Last month I shared how to plan a nature study course for a year. This time I want to show you how to use the monthly ideas shared in the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter and each Friday here on the blog and make a monthly nature study plan. If you are a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, there is a set of planning pages available in the printables section of your membership.
Customize Your Monthly Nature Study Plans
Think of all the ideas as ingredients. There are many options for your nature study recipe. Pick the ones that suit your family and your taste. Add them to the planner page and use that as a way to remind you of your options for the month. Don’t feel like you need to complete all the things you list on the planner page….I don’t. But, creating the list will make it more likely I will accomplish something during the month. Celebrate the things you are able to share with your family and look at this as a life long journey, taking one month at a time.
- Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter – Download and print the newsletter each month. Read through the ideas presented and pick a few to put on your monthly planning page. Make sure to look on the planning page for nature photo ideas, nature table suggestions, and nature journal topics to jot down on your monthly planning page.
- Ebooks- If you are following along with the Friday posts, pick one or two to include on your monthly planning page. (The month’s Friday topics are found on the planning page in the newsletter.)
- Archives– You are welcome to pick an ebook from the library and pull challenges from there. Write the ebook title and the challenge title on your planning page.
- Seasonal ideas- Use the seasonal ideas from the tab at the top of the website to find one or two seasonal ideas to pick from for your family.
- Once a Month Nature Journal Idea – use the idea in the post to create a nature journal page for any of the items listed above.
- Printables- If you are a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, check out the printables in your library for additional ideas to include on your monthly planner.
Does that overwhelm you? Here is an alternative that will be simple to try!
As an alternative, download the newsletter planning page and print the planning page out (usually it is the second page of the newsletter). Add ideas to the page that you would like to include for your monthly nature study time. Again, don’t feel like you need to do everything but use the planning page as a way to stimulate some nature study during your month.
Any more questions!
I hope this helps answer the frequently asked question about nature study planning for your family. Let me know if you have any other questions that I can answer in future posts!
