My fellow authors over at The Curriculum Choice have all contributed to make a huge and valuable resource for nature and science study. I hope you will pop over and take a look for loads of ideas to use in your homeschool.
Curriculum Choice Review Authors – Science – Nature Study Resources
You may also be interested in following my Nature Study Ideas Pinterest Board. I pin lots of great ideas…more than anyone could ever use in a lifetime.
I have the privilege of hosting the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival for this week’s science edition.
Charlotte Mason was an educator during the late 1800’s and was adamant about science being about real things…things that the children could relate to and have a connection with. She also was a huge advocate of nature study, regular outings that started when the children were young and curious. These ideas have heavily influenced how science and nature study were offered in our homeschool.
I am eternally grateful for Charlotte Mason and her emphasis on keeping things real. I am sure you will be interested in reading this edition’s entries from all around the world.
Here are several of our science related entries, showing our family’s application of the CM Method for our science studies:
Living Books for High School Science
“I was determined to include living books as part of our weekly plans as well. I didn’t want to abandon our Charlotte Mason feel to our homeschool even in high school. Looking back, I think it was one of the most important decisions we made”
Making Apologia Science Texts Work in Our (Charlotte Mason) Family
“Any text is a tool and you can make it work to fit your child. Just because a text has a certain plan for its study, don’t forget that you can adapt the plan so your children get the most out of that text.”
Nature Study for High Students- Reflections
“When we crossed the gap from elementary science to upper level science, I was grateful for our outdoor studies and the solid ground laid for high school biology…the study of life. All those years of personal face to face contact with nature, making observations and asking questions, has given us something to digest and to reason on as we work through the upper level sciences.”
More Science Related Entries from Other Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers
Elisabeth from Treasuring the Moments shares her entry: Science-Are We Equipping Our Kids for Life?
“So how did our friend Brian Jones captivate us? By stories. He told us so many stories about “his animals”. Stories of mischief, danger, protection. We were captivated and enthralled and learned more about those animals than we had ever known before.”
Nancy from Sage Parnassus has submitted her entry: Science-Each New Thing is a Delight.
“Mason assures us that we can make science that wide place where each new thing is a delight. I don’t think the answer is in dry textbooks but in living books with plenty of time and space to explore and discover.”
Nebby from Letters from Nebby has written and shared her entry: How to Study Science in a CM Way.
“But how do we study science in a CM way? I put that little question mark in parentheses in the title of this post because I am as much asking as telling. I have a few thoughts but I would love more input, especially as we enter the dreaded high school years.”
Nicole from A Sabbath Mood Homeschool would love to share her entry with you: Science-The Last Hold Out.
“Science seems to be a last hold out – that one subject we don’t want to hand over to Miss. Mason. We reason that she lived in a different time and place than we do now, and that she couldn’t have understood then how important a science education is now for our students in this technology driven world.”
Tammy from Aut-2B Home in Carolina submits her entry: Science for Students in the Autism Spectrum.
“Some autistic students develop the habit of frustration for a variety of reasons. It takes time to help them find joy in learning what is beyond their pet interests. Every person is different, so what works for one autie may not inspire another.”
Megan from The Winding Ascent has submitted her entry: Knowledge of the Universe.
“As many of you know, Science is not my forte. Neither is math. These are the joy of left brain, administrative people, not right brain creatives like me, right? Well, that’s not completely true.”
Additional Charlotte Mason Themed Entries
Annie Kate from Tea Time with Annie Kate share her entry: Review-Mathematics: Is God Silent?
“This is a beautiful book for moms about the history and philosophy of mathematics and it explains a way to teach math that’s consistent with the way the universe functions. I think I finally am starting to understand the idea of ‘living math’.”
Brandy from Afterthoughts submits her 31 Days of Charlotte Mason post for you to enjoy.
“I’m hosting 31 Days of CM and thought I’d submit the link to Day 1, which includes the directory for the month (which I add to each day)…..I think total there will be something like 17 guest posts from about 15 different authors.”
