Nature journaling - love the idea need some direction for good implementation

[rose]

I've tried to start many times but we never can stick with it. I think that it seems so aimless to me. It's like this: go for a walk, find something "interesting", come home, draw it, write a few sentences. This just doesn't engage my children the way that I long to see them engaged in nature. I think that I might have killed the any possible joy of this in my older two but I still have hope for my new batch of littles.

 

We do go for walks and explore nature all the time. Just the other day, dc6 found a dead grasshopper on his own and came and showed me his treasure. We made an origami box to save it in. I had him count the legs and pointed out that it had six legs like all insects. Maybe we could have journaled that. Maybe I should have found a "living" book about grasshoppers. I suppose that I still could do that.

 

How do you implement nature journaling? Do you do guide your dc in what to look for or do units like the Handbook of Nature Study suggests? What resources do you use for further research? Do your dc like the research? How has your implementation changed as your children have grown? Do you have any good links?

Edited September 25, 2017 by Rose M

[Soror]

Check out Exploring Nature with Children, it is laid out week by week, pretty much open and go, so you have a purpose to your outings.

 

The Good and the Beautiful has some nice looking journals too if you want them to be more self-guided.

 

HTH

[hollyhock]

I found it was really helpful to have something specific to look for, so I made a list of things by season that we could find. I actually bought Exploring Nature with Children, but it was NOT written for nature study in Canada (we're not finding earthworms in February, for example). So I just made my own list and we did a whole year of it last year with my then 3rd and 5th grade boys. One week we looked for moss, drew it and wrote about it (I used other science books for some info on each topic), the next week we looked for fungi. We looked for birds in fall, winter and spring. We "adopted" a tree and watched its changes through the seasons. Stuff like that. It worked out well.

 

ETA: We used God's Design for Life books for more info on each topic, because I already had that set.

Edited September 24, 2017 by hollyhock

[Mrs. A]

Try looking into books like The Private Eye or John Muir Laws' Guide to Nature Journaling.

 

Here's how we got started: http://orthodoxmindandheart.blogspot.com/2014/09/homeschooling-delighting-in-nature.html?m=1

[Kalmia]

You have gotten some good suggestions with The Private Eye and John Muir Laws, but remember that there is no law that nature journaling must occur for it to be nature study. The fine motor skills of many young and elementary school (and even some middle school) children lag behind their curiosity about nature so that making them draw their findings is an exercise in frustration.

 

Great alternatives include: nature photography (you can even upload some to iNaturalist) and nature videoography, participating in citizen science (the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, Monarch Watch, Cornell University's Project Feeder Watch, etc.), nicely displayed collections (anything that won't rot is a good start like dried seed pods or desiccated insects, but remember that a few things are illegal to collect: migratory bird feathers, bird eggs, and bird nests), making a large map of the nature preserve you visit the most and recording your sightings on it, and/or reading living books that expand the child's knowledge of their discoveries.

 

Not sure if I am allowed to mention this (and will remove it if asked): My book on getting started is called Nature Study for The Whole Family, and it is available from Royal Fireworks Press.

Edited September 24, 2017 by Kalmia

[nixpix5]

Try looking into books like The Private Eye or John Muir Laws' Guide to Nature Journaling.

 

Here's how we got started: http://orthodoxmindandheart.blogspot.com/2014/09/homeschooling-delighting-in-nature.html?m=1

This. So much this.

 

The Private Eye completely changed our nature time into something so much greater. We grab our loupes on lanyards and go. So great!

[Pegs]

We draw every day as part of our morning time, and I let DS choose whether he wants to make an entry in his nature journal, or his general drawing book.

 

When we're out walking I encourage him to find something interesting to bring home for next day's morning time.

 

That's it.

 

It's simple and easy and doesn't feel like a whole other subject to get through every day.

[rose]

Here's how we got started: http://orthodoxmindandheart.blogspot.com/2014/09/homeschooling-delighting-in-nature.html?m=1

 

That was a great article. I think that I'm inspired. :)

[Earthmerlin]

You have gotten some good suggestions with The Private Eye and John Muir Laws, but remember that there is no law that nature journaling must occur for it to be nature study. The fine motor skills of many young and elementary school (and even some middle school) children lag behind their curiosity about nature so that making them draw their findings is an exercise in frustration.

 

Great alternatives include: nature photography (you can even upload some to iNaturalist) and nature videoography, participating in citizen science (the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, Monarch Watch, Cornell University's Project Feeder Watch, etc.), nicely displayed collections (anything that won't rot is a good start like dried seed pods or desiccated insects, but remember that a few things are illegal to collect: migratory bird feathers, bird eggs, and bird nests), making a large map of the nature preserve you visit the most and recording your sightings on it, and/or reading living books that expand the child's knowledge of their discoveries.

 

Not sure if I am allowed to mention this (and will remove it if asked): My book on getting started is called Nature Study for The Whole Family, and it is available from Royal Fireworks Press.

I like all the ideas in this thread for our nature-loving family. I also made a nature basket (really just a large tupper) that sits near the family room door. It's chock full of nature-related paraphernalia (books, binos, field guides, containers, nets, mag glasses, drawing materials) & stuff gets pull out constantly for backyard exploration. It's a no-pressure thing that encourages nature discovery without leaving home. It is also handily organized so its contents are readily available at a moment's notice, when neat natural occurences 'strike'. I often pull out guides instantaneously or later at meals to linger over what we saw. A phone helps too, as we look up things on-the-spot. I REALLY like this camera/photography idea!

