Frequently Asked Questions
About No Sweat Nature Study
No Sweat Nature Study is a creative, nature-based science program for 1st–8th graders and beyond. Through engaging, easy-to-follow lessons, students learn meaningful science concepts in a hands-on, memorable way.
The membership includes twice-monthly classes with Cindy, plus full access to the complete video library of recorded lessons.
If you prefer a non-subscription option, an on-demand version is also available with access to the recorded lesson library.
In every class, students create a nature journal page to build scientific understanding while strengthening observation skills, vocabulary, critical thinking, and a love for learning. All lessons and optional resources are designed to be neutral, with no religious or controversial science content included.
Your membership includes twice-monthly classes with Cindy, along with access to a growing library of more than 200 recorded science classes taught through nature study and nature journaling.
Each lesson is complete on its own and easy to follow.
Optional resources are included with every lesson, such as a companion podcast episode, a curated booklist, a hands-on activity idea, a kid-friendly research prompt, a nature walk suggestion, and a printable scientific vocabulary activity.
How long do the classes last?
Each class lasts about 40–60 minutes.
When do the classes meet?
LIVE lessons take place on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month at 2:00 PM ET. (See your local time here.)
Where do the classes take place?
Classes are hosted via Zoom. You’ll preregister (it’s quick and simple), then receive a private access link by email before each session.
What if we can’t attend a class?
No worries! All classes are recorded and added to the video library, so you can watch them anytime during your membership.
What supplies will we need?
Most often, students just need a nature journal (or plain white paper) and colored pencils. Occasionally, simple items like watercolors, a tape measure, or a magnifying glass are suggested, but never required. Supply lists are included in each class registration and reminder email.
Where should we sit to view the class?
A sturdy surface is best for nature journaling, so gathering around a table tends to work well.
Do I need to teach anything before or after the class?
No. Each class is fully taught and self-contained. Optional resources are available if you’d like to extend the learning.
Can multiple children in my family attend the same class?
Yes. One membership covers your whole family.
Is this appropriate for a wide age range?
Yes! Classes are designed for 1st–8th graders, with built-in flexibility to challenge older students and support younger ones.
Can other students see or hear my child during the live class?
No. Students are not visible or audible. Interaction is optional and limited to a monitored chat when appropriate.
Will you teach classes during the summer?
Yes! Classes continue through the summer to support year-round homeschoolers and schools. If you take a summer break, you can catch up at your own pace using the recordings.
What topics are already in the video library?
Click here to view the full list of previously taught classes. New lessons are regularly added about plants, animals, earth science, space science, and physical science.
Who gets access?
One membership covers your immediate family, so all of your children can watch the lessons during your active term.
Can I watch lessons on my own schedule?
Yes. You can pause, rewind, and rewatch any lesson at your convenience.
How long do we have access?
You’ll have full access to the video library for the length of your membership.
What happens when my term ends?
Access to the video library and materials ends when your membership expires.
The video lessons with Cindy are the heart of No Sweat Nature Study. Every lesson is complete and easy to follow, so you can simply press play and learn.
Your membership includes access to a growing library of recorded classes, and new lessons are added regularly.
Twice-monthly classes are available if you’d like to join, but they’re never required.
All additional resources, like podcasts, booklists, vocabulary pages, hands-on activities, research ideas, and nature walk prompts, are completely optional. Use them as they fit your family’s learning style and schedule.
No Sweat Nature Study is designed to be flexible, so it can fit easily into your homeschool in a variety of ways.
Here are some of the most common ways families use it:
- As interest-led learning that allows students to dive deeper into topics they love
- As a complete science curriculum for a season, using the video lessons as the foundation
- As a supplement to an existing science program
- As a thematic resource that supports current studies or seasonal topics
There’s no required schedule. Some families use one or more lessons each week, some follow along with the twice-monthly classes, and others rotate lessons throughout the year.
Please click here to see scheduling ideas.
Because each lesson is stand-alone, you can easily pick and choose what fits your family’s needs.
Many families use No Sweat Nature Study as their full science curriculum, especially in the elementary and middle school years, while others choose to supplement as their children grow.
Each lesson includes a downloadable learning record with lesson descriptions, objectives, and standards alignment (including NGSS), making it easy to document learning for portfolios, reporting, or requirements.
The lessons are designed to be relevant no matter where you live.
How long do we have access?
Memberships are available as quarterly or yearly subscriptions. You’ll have full access for as long as your membership is active.
Is this a subscription?