Cindy from Our Journey Westward would love to share her entry: How I Teach Active Kids Using the Charlotte Mason Method.
“Just how does a CM education mesh with the busyness of boys – or inquisitive gifted kids – or minds that jump from one thing to another in a matter of seconds?”
Amy from Fisher Academy International would love for you to view her entry: A Nature Study.
Celeste from Joyous Lessons would love for you to read her entry: The Case for a Non-Fiction Home Library.
“I don’t know about you, but non-fiction books used to be the first kind of books I would pass over at a book sale, thinking, “Oh, I can just Google it,” or “We can get books on that topic from the library when they’re interested.” But once my kids really started reading independently, I had a change of heart.”
Join the carnival for its next edition:
October 29 – Knowledge of the Universe: Geography (Ch10, pt3a)
You can send your entries to this email address: charlottemasonblogs@gmail.com.
Which edition of the Handbook of Nature Study???
I use the edition with the copyright date of 1967 (paperback edition ISBN 0-8014-9384-6) for page numbers and lesson numbers. (Shown above in my affiliate link.) If you have a different version of the Handbook of Nature Study, you can easily find the corresponding pages by using the following suggestions.
1. Topic – almost every Outdoor Hour Challenge is a focused on a specific topic found in the Handbook of Nature Study. Use the Table of Contents to find that topic by looking for the appropriate category.
2. Lesson Number- almost every Outdoor Hour Challenge points you to a lesson in the Handbook of Nature Study. In the older editions those lessons are given in Roman Numerals. Many of the lesson numbers are the same but unfortunately not all…your best bet is to use the Table of Contents.
Special instructions
1. If you are using digital copies that came in a number of downloads, you will need to print the table of contents from the first download and use it as a guide to which pdf to use for your Outdoor Hour Challenge. (Homeschool Freebie of the Day offers the Handbook of Nature Study as a free download from time to time.)
2. For the challenges that give you a few pages to read in the introduction of the Handbook of Nature Study, I have given you the section names so you can find them in your edition of the book. (I edited the first ten Outdoor Hour Challenges to include section names.)
I hope that helps you use whatever edition of the Handbook of Nature Study you have on your shelf.
Our much anticipated trip to Yosemite for our autumn visit was a huge success. We didn’t plan it but we were leaving the day the park was closed because of the government shutdown. I was very grateful that we were able to get in our visit and hikes before the trails and campground were closed indefinitely.
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The image above shows a glimpse of the devastation from the Rim Fire. This is along Hwy 120 above Groveland, CA. It was an awesome sight to see and you could see signs of the fire as we continued into the national park itself and up along the Tioga Road. Much of the area along the road had been cleared before the fire so my husband thinks that many of the trees, although scortched, will revive. We shall be anxious to see if he is right.
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We had reserved a campsite along the Merced River in the Lower Pines Campground…perfect! We enjoyed our two nights in our tent with a show of stars at night that was unbelievable. The camping was a little quiet for us with no children along for this trip but it was fun to just be a couple again.We sat in chairs and watched squirrels and birds. We huddled around the campfire and enjoyed the peaceful cracking and snapping of the flames on the oak wood. The air was crisp in the mornings but not so cold we couldn’t break from the cocoon of the sleeping bag.
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One afternoon we took a long walk along the valley floor. This time of year there are no big crowds around so you see lots of wildlife. In the image above, you can spy a bobcat! He was wandering along the trail and then he went down to the river. We also so numerous deer…adults and babies too. One time we saw a herd of 20+ deer grazing in the meadow.
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Yosemite Falls is bone dry right now. I felt sorry for all the travelers who came from all over the world to visit Yosemite when the falls are dry…just not the same. Autumn is not a time for huge waterfalls in Yosemite but their are other reasons to come at this time of year. The story of Yosemite in the autumn is the change of season with colors and the quiet awesomeness of viewing the granite that also change in color with the light.
