One of my favorite parts of homeschooling is Nature Study. Today started the first "official" day of structured learning this year. I had the older children set and ready to go, but the younger were not organized. We had a super day! Eli wanted to talk about maps, so we pulled a reader off the shelf and read about our country. Samuel drew a map of our state and an outline map of our country. This is part of his "Study about My State". After lunch, we took a walk outside, because Eli was super excited about showing me a hornets' nest. I grabbed their drawing notebooks, colored pencils and a resource book and headed out the door, with a six year old hand in my hand.
They plopped down on the ground and got to work drawing and thinking about how they would describe their wonderful find.
Eli used his book to learn about other insects and critters.
After drawing and writing about hornets and their home, the boys took me over to another nest that Daddy discovered last week. It hangs very close to the ground. The hornets have been busy repairing a huge tear. We think it was from a raccoon or skunk who was eager to munch on larva.
Eli is full of great thoughts, so I write as he narrates for me. He "wrote": "Hornets! Dangerous, hard-to-kill, mightiest bees. They are made to sting you. They like hanging on trees far up, and some at the bottom. It has 1,000 hornets inside the hornets' nest. We have two in our yard. They are black and white. I got stung by one before."
Samuel wrote: "This is a hornet's nest. It is very dangerous cause there is thousands of bees in it."
Not only did they find hornets' nests, they found a bird's nest, caterpillar nests and spiders. The best part for the boys, was sharing their pictures with Da, when he came home from work. I'd say, that's not too bad for winging it the first day.
Nature study or nature walks are great because they give children the opportunity to explore what is around them. They get to learn about animals, trees, weather, plants, stars and more, in their environment, rather than simply reading in text. The fun part is talking, drawing and writing about what they observe. The internet, library or resources off book shelves allow for further exploration and study. I highly recommend nature walks. You do not have to live in the country or on a big piece of land. Getting close to the ground, sidewalk or a tree brings opportunity to explore this beautiful world.
If you are interested in learning more about nature study, research and read anything about Charlotte Mason. Or, read some of the great books about nature studies with children.
