Shirley Ann lives in the UK with her husband, two daughters, and two cats who think they rule the roost. She's a veteran homeschooler of 13 years and is passionate about home keeping, homeschooling, nature study, and seasonal living, Shirley regularly blogs about her Charlotte Mason-inspired homeschooling and British lifestyle on her blog, 'Under An English Sky'.
So you have The Handbook of Nature Study on your bookshelf. Are you wondering how to use it? Having used it for a number of years in my homeschool I have a few tips to share with you to help put this fantastic resource to good use!
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The Value Of Nature Study In Our Homeschools
There are the obvious benefits of adding time in nature to our homeschool days (think kids outdoors and burning off all that extra energy!). But more than just getting some fresh air and taking an outdoor break, there is significant educational value in the study of nature.
One of the best resources I have found to help guide and cultivate our homeschool nature study is this guide!
Helpful tips for using The Handbook of Nature Study
Don’t carry it on your nature hikes. It isn’t a field guide so you will more than likely not pull it out anyway.
When you come indoors from your nature time, pull it out and turn to the index to see if something you saw that day is covered in the book.
Quickly skim the information in the book that talks about the subject you observed.
Share a few points with your children.
Try those steps as a good place to start until you get more familiar with the book. Are you ready for more?
Additional Tips For Using The Handbook Of Nature Study
If you find a subject that your interested in covering with your children, read the introduction to yourself. Make pencil notes of anything you want to share.
Take a few minutes and share those points and then help your child make a nature journal entry using those points.
If you want to make a more in depth study, turn to the end of the section and use the suggested activities or just pick out one or two items to try.
Purchase Your Copy of The Handbook of Nature Study
There it is… The Handbook of Nature Study, sitting on your bookshelf. Now what? It can be intimidating to say the least. Is The Handbook Of Nature Study a friend or foe in your homeschool?
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The Handbook of Nature Study can Seem Daunting at First
My own copy of the Handbook of Nature Study sat on my shelf for a couple of years and I finally sold it on eBay. Yes, you heard me right. I got tired of dusting it and feeling as if I should be doing something with it when I couldn’t figure it out at all.
I absolutely saw it as a bit of a foe in our homeschool.
You must be wondering what happened to bring me around to where I am now? Simply put, I stopped fighting it!
The Advantages Of Using The Handbook Of Nature Study For Your Homeschool Nature Lessons
I decided to check it out from the library and took some time to page through it. I read blogs where families actually used the book, encouraging me to give it a real try this time.
We already had a love of nature in our family but we really wanted to have a better way of studying things in nature in a little more systematic way. Maybe it was not the book that was the problem for us.
Since I trusted Ambleside Online’s ideas for many subjects already, it was a natural fit to try their system for nature study. I went to their nature study page and read the whole thing, then I read the information in the Charlotte Mason volumes about outdoor time and nature study.
Finally, I read other blogs that used the Handbook of Nature Study. In other words, I did a little bit of homework and came up with a plan for our family.
Tips on Using The Handbook of Nature Study In Your Homeschool
Pick three sections of the book to cover in your school year….four if you want to cover one over the summer too. Try to think of things you will actually be able to observe in your course of everyday life. If you have a birdfeeder you could learn about which birds visit your garden. Perhaps you have a budding meteorologist who enjoyes Keeping track of the weather. It could be as simple as beginning with your families pet. Pick something of interet.
Start with something you will enjoy.
As the parent/guide, read the introduction to the section you are going to study a few times over. I have found that just reading these few pages opens your eyes to a lot of ideas for further study on the topic chosen. Use the information and suggested activities as a place to start your study of a particular animal or aspect of nature.
Make notes in the book or in a notebook with ideas for your study.
Go through your personal library and check for any reference items you may have on the subject of your study. I was surprised when I did this to find that I already owned quite a few books to go along with our fall study of insects. Check your library for books and field guides too.
Our family enjoys identifying things we find on our nature outings. This means we need to have a basic field guide to go along with our study since the Handbook of Nature Study is NOT a field guide.
Yes, I finally purchased the Handbook of Nature Study for the second time! I am happy to report that this time around it is getting used weekly. I had tried to use the online version by printing out only the pages I needed but that was too much work. Having my own copy at my fingertips has been a blessing this past term. Our nature study has taken on a new level of interest.
The Handbook Of Nature Study has truly become a friend in our homeschool.
Are you new to nature study, the Charlotte Mason philosophy and getting started with nature journaling in your homeschool?
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.Please see our disclosure policy.
