Talk to me about using the Handbook of Nature Study

[Mrs. A]

I've had the book sitting on my shelf for a few years. I've dipped into it on occasion, but I want to make better use of it. I think I get a bit overwhelmed by its size. I've looked at the Outdoor Hour Challenge website, but that overwhelms me too.

 

If you use it, please do tell me about it!

Edited March 11, 2016 by Mrs. A

[WoolC]

I plan out our science following the WTM rotation, for instance, over the next 10 weeks we're studying botany. I pulled about ten books from our shelves on the subject plus some library books and scheduled out each weeks readings and simple experiments: plants making food, parts of a flower, leaves, trees, seeds, pollination etc. Then I look up the corresponding topics in HONS and share it with my kids as we are discussing our readings and experiments each week. I will do the same thing next year with earth science topics.

 

I found the part one section on how to teach nature study really helpful and inspiring. I tried to use HONS last year just naturally with nature walks and such, but I really needed the structure and plan that WTM provides to actually use the book. It was too overwhelming for me otherwise. We still do our nature walks and daily outdoor time but I don't feel like I have to try to make it into a lesson anymore because I have science covered.

[Holly]

Our copy of HNS sat on the shelf for years before I figured out how to use it!  I use it a couple different ways.  The main way is to prepare a nature lesson ahead of time.  I pick a topic, usually something I noticed in the yard or garden.  Then I look up the topic in the book and read through the information myself.  When it's time for our "object lesson", I take the kids outside and share a couple things from the book.  Then we go through the discussion questions at the end of the section.  Usually these questions get them looking closely at the object or get them thinking about why the plant/animal/insect/etc. was designed that way.  Some moms have them look even closer with a magnifying glass.  Sometimes I gather up a few quotes or poems about our topic that I share before we go outside...I encourage them to put a quote or section of a poem in their journals if they wish to.  I used to be more "spur of the moment" with our nature studies, but I've found this method to be way more effective.

 

The 2nd way we use our HNS is similar, but I look things up after we find them in the yard.  We keep a small "critter carrier" handy to take a close look at insects, frogs, etc.  I skim through the information, share anything that seems interesting, then ask them a few questions.  Everyone takes a close look at the object.  These lessons are usually more chaotic since I haven't prepared ahead of time, but they are probably even more enjoyable for the kids since it's a topic that they were already interested in.

 

Like WoolC, I've also found it helpful to pick a few topics ahead of time.  AO gives suggestions for each year, but I don't like that they always study the same topic during the same term...For example, I'd rather study trees throughout the year, and they always have them scheduled during the fall.  I've taken their idea of 3 subjects per year, but we spread out these topics so we can study them a bit each term.  Our topics this year have been trees, birds, and the night sky, all three of which change each season.  We've read some books on our topics, set up a bird feeder, made a list of birds spotted, gotten out a telescope, etc.  We've also done lessons outside these three topics, but these are the ones I've focused on for the year.

 

Another book I really like and one we use alongside HNS, is Natural Science Through the Seasons.  It's a bit more easy-to-implement, but doesn't have as much information on the topics.  I think they really complement each other.  I often use Natural Science to plan my lessons and HNS to study up on the topic.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Holly

[Soror]

I had it before and actually sold it b/c I found it overwhelming but I was just saying yesterday that I need to buy it again b/c I keep looking it up online to read. I am using the fabulous e-book- Exploring Nature with Children (the link is in my sig- it is by a fabulous WTMer- I forget her WTM name), anyway, I usually use her schedule as a base and look up in the HoNS for more info. This week I actually just did our nature study impromptu, we found snails and a slug on our walk so we brought it back and read all about it in HoNS, sharing bits with the kids and discussing things, the info is so complete there, nothing really compares. Likewise you could use the schedule on the One Hour Outside site and use it for more info for you, keep it simple works well.

Edited March 11, 2016 by soror

[cintinative]

I had it before and actually sold it b/c I found it overwhelming but I was just saying yesterday that I need to buy it again b/c I keep looking it up online to read. I am using the fabulous e-book- Exploring Nature with Children (the link is in my sig- it is by a fabulous WTMer- I forget her WTM name), anyway, I usually use her schedule as a base and look up in the HoNS for more info. This week I actually just did our nature study impromptu, we found snails and a slug on our walk so we brought it back and read all about it in HoNS, sharing bits with the kids and discussing things, the info is so complete there, nothing really compares. Likewise you could use the schedule on the One Hour Outside site and use it for more info for you, keep it simple works well.

 

Soror, this is a great resource! I did not know about it.

 

I like using the Handbook of Nature study as a jumping off point but not necessarily as a spine. There are some fun stories in there (read the one about the squirrel!), but overall it helped to inform what a nature study course for a year might look like. She does have access to farm animals in the book, which we did not, so I could not use those sections. Also we skipped the night sky portion. It was good to get the author of the HNS' perspective on how to address a topic and then decide how I wanted to deal with it in my class. I used the list of observation questions for my students. For example we did the bird observations for robins and sparrows.  I like the Scope & Sequence of the resource Soror used.  The class on nature study I did was only from Sept-late April so that did limit some of our topics.  

 

This is a general idea of what we covered:  fall leaves, nuts and seeds; insect identification/collection;  wild edibles (fall---you could also do spring/summer); pokeberry dyeing;  fall salamander/frog hike; owls/owl pellets; animal tracks and scat; mammals/hibernation,etc.; tree identification; macroinvertebrates/pond life; salamander migration (winter); reptiles; birds/bird songs/bird silhouettes; wild flowers. We really didn't get to see many wild flowers and tree leaves due to the time of year. If we had been able to continue through to June that would have been easier.  

