Autumn Series #10
November World
“Yet, with all my familiarity with this brook, I did not know it in the winter. Its pathway up into the winter woods was as unexplored as the arctic regions. Somehow, it was not a brook in the winter time. It was merely a dreary waste, as cold and as forbidding as death. The winter was only a season of waiting, and spring was always late.”
The Nature Study Idea, L.H. Bailey, contemporary of Anna Botsford Comstock.
Inside Preparation Work:
Read pages 1-2 of the Handbook of Nature Study as a refresher. Mark and highlights points that you want to keep in mind before you embark on this last of the Autumn Series Challenges. How have these challenges awakened a love of nature study in your heart? What changes have you seen in your children as they have participated in a regular course of nature study? What practical and useful knowledge has your family gleaned from the “comprehension of the individual life of the bird, insect, or plant that is nearest at hand”?
Outdoor Hour Time:
Sometimes it is fun and interesting to revisit a familiar place in a different season. Perhaps you have a certain park you go to in the summer but you have not explored there in the autumn or winter months. There may be a trail or creek you explored as part of a previous Outdoor Hour Challenge and it might be interesting to go there now that the seasons have changed. If you are just starting out with the challenges, choose a place to visit this week that you can go back to in a future season.
Spend 15 minutes outdoors in your chosen spot and enjoy the November world. Use all your senses and let your children find something to show you. Remember not to talk too much or lead them but rather try to see what your children see. Sometimes it is nice to just to let something interesting come your way without a particular focus.
“The author can think of nothing she would so gladly do as to spend days and months with the birds, bees, and flowers with no obligation to tell what she should see. There is more than mere information in hours thus spent.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 7
So this challenge is really for the parents. Let the nature study unfold and then enjoy the time with your children. Be refreshed.
Follow-Up Activity:
For this challenge, leave the nature journal or notebook page as an option. If you child is inclined to complete a follow-up entry, make an opportunity for one but if they are content with just having spent time outdoors, there is no obligation to complete an entry. There is a printable notebook page in this entry: November World. You might like to use my free Signs of Autumn notebook page.
As always see if they have any questions about their nature study time. Follow their lead by looking up the answers in the Handbook of Nature Study. Skim down the table of contents to see if there is a lesson covering what you child found interesting. If not, check your local library for a book to use as a resource. Last year we made a list of things to research during the winter. You can find a notebook page on which to list your things in this set of free notebook pages that I put together last month: Autumn Series 2009 Notebook Pages.
Note: This nature study challenge can be found in the Autumn 2010 ebook.
If you would like to own this ebook, it is part of the Ultimate Naturalist Library for members. You can find more details on how to get your own membership here: Join Us!
As always, we love our outdoor time, even in the cooler months. We look forward to doing the November challenge with others. 🙂
We love that you give us specific ideas for outdoors to help us focus more clearly! We’ll enjoy doing the November challenge. 🙂
I really love your blog I have used alot of your ideas! I am hopeing to follow you with the Winter Outdoor Challenge cause I figured Fall is about over. But your blog has really helped us get out there this past month so Thanks
Thanks for all that you have done to create this blog….we have just loved it. We are looking forward to the winter challenges.
What a thrill that you have been rightfully awarded for hosting such a lovely blog. You may need us, but the truth is that it it your gentle prompting that has moved us closer and closer to knowing and naming, understanding our outdoor world. Thank you Barb!
I expected to see more of a change – I think we’ll re-walk the Spring Lake Trail each month through the winter. Before this week’s freeze I don’t thing the floura had changed too much except for the leaves. 🙂 I’ll post other hikes.
November is dreary around here, but we are trying to find the beautiful.
The most beautiful thing we’ve found are clouds, so we did a mini-cloud study.
Thanks again!
Bethany
In our November world we went to our favorite spot for hide and seek (or prey and predator 🙂 These autumn challenges have been such joy, fun, and learning for our family. Thank you!
Even though we have been following along for a couple years now we still learn new things each week!Thank you for these challenges! And for making nature study so accessible!
I am all set up in our new home and just set up our new wireless printer. The Autumn Series #10 and the Notebook Page are the first two things I printed after the printer set up pages. I am so happy to have a small office/craft room in the house! We are going to be working on a field guide at the school. I hope to be able to get back into the rhythm of writing now with a new computer/new room/new printer/new life. 🙂