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How to Make Leaf Rubbings for Your Homeschool Nature Study

Taking the time to draw leaves helps you observe the details. For young children, a wonderful starting place for a homeschool leaf nature study is to make leaf rubbings.

When my children were young, autumn walks always included collecting colorful leaves. We might get home with handfuls of leaves in a rainbow of autumn shades. We would talk about the shapes and what tree each leaf came from or which ones were our favorites. Once home, we’d pull out crayons or markers and attempt to draw a few of the leaves on paper to be hung on the refrigerator or given as gifts to grandparents. Nature study was casual and enjoyable.

As they grew older and we would be out during our homeschool day, I would sometimes follow up with a more detailed nature study lesson using the Handbook of Nature Study or our tree field guide. The amount of information we would cover really depended on the children’s interest and my aim. By high school we were more deliberate in our autumn leaf studies using more scientific vocabulary and I expected them to create a more detailed nature journal as part of our more formal science lessons.

Learning about trees, leaves, autumn, and the neighborhood can build over many years and still seem to be just a part of learning about the world we live in and the trees that share the same space.

I love this quote from Anna Botsford Comstock:

“During autumn the attention of the children should be attracted to the leaves by their gorgeous colors. It is well to use this interest to cultivate their knowledge of the forms of leaves of trees; but the teaching of the tree species to the young child should be done quite incidentally and guardedly. If the teacher says to the child bringing a leaf, ‘This is a white-oak leaf,’ the child will soon quite unconsciously learn that leaf by name. Thus, tree study may be begun in the kindergarten or the primary grades.” Anna Botsford-Comstock

Leaf Homeschool Nature Study: How to Make Leaf Rubbings

I have many resources here on my website that will help your family learn about leaves, some for younger students and some for older and more advanced students. I’ve found that taking time to draw leaves makes you observe them closely and see the specific features each tree’s leaves involve.

I highly recommend starting with simple sketching and/or rubbing of leaves with younger children.

  • You can watch my short YouTube video that shares some of my tips for drawing leaves, how to make leaf rubbings, and using a flower press for pressing leaves here: Tips for Drawing Leaves.
  • You may wish to complete the Outdoor Hour Challenge that features collecting leaves. Click over and read how to complete a simple leaf study: Collecting Leaves.
  • Watercolor crayons demonstration – Fall Leaf for the Nature Journal. I created this YouTube video a long time ago that shows how I use watercolor crayons in my nature journal. It makes me want to go gather some leaves and do this again in my nature journal!

  • Making Leaf Prints with Ink: This activity is wonderful for older students to quickly create a leaf nature journal page using ink pads and leaves they collect.
  • Image of the cover 9/15 NL

Now that autumn is here, I’m trying to embrace its beauty. We don’t have much “fall color” here in my part of the world but the little bit we do have will be appreciated and perhaps even make its way into my nature journal.

Members can look in the library for many more printable tree and leaf activities and notebook pages in the Trees course.

Join The Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support

You will find hundreds of homeschool nature studies plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!

Join the Homeschool Nature Study Membership Today!
Taking the time to draw leaves helps you observe the details. For young children, a wonderful starting place for a homeschool leaf nature study is to make leaf rubbings.
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Homeschool Nature Study: The Chickadee

This homeschool nature study will have you looking at winter birds and in particular the sweet little chickadee.

I consider this particular challenge as a personal lesson/revelation that nature knows no borders. You see when we first started using the Outdoor Hour Challenge and this little bird popped up as the focus of our weekly studies I was disappointed. I live in the UK and we have different birds to those of you in the States. I didn’t think that we would be able to follow along and it was so early on in our nature study days that I did not have the confidence to just find something else on our walk.

As I was gazing out of the dining room window at our bird feeder pondering on my dilemma, who should come along but a coal tit!

They are no stranger to our feeders along with their cousins the great tit, blue tit and those sweet mouse-like birds, the long-tailed tit.

The coal tit looks remarkably similar to the chickadee. After a bit of investigating I discovered that the American Chickadee and the British tits are all in the same genus. Yes, we may live across the pond and have wildlife that is unique to each country but there are similarities and connections.

From that challenge on if it was focussed on an animal or plant unique to the States, I would simply see if we had something similar and go with that. So please be encouraged to do the same whatever country you live in.