Yes. Membership renews automatically at the end of each billing cycle, and you can cancel anytime.
What if I want a non-renewing option?
A one-time, non-renewing access option is available for families who prefer a set term instead of a subscription.
Can I download the lessons?
No. Lessons are streamed online and available anytime during your access period.
Who can use the membership?
One membership covers your immediate family, so all of your children can participate.
Can I share access with others?
Memberships are for one household. If you’re purchasing for a group, classroom, or co-op, separate licensing options are available.
What about charter or ESA funds?
Some programs require the non-renewing option. Be sure to check your program’s guidelines for purchasing or reimbursement.
What is the refund policy for the LIVE Membership?
Due to instant access to digital materials, we do not offer refunds. If you’re unsure, the quarterly option is a great way to try things out. A free sample lesson is also available to help you decide.
Each No Sweat Nature Study lesson includes optional resources designed to help you go deeper, make connections, and add variety to your learning. These include:
- Podcast Episode – A kid-friendly audio introduction that builds background knowledge and sparks curiosity
- Curated Booklist – Thoughtfully chosen books for read-alouds, independent reading, or research
- Scientific Vocabulary Activity – A printable to help reinforce key science terms
- Nature Walk Suggestion – A simple idea for taking the topic outdoors
- Hands-On Activity – A meaningful, science-focused activity to help students apply what they’ve learned
- Kid-Friendly Research Prompt – An open-ended idea for digging deeper into the topic
- High School Extension – Optional deeper thinking for older or advanced students
Do I have to use all the extras?
Not at all. The video lesson is the only essential piece. Everything else is optional and meant to support your family if and when you want it.
Where do I find the resources?
All extras are included with each lesson and are easy to access from the video library.
How long do I have access?
You’ll have access to the resources for as long as your membership or access period is active.
No Sweat Nature Study includes a wide variety of science topics designed for 1st–8th graders. Lessons explore life, earth, space, and physical science through the lens of nature study and journaling.
Topics include plants, animals, ecosystems, weather, geology, and much more, giving students a well-rounded understanding of science in a meaningful, engaging way.
In addition to science, many lessons naturally connect to subjects such as language arts, math, and geography through vocabulary, observation, and real-world applications.
All lessons and materials are designed to be neutral, with no religious or controversial science content, making them easy to use across a wide variety of homeschool styles and settings.
See a list of class topics currently in the video library here.
Do lessons meet academic standards?
Yes. Every lesson includes a downloadable Learning Record with clear objectives, lesson descriptions, and alignment to standards like NGSS and ELA, making it simple to document learning for portfolios, charter schools, or other requirements.
No Sweat Nature Study is designed to work beautifully for a wide range of ages, especially in families learning together.
Each lesson is taught in a way that makes scientific ideas clear and engaging, while still allowing every child to participate at their own level.
- Younger students might draw, label, or narrate what they learn
- Older students can dive deeper with vocabulary, critical thinking, and written responses
Because of this flexibility, it’s common for multiple children to learn from the same lesson at the same time, without extra planning on your part.
The core content is a great fit for elementary and middle school students, with built-in support to simplify or extend the learning as needed.
For older students, each lesson also includes a high school extension project to encourage deeper thinking, research, and communication skills.
In short, your whole family can learn together, and each child still gets exactly what they need.
Yes! We offer a full sample lesson so you can experience what No Sweat Nature Study is like before committing. It includes a video class with nature journaling and accompanying learning resources. Click here to access the free sample lesson.
Charter and ESA Purchasing
The On-Demand option is required for funding purchases.
👉 Visit the Charter Hub for instructions →
Co-ops and Classrooms
Group licenses are available for teachers.
👉 Learn about group licensing →
Please note: Access to No Sweat Nature Study is intended for single-family use only, unless a group license has been arranged.
About PDF Curriculum and Freebies
In regards to the downloadable curriculum and freebies on Our Journey Westward:
When purchasing a downloadable product, you are purchasing a license to use the product, not the product itself. The license is not transferable.
Each download is meant for single family use. You may keep a copy of the e-file on personal devices and print the file for personal use.
Please Don’t:
Share or link to the e-file directly; link to the blog post or product page instead.
Alter the e-files in any way.
Sell, distribute, or give away the e-files in any way.
Host an e-file on your website or upload it to a shared website.
A teacher of a co-op or classroom may use an e-file with her students. She may keep a copy of the e-file on personal devices and print it in its entirety for her use. She may make multiple copies of student pages as necessary.