Edited March 12, 2016 by cintinative

[Hunter]

HONS was originally used alongside a very different curriculum than mostly people are now using.

 

Nature study was a part of geography which was the main science, and was used to teach language arts as often or even more often than stories.

 

When we try to paste HONS onto a modern curriculum it can be awkward. And often the people offering to show us how are for-profit sellers which can distract us more than show us the way.

 

I tend to do things like pair up HONS brooks with studying the Nile River, and amphibians with pre-history and dinosaurs, flowerless plants with the medieval plagues, and climate and weather with the explorers. And when the road construction sent a giant nest of cockroaches scurring up the pipes of my highrise apartment building we read all about roaches in HONS while we actually watched a big roach eat a smaller roach right on my kitchen counter. :lol:

 

Some vintage readers and teacher manuals by Powell helped me learn use HONS to teach langauge arts.

 

HONS is completely intertwined with our vintage geography studies. I find a HONS and vintage home geography based science plan to be very grounding.

 

Usually grounding is good, but sometimes when my life is in chaos and I'm completely overwhelmed, grounding feel bad. At those times I tend to put all the HONS and vintage stuff away and spend some time catching up on some modern tiny and abstract topics, until I am ready to calm down. I'm in one of those moods right now and pulled out Mr. Q physics for my own self-education and any teaching I'm doing. Yup, it is an early spring and beautifully sunny, and I pulled out physics for the next few weeks. :lol:

[FO4UR]

HONS was originally used alongside a very different curriculum than mostly people are now using.

 

Nature study was a part of geography which was the main science, and was used to teach language arts as often or even more often than stories.

 

When we try to paste HONS onto a modern curriculum it can be awkward. And often the people offering to show us how are for-profit sellers which can distract us more than show us the way.

 

This!

 

Pairing HONS with Madame How and Lady Why for a 10-14yo changes a child.  (Yes, we read with an understanding that MHLY is an old book and there is new information...and even that is part of our science education.)

[Hunter]

This!

 

Pairing HONS with Madame How and Lady Why for a 10-14yo changes a child. (Yes, we read with an understanding that MHLY is an old book and there is new information...and even that is part of our science education.)

I like Shakespeare's The Tempest along with MHLY and the HONS earth science topics.

[Vida Winter]

Just a warning - it is not especially suited to western regional USA ecosystems. There is still much that can be gleaned, but I found it to be difficult to implement.

[Hunter]

Just a warning - it is not especially suited to western regional USA ecosystems. There is still much that can be gleaned, but I found it to be difficult to implement.

I'm in a major large city. Some of the species in the book are not available for us to actually see in real life, but I cover those topics with DVD, Youtube, vintage narratives, modern library books, etc.

 

*I* read every page as the teacher manual, but I don't expect the student to experience it all.

 

For example, I have rocks. minerals, and wildflowers chosen for 3 rd grade, but I don't intend to have students observe all the species and specimens in the book. We have some museums that do take care of the rocks and minerals, but wildflowers are whatever we do have for wildflowers.

 

And I chose wildflowers for this year to go along with the prairie and uncultivated plant theme for geography and history, to come before rivers and cultivated plants. Weeds and soil are pushed all the way to grade 10, so bits of that will get included with the rocks and wildflowers.

 

General science will cover the parts of the plant and a little on bees even though insects won't be fully covered until grade 6. The plant focus will be on the topics not covered later for crops in grade 5.

 

Little House on the Prairie is scheduled for this year.

 

I focus on the species and topics that are most universal worldwide. I have African grasslands scheduled in this year, too, and African Folk tales.

 

I probably don't use the book itself as much as I think I do. But HONS still stands at the center. The tome feels a bit like a baby blanket to me. Something old that is almost as new as when it was published and is likely to still be relevent in 100, 200, 300, 400 years.

 

HONS is like the Bible and Aesop and Shakespeare. It transcends. And I desperately crave that which transcends.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Hunter

[Mrs. A]

Thanks everyone,for sharing all these ideas. I think I'm getting a better picture of how I can use it better.

 

Hunter, how do you tie it in with geography? What do you use for geography?

 

4blessingmom, can you tell me a bit about how you tie it in with MHLW? We are just starting that and it would be great if I can do that too.

[FO4UR]

 

4blessingmom, can you tell me a bit about how you tie it in with MHLW? We are just starting that and it would be great if I can do that too.

 

 

I purposely don't tie anything together.

 

We just do both.  The kids connect the dots and do all of the tying. 

[Mrs. A]

I purposely don't tie anything together.

 

We just do both. The kids connect the dots and do all of the tying.

Perfect! Less work for me is a good thing. :)

[Slache]

It's available for Kindle. Do I need the hard copy? I've never actually seen it. Are there a lot of pictures?

[FO4UR]

It's available for Kindle. Do I need the hard copy? I've never actually seen it. Are there a lot of pictures?

 

 

It's a huge book, and difficult to navigate on a screen.  jme.

[Holly]

It's available for Kindle. Do I need the hard copy? I've never actually seen it. Are there a lot of pictures?

 

I'd try the free version until you decide if you will use it.  If you plan on using it regularly, the hard copy is definitely worth it!  It's sort of like reading the Bible on the Kindle.  You can use an e-book copy, but it takes awhile to find the section you are looking for.  

[Rachel]

Marking to find later.