Favorite Nature Study?

[ClowPow]

Does anyone have a favorite nature study for the early elementary years? I’m looking at Beautiful Feet Seasons Afield and Gentle + Classical Nature but open to others as well. 

[HomeAgain]

Our favorites were not curriculum.  They were programs, books, and resources in our local area.  We discovered a bird "backyard" in our local park, where birds could fly in and out easily and visitors could watch from a separated room. That sparked a whole study on birds and the different kinds.  We found a star party at our library one night.  That led to a love of astronomy, lore, and hitting up any planetarium we could find.  We always try to seek out those who know a lot about our local area - writers, rangers, nature centers.  There is a lot we can do after we know more about our current home, including bringing in "One Small Square" ideas.

I've never found a nature study curriculum that brought that same joy and knowledge.

[ScoutTN]

5 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

Our favorites were not curriculum.  They were programs, books, and resources in our local area.  We discovered a bird "backyard" in our local park, where birds could fly in and out easily and visitors could watch from a separated room. That sparked a whole study on birds and the different kinds.  We found a star party at our library one night.  That led to a love of astronomy, lore, and hitting up any planetarium we could find.  We always try to seek out those who know a lot about our local area - writers, rangers, nature centers.  There is a lot we can do after we know more about our current home, including bringing in "One Small Square" ideas.

I've never found a nature study curriculum that brought that same joy and knowledge.

This, exactly! 

My kids did love having small backpacks with magnifying glasses, binoculars, sketchbook and pencils, etc. for outdoor exploring. 

[ClowPow]

2 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

Our favorites were not curriculum.  They were programs, books, and resources in our local area.  We discovered a bird "backyard" in our local park, where birds could fly in and out easily and visitors could watch from a separated room. That sparked a whole study on birds and the different kinds.  We found a star party at our library one night.  That led to a love of astronomy, lore, and hitting up any planetarium we could find.  We always try to seek out those who know a lot about our local area - writers, rangers, nature centers.  There is a lot we can do after we know more about our current home, including bringing in "One Small Square" ideas.

Thank you! I can see where all of those hands-on and close to home experiences would be more captivating and memorable than a curriculum at any age. I also realized that a zoo membership would be around the same cost as a nature curriculum so maybe we’d be better served doing that and to your point,  looking into other local resources. 

2 hours ago, ScoutTN said:

This, exactly! 

My kids did love having small backpacks with magnifying glasses, binoculars, sketchbook and pencils, etc. for outdoor exploring. 

My kids LOVE their nature backpacks! We need to take them more places! 

[countrymum]

I agree with the above but also loved raising little shoots Exploring Nature with Children. We have used it for ideas for nature walks and explores for years!

 

[ClowPow]

7 hours ago, countrymum said:

I agree with the above but also loved raising little shoots Exploring Nature with Children. We have used it for ideas for nature walks and explores for years!

 

Thank you! I’ll look into this one! 

[caffeineandbooks]

I found success with John Muir Laws' How To Teach Nature Journaling.  You can get it as a free PDF through the link to his website but for me it was more than worth paying for a hard copy.  It's given us some routines and gentle structure that have helped make a pleasurable habit of actually going outdoors and journaling.  He says it's aimed at 9+ but my then 5 year old loved it, not just the bigger kids.

[wisdomandtreasures]

Many, many hours outside with a backpack full of food, field guides, and a magnifying glass and/or binoculars. For years I dreamed of these calm, peaceful nature studies around the table... my kids passing strips of bark, or a piece of a paper wasp's abandond hive, or owl pellets around, carefully replicating their treasures in watercolor... nope. Didn't happen. My kids have no interest in anything like that (except pressing flowers now and then). Just lots of free time to explore. 🙂

Edited August 6 by wisdomandtreasures

[Momof4sweetkids]

We liked Seasons Afield. I bought the teachers guide, the watercolor book, and Brambly Hedge and then rented the rest from the library to save money.

[Tanager]

We did nature awareness type things

Books:

Sharing nature with children (old one, good for young children)

Coyotes guide to connecting with nature

Activities:

We joined in Audubon bird walks (only if your kids can be quiet and calm the whole time to not disrupt the birds).

