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Getting started with nature study/journal
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Hello my CM friends!
I really want to implement nature study/journaling this year. I’m walking through a challenging time in our family so having a guide to keep things simple is important for me to reduce stress. I would love suggestions on how to begin. My daughter is in 4th grade and we haven’t done any nature study up to this point. She has listened to a lot of nature stories and enjoys them. We live in South Florida so it’s hot. Really hot.
We have been doing nature study for many years. Everyone does it differently. We started with a sketch book and simple supplies and draw everywhere…at the L.A. Arboretum and it’s affiliate gardens, in our backyard, at Sea World, Disneyland, several different zoos, the mountains. Anywhere there are things growing works! Choosing simple things like a flower, weed, leaf, blade of grass, a berry if we’re raspberry picking, an apple if we’re apple picking, etc…are much easier to start with than full landscapes. I allow my children to choose, and what they journal is also up to them. Sometimes we write a simple poem, Haiku, words from a song, something from Scripture, or just how we are feeling that day. I personally have never graded their sketch books/journals. It’s about appreciation.
This year for 9th grade we are using a DVD called Nature Journaling and Sketching by Barry Stebbing/How Great Thou Art. We are turning it a bit more into a class for high school credit. I love Barry and his focus on God and creation.
We just let it happen naturally! This year might look a little different since we are using an actual DVD with some sketching lessons.
If you are looking for something that gives some guidance but doesn’t tell you exactly what to do, then take a look at our Journaling a Year in Nature. It is divided by season with 13 prompts per season covering various nature topics.
I will be back later with some thoughts, but until then, I wanted to share this link to a new nature journaling podcast. Full disclosure: I haven’t listened to any of these podcasts because I just learned of it this morning, but I have read writing by the woman who started the podcast and it has been so inspiring! I don’t know if adding a link will cause my post to get trapped in a spam filter, but if so, perhaps it can be rescued.
I’m getting myself into the vein of thinking that this is our direction this year. Even if it’s random. Can’t wait to check this out. Thank you!
I found a website of a woman in England named Lynn Seddon who has the most incredible nature study journals! Her journals alone inspired me to make nature study one of our “for sure” classes this school year. She has curriculum as well, which I purchased alongside her CM-based school planner. There is SO MUCH information available, and all the resources you’ve been given thus far are helpful. I would highly recommend that even if you don’t use Ms. Seddon’s curriculum, you take a peek at her journals. They’ve inspired me to begin my own journal alongside my children.
https://raisinglittleshoots.com/calendar-of-firsts/
She also has an IMMENSELY informative blog on that same site that follows along with the nature study for the week, with links to videos, downloadable resources, nature study “how tos”, etc. Ms. Seddon also has a YouTube channel with 18 videos, all of which are 3-4 years old, but still informative with regards to painting in one’s journal, should one decide they want to do that. She and her followers post on Instagram as well, accessible via hashtags on her blogposts.
Also, you may have heard this name already, but I’d highly recommend checking out John Muir Laws. He’s mentioned both by Lynn Seddon and also in the 1st episode of the podcast alphabetika posted above that I listened to. His site is CHOCK FULL of helpful information, and he’s written a number of books available for purchase (I bought his “Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling” earlier this summer on Ms. Seddon’s recommendation). But he has FREE curriculum as well, that I also downloaded, that I’ll use alongside what I purchased from Ms. Seddon. He’s from Northern California as well, so it’s amazing to have a resource that is based less than 50 miles from where I live.
Yes! MsWahine mentions two resources that I was going to mention in another post. I have used Lynn Seddon’s Exploring Nature with Children curriculum and LOVED it. It includes more than just nature study, so it was our curriculum in several areas because of all it included. It would be perfect, IMHO, for a child the age of the OP’s, 4th grade.
And yes, yes, YES, to John Muir Laws. His site is a treasure trove beyond compare, and his philosophy and manner are so winsome, you just can’t help being inspired and…comforted, is the best word I can think of, in your pursuit of nature observation and art. Watch his videos and learn!
I have more to say but will have to come back to this later. Loving this thread so much!
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