Homeschool Nature Study: The Chickadee

Nature Study Lesson Plans for Chickadee Nature Study

Here are some inside preparation ideas for your chickadee nature study:

  1. Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 68-69 (Lesson 14).
  2. Highlight a few of the questions in the lesson to use during your outdoor time.
  3. Check your bird field guide, using the index to look for chickadees in your area. Share the images with your children.
  4. Younger Children: Read Burgess Bird Book Ch. 37 online or listen to an MP3 recording to hear the chickadee story.
  5. YouTube: Chickadee Documentary and What Do Chickadees Eat? 

Outdoor Hour Time: 

  1. Use some of your outdoor time this week to look for backyard birds. Chickadees should be present during the winter season and are often found at backyard feeders. Remember the questions from the Handbook of Nature Study lesson and gently guide your children to observe the chickadee to find the answers. Chickadees are often seen with nuthatches and downy woodpeckers and are attracted to feeders that offer suet and black oil sunflower seeds.
  2. In areas that do not have chickadees, observe another feeder bird and their habits. Do they sit on the feeder or under the feeder? Which kinds of food do they like? What do they sound like? How big are they? How many of them are at the feeder?

Chickadee Nature Study Homeschool Follow-Up Activity:

  1. Follow-up your outdoor time by pulling out your bird field guide to identify and/or confirm any bird observations. If you saw a chickadee, have your child describe the bird with as much detail as possible. If they have trouble remembering, bring up an image on the computer to help them along.
  2. If desired, allow time for a nature journal entry. Ebook users: Complete a Chickadee notebook page (regular or advanced) or a Winter Feeder Bird notebook page entry to capture the memory of your time outdoors. There is an optional coloring page included in the ebook.
  3. Advanced follow-up: Read Distinguishing Chickadees. Read about Tricky Chickadees (Black-capped and Carolina). Compare two chickadees (notebook page included in the ebook).
Homeschool Nature Study: The Chickadee

Join the Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Nature Study Curriculum and Year Round Support

There are so many benefits to joining. You will access our full range of curriculum, our interactive learning calendar as well as a brand new homeschool nature study challenge post each week!

Join the Homeschool Nature Study membership Now
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Homeschool Nature Study Pine Trees and Pine Cones

This homeschool nature study has everything you need to start learning about pine trees and pine cones. This Outdoor Hour Challenge is based on the Winter Wednesday curriculum which is available to our members but you can follow along regardless using this post as a bit of a guide. In the Winter Wednesday curriculum you will have access to notebooking pages and a host more ideas and links.

Let’s jump into exploring pine trees and pine cones in nature…

This homeschool nature study has what you need to start learning about pine trees and pine cones. Then head outdoors to gather some cones!

This challenge was originally written using the Discover Nature in Winter book which you can grab fairly inexpensively off Amazon in Kindle format. However, I will give you alternatives using the Handbook of Nature Study (this is a link to the free online version if you do not have a copy to hand just yet) too.

Homeschool Nature Study: Pine Trees and Pine Cones

Let’s kick off our studies with a quick Youtube video on pine cones.

Outdoor Hour Challenge for Your Homeschool

1. Read chapter five in Discover Nature in Winter. Once again, this chapter covers more than just cedar trees in its information and activities. As you read the chapter, keep your pen in hand to jot down ideas that come to you as you read the information and the suggested activities.

If you are using the Handbook of Nature Study begin by reading the introductory pages of the pine tree on pages 670-674. Bear this information in mind as you head out for your nature walk. You do not need to bombard your children with information, instead, you will be able to answer their questions and direct their observations.

2. Since this chapter really covers a variety of evergreens, our family will be focusing on our local evergreens as part of this week’s activity. We will be completing two activities to go along with this chapter, one a short term project and one a long term project.

Cone Collection on page 96 (short term)
Tree Community on page 97 (long term)

The Homeschool Pine Cone Collection Activity

For the cone collection, we will be gathering and comparing cones from different evergreens. I love the idea on the top of page 97 to pick a cone and write a description of it in your nature journal. Then you share the description with someone else and they have to figure out which cone you described. Love it!

The Tree Community Activity for Your Homeschool

For the tree community activity, we will be using our backyard sequoia to develop an ongoing list of creatures that use the tree as part of their community. This activity suggests keeping track of when certain birds and animals frequent the tree to see patterns. See page 98 for a sample chart.

Suggested Activities If You Do Not Have A Copy of Discover Nature in Winter

I know that there are homeschool families that are following along without the book but this week’s nature study is one you can complete very easily. Here are some suggestions.