She may not share the e-file with other teachers, even if they are team teachers. Each teacher needs to purchase her own copy of the curriculum file.
Please Don’t:
Share or link to the e-file directly; link to the blog post or product page instead.
Alter the e-files in any way.
Sell, distribute, or give away the e-files in any way.
Host an e-file on your website or upload it to a shared website.
Some folks enjoy creating additional notebook pages, worksheets, charts, etc., to accompany the NaturExplorers studies and other Our Journey Westward publications. The pages you create must only be used with your children and may NOT be sold for profit or shared with others (online or otherwise) as free enhancements, go-alongs, or otherwise.
While Our Journey Westward is pleased you enjoy our products and wish to create derivative materials, doing so without authorization violates copyright law. In other words, it is considered theft of intellectual property rights. We trust that you will understand the importance of this and thank you for your cooperation.
If you wish to create derivative materials for sale or as freebies, please contact us to discuss possible permission.
If unsatisfied with a PDF product, your entire purchase price will gladly be refunded. We only ask that you please request a refund within two weeks of purchase and delete the file from your computer. Thank you for respecting these terms. Please contact us for a refund that meets these criteria.
The following curricula meet the requirements of charter schools to remain neutral on religion.
- Nature Study Made Easy series
- Famous Artists of the Renaissance
- 50 States Notebooking Pages
- Presidents of the United States Notebooking Pages
- Living Literature Grammar Packs
The following professional development materials remain neutral on religion.
About NaturExplorers
- Inspirational literature suggestions
- Background information for the parent or teacher concerning the main focus of the nature topic
- An abundance of creative nature walks
- Follow-up hands-on activity ideas
- Writing and research ideas that encompass several subject areas
- References for Bible study, artist study, composer study and poetry tie-ins
- Child-friendly internet links and book lists for further study
- Ideas for adapting the material for younger and older children, as well as ideas for groups of children
- Several colorful, prepared notebooking pages
- General nature study suggestions
The NaturExplorers series was written with 1st-8th graders in mind. The curriculum activities are adaptable for all ages, though; specific ideas are included for incorporating your older and younger students. We have personally used NaturExplorers with children from three to fifteen, with all ages (even adults) drawn in almost magically.
Yes! Most of the ideas can easily be used with groups of children—traditional classrooms, homeschool co-ops, summer camps, after-school programs, 4-H programs, and more. Additionally, there is a small section of ideas written specifically for groups.
Any homeschooler using any homeschooling style will find NaturExplorers guides useful. Charlotte Mason homeschoolers will love the ideas for tying in poetry, artist and composer studies, and the living literature lists to enhance learning. Those who use unit studies will be excited that most of what they need for a full unit study is already here. Unschoolers will appreciate the ability to implement ideas at just the right time easily. Project-based homeschoolers will be excited at many project ideas that meet many learning styles. Traditional and Classical homeschoolers can pull as little or as much from the ideas as they desire.
New homeschoolers and teachers will appreciate the thoroughly laid-out ideas, while veteran homeschoolers and teachers will be thankful that the ideas are already pulled together and ready to use.
It depends entirely on how you decide to use the curriculum. Since the guides are extremely flexible, you might spend a week, two weeks, a month, or more immersing your family in one topic – much like a unit study. If you need nature walk ideas, you might spend one month or one year on a single topic. Either way, you’ll have plenty of ideas to keep you busy!
The beauty of each study is its adaptability. You can pick one nature walk and put the book down, or take nature walks repeatedly focusing on the same nature topic and not run out of new ideas for a long time. The nature topic can be used as a full-fledged, science-based unit study if desired. Besides math and phonics, you will find ideas for virtually every other subject. Some of the guides even include a hands-on math idea or two!
No need to worry! The NaturExplorers curriculum is not dependent on the literature suggestions. You are free to find other books on the same topic or leave extra reading out completely.
This answer varies depending on the part of the world in which you live. A sample list provided below is most appropriate for those who enjoy each of the four seasons in their fullness. Keep an eye open in your area; you’ll soon see which topics are most appropriate during a particular season.
