Let's talk Science/Nature Journals ...

[ChrissySC]

What have you bought or creatively implemented? Many, many programs encourage the journaling. What do you do?

[ChrissySC]

My plan is to bump until I make a decision, LOL!

[ChrissySC]

:)

[woolybear]

Hmm...getting kind of lonely on this thread?:) I have tried doing nature journals, but I am not consistent with it. Generally we just go for a walk and see what we see and just enjoy nature and that truly is good enough. This year I am hoping to do that more consistently and a bit more nature journaling.

 

Recently I discovered this site and they have some good ideas:

http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/

 

I also like this one for ideas: http://www.5orangepotatoes.com/blog/nature-activites/ or http://www.5orangepotatoes.com/blog/nature-study/

[4besitos]

Each of my children have a nature journal. I got them nice sketch books (black, hard cover) that I bought @ JoAnnes using coupons. :001_smile: Even the then 3 year old got one. On our nature walks I take pictures....the hard part in getting them printed in a timely manner. I know the purists do not like photos....but when we started my 3 & 5 yr olds were not going to sit and give us peace so that the older 2 could sketch. The older children wrote/drew in theirs; the youngers, I tried the guided narration thing and wrote down their sentences as they spoke them. My children really enjoy the nature walks and I am surprised by the things they recognize. We also went to the same pond to feed the ducks year round which was quite wet in the winter. The littles thought the ducks knew them when they came running towards us in the wet, winter months. :lol: I didn't let anyone burst their bubble!!! This year I am adding the Burgess Book for children study that has been passed around on the net. I think they will really like it.

[lmrich]

I lead a small nature club in our neighborhood. We have about 6 kids who meet. What has been most successful is for me to partcipate. I draw and write when they do. I also make a complete silent time for observations - 2 minutes or so; the kids can really use that time look closely.

[JennW in SoCal]

I used Keeping a Nautre Journal by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth. My kids also each had little sketch books. We have bird feeders and a bird bath in the backyard with binoculars and several bird guides on hand. My younger ds and I take part in Project Feed Watch each year. There is a small activity guide for homeschoolers that you can download from that site.

 

Another book I used was Geology Crafts for Kids by Alan Anderson, Gwen Diehn and Terry Krautwurst. It has lots of fun projects to do out and about and to do with all the rocks and things kids tend to collect.

 

It doesn't exactly matter *how* you do a journal, just that you get in the habit of observing the outside world, counting, identifying and classifying, and noticing changes over time.

[Daisy]

The easiest and most effective way for us has just been to use a ream of copier paper. The kids put it on a clip board and off we go. If they mess up,they can easily start over. When finished it gets hole punched or placed in a slip cover and put into a 3 ring binder.

 

We go for morning walks and will collect things to read about and draw. We sit in our back yard and draw the birds, roses, fruit trees (according to their season), etc. If it is rainy or too cold, we just pick something from a book that interests us. That's the easy nearly every day type of nature study.

 

On Fridays, I try to take the kids to a local park or natural area for more extensive nature study and outdoor play.

 

The best thing I ever did though was start participating. I talked the kids through my nature notebooking. They started to see the value of really studying and observing an object, writing down where we found it, the date, the weather, etc. They saw me make mistakes and not freak out about it.

[Guest Alte Veste Academy]

What has been most successful is for me to partcipate. I draw and write when they do.

 

:iagree:

 

The best thing I ever did though was start participating. I talked the kids through my nature notebooking. They started to see the value of really studying and observing an object, writing down where we found it, the date, the weather, etc. They saw me make mistakes and not freak out about it.

 

:iagree: There is a theme here. :001_smile:

 

It doesn't exactly matter *how* you do a journal, just that you get in the habit

 

This was one of the hardest things for me to hear when I was in the research phase but this is exactly the truth. Just start. We eased into the whole nature thing. I am reasonably comfortable in nature but completely ignorant about it. Thinking I was supposed to be educating the children about nature kept me from going at all. So, we started just going for pure enjoyment. I'm starting to realize that the kids are going to teach me more about nature than I will ever teach them because they really see the details. I have actually reached a happy place about this; it is a good thing.

 

Step 1 for us was just getting out in nature regularly. We found a pretty place and kept visiting week after week.

