains a keepsake. He is really developing the ability to draw pictures and these first recognizable ones are priceless.

T. and R. have been playing "poison dart frogs" where they take turns being the poison dart frog and the poison dart maker. They also pull around that green wooden frog toy and make poison darts with him, feed him cats and feed him to the snake. It is all very cute!

R. is doing great. She is developing her sense of self with a whole lot of success these days. I know my mother delights in all that. She is forcefully learning her letters, pointing out letters in books and demanding, "what's that?". She is also picking up a bit of spanish and learning her birds, reptiles and tadpoles too. There is lots more for me to chat on about but I think I'll leave it there and try to update soon with pics of our fall garden and some of the kids in action.