I know that I sound gloomy a lot of the time. But there are some days that I get really excited about homeschooling. Yesterday was one of those days. While Laura and her cousin Nathan were playing in the back yard, they discovered a completely-intact snakeskin. I have never seen such a beautiful specimen! Can you see in this photo the head and mouth? I don’t know how the snake got out of his skin without messing it up more than this.

Laura and Nathan were learning and discovering and exploring, and they didn’t even know that we can count this as “science”.

Not too long after Nathan left with the snakeskin to go home, Laura came inside with another discovery. She had found a monarch caterpillar on some milkweed. I was skeptical of her find, wondering how she could be so sure of her find. So we looked online and sure enough, she was right! Out came the camera again to document this new creature. While I was photographing from just the right angles, Laura said, “I think this other side is his head.” What did she know! Obviously the shorter antennae are the front, and the longer “tails” are the back.

Well, later on when the caterpillar was munching away on some leaves, I realized that she was right! The little short “tails” were not the front after all, and the longer antennae were gracefully dipping over the caterpillar’s head while he chewed. Oh. Well, if I ever become a famous photographer, the folks who know something about caterpillars will shake their heads and mutter, “Why on earth would someone photograph the backside of a caterpillar???” I guess we all learn stuff during this homeschool venture.

We made a little home for our new pet in a discarded applesauce jar. Laura picked fresh milkweed leaves and we’ve had a blast watching him make himself at home. He chews for a while; rests for a while; wanders around, and then chews some more. I’m eager to see what he does next.