 

Just as a side note, we went exploring a friend's creek yesterday & it was neat to catch & relase! We also have a few crawfish residents in our backyard pond as a result. Perhaps we'll draw them today over breakfast.

 

My daughter catches critters & examines them for a bit in container before she releases them. Even her backyard tent has served as a temporary butterfly observatory.

 

Consider feeders & nesting boxes along with native plants to boost your on-site wildlife sightings. We just put up our owl box!

 

LOL, we have also used our camera drone to 'spy' on our young squirrel family.

Edited September 25, 2017 by Earthmerlin

[Earthmerlin]

Try looking into books like The Private Eye or John Muir Laws' Guide to Nature Journaling.

 

Here's how we got started: http://orthodoxmindandheart.blogspot.com/2014/09/homeschooling-delighting-in-nature.html?m=1

Can you please list the author for 'The Private Eye'? I am having trouble tracking it down. Thanks!

[Mrs. A]

Can you please list the author for 'The Private Eye'? I am having trouble tracking it down. Thanks!

 

Here's the store: https://www.theprivateeyestore.com

 

And here's the website that goes into detail about it: http://www.the-private-eye.com/index.html

[nixpix5]

Here's the store: https://www.theprivateeyestore.com

 

And here's the website that goes into detail about it: http://www.the-private-eye.com/index.html

The loupes are the best part and the curriculum is interesting because it ties in science as well as language arts if you so desire. The author is trying to develop critical thinking skills and wonder through looking closely at the world. She uses three main ideas; thinking by analogy, changing scale and theorizing. Basically you take your loupe, look at something and ask "What else does it remind me of? What else does it look like?" This is where you can introduce writing or drawing if so desired. Have them write down their analogies (i.e. what it reminds them of, or draw it etc). Drawing requires a visual exploration through the loupe. Look, draw that small part, look again etc. My kids have drawn amazing things this way and they are young!

 

Then you theorize...as you observe features you ask "why is it like this? If it reminds me of that, I wonder if it might function like that...etc

 

So you can them thinking like scientists. It introduces form and function, inquisitiveness, logic and so forth.

 

I am laying this first step out for you in case you just want to grab loupes (so cheap! Recommend the lanyards too) and try them first.

 

My kids scientific minds have really developed and it has been the easiest and most fun science yet.

[Guest]

I wish we had done more of this.  My son is now 22, and we both remember the good times we had on nature hikes.  

 

I was happy with the way we did it, just not with the frequency.

 

I got plain journals, one for each of the two of us, and we would leave the house on a Mission.  Usually we just walked right out the front door; infrequently, we drove.

Today, we are going to find and draw five different shapes of leaves.  When we get home, we will find out what they are called.

Today, we are going to find three things we have never seen before and we will draw them.  (Sometimes we did 15 things and just kept a list.)

Today, we are going to lie on our backs and find three different kinds of clouds.

Today, we are going to go for a walk at dawn and try to replicate the light with colored pencils.

Same for sunset.

Today, we are going to go to the lakeshore and find and draw 3 kinds of plants we don't see outside our house.

Today, we are going to a river.  We'll hike in, and then we will sit and try to figure out why the river flows the way it does.  We'll draw it. 

Today we are going on a walk around our block.  It's spring; we're going to notice three trees we like and see how they are budding.  (Then again in summer/blooming, fall/changing, winter/bare). We did a similar thing just looking out the window from our house because sometimes it is just too doggone rainy.  

 

Anyway, it was a blast, and I think we got a lot of the point of it--the naming and the learning for sure, but I think it also turned us into better observers, and that is a life skill.

 

[Earthmerlin]

Here's the store: https://www.theprivateeyestore.com

 

And here's the website that goes into detail about it: http://www.the-private-eye.com/index.html

Found it & bought it!

[PineFarmMom]

I wish we had done more of this. My son is now 22, and we both remember the good times we had on nature hikes.

 

I was happy with the way we did it, just not with the frequency.

 

I got plain journals, one for each of the two of us, and we would leave the house on a Mission. Usually we just walked right out the front door; infrequently, we drove.

Today, we are going to find and draw five different shapes of leaves. When we get home, we will find out what they are called.

Today, we are going to find three things we have never seen before and we will draw them. (Sometimes we did 15 things and just kept a list.)

Today, we are going to lie on our backs and find three different kinds of clouds.

Today, we are going to go for a walk at dawn and try to replicate the light with colored pencils.

Same for sunset.

Today, we are going to go to the lakeshore and find and draw 3 kinds of plants we don't see outside our house.

Today, we are going to a river. We'll hike in, and then we will sit and try to figure out why the river flows the way it does. We'll draw it.

Today we are going on a walk around our block. It's spring; we're going to notice three trees we like and see how they are budding. (Then again in summer/blooming, fall/changing, winter/bare). We did a similar thing just looking out the window from our house because sometimes it is just too doggone rainy.

 

Anyway, it was a blast, and I think we got a lot of the point of it--the naming and the learning for sure, but I think it also turned us into better observers, and that is a life skill.

I love this! 2 years ago we had a year pass to the state parks. We had what we called state park school every other Friday. We would hike and take pictures, draw, take things home. It was great!! Now I have an 8th grader and it feels stressful trying to get everything done.