I have a 3 year old and a 5 year old. I am reading picture books about children around the world and had planned to do animals around the world as well. All just reading and little fun art projects. Nothing academic:) Now I am wondering if I should scrap the world animals part and just read books about local animals, the water cycle, magnets, simple machines, rainbows, trees…..for “science”. Like in the homegrown preschooler or wee folk art. We are doing nature study as well about 1 time per week.
Since most children love animals and animal stories I would do the world animals. The science subjects are great as long as your kids are interested and you are not trying to go too deep with it. There are lots of ways to explore science without being formal. Magnetic toys (trains, building tiles and rods) are fun. When my son was younger (he’s 7 now) we would find objects to float and sink in the bath, explore melting blocks of ice in the kiddie pool, float leaves and such down a stream or gutter. Nature study each week is great.
I agree. Stick with what is working for you, and in the early years, let natural exploration be the teacher for higher concepts. There’s plenty of time to teach those.
Nature study is fantastic. Include lots of living books (The Gift of a Tree and Henry the Impatient Heron are two great ones that come to mind off the top of my head). You might consider doing the Pond and Stream study (SCM) or Exploring Nature with Children if you want a more guided nature study.