Nm. Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 (edited) Anyone use these? I am more than a little disappointed in the Beautiful Feet Nature Study. Edited January 25, 2023 by Lovinglife123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarita Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 Exploring Nature with Children. I have it and wanted to use it, but never ended up doing it at all. I think our disappointment with Exploring Nature with Children is first and foremost my own non-passion about studying nature then, a close second was my 3 year old at the time didn't like to walk for long periods of time (more than 2 min). So, we ended up just enjoying doing Kiwi crate stuff or exploring Physics in the backyard more. Also add in we have a zoo and some science museums nearby we just got memberships to the zoo and one science museum and that was more than enough. What was disappointing with Beautiful Feet Nature Study? (because from the sample I'm not sure Exploring Nature with Children will be that different.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 I have both but used neither because they were both disappointing. The best thing we ever did was go for a walk on the same nature trail 2 or 3 times a week for 3 years. We kept a family nature journal in a sketch book and everyone had a treasure box. I used waterproof tackle boxes in case we accidentally brought home something we didn't mean to. I love The Law's Guide to Nature Journaling and I used a bird identification app on the trail. I put in the information and it always told me the right bird, but it had a bird call feature so we would call to them and they frequently called back. Good years. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 You know, the best "nature study" we've done have been rather loose in structure, but targeted. DS really enjoyed the Burgess books, doing one a month on a local animal. He'd go looking for signs of that animal in our backyard and walking trails. We also enjoyed the One Small Square books and making our own with picture frames, astronomy cards with stories on the back about each about the constellations, doing leaf rubbings...we just picked one thing each month or so to target outside and went with it. I must have owned half a dozen "nature for kids" type books but they were both too broad and too narrow. Too few activities to do in the hellhole that is west Texas and too many of the same kinds for a nice, 4 season east coast. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyhock2 Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 I also bought Exploring Nature with Children, but never used it. I like the idea of it, but it was clearly designed for people living much farther south than I do, so a lot of the topics didn't work for us (like looking for earthworms in February). Also, if you want to use the suggested books for each topic, you would need a good library close by. But it did inspire me to create my own nature study, so I did that. I chose one thing to look for on each walk (birds, moss, mushrooms, etc.) and then chose lessons on those topics from books I already owned, plus we kept a nature study journal of drawings and summaries. So although I didn't use it as our curriculum, it did help me put together my own. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 I used Exploring Nature with children when dd was maybe 8? I liked it for her. She loves nature. I didn't use all of it every week. We probably read most of the poems and did the picture study. I don't really remember exactly how much I used it, but do remember liking having it as a resource to guide us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrymum Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 (edited) I love exploring nature with children and dip in and out of it as we can and have opportunity....no earthworms here in February either! I sometimes get a recommended book, but mostly pull a related one off my shelf...I also have Laws guide and like that too. Exploring nature got us into nature study and gave me background info and ideas. We have the notebooks but just haven't used them yet... it's busy with a baby.. ETA I had considering God's creation, but it was not organized to suit me and looked pretty crafty... I also like Simply Charlotte Mason elementary science courses. They have some nature study included that is scheduled and very doable. You can ask me about individual courses if you're interested. I love nature study and nature drawing. It's what I add for fun to school. Edited January 25, 2023 by countrymum 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 (edited) Beautiful feet is very simple yet not- because the activities are extremely specific and most of the time dull.. The book choices for library connection are awful! The only thing I like are some of the core books used. The guide is more useless than any other guide we’ve owned from them - this one could have been so much better. I would love more ideas to pull from (that’s not on Pinterest or in a million different books). The activities in ENWC looked doable and simple? Edited January 25, 2023 by Lovinglife123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrymum Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 Yes doable and simple and connected to Handbook of nature study for even more ideas! Interesting too. I like it at least. I can give you a few examples if you want. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppingby Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 I wouldn’t call “considering God’s creation” a nature study. I would say you make an interactive notebook. It really depends on what you are looking for..... and your kids.... I used some things as a supplement with my 1st grader but kids really need to be a little older- I would say probably 2nd or 3rd grade would be the target. It has songs, vocabulary, suggestions for extra activities. The notebook is cut, paste, etc. Fun for the right kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 26, 2023 Author Share Posted January 26, 2023 (edited) What is handbook of nature study? Would love some examples. CGC- I have a few crafty kids who Love all things cut and paste. I’m interested if this could be used along with other things we’re doing? Like print out specific units? Right now we’re reading apologia human body- so print out a body unit? Maybe? 