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Note: This is a rough draft, which will be edited and corrected as I have time
Principles of Nature Study
Charlotte Mason believed that education is a "science of relationships -- relationships with God, with each other, and with matter -- where the children learn to regard others with proper respect and to serve "an object outside of themselves" (Vol. 6, pg. 133). We must help our children enter fully into those three relationships and to learn to think scientifically. Charlotte Mason suggested that the parent’s most important role in teaching children to think scientifically is to "afford abundant and varied opportunities and to direct his observations so that, knowing little of the principles of scientific classification, he is, unconsciously, furnishing himself with the materials for such classification...the future of the man or woman depends largely on the store of knowledge gathered, and the habits of intelligent observation acquired, by the child"
"...there is no part of a child's education more important than that he should lay, by his own observation, a wide basis of facts towards scientific knowledge in the future...he must be accustomed to as "WHY?" and do not hurry to answer his questions for him; let him think his difficulties out so far as his small experience will carry him."
"...Do not embarrass him with too much scientific nomenclature. If he discover for himself that some animals have backbones and others have not, it is less important that he should learn the terms vertebrate and invertebrate than that he should class the animals he meets according to this difference" (Vol. 1 pp. 264-265)
Charlotte Mason expected her students to engage in nature study throughout their lives, not just as preparation for the study of other sciences. She said, "The study of natural history and botany with bird lists and plant lists continues throughout school life, while other branches are taken term by term." She herself set the example for her students by spending many hours several times a week out of doors, studying God’s creation, keeping a nature journal, and learning about the animals and plants of her own environment. Irregardless of the field of study or career path chosen, the invaluable skills of observation
Children first should be learning about the world as it is- no matter how brilliant and academically gifted children are, they should all have plenty of opportunities to climb trees, play in mud puddles, go for long walks, run in meadows, wade in streams, sort rocks, shells, and acorns, collect bugs, watch butterflies emerge from a cocoon, run, skip, ride, swim, and more.
A child who has splashed in a puddle has a richer understanding of a pond. A child who has climbed a tree has a broader grasp of what was involved when explorers first climbed Everest. A child who has collected stones or shells has a deeper grasp of what is involved in scientific classification later.
Children who do all these things early also are actually laying down impressive growth in the brain synapses.
There is a joy that comes with appreciating God's truth revealed in other peoples' giftings and His creation. (note: this phrasing is borrowed from somebody else, but I have lost her name. If you recognize it, please let me know so I may properly credit the source)
Much of boredom in life is due to an appalling lack of interest in the wonders around us! I think this is also why so many women look at SAH moms with blank expressions and tell us they could never stay home all day, they need more intellectual stimulation. I never understood this because I couldn’t find enough hours in the day to pursue topics I was interested in. I finally realized that what they were *really* saying is that they didn't know how to entertain and educate themselves. Too many people need to be spoonfed intellectual food. Nature study is one of many tools in the CM equipment box that will enable our children to become independent learners with their own interests.
nature study is a great way to develop the skills of noticing details and the
"nonverbal" cues of animals (and humans).
Resources:
http://charlottemason.tripod.com/nature.html
http://www.backyardnature.net/101/winter.htm
field guides
scouting books
4-H material
enature.com
...The chief function of the child- his business in the world during the first six or seven years of his life- is to find out all he can, about whatever comes under his notice, by means of his five senses; that he has an insatiable appetite for knowledge got in this way; and that, therefore, the endeavor of his parents should be to put him in the way of making acquaintance freely with Nature and natural objects... page 96-7 of volume one
The child who does not know the portly form and spotted breast of the thrush, the graceful flight of the swallow, the yellow bill of the blackbird, the gush of song which the skylark pours from above is nearly as much Most children of six have had this taste of a naturalist's experience, and it is worth speaking of only because, instead of being merely a harmless amusement, it is a valuable piece of education, of more use to the child than the reading of a whole book of natural history, or much geography, and Latin. For the evil is, that children get their knowledge of natural history, like all their knowledge, at second hand. They are so sated with wonders, that nothing surprises them; and they are so little used to see for themselves, that nothing interests them. The cure for this blasé condition is, to let them alone for a bit, and then begin on new lines. Poor children, it is no fault of theirs if they are not as they are meant to be- curious eager little souls, all agog to explore so much of this wonderful world as they can get at, as quite their first business in life.