1. Observe and compare the bark of two trees in your yard.
2. Pick a tree you can see from your window and observe any birds or animals that visit over the next week.
3. Collect cones and compare them in your nature journal. See if you can find the seeds inside the cone.

Pine Trees and Pine Cones From the Handbook of Nature Study

Lesson 185 – The Pine – page674-675

  • Find a pine tree on your walk and look at it’s shape. Observations 1 -3 of the lesson will guide you on what to look for
  • Gather up some pine leaves. Observation 4 provides guidance on your observations
  • Collect as many cones as you can to take home. It would be lovely it you could find some closed and some open. Observations 5-6 in the Handbook of Nature Study will give you ideas on what you are looking for.
This homeschool nature study has what you need to start learning about pine trees and pine cones. Then head outdoors to gather some cones!

If you are just getting started in homeschool nature study, be sure to grab our free Getting Started in the Outdoor Challenges Guide!

Join the Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support

There are so many benefits to joining. You will access our full range of curriculum, our interactive learning calendar as well as a brand new homeschool nature study challenge post each week!

Join the Homeschool Nature Study membership Now
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Connect With Our Homeschool Community On Social Media

Did you enjoy this Outdoor Hour Challenge? Be sure to tag us on Instagram @outdoorhourchallenge and use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge so we can see and comment!

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Homeschool Bird Study For Different Learning Styles

This homeschool bird study for different learning styles is a wonderful example of how nature study can benefit any child. It allows you to provide a variety of experiences to tap into their natural learning style and complete a bird study all along the way!

Making Nature Study Easy: Adapt to Your Child’s Interests

Are you struggling with making your nature study meaningful for your family? Have your attempts to begin a nature study plan with your children failed because of their bad attitudes or lack of interest? Do you feel like nature study is just another academic subject that you need to check off your list?

You are not alone. I think many of us have tried to make nature study a regular routine in our homeschooling week but ended up throwing in the towel because it was just too hard to get into a rhythm.

Our Different Homeschool Learning Styles

I’m a mom of four children, one daughter and three sons. I found it impossible to make every study interesting for every child when it came to nature study. As a homeschooling mom, I attempted to educate myself in ways to offer subjects to my children that met their needs and interests, strengths, and skills.

I found nature study to be most successful when you allow your children to make connections that are meaningful and fit their style of learning. I was more successful when I offered a variety of activities to appeal in some way to their personal interests. (You can read more about the concept of addressing the various ways we learn here: Multiple Intelligences.)

This homeschool bird study for different learning styles is a great example of how nature study can benefit any child.

Homeschool Bird Study For Different Learning Styles

Here is a specific example of this kind of customized learning for you to think about and adapt to your family with a Homeschool Bird Study For Different Learning Styles:

  • Musical Learner: Enjoys listening to and learning to imitate bird calls. Easily identifies a bird by its call. Writes a song about birds.
  • Verbal-Linguistic: Records a birding experience in a nature journal using words or tells a story about the nature walk. Writes or copies a poem about a bird into their nature journal. Learns the Latin names of birds as well as the common names. Reads the biography of Audubon.
  • Mathematical-Logical: Tallies birds at a feeder. Keeps a running list of birds seen over a period of time in a nature journal. Collects bird feathers and categorizes them into groups. Studies migratory maps and learns where local birds go for the winter. Learns all the state birds. Experiments with different kinds of bird seed to see which ones particular birds like best. Participates in citizen science projects like the Great Backyard Bird Count and Project Feederwatch.
  • Visual-Spatial: Makes a model of a bird from clay. Sketches a bird in their nature journal. Notices the differences between birds: beaks, wing shapes, tail shapes, size. Builds a birdhouse. Designs and builds their own birdfeeder. Constructs a bird blind in order to observe birds.
This homeschool bird study for different learning styles is a great example of how nature study can benefit any child.
  • Kinesthetic: Loves to take a walk and look for birds using binoculars. Climbs a tree to find a bird’s nest or just experience a “bird’s eye” view. Hangs a bird feeder and keeps it full. Plants a bird garden.
  • Interpersonal: Joins a birding group and learns from the more experienced birders about their local area. Volunteers at a bird reserve with a friend. Organizes a field trip to a bird aviary for their co-op.
  • Intrapersonal: Spends quiet time outdoors observing birds, perhaps recording their experiences in their own nature journal that they don’t share with others. Has a pet bird.
  • Naturalist: Enjoys lots of time outdoors looking for birds and learning their life cycles. Learns the names of birds, keeps a bird life list, learns the calls, and keeps a nature journal. Easily remembers the names of birds and their habits. Has a collection of bird’s feathers, bones, and nests.
  • Existential: Learns about endangered species of birds. Spends time contemplating a bird’s life cycle. Keeps a journal of their thoughts about birds and how they fit into the web of life on the earth.

