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Does anyone use Ambleside Online's Nature Study schedule? (m)


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I'm thinking of being completely radical next year and allowing nature study to be the primary study we do for science. DD will be in 2nd grade. This year, I tried to follow WTM recs with nature study as a secondary, almost separate course. We did some, but not as much as I originally wanted/intended.

 

Next year, ds will be 4, so we'll have a little more flexibility (in terms of being able to leave the house instead of having to be home for naps, etc.) - he'll be able to hang with us some more. Which hopefully, will make things easier instead of harder. ;)

 

I'm wondering if anyone here follows the Ambleside schedule for nature study - and if so, how do you implement it? I'm finding the "instructions" frustratingly vague - I apparently need more hand-holding (another reason it hasn't really gotten done this year). Do you design actual lessons, or do you just....oh gosh, I have been completely distracted by 3yo, sorry....

 

I guess what I'm saying is - help! How do I study nature, ala Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online?

 

Thanks!

Melissa

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and we quickly dropped it. There was too much left for me to figure out. I love the book The Handbook of Nature Study and read through all the beginning intro stuff on how to teach it. But, since I haven't been taught how to be a nature person myself, I was having trouble implementing it. I didn't have the time to implement it, I guess.

 

This is a subject dd really enjoys so I plan to take a whole year out in 6th grade to focus on botany/nature study. I stumbled across another homeschooler's blog who takes The Handbook of Nature Study and breaks it down into bite size pieces. She seems very Charlotte Mason in her approach to homeschooling. The blog is: Handbook of Nature Study. She also has another blog called The Heart of Harmony, which is a music and art appreciation blog. Getting back to the nature study blog, she has lots of great resources and has a theme: The Green Hour, No child Left Inside. She gives Green Hour Challenges, which makes it easy for someone like me to implement nature study. I'm ready to try it again! HTH!

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We use them too. It's usually pretty easy to follow, and it requires little planning, which is a big plus when you're doing everything else. I don't think it would really be sufficient for an entire Science course unless you supplemented with other reading that you did plan, but as an add-on to a Science course it's great. We school M-Th and save Fri for extras and that's one thing we try to always do on Friday.

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until this spring. We have been taking walks when the weather is nice. I am finding that I don't need to plan out nature study. My kiddos will do it very naturally if you just get them out of the house. I don't make them draw unless they really want to and even that does happen. We have watched birds, studied toads, brought home turtles, scooped out some wierd floaty thing in the lake (turned out to be a plant that is now in our fish tank), we have planted flowers and trees. All very painless. I really think the big thing CM advocated is to get out in nature and observe whether or not you do deep study. My kids will naturally go to our guide books and look stuff up now. Even my 6 yr. old will look up the various things they find. So no, I don't follow a set nature schedule. HTH

Blessings,

Pat

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My kids will naturally go to our guide books and look stuff up now. Even my 6 yr. old will look up the various things they find. So no, I don't follow a set nature schedule. HTH

Blessings,

Pat

 

What guide books do you have on hand? I think that is a problem here, when we want a book, we go to the library. But, it would be nice to have a couple good ones at home. :)

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Thanks everyone, these are great things to think about. I don't know why I feel so unsettled about plans for next year! Suddenly I'm questioning everything, even the stuff I knew for certain months ago, I was going to use next year, I'm now wondering about. Is it just spring fever????

 

Sorry, OT rant. I appreciate all your thoughts, and if anyone else wants to chime in, I'm all ears! :bigear:

 

Thanks!

Melissa

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until this spring. We have been taking walks when the weather is nice. I am finding that I don't need to plan out nature study. My kiddos will do it very naturally if you just get them out of the house. I don't make them draw unless they really want to and even that does happen. We have watched birds, studied toads, brought home turtles, scooped out some wierd floaty thing in the lake (turned out to be a plant that is now in our fish tank), we have planted flowers and trees. All very painless. I really think the big thing CM advocated is to get out in nature and observe whether or not you do deep study. My kids will naturally go to our guide books and look stuff up now. Even my 6 yr. old will look up the various things they find. So no, I don't follow a set nature schedule. HTH

Blessings,

Pat

 

You know, I have to laugh because this is the kind of stuff we just did naturally as kids back in the 60's and 70's. That was before cable TV, computers, fax machines, and cell phones. It didn't become nearly so complicated until homeschooling became popular and began referring to it as a school subject. :rolleyes:

 

I love Karen Andreola's book "Pocketful of Pinecones". The fictional mom's journal of their days as new homeschoolers is set in the 30's. There were no TVs or video games, so walking to the library and going to the park was just something they did. "Nature study" was a natural result of that lifestyle.

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Donna,:iagree:

You are so right about doing it naturally. I guess my kids really have always collected and observed. I just never really counted it because I didn't plan it out. My point, planning isn't always necessary, just getting them out there and let them go. I never have to direct them. They just like it that I am out there with them. I often times just sit and watch.

 

Angie,

We have National Audubon Society Pocket Guides, Peterson First Guide to Caterpillars, and Birds of Michigan Field Guide. I really do not recommend the National Audubon Guides as we rarely can find the things we have found in these guides. My personal favorites are the guides that are specific to your state. So the Birds of Michigan Field Guide by Stan Tekiela. The Peterson Guide is also very good. HTH

Blessings,

Pat

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I always thought that just taking things as they come was a great way to study nature but now that I am deep into organizing the Green Hour Challenges I realize that most people aren't equipped to make that happen on a regular basis. It is not that they don't want to but nature study will get pushed to the bottom of the list if you don't make some sort of plan.

 

I love that Ambleside Online has you pick a focus area for each term. The act of picking a focus and learning more in depth about that one area has helped our family tremendously. It encourages you to be on the look out for a particular area of nature like insects, birds, trees, or garden flowers. It isn't as if you are blind to anything else going on but that you have a particular idea of what to look for when you are outside with your children.

 

If you go to my nature blog on the right sidebar, I have a whole category for "How to Get Started with HNS" and that should give you some good ideas. I think that in the younger years you could use nature study as a great way to introduce so many concepts. The Handbook of Nature Study has so much more in it than just your typical "nature study" stuff. It has sections on geology, weather, and so much more. I am still using this hefty book with my son who is high school taking biology.

 

Anyway, just thought I would encourage families to at least put nature study on their radar screen and if you are looking for a helping hand in using the Handbook of Nature Study blog, you can read my nature blog and/or join in the Green Hour Challenges. Jump in anytime...read the links from other families and be inspired.

 

I agree with the other posters that finding the correct field guide for your particular area is a must. If you aren't sure which one fits your style, check one out from your local library first and then buy what works for you. Sometimes I like the Peterson Guides and sometimes I like the Audubon Guides.

 

 

Barb

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Harmonyartmom/Barb-

THANK YOU for that wonderful blog and the challenges. They are such a great idea and perfect timing around here. We get tons of nature time in but I've been looking for a way to gently introduce more "learning" as far as specific information into our fun time. I didn't want to make nature study boring or drudgery-this looks like a great way to do it.

What an excellent resource! :001_smile:

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I love that Ambleside Online has you pick a focus area for each term.

 

:iagree:

 

Thanks, Barb. I guess this is what I was really talking about. Wondering if anyone takes those focus areas and creates lessons or specific studies out of them, etc.

 

I will take a look at your blog, and I will check HNS out of the library.... again....and try to give it more of a fair shake. It's so big and scary! :lol: (I am not a nature girl by nature, heh.)

 

I am feeling a bit better about things, as I went to a curriculum sale yesterday and found lots of living books and good resources and have started to get some ideas that actually seem workable :D.

 

Thanks all!

Melissa

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