"He prayeth best who loveth best
All things both great and small:
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all."
Nature knowledge is the most important for Young Children:
It would be well if all we persons in authority, parents and all who act for parents, could make up our minds that there is no sort of knowledge to be got in these early years so valuable to children as that which they get for themselves of the world they live in. Let them once get touch with Nature, and a habit is formed which will be a source of delight through life. We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things."
Page 60-61
pages 177/8:
"(a) That the knowledge most valuable to the child is that which he gets with his own eyes and ears and fingers (under direction) in the open air.
(b) That the claims of the schoolroom should not be allowed to encroach on the child’s right to long hours daily for exercise and investigation.
(c) That the child should be taken daily, if possible, to scenes- moor or meadow, park, common or shore- where he may find new things to examine, and so add to his store of real knowledge. That the child’s observation should be directed to flower or boulder, bird or tree; that, in fact, he should be employed in gathering the common information which is the basis of scientific knowledge.
(d) That play, vigorous healthful play, is, in its turn, fully as important as lessons, as regards both bodily health and brainpower.
(e) That the child, though under supervision, should be left much to himself- both that he may go to work in his own way on the ideas he recei Freedom to do what they like with their bodies and minds as much of the day as possible- running, jumping, leaping, lying on their tummies watching worms in the dirt or on their backs watching bees in the trees overhead.
Long hours in out of door play (no knowledge so appropriate to the early years ... As that of the name and look and behavior in situ of every natural object he can get at: page 32)
Miss Mason suggests a good four to six hours daily from April through October She says she knows this isn’t practical but that she isn’t addressing the practical but rather the ideal (!)
Winter Nature Study
Play `Kim's game'- pick a scene outside a window, look at it
carefully enough to be able to look at it again on another day and
describe what is different.
When you have been able to take a brisk walk, go home, and over hot cocoa ask who can remember what you passed on your walk and tell each other all you remember.
Observe the trees, note their changes- pick one or two trees and
check them every week to see what's different. You can do this from
inside with a good pair of binoculars
Learn to recognize bird calls- set up a bird feeder, check out
enature.com, and once you have identified a bird, go to the website
to hear its call
The Sun:
Observe its position at various times throughout the day
Note times of sunrise and sunset as well as their direction
The place of the sun at the hottest part of the day
Distance and direction
In addition to noting the location of the sun
Note the time it takes to walk/drive
A foot, a yard, a block, a quarter mile, a half mile
To frequent destinations- a friend's house, the store, the library,
the barn, the corner, around the block (wherever it is you do walk-
learn how far that is and how long it takes to walk that distance)
Wind
Direction, learn what a western wind means (it is blowing from the
west, not toward the west, just as a Canadian is _from_ Canada)
Clouds
Observe their shape, size, style, color and note the connection
between clouds and weather
WE bought the book _Exploring Nature In Winter_, by Alan Cvancara
through Abebooks.
I found a few useful ideas, although it is primarily for adults to
use to learn to enjoy the outdoors in winter as well as warmer
months. One of the many ideas between its covers is how to preserve
snowflakes to sketch.
You need microscope slides, which you put on a sturdy surface, like
cardboard. Spray the slides with something like Krylon- clear,
plastic spray generally for preserving artwork. Then allow snow
crystals to land on the sprayed slides. Bring the slides in to dry.