😂 Edited January 26, 2023 by Lovinglife123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 26, 2023 Author Share Posted January 26, 2023 We also have VERY long winters.. crafts seem to get done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirror Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 9 hours ago, Lovinglife123 said: What is handbook of nature study? Would love some examples. CGC- I have a few crafty kids who Love all things cut and paste. I’m interested if this could be used along with other things we’re doing? Like print out specific units? Right now we’re reading apologia human body- so print out a body unit? Maybe? 😂 The handbook of Nature study is the book Exploring nature with children is based on. It's a big intimidating toom of a book but a fantastic resource if you just look at the topic you are studying. The teacher is suppose to read the book informing themselves of the topic so they can facilitate the learning. At the end of each topic it gives a method such as observe a goldfish during fish studies then a list of observations which are usually questions or activities for the children like How many fins has the fish? Make a sketch of the goldfish with all it's fins and name them. It goes into more depth later asking why they have a dorsal fin and how does it help move through water. Once I bought that book and coupled it with Cindy Rollins suggested method of Nature study (go on regular nature walks but do the Nature notebook part at home during morning time with the kids copying pictures from books whilst she read) I realised I would never buy a Nature study curriculum again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 26, 2023 Author Share Posted January 26, 2023 @Mirror I misread your reply thinking you didn’t like the book, but quite the opposite- it empowered you to do your own? Might need to check that out!! Do you need the book to do ENWC? Or she just used that to create the curriculum? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 26, 2023 Author Share Posted January 26, 2023 Also who wrote the book? My library search comes up with a few different ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrymum Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 https://www.rainbowresource.com/category/3099/Handbook-of-Nature-Study.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIx76J3rfl_AIVOvzjBx0pRQwmEAAYASAAEgKedvD_BwE You can find it used for less. You can even read the whole thing online... don't recommend it;) Rainbow has a good description though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrymum Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 Also, no you don't need it for Exploring nature with children. Exploring nature with children just references it for further study sometimes. ENWC is more open and go....or at least smaller....less intimidating because of fewer ideas? Anyway I like both and use both. Just pick a topic and look it up in 1 or other for ideas... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirror Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 16 minutes ago, Lovinglife123 said: @Mirror I misread your reply thinking you didn’t like the book, but quite the opposite- it empowered you to do your own? Might need to check that out!! Do you need the book to do ENWC? Or she just used that to create the curriculum? Thanks! The book is written by Anna Botsford Comstock and is likely to be a free download online because it's fairly old. You don't need it to do ENWC Lynn has re-written the introductions to make it simpler (also only chosen parts of the book) as well as adding in Art work for picture study, a poetry piece and a book list each week alongside some crafts. IMO it's more targeted towards those with young students or new home schoolers who aren't used to building a unit study themselves. I bought and did ENWC and used it for a while before I bought the book, ENWC is a year long study which some will use every year although I think for many it might be a bit repetitive. If you use the book it will give you years of fresh subjects to study and allows you pick the topics that most appeal to your family and your local environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirror Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 There might be other places that have it but it's free on Archive.org https://archive.org/details/handbookofnature002506mbp/page/30/mode/2up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneGG Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 I don’t nature. I tried. Especially during 2020 when that was all there was. We got lost multiple times, I got stung by a wasp, DS got soaked on a 3 mile trail after stomping in a puddle that was deeper than we anticipated, the list goes on. My nature journal is comprised of stories and pictures of our hot mess express. So now I use No Sweat Nature Study by Cindy West and call it a day. I am tempted by BF’s Season’s Afield. But no. I will not. Nope. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 28, 2023 Author Share Posted January 28, 2023 @AnneGG the watercolor with me in the forest and the bramble book are the only ones I would get if I were to do over. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 We love Considering God's Creation. The kids ask for it. I will add in extra I find online or TV shows and books, but you do not need to. That stretches it out and I spread it out to last 2-3 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmeilaen Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 I have had Considering God's Creation on my shelf for more than 15 years and never used it much. This school year I got it out for my youngest daughter, grade 7. She is an auditory learner, but also likes to do crafts. The combination of scripted lessons and making your own lapbook is perfect for her. We are using it twice a week and are planning on finishing it next school year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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