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Our campsite was visited by many, many squirrels. They were busy collecting seeds of some sort and having a feast. The Stellar’s jays and Common ravens also came to visit and first thing in the morning they were very noisy. The seemed to say, “Wake up! Wake up! You are missing the sunrise!”
Our second day we hiked the complete Panorama Trail. This is an eight mile hike that includes three waterfalls…that actually have water. The image above is the very top of Nevada Falls and although it is not running with much water, it is still a fabulous waterfall. (see below)
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Here I am after hiking down from the top with Nevada Falls in the background. Isn’t it an awesome sight? It is hard to describe the sound of a big waterfall, especially this one back in the corner of the valley. The sound cracks and echoes all around you. About this time in the hike, I am getting tired and the downhill climb is harder than climbing up.
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Here is a portion of the trail that is a little easier and the views are phenomenal. I love the sky in this image. When I’m hiking, I always watch the sky for signs of storms but this day it was perfect with partial cloud cover a lot of the time. Breezes would cool us off as we hiked. Autumn really is a terrific time to hike at Yosemite.
This is also about the point where we observed a mama Black Bear and her cub…off in the distance but we still became hyper-aware of our surroundings. There were several other hikers, some in front and some in back of us, so we alerted them to our sighting and shared bear stories before we all spread out again.
I was in the mood for looking for fall colors. The maples and oaks were starting to turn color and I found this large leaf along the trail. My husband thinks I’m nuts sometime but he cooperated and took my picture so I could share it with you. This is a good place to point out that hiking in Yosemite is a bit of a rock scramble at times (that is the trail behind me). These are not smooth, easy trails that you can hike along without paying attention. You are always looking down for your next step…not many flat trails here. This is why I started using a walking stick…it makes my hiking so much more pleasurable.
I was so inspired by the Bigleaf maples that back at the campsite I created a nature journal page with some of the information I found interesting. My leaf sketch was a bit of a fail..I think I was hung up on trying to get it to fit in the box I had created on the page and so it looks sort of squished. Oh well, you get the idea of a maple leaf.
The last day of our trip we took the long way home and drove out Tioga Pass, along Hwy 395, and then across on Hwy 89 and 88 to get home. This took us through the high country where the aspens were ablaze with color. We stopped several times to enjoy the views. Now this is what autumn should look like!
It was a fun trip and I am looking forward to the winter season and visiting Yosemite National Park to really see the full circle in this amazing place. We are aiming to hike in the Mariposa Grove of sequoia trees whether there is snow or not. Not sure where we will stay yet…hoping that the government closure is over by then.
You can read about our seasonal visits to Yosemite in these entries:
Yosemite in Spring – Waterfalls and Biking
Summer Trip to Yosemite – Hikes, Wildflowers, Rocks, and More
This post is part of my Nature Study Goals for 2013 – to visit Yosemite National Park in each season.
Autumn is here and we can start planning some of our autumn year-long nature study observations. There are so many that you can choose from but the trick is to pick one and remember to complete a study in each season.
Have you picked your topics yet?
Here are some ideas from year-long nature study topics we have done in the past:
We already had a seasonal cattail and a seasonal tree study. There will be a year-long weather study later this month.
Make sure to add your year-long study to your October nature study plans so you don’t forget!!!
You can submit any of your year-long nature study project entries from this month to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival.
October 2013 – Nature Walk Ideas
This edition of the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter is going to inspire you to take more nature walks! All of the authors are enthusiastic about some aspect of taking a nature walk….showing how families can personalize their nature walk experiences and grow closer together in the process. Our wish is that this Nature Walk Ideas edition of the newsletter will help you get started or remind you to keep it going on a regular basis. Enjoy!
Contents of this edition of the newsletter include:
I have attached the newsletter download link to the bottom of my blog feed so if you are a subscriber you will receive the link to the latest newsletter at the bottom of every post for the month of October. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can still subscribe and receive the newsletter link in the next post that comes to your email box. You can subscribe to my blog by filling in your email address in the subscription box on my sidebar.