If you’re struggling with deciding what your child’s learning style is, be patient and if all else fails, ask them what they want to do for nature study. You could share some of the ideas in the printable referenced below as a way to introduce new and fresh ideas.

It’s really a case of trial and error until you have it all figured out.

Homeschool Nature Study Membership for All Learning Styles

Specific ideas for adapting nature study are in the printable Multiple Intelligences and Grid Study in the Homeschool Nature Study Membership in the Resources course. Topics covered include mammals, reptiles, wildflowers, astronomy, insects, trees, weather, and invertebrates. This set of pages has ideas for ways to adapt nature study to fit your child’s style of learning.

Join Homeschool Nature Study Membership Today!

Try applying the principle of this Homeschool Bird Study For Different Learning Styles to any nature study subject. You’re only limited by your imagination.

This homeschool bird study for different learning styles is a great example of how nature study can benefit any child. Printable included.

 

 

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Charlotte Mason Nature Study For Your Homeschool

Just how do you enjoy a Charlotte Mason nature study for your homeschool? Let’s look at some advice from Charlotte Mason herself and apply it in a simple way to our own outdoor times.

Charlotte Mason Nature Study for Your Homeschool

All quotes are from Charlotte Mason (modern English), volume 3

“One afternoon a week, the students in our ‘Practicing School’ [taught by the student teachers at Charlotte Mason’s teacher’s college] go for a ‘nature walk’ with their teacher. They notice things by themselves, and the teacher tells them the name or gives other information only if they ask for it.”

“The teachers are careful not to turn these nature walks into an opportunity to give science lessons, because they want the children’s attention to be focused on their own observations.”

“They’re allowed to notice things with very little direction from the teacher. By doing this, children accumulate a good collection of ‘common knowledge.’ ”

-Charlotte Mason

“Even more important, students learn to know and take pleasure in objects from nature like they do in the familiar faces of friends.”

-Charlotte Mason

Nature Study in Your Own Backyard

I have certainly given my share of “science lessons” during our nature walks and nature time. I am getting better about letting the children direct me to what they are curious about. I see the wisdom in allowing them to explore and learn in a way that makes sense to them, but I can be available to assist them with questions they might have. I am pretty comfortable with telling them that I don’t know the answer to their question and then find someone or some resource that does have the answer.

“The nature walk shouldn’t be used as a chance to dispense miscellaneous tidbits of scientific facts.”

-Charlotte Mason

These principles are the same whether your nature study takes place in your backyard, on the trail, or during some other nature study outing. As the parent, you set the mood. If you quietly observe your children, you will see what they are drawn to learn more about without much effort.

Try it the next time you are having your outdoor time.

Photo by Amy Law

Charlotte Mason Style Exam Questions for Homeschool High School

Several of the courses included in Homeschool Nature Study membership include Charlotte Mason style exam questions for advanced students. Author Barb McCoy says, “This series has proved to be a huge success in our family, helping to bring nature study up to a level for my teens. Also, I saw families with large age ranges of children completing the challenges together, each on their own level and enjoying it.”

You can feel free to pick and choose which questions you will give your homeschool high school student according to their interest and abilities.

You can successfully continue nature study with your teenagers. They may need some encouragement to make the study their own by adjusting your subjects, your methods of follow-up, and your attitude towards what nature study should look like.

More Resources for Charlotte Mason Nature Study Time

Besides our free Getting Started in the Outdoor Hour Challenges download, we invite you to enjoy these wonderful nature resources.

You will find hundreds of Charlotte Mason style homeschool nature studies plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges in our Homeschool Nature Study membership.

Join The Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support

You will find hundreds of Charlotte Mason style homeschool nature studies plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!

Join the Homeschool Nature Study Membership Today!
How do you enjoy a Charlotte Mason nature study for your homeschool? Look at advice from Charlotte Mason herself and apply it to outdoor times.
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Homeschool Nature Study: Winter Sky Constellations

This week’s homeschool nature study outdoor hour challenge looks upward towards the stars, yes, it’s time to learn about the winter sky constellations!

