I have Discovered a Thing Called Nature Study

April 2016

One of the first things I have discovered as I have started to ready and study about Charlotte Mason and her Philosophy on Education was her thoughts on an activity called nature study.  Something I had honestly up until this point never heard of before.  And I am certain that I don't quite understand it fully yet.

Understanding it completely or not I figured that spending more time out of doors appreciating and observing God's creations and the world around us seems like no bad thing.  And so we have begun.  Knowing so little about how to truly begin and looking at all our supplies I felt a little overwhelmed by the idea of taking art supplies for four children and all those said children on an outing of any kind I decided that we had better start simply with our own backyard such as it is.

So with the meager supplies we already had on hand I ushered the children outside with vague directions to find something in nature that was cool or disgusting or interesting and draw it in their sketch notebooks.

Our Nature Study Supplies:

Strathmore Sketch - spiral bound pad 8.5x11 we already had this for art lessons

Pencil - sharpened or mechanical it depended on the child and their preference

Erasable Colored Pencils

Felt Tip Washable Markers

While they wandered around the yard I tried to explore it myself with fresh eyes and a camera.  Since I was busy fielding questions like "How long do we have to be out here?" and "Why are we doing this?" or "Hold this mommy I need to get my jacket." I knew there wouldn't be any time for me to actually spend drawing to keeping a nature journal myself.  But I have a lofty dream in my head of someday.  Someday I would like to learn to keep one myself.  I would like to go for weekly nature outings to draw, paint and observe the wonderful world I live in.  So today I do that through a lens and maybe I can start my journal by sketching my pictures into a journal when I can set aside free time for myself, instead of trying to contend for it while helping the children enjoy and have their own successful outing.

The reading I have been doing in Charlotte Mason about nature study has inspired me to order a couple of books to add to my reading list for the near future:

Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You by: Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth

Circle of the Seasons: The Journal of a Naturalist's Year by: Edwin Way Teale

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by: Richard Louv

Last Child in the Woods is my book group's next read so I am looking forward to reading it and having a wonderful discussion about it with a great group of ladies who are also trying to learn, grow and teach their own children.