Spring
- Animal Signs
- Beautiful Birds
- Captivating Clouds
- Constant Conifers
- Delightful Deciduous Trees
- Everchanging Erosion
- Frogs and Toads
- A Fungus Among Us
- Hard as a Rock
- Incredible Creeks
- Peaceful Ponds
- Remarkable Rain
- Wonderful Wildflowers
- Nature Study Through the Holidays: Easter
Summer
- Animal Signs
- Beautiful Birds
- Butterflies Flutter By
- Captivating Clouds
- Constant Conifers
- Delightful Deciduous Trees
- Everchanging Erosion
- Flying Creatures of the Night
- Frogs and Toads
- Fruits and Nuts
- Hard as a Rock
- Incredible Creeks
- Peaceful Ponds
- Remarkable Rain
- Spectacular Spiders
- Wonderful Wildflowers
Autumn
- Animal Signs
- Beautiful Birds
- Butterflies Flutter By
- Captivating Clouds
- Constant Conifers
- Coping with the Cold
- Delightful Deciduous Tres
- Everchanging Erosion
- Fruits and Nuts
- A Fungus Among Us
- Hard as a Rock
- Incredible Creeks
- Peaceful Ponds
- Remarkable Rain
- Spectacular Spiders
- Wonderful Wildflowers
- Nature Study Through the Holidays: Advent
Winter
- Animal Signs
- Beautiful Birds
- Captivating Clouds
- Constant Conifers
- Coping with the Cold
- Delightful Deciduous Trees
- Everchanging Erosion
- Hard as a Rock
- Snow and Ice
No way! While each NaturExplorers guide focuses on a particular topic, the lessons are not dependent on any particular things within that topic. For instance, if you can access any flower anywhere in the world, you can use the Wonderful Wildflower guide. Or, if you have access to any deciduous tree, you can use the Delightful Deciduous Trees guide.
You’ll find plenty of indoor learning suggestions, including hands-on activities, kid-friendly research projects, booklists, and more. However, much of the curriculum relies heavily on experiencing nature through creative nature walks. While you could still use the guides without taking the nature walks, you may want to consider the Nature Study Made Easy series instead.
No, the NaturExplorers series looks at nature through the lens of creation-based science and includes some Bible lessons.
You can always email a picture or story to me at [email protected]. Better yet, share pictures of your adventures on social media and tag me @ourjourneywestward!
About Nature Study Made Easy
Each Nature Study Made Easy guide contains eight meaty lessons. Each lesson includes introductory material to read with the children. Follow-up learning for each lesson is based on the five “E”s – Extract, Explain, Engage, Elaborate, and Explore.
Extract – Books and YouTube videos are suggested for learning more.
Explain – This is a nature journaling activity.
Engage – This is a hands-on activity.
Elaborate – This is a kid-friendly research project.
Explore – This is a nature walk prompt.
It’s easy to pick and choose from the five “E”s to make the study as in-depth as you wish.
They are written with 1st-8th graders in mind and can be used with multiple ages together.
They can be! The unique thing about these guides is the amount of learning that can occur indoors—even though children are focused on nature study topics. Many of the activity ideas are also conducive to group work.
No, they work well for all types of homeschoolers. Because they are so flexible yet provide plenty of learning options, they can be used for almost any homeschooling situation. For example, some families may want to spend a week’s worth of morning time working on one small part of a lesson. Others may decide to use the lesson material as a full science curriculum. While others may decide to use the curriculum for a full day of nature club learning. The options are endless, but sample scheduling ideas come with each guide.
It’s entirely up to you and how you use it. One guide can last an entire semester if you open it once a week and work through most of the suggested material and activities. If you do a small portion of one lesson daily each week, a guide will last eight weeks. If you choose to cover one lesson per day (that would be really hard), a guide will last you eight days.
No. Because they rely heavily on indoor learning, they can be used worldwide. If you use the nature walk prompts, most can still be used wherever you live.
No worries! You can use 95% of the curriculum without leaving the house. The only exception is the nature walk prompt provided with each lesson. Otherwise, the rest of the learning is indoors.
Yes! They are religion-neutral and don’t discuss creation or evolution.
You can always email a picture or story to me at [email protected]. Better yet, share pictures of your adventures on social media and tag me @ourjourneywestward!
About Other Products
It’s best to follow a one-week on/one-week off approach when using the curriculum. During the packet week, keep notes of any concepts your children struggle with. The following week, use freebies from the internet to help with the problem areas. Additionally, the week following a lesson can be used for writing creative stories, research, etc.
Loving Living Math is a book for parents that teaches them how to incorporate living math into their homeschool. While it offers plenty of practical ideas and sample activities, it’s not geared toward any grade level. That being said, parents of children younger than 13 will likely use it most.
If you have questions that haven’t been answered here, please feel free to fill out the contact form below.