Homeschool Nature Study Winter Sky Constellations: Outdoor Hour Challenge

1. Read chapter three in Discover Nature in WinterWinter stargazing is something that our family has always wanted to do but we have never taken the initiative to get out and do so. Now we have the perfect excuse. Read the chapter with a view to picking some winter stars to learn about and observe as a family. Start with the North Star or Orion’s belt if you are not sure what you are doing yet.

“Unlike owls and other nocturnal creatures, our eyes are not well designed for seeing in the dark. After leaving a lighted building at night, it takes about thirty minutes for our eyes to become adjusted to the lower light levels.”

The Handbook of Nature Study, page 37

Allow plenty of time for your eyes to adjust and to take in the night sky.
2. Our family decided to make sure we can find these four constellations in the winter sky:

  • Big Dipper (North Star as well) page 44
  • Ursa Major page 45
  • Cassiopeia page 47
  • Orion (using Orion’s belt) page 49

We do not have a telescope but we use our eyes and sometimes our binoculars to view the night sky. We also plan to bundle up to keep warm and then go inside afterwards for some hot cocoa or apple cider.

3. If you can’t fit in some nighttime stargazing for winter sky constellations, how about some sunset observations? You could also look for the moon as well as stars and write about it in your nature journal. Being able to name a star or constellation is a great skill but it can be just as satisfying to spend some time contemplating the universe while gazing at the stars.

For those families that do not have the book to work from, please join us by going outside at night and observing the winter sky. Try to pick a cloudless night where you can observe plenty of stars. Observing the moon in the winter is a great nature study experience as well. Keep it simple and give it a try.

Homeschool Nature Study Outdoor Hour Challenge Winter Sky Constellations

Winter Sky Resource For Your Homeschool

This website has a wealth of materials to help you map the winter sky!

Join the Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Nature Study Curriculum and Year Round Support

There are so many benefits to joining. You will access our full range of curriculum, our interactive learning calendar as well as a brand new homeschool nature study challenge post each week!

Join the Homeschool Nature Study membership Now
An image showing the full collection of Nature Study courses

Connect With Our Homeschool Community On Social Media

Did you enjoy this Outdoor Hour Challenge? Be sure to tag us on Instagram @outdoorhourchallenge and use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge so we can see and comment!

There are so many benefits to joining. You will access our full range of curriculum, our interactive learning calendar as well as a brand new homeschool nature study challenge post each week!

Join the Homeschool Nature Study membership Now
An image showing the full collection of Nature Study courses

Connect With Our Homeschool Community On Social Media

Did you enjoy this Outdoor Hour Challenge? Be sure to tag us on Instagram @outdoorhourchallenge and use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge so we can see and comment!

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Great Backyard Bird Count Homeschool Resources: Everything You Need!

Are you ready? Enjoy these Great Backyard Bird Count Homeschool Resources as you watch birds in your backyard this February!

Are you ready? Enjoy these Great Backyard Bird Count Homeschool Resources as you watch birds in your backyard this February!

The Great Backyard Bird Count: An Overview

Let’s start with the basics!

What Is The Great Backyard Bird Count?

Each February, for four days, the world comes together for the love of birds. Over these four days we invite people to spend time in their favorite places watching and counting as many birds as they can find and reporting them to us. These observations help scientists better understand global bird populations before one of their annual migrations.

Birdcount.org

When Is The Great Backyard Bird Count?

Each February. This event has been going strong for 25 years!

Who Can Participate In The Great Backyard Bird Count?

Anyone in the world!

How Can My Family Be A Part Of It?

Count birds in your yard and at your feeders. Report the data to the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Need more information? Visit the Great Backyard Bird Count website for printables and more.

Great Backyard Bird Count Homeschool Resources

 

 

Top Ten Birds Reported in the Great Backyard Bird Count

Great Place to Start for Beginners

 This is a great beginner’s list of birds to know and be able to identify. Use the links above to take a peek at these common birds that may be visitors to your neighborhood. Make sure to scroll down to the “similar species” section for each bird and that will give you additional birds to look for if you don’t have that particular bird in your neighborhood. Also, reading the “Backyard Tips” and “Find This Bird” sections will give you some clues and hints for actually viewing this bird in person.

  1. Northern Cardinal
  2. Mourning Dove
  3. Dark Eyed Junco
  4. Downy Woodpecker
  5. American Crow
  6. House Finch
  7. American Goldfinch
  8. Blue Jay
  9. Black Capped Chickadee
  10. Tufted Titmouse
Are you ready? Enjoy these Great Backyard Bird Count Homeschool Resources as you watch birds in your backyard this February!

