Golden Rain Tree with Autumn Seed Pods (Nature Study in the Neighborhood)

If you live in Florida,

you might see these trees a lot in the autumn.

They seem to be everywhere!
That's good, since we don't have too many autumn leaf colors.
This will do, I try to convince myself.

I wondered what they were, so I googled

"trees with red or pink seed pods"

and came up with the golden rain tree.

One golden rain tree in our neighborhood,
with bushes at the base

Pod in the hand, from the stem end

Pod in the hand from the open end

The seeds pods fascinate me,

especially their geometric construction.

I had to pull some apart,

just to satisfy my curiosity.

Two of my kids did, too,

as an impromptu science lesson:

kitchen table botany.

Golden rain tree
pods opened up to reveal seeds inside

You can read more about the golden rain tree.

Look for yellow flowers in the summer!

 God is so creative!

What are you doing for nature study this year?
Leave a comment!

Post will be linked at:

P52 Photo Project 

This week's photo theme: leaves (but my focus is on pods...)

Raising Homemakers 

Whole-Hearted Home

Stuff I Never Taught Them

Stuff I never taught them, but they know anyway....

• Nursing
• Copy editing (beyond the basics, anyway)
• Wedding photography
• Video special effects and other tech savvy stuff
• Magic tricks
• Drawing birds in detail
• Skate board riding and repair
• Country cooking
• AP Chemistry
• Knitting
• Soccer
• Basketball
• French
• Italian
• Spanish

So much more....

My ten children -- ranging in age from 7 to 25 -- have learned so much and taught me so much.   Just today, I listened to my oldest daughter intelligently discuss Nicomachean ethics with my sister.  I had absolutely no clue what they were talking about.

Ladies, if you're just getting started in home schooling, don't blow a gasket thinking of teaching them everything they will ever need to know.  You can't.  They can learn jolly well without you if they are interested enough.

Just give them the basic skills.  Read. Write. Speak in public.  Do math. Draw. Science and history too, of course!

Give them the tools for what interests them - butterfly nets, cookbooks, computer software, a camera.  

Let them take time to tinker, explore, take things apart. Making mistakes is part of the learning process.

Classes, clubs and mentors can help in areas where you don't know as much as they want to know.

Have fun learning new skills from your kids!

Virginia Knowles
www.StartWellHomeSchool.blogspot.com

P52 Photo Project 

Raising Homemakers