Nature study...What is it?

[3monkeys]

How do you do this? Is there a book? I see it mentioned on here but not sure if it's a specific curriculum or what?

[Mommy to monkeys]

This is the best site in the whole wide world for nature study explanation and practical application.:001_smile:

 

 

http://www.handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/

[stripe]

It's the study of nature, and can include plants, animals, the stars, and so forth. A lot of times people emphasize what's native to their geographic area.

 

Some people use the Handbook of Nature Study, but it's by no means the only source. (The blog is based on it, but is by another person.) There is a shorter interpretation of it by Overton and Hill.

 

Others like the One Small Square books.

 

I found a book called Science in Your Own Backyard by Elizabeth Cooper that is kind of neat.

 

And, as it was all the rage about a hundred yeas ago, there are some nice books about nature study that are out of copyright and are available on archive.org or google books. Some books I previously posted about are

 

 

book on nature study from Detroit

 

Nature Study by Grades by Horace Hall Cummings, which, while it does include snow, might be a bit more flexible for different climates than the Detroit schools one:

Vol 1

And

vol 2

[Lily_Grace]

Nature study is part of the Charlotte Mason school of thought. It is just that: observing the outside, writing down or drawing those observations. We have a few resources we've collected but really like the Take A Walk books for upper elementary. There's a lot of info and ways for kids to study specific environments packed in them.

 

When ds and I did them we'd pack a backpack with specimen jars, tweezers, a pocket microscope, pocket sundial and compass, along with a drawing pad, notebook, and colored pencils. Sometimes it was simple - looking at a leaf under the microscope or watching ants for a while. Sometimes it was more complex, taking ocean samples or recording as many specimens as we could in an area. We liked to combine art, too, since a lot of Artistic Pursuits could be done outdoors.

[Chris in VA]

If you would like a Christian resource, I love Cindi Rushton's Nature Study The Easy Way.

[3monkeys]

If you would like a Christian resource, I love Cindi Rushton's Nature Study The Easy Way.

 

Yes I'm excited to check this out!

[Guest]

http://www.homeschooljourney.com/aNature2.html

 

I just bought these to use with my little guys. Your basic nature study is go outside and look around, maybe collect leaves, etc to look at and draw later or press.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

How do you do this? Is there a book? I see it mentioned on here but not sure if it's a specific curriculum or what?

Some use source material others just let the nature walk/hike produce it's own study. We don't use any "real" curricula for our nature study. Usually we begin a walk/study with a goal...find seed pods, mushrooms, look for bugs. Then depending on the goal we collect, draw, and or look it up. Ask questions and read up on things we see/find. A nature study can be very involved with nature notebooks that have recorded drawings and journaling and Latin names for the items found or just fun walks where you or your child points out things you see. Observing nature is the main goal though.