Download and save the Cornell Feeder Bird coloring book. This book has many of the most common birds you will see in your backyard and it makes a perfect complement to your family’s bird nature study.

A Homeschool Bird Study with Chalk Pastels by Erin – A chalk pastels bird study with Nana is a wonderful way to introduce bird art lessons in your homeschool. Chalk pastels are perfect for preschoolers to adults. They are super easy to use with no long art supply list needed. You’ll love adding these vibrant birds to your next homeschool nature study or in preparation for the Great Backyard Bird Count!

Are you ready? Enjoy these Great Backyard Bird Count Homeschool Resources as you watch birds in your backyard this February!

The Great Backyard Bird Count Homeschool by Heather – It’s that time of the year when citizen scientists everywhere are gearing up for the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). It’s easy to participate and the bird count is a great way to contribute to actual data being used by ornithologists. You can have a Great Backyard Bird Count Homeschool!

All of the birds homeschool nature study resources listed are available as an Outdoor Hour Challenge in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. If you have a membership, you will be able to pull up the Outdoor Hour Challenge curriculum and print any notebook pages, coloring pages, or other printables for your birds nature study.

Join The Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support

Can you believe all of these bird resources you will find in membership? You will also find a continuing series on bird nature study, bird watching and attracting birds plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges for nature study in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!

Join the Homeschool Nature Study Membership Today!

Our family is going to be counting in the Great Backyard Bird Count! Be sure to share on social media and tag @outdoorhourchallenge on Instagram or Homeschool Nature Study on Facebook with your results too!

Are you ready? Enjoy these Great Backyard Bird Count Homeschool Resources as you watch birds in your backyard this February!

-First published by Barb February 2020 and updated by Tricia January 2022

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The Homeschool Nature Journal Habit

Keeping a nature journal and building the homeschool nature journal habit can be a wonderful extension of your outdoor learning time. You will find nature journal ideas for everyone from young children to the homeschool mom!

The Homeschool Nature Journal Habit

Like all habits, the habit of keeping a nature journal starts by making it a regular part of your routine. I’ve found that families that create a simple nature journal page after their outdoor time are the most successful at keeping that habit over time. Don’t make it too complicated or overthink the process.

Many of us struggle with perfection. We think that a nature journal should be a place of beauty and value…which I agree with wholeheartedly. But, it also can be a place that we experiment and mess up from time to time. A smear here or a misspelled word or funky drawing we don’t like can also appear on a nature journal page. Those “mess ups” shouldn’t keep us from establishing a nature journaling habit.

Building the homeschool nature journal habit can be a wonderful extension of your outdoor learning time. Find nature journal ideas for everyone here!

The Benefit of Nature Journals for Young Children

I can’t emphasize enough that the single most important factor in starting a nature journaling habit in your family is the example you as the parent can set for your children. If you regularly get out your own nature journal and make entries, eventually your children will participate alongside you. Charlotte Mason wrote that if a child is too young to write or create their own journal entry, the mother can be their secretary and help them with the writing portion of a nature journal entry.

In my experience, many times after a nature walk, my kids were eager to do a sketch of something they observed while outdoors. Those pages may not be elaborate, but they are personal to the child.

See Outdoor Hour Challenge #2 Using Your Words and Outdoor Hour Challenge #3 Now is the Time to Draw for help getting started with simple nature journals with your children. If you’re a Member, you can download the Getting Started ebook for additional information and printable journal pages.

nature journal for homeschool mom
Nature Journal Page by Shirley Ann Vels https://buildingahouseholdoffaith.com/

Nature Journals for Homeschool Moms – Good Habits Start With You

It is my journal, and it can be any way that I wish it to be. When I first started journaling back in approximately 2008, I felt the pressure to make my entries pretty and artistic. The examples I could find online were by real artists and not just a regular mom like myself. I needed to stop comparing myself and just be inspired by these other nature journal pages.

Keeping a nature journal is a long-term life project. My nature journal goes with me on every trip we take….I have packed it three times to Hawaii, to Yellowstone, on countless trips to Yosemite, and on most every little day trip I make. Do I always remember to pull it out and record things? No. Do I wish I would have made more entries? Yes. There is the lesson: Once you build the habit of journaling, you will be more excited about recording all your nature experiences whether they are close to home or far away on an adventure.

