Thursday, June 17, 2010

Children's Garden Journals



We checked out Zinnia's Flower Garden, by Monica Wellington, very early in the spring, when we were just beginning to dream of gardening. It's a colorful, well written, informative book, about one girl's love of gardening.

The story follows Zinnia through an entire year of planning, planting, caring for, and laying to rest her garden. Each step of the process includes numerous, helpful gardening facts, and tips. But, what caught our attention the most was that Zinnia, recorded each step in her own, special, garden journal.

My plan was to read the book with the children, and then have them put in their own small gardens. But, that was about the time it snowed...and then the snow turned to weeks of rain. So, by the time we planted our seeds, the book had long since been returned to the library. But, both of my older girls followed Zinnia's example, and are faithfully (or as faithfully as is possible for a 9 and 11 year old) keeping garden journals of their own.

Some of the spelling is pretty atrocious, but the pictures are fun to see. And, I'm making mental note of words we need to work on later, so I can let them journal freely, without correction, now.

After the initial excitement of recording about the seeds, and how they were planted, their entries fell into a steady rhythm of recording whether they had to water (clearly, the picture to the right is from before our Science Sunday, watering can project), or whether it had rained that day.

But now...



...things are starting to get exciting.

For more story stretching arts and crafts, check out this week's stART (story + ART) link-up, at A Mommy's Adventures.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

13 comments:

Ticia said...

Awwww, that's so cute in their journals. I love it!

Unknown said...

We have that book- and yes, it IS choc full of information in a FUN format...

The journals are such a lovely idea...perhaps we should journal about our bird nest progress...

Debbie said...

I love the idea of journaling!

Christy Killoran said...

I love the journals! I have to look for that book. I have seen it mentioned by a few people and everyone seems to love it.

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

Those journals are great. I love how one of your daughters drew herself swimming. I have to look for the book too.

Jenny said...

I love the gardening journal. I can't get my oldest son to inventive spell if he doesn't know a word; I wish he would.

Brimful Curiosities said...

Adults can keep plant journals, too! Before I had kids I kept a pretty elaborate journal of our outdoor plantings and always knew exactly what plants I wanted to buy and where they grew the best. My daughter has her own flower garden this year so I bet she'd enjoy keeping a simple journal.

Christianne @ Little Page Turners said...

I remember having to keep a journal in 7th grade chronicling the changes in a tree from winter to spring. I hated the assignment, but still remember how that tree changed to this day! :)

Unknown said...

Journaling is such a great idea. I need to start one with JDaniel.

Pathfinder Mom said...

There's something so fulfilling about watching a living thing grow. I can't wait until my little one is old enough to journal - they're really great!

sbswtp said...

This is a great project! When Ryleigh gets a little older I am going to give it a try. So fun :)

Anonymous said...

Very nice! We like this book too.

Charlene Juliani said...

What a great idea! Their journals are so cute. The spelling might be bad, but the drawings are wonderful!