Two weeks ago, while reviewing the upcoming week's lesson plan, I could feel myself becoming anxious. It was a Sunday evening, a new week of school was upon me, however, the books I had requested from the library still hadn't come in. On to Plan B.
The problem was, I didn't actually have a Plan B tucked away for a time like this. I'd need something quick, and hopefully, I wouldn't have to spend the rest of the night searching the WWW for ideas. Thankfully, being a curriculum junkie proved beneficial, I didn't need to look further than my own bookshelves.
The Five in a Row manuals stood out to me. I also remembered that FIAR had just released two Fold-and-Learns.
The solution was very simple, we would "row", Make Way for Ducklings.

The absolute best part of rowing this book is that it ignited an interest in nature for each of us! Everything fell into place to enjoy our first nature study. The weather was at it's warmest in months, our attitudes were positive, and we were ready to go. With sketch books in hand, out the door we went to the lake.
Before leaving, they took a moment to sketch flowers in our front yard.

The path around the lake is just under a mile long, but it took us TWO HOURS to get around it. They spent time noticing their surroundings, soaking in everything, instead of racing to see who could out run the other.
The very first sketch was of a western pond turtle sunning on a log, followed by a frog, various birds, squirrels, and even a large colony of half black/half red western thatch ants. A few Sequoia and Redwood trees were added as well.
Each time we would stop to sketch something interesting would happen. People would gather around to ask what we were doing. They would also give my children positive comments about their nature journals.
Here are some pictures of our day.

The end to a great day.