If you want your drawing skills to improve, you must practice. That’s a tough one for most of us. I did not come from an artistic background so giving myself permission to try to learn to draw or paint or do anything artistic took a big shove from my husband. It took time and effort. My suggestion for people who are striving to do a better job in sketching is to go to your library and go to the children’s section first and check out “how to draw” books and use them alongside your children. I checked one out on how to draw insects and one on how to draw birds and then found some nature sketching books to try. These experiences with the book open in front of you and your sketching from the step by step instructions will eventually spill over into your nature journal. The added bonus is that you will be modeling for your children the process and the effort to nature journal. There is no magic formula, but your success is equal to the effort you are willing to put into it.

Nature Journal Resources For Your Homeschool

Simple Nature Journal Ideas (on Hubpages): This is a thorough collection of my simple to use nature journal ideas and a resource for my picks for nature journaling supplies.

Nature Journal Examples: This link will take you to a Flickr album with many nature journal pages our family has created.

Bring the Handbook of Nature Study to lIfe in your homeschool

Nature Journaling in the Handbook of Nature Study:

  • Pages 13-15 (The Field Notebook). In this section Anna Botsford Comstock helps us with a detailed description of her idea of a field notebook or nature journal. She also states that if done properly “they represent what cannot be bought or sold, personal experience in the happy world of out-of-doors”. Make note of any suggestions you want to implement with your children.
  • Page 17 (The Correlation of Nature Study and Drawing). Highlight the points that will help you with your nature journals. “Too much have we emphasized drawing as an art; it may be an art, if the one who draws is an artist; but if he is not an artist, he still has a right to draw if it pleases him to do so.”
Building the homeschool nature journal habit can be a wonderful extension of your outdoor learning time. Find nature journal ideas for everyone here!

Nature Journal Outdoor Hour Challenges in Homeschool Nature Study Membership

Outdoor Hour Challenge #3 – Now is the Time to Draw: This challenge from the free Getting Started series is a perfect way to begin small with nature journaling. Members can download the ebook and the notebook pages that go along with it to introduce a nature journal to your children.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #2 – Using Your Words: If you’re having trouble coming up with words for your nature journal, this challenge will give you some direction.

You can always use any of the printable notebook pages in the Homeschool Nature Study membership for your nature journal.

Join the Homeschool Nature Study Membership Today!

If you’re not a member yet, please consider joining to gain the benefit of having a nature study library at your fingertips. There are numerous resources available for you to help create the habit of nature study within your homeschool family.

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Spring Homeschool Nature Study Curriculum With Art and Music Appreciation

This spring homeschool nature study curriculum contains all the nature study Outdoor Hour Challenges, custom notebook pages for nature study as well as three months’ worth of art and music appreciation.

Spring homeschool nature study curriculum contains Outdoor Hour Challenges, custom notebook pages as well as art and music appreciation.
Photo by Amy Law

The Spring Homeschool Nature Study for Members Includes Nature Study Lesson Plans:

  • 10 Outdoor Hour Challenges – 6 completely new nature study lesson plans – Outdoor Hour Challenges and 4 continuing studies for your spring homeschool (Seasonal Tree, Weather, Cattail, and Bird). All the Outdoor Hour Challenges in this nature study curriculum are based on the Handbook of Nature Study and include page numbers and suggested learning observations.
  • 10 Outdoor Hour Challenge notebook pages and nature journal suggestions.
  • 3 months’ worth of art and music appreciation- 3 composers and 3 artists with links, prints to view, coordinating projects, a coloring page, and notebook pages. Also included in two of the months are additional ideas for studying several instruments in the orchestra along with your listening time.
  • Ideas for nature study field trips other than your normal Outdoor Hour Challenge backyard adventures.
  • Links for further enrichment for each Outdoor Hour Challenge, artist study, and composer study.
  • Complete list of resources and instructions to get started with this nature study curriculum.
  • 50 pages
  • Topics Include: Year-Long Tree Study, Spring Weather, Spring Bird, Dandelions, Spring Cattail, Apple Tree, Cats, Snakes, Earthworms, and Ants.
  • Updated January 2022.
Outdoor Hour Challenges homeschool curriculum with art and music appreciation.
Photo by Erin Vincent and her Spring Art Celebration!

Nature Study Outdoor Hour Challenge Homeschool Curriculum Included

You will have a complete plan at your fingertips for your spring nature study, art appreciation, and music study. You will need to have the Handbook of Nature Study in order to complete the nature study challenges. All of the art prints are included in the ebook and there are links to viewing them online as well.

