Name: Thrive! NCHE Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-05-22T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-24T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

This topic has 12 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 15 years ago by Shonnana.

Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)

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April 21, 2010 at 4:00 pm
amandajhilburn
Participant
My children love being outside. They catch “critters” and put them in their bug catchers. They pick flowers for me and put them in vases. They dig in the dirt, plant seeds (when I have them), look for interesting things on trips we take to the lake or when their dad takes them for “hikes” in the woods behind our house. They LOVE nature and the outdoors, but they do not want to draw any of it…..I am really at a loss because they really love to draw too!? Just not when they are outside looking at something. They moan and groan if I say we are going to get out our nature notebooks and go for a walk. They would rather just go for the walk…..Am I doing something wrong?
Oh, they are ages 7 and 9 and this has been our first year with nature studies. They have always done the things I mentioned above without my telling them that it was “nature study”.
Thanks,
Amanda
April 21, 2010 at 4:19 pm
missceegee
Participant
I wouldn’t worry about it. Perhaps you can draw after you come inside. We do that sometimes. We also just take photos on some nature study adventures and some we simply enjoy without further activity.
HTH,
Christie
April 21, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Linabean
Participant
Well DIDDO Amanda! I could have written that exact post! Except that I have a 7 and 5 year old. I have been wondering what I was doing wrong as well. Last summer, while I was researching and planning our first CM year, I was so excited to get to our nature studies and notebooks. I really expected this part of our “new schooling” to be my kids favorite part! Go figure!
Miranda
April 21, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Esby
Member
My suggestion is that YOU do nature sketching even if your kids do not. You’ll set a good example for them. They are still rather young and exploring nature hands-on is great experience and will teach them so much.
April 21, 2010 at 6:20 pm
havefaithplease
Member
Amanda.. I have the same thing going on here! My boys are 7 & 8. They moan and groan if I say let’s get our nature journals and do some drawing outdoors. Or if I try to get them to draw even after being outdoors. It is not something they like to do at all. I stopped pushing it. They do like to have me take pictures of what we see. So we do that. I also have gone to printing out pictures of different animals we’ve seen and they will then color them in. They just do not like to free draw them themselves. About once every other week I have it done as an assignment in science. We use apologia, so I will have them draw one of the insects/birds that we’ve been discussing (to the best of their ability).
For them when they are outside they are too busy getting their hands dirty, catching the insect, frog, salamander, snake…. they usually are not just observing. They are a part of what is happening. Does that make sense? Maybe once they are more at that “observation” stage they will be willing to sit and draw. But right now they are “involved” in nature.
April 21, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Sonya Shafer
Moderator
Don’t forget that the nature notebook doesn’t have to be all drawing. This fact finally sunk into my brain after years of pulling teeth and emphasizing the sketching. You can just jot down the date, what you saw, and where you observed it. If the kids are busy getting their hands dirty, you could write in either a family notebook or in their personal notebooks for them. Then if they want to add drawings later, they can; if not, that’s fine too.
April 21, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Misty
Participant
My children 12 and under also are not nuts about the nice nootbook, pencils and holder I got them. They don’t mind but maybe it’s me pushing to much also.
Soyna, I love the family one idea though. I could write and they could draw if they want to. This is a great idea.
April 21, 2010 at 11:29 pm
my3boys
Participant
Great ideas!!
I want to begin our *official* Nature Study* soon and I already know that my 11 yo will not enjoy the drawing part. He used to love to draw, but doesn’t anymore. I have him draw some things and he does, but it’s not his favorite. He would much rather *note* what/when/where he observed something, especially if it is new to him. My husband takes the boys fishing as often as he can and he would enjoy making a note of the amount of fish he caught, maybe their size, type, etc., instead of drawing them, would that count??
My 7yo uses drawing as an outlet still and finds much enjoyment from it, so for him it may be right up his alley. My goal for them would still be to observe it all and not just pass by like it wasn’t even there and just be more aware of the beauty that surrounds them.
This is a great topic and I’m glad that you mentioned it, Amanda:)
April 22, 2010 at 9:15 am
Renelle
Participant
Hi,
My ds8 loves to take digital photos. This works well, he has mostly drawn but the photos are a new thing as he was given a second hand camera by his aunty and loves it so it is a nice change. I then show him how to load the photos on the computer and print them so it teaches computers as well. It’s good to have them for a raining day or art assignment also. I always draw/paint with him as does our 2yr old. His fine motor skills have been a little late blooming so we give him lots of variety in media.
Blessings
April 22, 2010 at 10:24 am
khall
Member
If you’re having trouble implementing nature study, try taking a peek at the outdoor hour challenges posted on this blog

handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com

She really breaks it down into something simple and manageable. We weren’t managing to do much with nature study either until we stumbled upon her blog. She lists the “challenges” on the far right, and you just start with #1 and progress from there.
April 22, 2010 at 12:22 pm
havefaithplease
Member
I also like the idea of the family nature study book. I think I will combine what the boys have into one for the family. Then make journal entries for them. What a good idea. I really need to get better about printing all the pictures we take! I’ll have to work on my own drawing/sketching. I definately lack in the artistry area! lol
April 23, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Lesley Letson
Participant
My son loves his nature journal and loves to draw. BUT we also do a photo journal (like others have mentioned). I have a really nice camera and we take it on walks. He finds things he thinks are really neat and asks me to take pictures of them. Also, any time he catches a critter for his bug box (this includes lizards, frogs, toads, etc) we will have a little photo session with it and then let it go – this was a good compromise because he hated having to let them go and would end up letting them die in the box (he tried his darndest to feed them and keep them alive -he’d go catch bugs for them, etc.). This way he can have a picture of them and letting them go isn’t so bad. I started keeping a notebook with monthly dividers in it and we put our pictures/drawings in there so we can see what different plants and critters we see at different times of the year (and can overlap from year to year – we may see something this May that we missed last May). Anyway, that may be an alternative type of journal that they may enjoy. Don’t know, just a thought.
April 24, 2010 at 2:30 am
Shonnana
Member
I am also having difficulty with my 11 yr old daughter even though she wants to be an artist, but since it is labled as “workbook” then she is being stubborn about, however, my 9 year old son is loving it! I just started a nature journal a few weeks ago, and am having a hard time cutting out some of the other stuff to do this. I am slowly introducing the Charolette Mason approach to our homeschool by next year hopefully it will be mostly. Used to Abeka, any advice would help! thanks