d a m s e l f l y

He looked at the specimen, observing each miraculous piece, and worked diligently at representing his discoveries. Today, we investigated damselflies.

"With regard to the horror which some children show of beetle, spider, worm, that is usually a trick picked up from grown-up people. Children would run after their 'daddy' with a 'delicious worm,' a 'lovely toad,' a 'sweet beetle' carried tenderly in both hands. Children who are accustomed to hold and admire caterpillars and beetles from their babyhood will not give way to affected horrors. The child who spends an hour in watching the ways of some new 'grub' he has come upon will be a man of mark yet. Let all he finds out about it be entered in his diary––by his mother, if writing be a labour to him,––where he finds it, what it is doing, or seems to him to be doing; its colour, shape, legs: some day he will come across the name of the creature, and will recognise the description of an old friend." -Charlotte Mason

The above quote is quite true, for I'm sure I still show disgust at certain species. And I frequently observe adults putting a stop to many moments of childhood wonder in regard to what they find gross. An adult habit, modeled to children. That- I am working on changing. For I fondly remember one of my most favorite rainy day activities was catching worms in the gutter. Yes, indeed. I adored sitting gutter-side worm collecting in the rain. I shutter at the thought of that now. But how magical it was to me then. Which brings us to today's activities... our damselfly specimen. Isaak and his papa found a damselfly on their walk through our neighborhood. It had died and was fully intact. Before this little homeschooling adventure began for us, I'm sure I would've quickly dismissed such an incredible find. Of course, as a good homeschooling papa, the Mr. carefully placed it in a plastic bag and brought it home for further discovery. It was gorgeous. The coloring magnificent. Unfortunately, damselflies do not keep their color long after death. We did, however, dry it- pinning it to a wooden board for a few weeks. And yes, that juice on the wooden board... it's damselfly juice! I know, not so charming. It still creeps me out just a tad bit. But these moments of discovery with my son are just too incredible to even care about the ick-factor. We will eventually mount our treasured damselfly, but first... we enjoyed learning more about it.

Just look how incredible this creature is.

We sat together and read the dragonfly section of one of our books.

It was interesting learning the difference between dragonflies and damselflies.

And then, together, we sketched our observations.

And labeled our documentation.

I have a lot of growth to do, as I attempt to allow my little guy room to explore and discover without the incessant warnings. But today... I am proud. And in awe. For this dead, juicy, crusty little creature provided such an amazing lesson- for both Isaak, and I. Be encouraged. Rekindle your childhood wonder and explore something gross! You may be surprised at just how much you enjoy it.