Nature study has been one of the most rewarding subjects in our homeschool through the years. It reaches deeply into every single realm of science. It gets us outdoors for fresh air, sunshine and exercise. It creatively includes other subjects like language arts, math, geography, and even history. But most importantly, God has revealed so much about Himself to us through the study of nature.
Nature study works easily with all homeschooling styles. It makes a huge difference with children who need to be active. It can meet all kinds of learning styles, and offers those with learning disabilities a fresh perspective on learning to give them success. Best of all, nature study works really, really well when teaching multiple ages. I know you’ll enjoy some amazing learning using the lessons you’ll find below. Have fun!
One of the best ways to perk up the school year during the winter is to get outside. Yes, you heard right – get outside! I know it’s cold, but I also know what “going stir crazy” feels like and how {even cold weather} nature walks can rejuvenate the spirit. Not to mention, there’s a world…
Brrrr – it’s cold outside! Winter is in full swing. This might seem like a silly time to suggest taking a nature walk, but creation doesn’t stop singing just because the temperatures are cold! In fact, winter is an awesome time for viewing things that we might miss other times of the year. Nature Study…
Winter is a great time for finding nature treasures that are hidden other seasons of the year. Bird’s nests are one example. Can you see how some sweet little bird found spare bailing twine to add to his cozy home? Spend some crafty time this winter creating nesting material to attract more birds to your…
I {heart} Pinterest! Seriously. It may very well be the greatest invention on the planet. Okay, the greatest recent invention. Through Pinterest, I found (and archived) some fun leafy art lessons to go along with our botany studies this autumn. While we didn’t get to all the wonderful ideas – this autumn – we found…
I told you I’ve been slacking on my posts! Four botany study posts in four days doesn’t mean we’ve been studying botany in such depth every day. In fact, each topic took us at least a week to cover. Today’s post is about one of the lessons spent learning about fungi. After some activities from…
We came across this little scene in our yard the other day – some sweet little animal is busily preparing for winter! A few days later, this is what we found in the same tree cavity! It was so full of hickory nuts that I asked my children if they had stuffed the hole. Everyone…
Caleb (and Eli) and I have been so loving our study of botany! This post highlights one of our activities as we learned about gymnosperms, particularly conifers. Gymnosperms are plants with “naked seeds” that aren’t housed inside a fruit. Conifers (cone-bearing plants) are an example of a gymnosperm. During this lesson, we had collected various…
In continuing our middle school botany study, we’ve been studying trees. A lot. Most of the activities we’ve done have come from the Delightful Deciduous Trees NaturExplorers study. One super-interesting nature walk activity was finding the tap root (main root that grows straight down), lateral roots (large roots that grow outward or laterally) and fibrous…
Every autumn, we enjoy a little pumpkin math! All our children participate according to their abilities – from the 4yo to the 14yo. This year, the 11yo and 14yo were expected to measure with complete accuracy, while the 4yo dabbled in learning how to measure. He used standard (rulers) and non-standard (blocks) measuring tools. I…
Children of the 21st century simply must be knowledgeable about and capable with computers. Besides typing programs and internet research, I like to assign occasional projects that are computer-based. I thought you might like to see the most recent projects… Writing is something that Caleb does NOT like. But, when the writing is (at least…
The Study of a Twig: Botany Nature Study My middle school son has been enjoying a fabulous study of botany. Today’s topic was the twig of a deciduous tree: What is a twig? Where are twigs located on trees? What grows on twigs? How do twigs grow? We first learned about the terminal bud, which…
There’s very little better than a field trip to make learning come to life! Eli (our preschooler) has been begging to go to the zoo for months. Lucky for him, we won two free tickets to the Cincinnati Zoo not too long ago and last week was the perfect weather for an outdoor field trip. …
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