Late Fall Fun
Not every nature walk has to be serious! Let your children take the lead during nature study often. It might not be just the thing you would’ve planned, but it will be exciting and worthy nonetheless.
Nature Study
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!
Animal Signs Field Guide
During the month of December,my family will be using the Animal Signs NaturExplorers unit. Finding signs of animals and tracks are rather easy this time of year with much of the land and trees “uncovered” by the Lord. The most difficult part of studying animal signs for me is recognizing animal tracks. So many look…
The Wisdom of Nature Study
We are so pleased to bring you another wonderful guest post from Jimmie of Jimmie’s Collage! She has been studying God’s Word and, once again, finds God clearly guiding us to learn more about Him through His creation. Enjoy! The Wisdom of Nature Study by Jimmie I’ve come to understand that nature study is a…
Cold Measurement
I love to incorporate more than one subject at a time when possible. It not only saves time, but makes connections that are so important for children to understand. Last week, we were blessed with a dry snow that led to lots of snow drifts. I sent the kids on their merry way with a…
Lichen vs. Moss
It can be difficult during a nature walk to identify lichen vs. moss. These simple descriptions and pictures should help you learn the differences between the two. Lichen vs. Moss: What’s the Difference? Through the course of our nature clubs and writing the NaturExplorers studies, the following question has come up several times. “What’s the…
Claire Walker Leslie
Keeping a nature journal or nature notebook is a very personal thing. Some people prefer a blank-paged notebook, while others prefer a lined composition book, and still others prefer to use prepared notebooking pages. Some people like to simply draw sketches with a label or two, while others enjoy journaling full pages alongside their drawings….
Adventure Publication Field Guides
I recently happened upon a new-to-me field guide publisher that I’m loving. Adventure Publications puts out small (4 3/8 x 6″), but jam-packed, guides on all sorts of nature subjects. Most importantly for me, they offer not only general field guides, but many that are state or region specific, too! Don’t let the fact that…
Dioramas
Some of the NaturExplorers guides suggest the completion of a diorama to go along with a research project. Dioramas are such a fun and creative way to model entire habitats or ecosystems. Even better, they can prove to be an informal assessment of your child’s understanding when you ask him or her to create a diorama…
Real Homeschooling with Remarkable Rain
We were blessed beyond words when Jessica from Powers Taiwan Chatter left us a wonderfully sweet comment about her family’s experience with our newest unit, Remarkable Rain. She has graciously allowed us to share some of a post from her blog where she wrote about the fun they had studying and playing in the rain…
Dawn Publications
I’m in love! I’m in love! After reading LOTS (and I mean lots) of books to weed out the best of the best to include in our NaturExplorers units, I have to tell you that it’s very hard to find books that meet all my criteria: Living, interesting, inspirational Factual without being dry Don’t address…
Finders Field Guides
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…
Wild Blackberry Walk
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…