Art and Music Appreciation Spring Homeschool Curriculum Included

This time the three featured composers and their music are offered on one CD: Classical Music Start-Up Kit Volume Two. You can choose to purchase this CD for convenience or use the online links to listen to the music suggested in the music appreciation plans. I have aimed to keep these challenges and homeschool activities as simple as possible with very few additional resources needed.

Spring homeschool nature study curriculum contains Outdoor Hour Challenges, custom notebook pages as well as art and music appreciation.

Join Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Homeschool Resources and Support Year Round!

Join Homeschool Nature Study Membership Today!

Spring Homeschool Nature with Art and Music Appreciation is available in membership, along with access to 26+ Outdoor Hour Challenge Homeschool Curriculum and courses, weekly Outdoor Hour Challenges, a monthly nature calendar with daily nature study prompts and more!

Enjoy nature study, art appreciation and music studies all in one plan for your spring homeschool!

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Homeschool Snow Study

In this homeschool snow study there is so much to discover! Included is a field guide to snow, experiments like filtering, guidance from the Handbook of Nature Study and more!

Homeschool Snow Study – Outdoor Hour Challenge

Hello, fellow nature adventurers! How lovely to see you here once again for another exciting challenge. In this week’s homeschool nature study outdoor our challenge looks at a homeschool snow study.

1. Read chapter two in Discover Nature in Winter. There are so many great ideas for a homeschool snow study in this chapter that you will find at least two or three that you will want to try with your family. Use your highlighter or sticky notes to mark the places that you find with interesting information or ideas for including in your winter nature study.

2. Our family has decided to complete the “Snow Produces Water” activity on page 28. Please feel free to complete any of the suggested activities in chapter two of the book and then share your experiences in a blog entry.

In this homeschool snow study there is so much to discover! Included is a field guide to snow, experiments like filtering, guidance from the Handbook of Nature Study and more!

More Homeschool Nature Snow Study Ideas

  • Filtering Snow
    Place a clean wide-mouthed container outside during a snowstorm. Collect the snow and then bring it inside the house to melt. After your snow has melted, filter the water through a coffee filter. Use a hand lens to examine the particles left in the filter. If you have a microscope you can look at the melted snow even more closely.
  • Snow Produces Water
    Fill a measuring cup with fresh snow and let it melt. See how many cups full of snow it takes to fill a measuring cup with the melted water. Repeat the experiment with old snow and record any differences in your nature journal.

This chapter in the book contains an explanation of how a snowflake forms and descriptions of the different kinds of snowflakes. We may as a family complete a few more of the activities in this chapter like the “Snow Melt and Trees” activity and the “Dripless Snow” activity as well. Now we just have to hope we get some significant snow soon so we can do our homeschool snow study observations.

I found some information on collecting and identifying different kinds of snowflakes: Field Guide to Snowflakes.

If you do not have any snow to observe, remember that you can use the ideas from my winter nature study blog entry as an alternative. Also, you can go back to week one and complete the color walk activity if you didn’t finish that activity already.

In this homeschool snow study there is so much to discover! Experiments like filtering, guidance from the Handbook of Nature Study and more!

From The Handbook of Nature Study

I wanted to bring to your attention the section near the back of the Handbook of Nature Study on climate and weather. Particularly interesting to some might be the section on water forms found starting on page 808.

From the Handbook of Nature Study on page 808:
“Water in its various changing forms, liquid, gas, and solid, is an example of another overlooked miracle- so common that we fail to see the miraculous in it. We cultivate the imagination of our children by tales of the prince who became invisible when he put on his cap of darkness, and who made far journeys through the air on his magic carpet. And yet no cap of darkness ever wrought more astonishing disappearances than occur when this most common of our earth’s elements disappears from under our very eyes, dissolving into thin air.”

Anna Comstock spends the next few pages discussing the miracle of the water cycle and the many faces of water. There are so many things described here on these pages and you could easily spend weeks going through each little paragraph.

Examples:

  • Ice on the surface of a pond (page 811)
  • Seeing one’s breath (page 810)
  • Observing a boiling teakettle (page 810)
  • The geometry of a snowflake (page 809)

Then starting on page 812 she has listed 13 activities to complete your study of water forms.

Join the Homeschool Nature Study Membership for More Winter Nature Studies

Join the Homeschool Nature Study membership Now
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