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!
I’m on a mission to help you find the best field guides on the market – and I have another treasure to share with you! The Finders Field Guides published by Nature Study Guild Publishers are unlike any field guide I’ve ever used. Instead of colorful, realistic illustrations or actual photographs of nature examples, there…
In our neck of the woods, July is wild blackberry month. Over time, we’ve located several wild brambles growing along fence lines around our farm. I have to admit that harvesting is a tad difficult because of all the thorns, but well worth the effort. I wanted to share just a few pictures from our…
*Although this post is about home vegetable gardening, you’ll notice some of the pictures are from a field day class my children and I took from the University of Kentucky School of Agriculture. I wanted to encourage you that even those of us who have been gardening for years have room for growth. Your local…
In our Remarkable Rain NaturExplorers unit, one of the suggested activities is to watch and document an approaching rain system. Our family had the awesome opportunity to do this not too long ago. Here are pictures taken over no more than a four minute time frame… Rain can be a very exciting, out-of-the-norm nature study….
I recently had the wonderful opportunity to review the Smithsonian’s Backyard and Oceanic Collections. This wasn’t the first time I’d enjoyed picture books from the Smithsonian Institution as many of them had previously visited our home from the library. Whether reading titles to tie into nature study topics, or just wanting well-written books full of…
Lately we’ve been having lots of read aloud time in the afternoons. I’ve been trying to give my children things to keep their hands busy – paints, knitting, Lego pieces and nature notebooking pages or simple activities. So many of the NaturExplorers notebooking pages and activities can be used on the spur of the moment…
There are so many great Christmas books to read with your children! I’ve posted about some of my top favorites from years past. But, since I write nature studies, I thought I’d highlight some of my favorite Christmas picture books that relate well with nature study. Really good ones are few and far between, with…
By far, the Nature Study Through the Holidays study has been our biggest seller. For that, we thank YOU! The short and simple activities tied into the Advent theme are just enough during this busy season in our house. Last week, my three children and I headed to a local cemetery for a red and…
During our Red and Green Walk from Nature Study Through the Holidays, we collected several cones for this activity. It’s mentioned for use during the 4th week of Advent (next week), but my preschooler was raring to go last week. So, last week it was! This is a glimpse at glittery pinecone ornaments as done…
Late Autumn and Winter (before everything is covered by snow) is one of our favorite times to search the woods for signs of animals. It’s funny I’m posting this today as we’re covered by about 5 inches of snow, but here’s a peek into our walk a week or two ago. There are wonderful nature…
Nature Study in the Winter? Yes! There are still plenty of wonderful topics to study during the winter. I’ve written about several of them before in a previous post titled, well, what else – Nature Study in the Winter. One great topic that always makes for interesting study is conifers. Conifers are evergreens that produce…
Mountain Press kindly sent us two books to review that we’d like you to know about! The Charcoal Forest by Beth A. Peluso is an informational picture book about how forest fires actually help plants and animals in some instances. Each two-page spread teaches you about a particular animal or plant and how it benefits…