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!
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. …
While Mahayla takes a formal, high school biology class this year, Caleb (6th grade) and I (along with the interested 4-year-old) are studying biology using a variety of resources like Considering God’s Creation, Lyrical Life Science, Vol. 1 and, of course, NaturExplorers studies. Botany has been first on our list and we’ve been having so…
You cannot even imagine how wonderful our Jr. Master Gardener class (aka Botany Lab) has been. Our horticulture extension agent rocks! We’ve only had four classes so far and have covered tons of topics – plant parts, flower parts, soil types, the water cycle, ecology, organic pesticides and fertilizers, insects and pollination! Everything has been…
Eli is our nature treasure hunter. While the rest of us set out on our nature walks with high hopes to stumble upon something great, it’s often Eli (the preschooler) who finds the most greatness. He loves nature walks and finds great joy in his keen sense of discovering things that make the rest of…
Many of you probably already know Jimmie, formerly of One Child Policy Homeschool. She has just opened her new blog called Jimmie’s Collage and we know you’ll want to stop by for a visit! In transferring posts from her old blog to her new blog, she found the following article she originally wrote in September…
Here’s a simple field guide hint that will work for all ages from preschool through adult. We started using this little trick before our children were even readers and we still use it to this very day. Simple Field Guide Hint Get out the stickers! Before they could write, or even draw very well, I…
Fruits and nuts nature study is full of goodness when you add creative nature walks, fun activities, and a few good living books. This post contains affiliate links. Our weekly nature walks so far in September have been so exciting as we’ve been on the hunt for fruits and nuts. This is the perfect time…