Need advice for our nature study

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  • July 16, 2011 at 1:23 pm
    TheAttachedMama
    Participant

    Hi Everyone, I have two children who are preschool aged.  The oldest is 4 (will be 5 on November 27th).  And the youngest is nearly 3.5.  When this summer started, I had all of these lofty goals for studying nature with the kids.  I was going to plan to take them out on a hike once a week, get out to a park, etc. etc.  I had visions of happy kids surrounded by green.  🙂  And well…it is mid july and I have only been on one hike with the kids.  Embarassed 

    When trying to analyze why I have been falling short in my goal, I realize that the problem is two fold:

    1) We are blessed to live in a place that has a very active homeschool community and these great opportunities are always coming up.  Like a trip to a nearby aquarium, a visit to a bee hive, a visit to a museum, and things like that.  So our weeks suddenly become very filled very easily.  We have been doing some neat things.  However, I feel guilty for not just getting the kids out into nature more often.  Just more free time to explore.  About the only outdoor time they get is time spent in the backyard playing.  (Which they get a lot of.)  However, we live in suburbia…so there is a limited amount of nature to explore.  (Just our bird feeder and our flower garden.) 

    2) Another issue is that I am not really sure what I am supposed to do when I get out in nature with the kids.  Usually I will bring them out on the path or to a nearby park.  And the kids will kind of walk along the path without really making any observations.  Is this OK?  When I try to direct them to things, I get the feeling that it is kind of taking the fun away from the walk. 

    Part of me is thinking that I need to add in more structure to our week and actually schedule a day devoted to nature study.   I think that that is doable.  And while I would love to do it everyday, I don’t know if that is something I would actually stick to.  Is once a week enough?

    As far as the “what to do” issue, maybe I need some type of formal nature study program?   Maybe if I had a game plan in advance I would be more likely to stick to it. I was looking at the Outdoor secrets book and companion and wondering if that might be a good fit for us.  If so, do you think it could be modified for a once a week thing?  Do you think it would be something suitable for the ages of my kids?

    The other book I was thinking of using for nature study was one of the burgees books.  And just reading it to the kids to supplement their play. (Maybe the bird book.  Or perhaps the seashore book since we are going to the seaside for vacation.) 

    July 16, 2011 at 1:48 pm
    sheraz
    Participant

    Oh, the Outdoor Secrets and Companion would be perfect for you and probably not much modification!  Once a week is totally cool.  I actually assign the day and have a backpack with little sketch pads and colored pencils in it.  When I say that we are doing nature study, the youngest (2&4) come running along with the big kids.  Often we do nature study in the back yard – I put up bird feeders and flower gardens for this purpose this year (haha).  The littles want to do it too, and often sit by the olders and “draw” away.  Sometimes I draw the moth or flower and they color it.  The idea is just to get them out there thinking about it. 

    If you use a Burgess bird book or the others, a fun thing to do with this age is have them color a picture of the bird or animal and put it in a notebook.  They will also make associations that way, especially if it is a bird that they have seen.

    Another thing you can do on your field trips is take pictures of things that they could look at later to draw in a nature book.  Keep those in a notebook, too.  (this is also a good idea for nasty winter days).

    Have them narrate what they saw on the field trip as far as nature goes.  That can go in the notebook too.  That is nature study too.

    My real recommendation is to get the Outdoor Secrets and Companion… FUN!  Se sure to sign and date all notebook entrys too.  =)   HTH

    July 16, 2011 at 5:36 pm
    swtonscrappn
    Participant

    I agree with Sheraz.  Get Outdoor Secrets and Campanion (and if you havent yet “Hours in the Out of Doors”).  We do our regular studies 4 days a week, and set fridays aside for our nature studies.  We’ve actually been doing 3-4 lessons of the Outdoor Secret Campanion at a time (all related to the same subject).  Pack a lunch–Makes for a nice day.

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