 

Step 2 was buying paper and drawing implements. I chose spiral bound 8x8 watercolor notebooks and watercolor pencils (very cool because you can add water later at home if you want the effect of watercolors but you don't have the mess when you're out and about).

 

Step 3 was stuffing our art supplies and water bottles into our backpack and going out again, finding something pretty to draw and sitting down to do it. I drew a bird my first time. I can't even tell you how ridiculously proud I am of that bird. It's awesome! :lol: I looked up the bird in my Texas bird book and made a few notes. Easy as pie. I can't believe I was intimidated for as long as I was. Really, when you get started, you won't believe how the whole nature journal thing could have puzzled you at all! I was puzzled for far too long myself. :lol:

 

I also recommend Keeping a Nature Journal if you don't have it. It is wonderful. Same goes for The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. Honestly though, I bought those books a couple of years before we started nature study and at first, all they did was intimidate me into thinking I wasn't talented enough to keep a nature journal. Now I look at them and find inspiration instead of feelings of inadequacy. Just a fair warning... :tongue_smilie:

 

For science, I highly recommend Science Notebooks: Writing About Inquiry. It gives wonderful ideas for great science journals.

[ChrissySC]

Fantastic! Thank you so much for the comments. I was beginning to think no one was doing a nature journal. :)

[Kareni]

There are some great threads that have been tagged with the term 'nature study.' This thread in particular has some great suggestions.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[BlsdMama]

The easiest and most effective way for us has just been to use a ream of copier paper. The kids put it on a clip board and off we go. If they mess up,they can easily start over. When finished it gets hole punched or placed in a slip cover and put into a 3 ring binder.

 

 

I desperately wish we had done this. We didn't realize "life" as we knew it was going to change. We moved from a farm in Iowa to the PNW and I really wish I had kept a binder of the nature "stuff" we'd done on the farm. :( Hindsight, I guess.

 

I'm vowing, here & now, to get better at it. We're in OR for a couple of years and we have pictures galore, but it's different without putting it in a binder with journaling, pictures, etc. Love the binder idea. I think a scrapbook would be even better.

[khall]

We use a great journal titled "My Nature Journal" that we saw at the Queens Homeschool site. ( I actually bought it from amazon because it was cheaper) Each child has one and we absolutely love them. There are lots of pages for sketches, but it also gives you activities to do and helps provide some direction to nature walks or other excursions. For example, one of the activities was to go on a nature walk in the woods, but there was a scavenger hunt list of things to look for (something older than you, something taller than you, something alive, etc.) It's a really fun book and we use it frequently!

[Mothersweets]

I bought this nature notebook from Fatbrain Toys. It is beautifully done and even has pockets with little wax paper envelopes to store specimens in.

http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/eeboo/scientific_notebook.cfm

 

I see it is on sale now for $10.95 - I think I bought ours for $12. Fatbrain has always been really good and quick about shipping, too. We haven't written in ours for a while - gonna have to get it out more often!

 

 

I also have the "My Nature Journal" that khall posted about above. It is very nice, too, but I feel guilty having the kids write in it! I feel like I don't want the kids to mess it up - I know, bad hsing mommy.

[Researcher]

We're switching to Elemental Science this year and will be keeping a Nature Journal. I was going to do it last year too but quickly realized I didn't get organized enough to pull it off. :glare:

 

So this year I read every thread I could find on this subject and found some cool stuff. Donna Young's website has a really nice science journal listed here http://www.donnayoung.org/homeschooling/science/nature-journal.htm. I haven't decided yet if we will take the binder approach or not but I like the fact that I can add pages as needed.

 

Another fabulous resource is a blog by a WTMer http://www.handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/ She'll walk you step by step through the process and even has links to notebooking pages to print out. I've really enjoyed reading this blog in preparation for our year. It's been a real joy and very inspirational!

[2squared]

My littles have nature journals. I bought barebooks for them in 5x7. I love the barebooks b/c the pages are thicker, the size is great for transporting, and they are cheap!

 

My dc alternate between drawing their own things, coloring pictures I print, and pasting in photos. We live in the country, and the kids spend hours outside every day, so I don't necessarily take them on a nature walk. More likely they come tell me what they already saw and I find information on the topic and a coloring page.

 

I do have my 8yo write in her journal - titles, dates, labeling pictures, etc. My 6yo is still a hesitatant writer, so his journal is mostly pictures.