How to Get Started With Nature Journaling
Every student of Charlotte Mason’s was encouraged to keep a nature notebook or nature diary. I had the privilege of visiting the Armitt Museum in Ambleside a few years ago and having a look at some of Charlotte’s student’s nature journals.
Have a look through some of Charlotte Mason’s Students Nature Journals
If you would like to have a look yourself you can have a look at the Charlotte Mason Digital Archives HERE and HERE.
Students nature journals were inscribed with poetry, observations and seasonal notes. The paintings are of course beautiful and I think this is where we can get a little tough on ourselves and not want to produce anything that looks less than perfect.
The Importance of Keeping a Nature Journal
At the beginning of our homeschooling journey in keeping with Charlotte’s way, I began keeping a nature journal myself and led my children to do the same. Bit by bit over the years we have each created treasured keepsakes and we can see the progress we have made from our rudimentary first entries. We have also grown in our knowledge and understanding by observing nature in our Outdoor Hour Challenges.
The field notebook is a veritable gold mine for the nature-study teacher to work in securing voluntary and happy observations from the pupils concerning their out-of-door interests. It is a friendly gate which admits the teacher to a knowledge of what the child sees and cares for.
Anna Botsford Comstock ~ The Handbook of Nature Study
Many people don’t know much about nature and the years’ natural rhythms because they don’t observe it. If we give our children regular time outside to get in touch with God’s creation we are gifting them with a habit that will be a source of much delight all through their lives.
What Do I Need To Start a Nature Journal?
Any kind of blank book will do for this, except that it should not be too large to be carried around in the pocket, and it should always have a pencil attached.
Anna Botsford Comstock ~ The Handbook of Nature Study
Anna gives sound advice on what is needed, a small blank book that is easily taken with you on your nature adventures. You do not want anything cumbersome for children are adventurous creatures and should have every freedom to explore the great outdoors.
A graphite drawing of what is observed is easily done and is in Anna’s opinion far better than a long description of a natural object.
My Nature Journal Recommendations
My personal recommendations are the Speedball Art Journals. The paper is thick enough to take watercolor and the size makes it easily transportable. I currently have the square journal but I’m keen to try out the 5.5X8.25 next.
If you have a reluctant journaler consider just providing blank paper which can be easily replaced if their drawings don’t go to plan. Some children (and adults) can find it very intimidating to commit to putting pencil to paper in a new journal.
A Word on Watercolors
I bought each of my children a small set of watercolor paints at the beginning of our homeschooling and they lasted years! Don’t be tempted to buy something that has too many colour options, it’s amazing what colors you can achieve through mixing.
Do make sure that you have invested in good watercolors as the cheap and cheerful ones just do not do your work any justice and in keeping a nature journal you are creating something that will be treasured for many years to come. This particular set of watercolors costs around £11.00 – so about $14.61.
Anna Botsford Comstock’s Advice On Nature Journaling
Remember that a nature journal or field notebook is to be a joy to the child. In The Handbook of Nature Study, Anna lays out a few rules to be observed to make nature journaling a success:
The book should be considered the personal property of the child and should never be criticized except as a matter of encouragement; for the spirit in which the notes are made is more important than the information they cover.
The making of drawings to illustrate what is observed shall be encouraged.
The notebook should not be regarded as a part of the work in English. The spelling, language, and writing of the notes should all be exempt from criticism.
Anna also believed that no child should be compelled to keep a notebook and although I agree, I believe that we can encourage our reluctant journaler in other ways. Perhaps instead of drawing what they observe they can take photographs which may be printed out and pasted into their journal. I think that it is natural for a child that feels their drawing is ‘not good enough’ to want to shy away from drawing what they observe.
If not I would highly recommend that you do. Karen is the author of the Charlotte Mason Companion, another book to add to your booklist. A Pocketful of Pinecones is a story written especially for homeschool moms who are feeling discouraged in their homeschooling as well as a lovely guide to nature study.
It is written as a diary of a homeschooling mom who is in her first year of homeschooling using Charlotte Mason’s gentle art of homeschooling. There are some beautiful chapters on what nature study looks like on a practical level in her homeschool and which gave me the confidence to implement the same into my own homeschool. You don’t have to be an expert instead you can learn alongside your precious children and learn together, creating a treasure trove of precious memories spent in God’s glorious creation at the same time!
This book is honey for the homeschool mothers heart and I would encourage you to get a copy. I have found that I read this book each year, I never tire of it and always feel encouraged and inspired to lead my children in their adventures in discovering and forming connections with nature.
