Loudoun County nature

Fall Wildflowers

Exploring Nature with Kids: Fall Wildflowers

  We love to study wildflowers, especially local varieties.  Over the past few years, we’ve slowly learned to identify several common wildflowers from each season.  It’s so fun to be driving along, and hear one of the boys exclaim “I see some chicory!”  Or “Look at the yellow rocket!”

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Boys on the bank

Sunday Evening Nature Walk: Edwards Landing Park {Leesburg, VA}

  The Sunday Evening Nature Walk Most Sunday nights when the weather permits, our family can be found exploring a nearby trail or nature spot. It’s one of our favorite things to do together!  We usually pack a picnic dinner, our DEET-free bug spray and some favorite nature guides and gear–like these magnifying glasses–and head…

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Identifying Local Wildflowers: Chicory

The boys and I love to identify local wildflowers, trees, bushes, etc. Last year, we identified this beautiful blue wildflower–and now it’s back again, growing all over the place here in northern VA. Have you seen it? Chicory grows really well along roadsides and in fields.  Blooming from about June through September, it often teams…

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Yellow Rocket flower

Spring Wildflowers and a Great Online Identification Tool

One of the things I love most about homeschooling is the ability to emphasize Nature Study.  We get to study nature up close and personal as opposed to learning about it from a book. Don’t get me wrong–we do learn quite a bit about Nature from books.  Our large home library includes an ever expanding stock of…

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Winter Nature Walk on the W&OD Trail (& excellent nature biography for kids)

Background Info: Older Brother and I just finished reading this awesome book, The Flower Hunter, about William Bartram, America’s first naturalist.  His father, John Bartram, was America’s first botanist.  So, so fun to read about their explorations as they studied and gathered plants. As a botanist, John Bartram taught his son William to observe nature…

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