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Outdoor Hour Challenges – Getting Started With Nature Study

Getting Started Outdoor Hour Challenge ebook

Getting Started Challenges 1-10 – Now there is a second edition available!

#1 Let’s Get Started
#2 Using Your Words
#3 Now Is The Time To Draw
#4 It Is Coming Into Focus
#5 Keeping a List
#6 Collections
#7 Your Own Field Guide
#8 Magnifying Lens
#9 One Small Square
#10 Picnic

Tips for Getting Started with the Outdoor Hour Challenge:

  • I always suggest that families start with the first ten Outdoor Hour Challenges, making sure to read the pages in the introduction of the Handbook of Nature Study as suggested in each challenge. Anna Botsford Comstock’s words there are what created in me a better method of teaching “nature study”.
  • If you would like to try out some simple nature study ideas, you can access the first ten Outdoor Hour Challenges linked above. These challenges are also in the Getting Started ebook which is included in every level of membership. The ebook includes corresponding custom notebook pages to use in your nature journal for each challenge.
  • You can see and download a sample challenge and notebook pages: OHC Getting Started Ebook Sample.

Handbook of Nature Study Ultimate Naturalist Library

What To Do After You Complete the First Ten Challenges

Keep your nature study rolling after the first ten challenges by joining us in our weekly nature study activities using the Handbook of Nature Study. Each week there will be a suggested Outdoor Hour Challenge for your family. It is so easy to get started by clicking the graphic below and reading a detailed description of how to participate this coming year!

If you have any questions, please email me!

2020 to 2021 plan graphic with ebook covers2

19 thoughts on “Outdoor Hour Challenges – Getting Started With Nature Study

  1. Oh my gosh! This is awesome! I just downloaded everything and am so excited! Nature Study does NOT come naturally to me at all, but I believe in its value and importance. I hope with all these fantastic plans, I can make nature study natural for my kids and maybe me too! Thank You!!!

    1. I am so glad you are excited to use the nature study plans in your family. I know you are going to not regret the time and effort to make it happen in your family. Enjoy!

  2. Thank you! Nature study is NOT my strong suite either and we are Charlotte Mason homeschoolers. I am just not a nature/outdoor person but I do wish to get my kiddos out more! Its just SO hot right now, with a heat advisory I’m not sure we should even be outdoors 🙁

    1. It gets hot here too so go out early or in the evening when the sun isn’t so intense. Or, do something that involves water like watering plants or a little creek walk. Be creative!

  3. […] the Handbook of Nature Study Blog came to the rescue. I joined their site and read through the Getting Started series. Several friends joined me as we began a more formal study of nature. Here are five tips that have […]

  4. […] way to do it…  I read some posts on Charlotte Mason’s nature study and a few times this page on getting started, but still wouldn’t take the leap. Until I told myself to stop […]

  5. So excited to finally have recieved our copy of the book from Amazon and signed up for the membership here!! This has been on our homie-wishlist for over a year. We are THRILLED to start following along immediately!!! Mother of Breydin, 10 and Emma, 5

    1. Welcome! I am excited for you to begin your adventure….keep in touch!

  6. […] the Outdoor Hour Challenge, and you can see the first 10 “Getting Started” challenges here.  Additionally, she has ebooks available for purchase, and a fabulous membership site that is […]

  7. […] going through Handbook of Nature Study‘s 10 Outdoor Challenges. We’ll be making Nature Notebooks, using Comstock’s book as our primary […]

  8. […] of tutorials and resources for using nature study in your homeschool. I’ve linked to her Getting Started post here, but be sure to browse around her site – there are enough printables and lessons to […]

  9. Good morning, I just joined as an ultimate member and I am having trouble finding where to download e books. I’m trying to download the winter e books. Any help would be great!
    Clare Nugent
    Fern Top Nature Preschool

    1. There is a button at the top of the website that says “members area”. This is where you log in and then find all of the ebooks and printables. http://naturestudyhomeschool.com/welcome/

  10. […] way to do it…  I read some posts on Charlotte Mason’s nature study and a few times this page on getting started, but still wouldn’t take the leap. Until I told myself to stop […]

  11. Many thanks for this post. I prefer your blog very much and i really am a huge fan of
    it. This is my first time writing here. I like this so much that I even shared on Myspace.
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  12. […] is a fabulous resource that you can pick up no matter the season. I highly recommend visiting the ‘Getting Started’ section if you are new to nature study and read the tips on beginning your nature […]

  13. […] is a fabulous resource that you can pick up no matter the season. I highly recommend visiting the ‘Getting Started’ section if you are new to nature study and read the tips on beginning your nature […]

  14. […] Study: Outdoor Hour challenges using the Handbook of Nature […]

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