Note: You can download your newsletter from the link in two ways:
The change of the season always renews my nature study spirit! With the cooler air and still abundant sunshine, our family has taken back the evening hours for hikes in the woods and at the river. The sunset is coming a few minutes earlier each week so we are not getting in a long walk but there is still time to end our day with some fresh air and some exploring. I know that will end soon so I am savoring each walk.
Thank you to all the participants for this edition of the blog carnival.
Our family’s entry from this month’s study (in case you missed it):
Autumn Flower Study- Asters of All Kinds
Be Inspired! Be Encouraged! Get Outdoors!
Fall Fun Grid
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| Photo credit: Alex from Life On A Canadian Island |
Autumn Flowers – Goldenrod, Aster, and Chrysanthemums
Fall Cattail Study
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| Photo Credit: Michelle at Following Footprints |
Signs of Autumn
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| Photo Credit: Cristy’s Nature Journal |
Potpourri
Don’t forget to share your blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in December are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 10/30/13 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com or submit them at the blog carnival site (link on the sidebar of my blog).
Fall fun! It is time to really sink our teeth into some fall nature study and start looking for signs of fall. You can use any of the activities listed below to get your Outdoor Hour Challenge started this week.
Early Autumn Things To Do
Outdoor Hour Challenge Magnifying Lens Activity
(shared this yesterday)
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #8-Using a Magnifying Lens. This is always a great challenge for children to complete…nature study tools make it so much more fun! Don’t forget to pull out the accompanying notebook page for your child to record their findings or they can use a blank page in their nature journal if they wish.
Part of my nature study goals this year was to learn about ten new birds and their calls. I think I was a little ambitious and ten *new* birds is a lot to tackle. I am up to three birds….not sure how I got off on my count but I only have three official birds so far:
Pine Siskin
Carduelis pinus
This entry is all about the Pine Siskins which we spotted way back in February during the Great Backyard Bird Count. I created a nature notebook page for the Pine Siskin at that time but never shared it with you. I used the coloring page from the Cornell Feeder Bird Coloring Book (free to download and save on your computer for future use). This is a bird that does not stay year–round in our yard. I had to look carefully to spot this bird because it is very much like the finches we have everyday at the feeders. It looks like a finch with yellow wing bars and a little yellow on its rump.
The call of the Pine Siskin sounds similar to the canaries I have heard. Here is the page on All About Birds with the sounds of the Pine Siskin. It is a sweet little bird and I am anxious to see it once the winter comes. Looking at the migration map, it looks like it moves far north for the summer.
Still working on my nature study goals for 2013…learning ten new birds and their calls during the year.
Amazon.com Widgets
I am an Amazon.com affiliate and I recommend books and other resources that I love and use in our family.
Outdoor Hour Challenge
Autumn Tree Nature Study
Use any of the Outdoor Hour Challenges below to complete an Autumn Tree Nature Study. Feel free to pick and choose any of the suggested activities that you think will fit your area and interests. Spend some time outdoors looking at trees with your children…see the beauty in this time of year!
Color Hunt Printable Cards
Use these color word cards to stimulate a fun nature study related activity. Challenge your child to find something of each color during your Outdoor Hour Challenge time. This can be part of your Autumn Tree Study or any other study you complete throughout the year.
TIPS: These cards can be printed on cardstock or cut and pasted to index cards. If you only have a black and white printer, have your children color the words or the border with markers before going outside.
Tree Poetry Printable from the Archives
Tree Poetry ideas with free printable activity (October 2012)
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #7-Your Own Field Guide. Use the ideas in this challenge to start your own field guide pages using the trees in your yard or neighborhood. Add to your tree field guide from time to time and as the years go by you will have built a record of many trees right in your own yard! Use the accompanying notebook page to get started or a blank nature journal page for each tree.
