If I had ten different lives, I would definitively want to be a naturalist. This part of our learning has been one of the most rewarding-partly because of the friends we go out on adventures with and partly because of the way we always feel refreshed after the sunshine, fresh air and growing things.
“We are all meant to be naturalists, each in his own degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things.” -Charlotte Mason
Guidelines for Nature Study Group
-Leave the area better than we find it.
-Come prepared for the weather, hats, jackets, water, or sunscreen.
-Everyone participates and can help gently remind each other of needful things, “We throw rocks in the river, not at people.” “Let’s leave flowers for other people to enjoy.”
-Bring a nature journal and materials for notes, sketches. We use John Muir Laws prompts. "I notice..." "I wonder..." "It reminds me..."
-Schedule: 1. A few minutes gathering: “What do you remember we did last time?”
“What do you think we will find today?” Set boundaries and off we go.
2. Most of the time for exploration: The richer our home study is the more we see. 3. The rest of the time to journal: We sketch and write down notes. Sharing is optional.
From Charlotte Mason
“An observant child should be put in the way of things worth observing.”
“Every walk should offer some knotty problem for the children to think out, ‘Why does that leaf float on the water, and this pebble sink?’ and so on.”
Guidelines for Nature Study at Home
Read Books
Nature Anatomy by Julia Rothman
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna B. Cromstock
Arabella Buckley's books
The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling
Claire Walker Leslie Nature Journaling books
Christian Liberty Nature Readers
The Storybook of Science by Jean Henri Fabre
Field Guides
Get outside nearly everyday
“Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.” -Charlotte Mason
Keep a Nature Journal
A suggestion is to write in your nature journal everyday filling a page every week.
The purpose of a journal isa tool to record observing. Keep that perspective. Writing notes is primary for the journal and sketches of the landscape or specimens are secondary. I like to include in my journal the date, time, place, weather and season. The prompts I use are: “I notice…”. “I wonder…” and “It reminds me…” These foster observation, curiosity and creative connections. The Artful Thinking Habits are useful to implement. You can also include creative writing and poetry in your nature journal, or quotes and notes from research. The sketching can be from memory, 3-D models or practice from tutorials.
I have a nature topic for each month with books and journal prompts.
September- Stars and Sky
October- Pond and River
November- Rocks
December- Local plants, Trees
January- Gardening, Farm
February- Insects
March- Birds
April- All Creatures Great and Small
May- Human Biology
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