Sit spots with nature journals, afterwards we comb through field guides to identify what we saw/heard and learn what we missed to be observed next time (what color was the chest)… goes along with the art of questioning (not giving kids answers, but asking questions so they become more observant).

Hiking, nature art, shelter building, plant identification (apps can work, but are notoriously wrong sometimes, always use field guides to double check)… and learning the hazards of your area (before walking through the poison sumac) is always wise.

 

 

[Melanie32]

Every time I tried to make nature study too formal, my children’s interest died. We just read good books and spent time enjoying nature and noticing nature. We really enjoyed the Thornton Burgess books, like his bird book and the others like it. We loved visiting nature centers and nature parks. We had membership at a zoo for two years and at a nature center for 1 or two years. Sometimes we drew things we saw but not often. We did look up everything unusual we saw and kept nature guides handy to do so. We did leaf rubbings and nature crafts. We made bird feeders and spent lots of time outdoors. We kept the binoculars handy. We played nature trivia games.
 

My kids are grown now and still really enjoy and notice nature. I consider that a success. 

[Clarita]

18 hours ago, wisdomandtreasures said:

Many, many hours outside with a backpack full of food, field guides, and a magnifying glass and/or binoculars. For years I dreamed of these calm, peaceful nature studies around the table... my kids passing strips of bark, or a piece of a paper wasp's abandond hive, or owl pellets around, carefully replicating their treasures in watercolor... nope. Didn't happen. My kids have no interest in anything like that (except pressing flowers now and then). Just lots of free time to explore. 🙂

Glad I'm not the only one. Taking them to a park and running into the nature guides there have worked so much better. 

[ClowPow]

Wow! There’s some really great advice and experience here, so thank you! It looks like the consensus is to go outside with some basic gear and field guides and explore. The hardest part for me is slowing down enough to observe. I think we’ll make an effort this year to go on more frequent nature walks and ensure we pause to observe our surroundings. I’ll definitely be checking out some of the books that were recommended. Thank you all! 

Edited August 8 by ClowPow

[HomeAgain]

1 hour ago, ClowPow said:

Wow! There’s some really great advice and experience here, so thank you! It looks like the consensus is to go outside with some basic gear and field guides and explore. The hardest part for me is slowing down enough to observe. I think we’ll make an effort this year to go on more frequent nature walks and ensure we pause to observe our surroundings. I’ll definitely be checking out some of the books that were recommended. Thank you all! 

Just a thought, but we now have cameras, a huge benefit over Charlotte Mason's time.  Even if you aren't slowing down much, you can do something like take the same walk monthly or quarterly, and take a picture in the same spot.  Play 'spot the difference' with the previous picture the next day at home, putting them side by side on the computer screen.  Nature study, but without much effort at first.

[Penderwink]

We’re another family with the zoo membership and a backpack to take on hikes with nature guides, binoculars etc. We try to hike/bike/ski in different habitats and visit in different seasons. We keep an eye out for events like pond dipping. Good quality TV nature documentaries are also great.

With regards to slowing down - what works best for us is having just one or two things each time we go out. So if we have the wildflower guide, we won’t also have the insect cards.

[Clarita]

In our area the nature parks occasionally have events the naturalists set up to help you look more closely at nature.

Some of it is special season like a mating season or end of hibernation, others are just activity days like scavenger hunt or something. Sometimes they will event supply some equipment to help you look at things (binoculars or magnifying glass, etc.)

[happypamama]

Definitely check out what your state parks and other local resources offer. We've had good success with just taking some of our small Peterson's guides and similar, the little ones that are easy for a little kids to use, and things like binoculars or magnifying glasses to wander around the yard or on walks or whatever. Point stuff out. When you are enthusiastic, they are enthusiastic.

 

But we also have liked several of the resources from Our Journey Westward. She's got some really great stuff! It's been nice to focus on stuff that we might not have noticed otherwise, and she definitely gives an air of "you can do this."

[ClowPow]

These are all great ideas. I appreciate that they’re so specific! We have a nature preserve close by that we frequent with my husband. I’ll look to see if they have any special events and also focus on one element of nature at a time, like birds, trees, or wildflowers when we go. I like that idea! We’ll also play “spot the difference.” My kids will love that activity!