If it worked, you will have replicas of snowflake crystals that
remain clear. You can sketch them, examine them under the
microscope, or use a magnifying glass. Of course, to do this, your
slides and the spray should be below freezing, or they will melt the
snowflake on contact. (we have only tried this once and it didn't
work for us)
He suggests noting weather conditions, air temperatures, wind
direction, speed, and what type of snow crystals predominate. These
things, of course, could all be admirable additions to the Nature
Notebook.
Another way to study snowflakes is take out a a piece of black
cardboard, or black felt stretched on a board, (or wear black wool
mittens), and a magnifying glass and study the snowflakes outside.
Just be careful not to melt them with your breath as you gasp in rapt
admiration;-) We keep a bit of black felt or an old black mitten in
the freezer all winter long so that we can grab it and catch a few
snowflakes on it and bring them in for a quick investigation.
Another `nature study' book that I especially love is called Growing
Up Green, by Alice Skelsey and Gloria Huckaby. It's sort of hippy
flavored in parts, not too strongly (it was written in the 70's, I
believe). I used this when my 21 and 20 y.o. daughters were 2 and 1. I used a
copy from my library all those years ago. In 1999 I found it again
at the local used bookstore and grabbed it for old time's sake. We have enjoyed it using with with our younger children. It
is a nice book, with lots of fun things to do with your children to
share the love of growing things, even in winter.
You can grow a potato indoors and sketch the leaves or roots. It's
very easy, and very pretty. You just stick a potato or a sweet
potato (they're prettier) in a jar of water so that just the bottom
touches the water.
If the potato is too even in shape to stay up on the rim, then stick
three toothpicks up around the side, and they will prop the tater up
so it doesn't submerge.
It makes a beautiful vine and you can keep it going for several
months.
Once it starts to turn a bit yellow, it's time to repot it (I use a
large coffee can), and then it will keep for another month or two.
Then you need to either dump it or plant it outside and start
another one.
It would work well to sketch the growth of the potato each week,
measuring roots and leaves, that sort of thing.
Another indoor nature project is growing beans. You take a clear jar
and roll a paper towel up and line the jar with it. Get the towel
damp, and stick some dried beans (navy beans, lima, that sort, but
*not* split peas;-D) between the paper and the jar. Keep the
toweling damp and you can watch how the seed splits open and how the
roots grow. You could sketch this (with dates and measurements) in
the sketchbook as well.
Get a small pet, if you can- something like a gerbil, hamster, fish,
or lizard, and observe it, adding to the nature notebook as desired.
Another neat thing to do is to sketch the moon each week, on the same
night, to let the child discover for herself the cycles of the moonEvergreens are always good subjects for winter nature study.
Learn the pattern their needles grow in, look at pine cones, study
what wildlife, if any, hangs out at the evergreen tree in winter.
You can also bring in a rock, a bit of wood or small log with
lichen on it and sketch it from the dining room table.
You can sketch a leafless twig, noting the placing of the leaf scars,
the color of the wood, the shape, etc.
We have tied a string around a twig or tree branch you can see from
a window, then sketch it once a month, observing seasonal changes.
We have a root garden growing right now, two pie pans full of
parsnip and carrot tops. You could sketch those (we had a root
garden when I originally wrote this for the CMason list, but that
was about four years ago).
We have also studied two turnips, hollowed out and hanging upside down, filled
with water. The idea was that they were supposed to sprout leaves,
the leaves would grow up, making a leafy looking basket
YOu could look for old seed pods and sketch them, or animal tracks in
the snow.
Go to a petstore and observe some critters there.
Force a bulb to bloom indoors.
Keep a calendar of nature firsts all year long- this should include
things like first snowfall, first ice storm, first bird to your
feeder, first goose seen flying south, first goose seen returning,
and even the i.d. of the birds you see at your feeder every day.
If you gut a fish or cut up a chicken, call the kids in to look at
it and identify pieces and parts- if you all can stomach it=)
If you have the Comstock book, see what she says about molds and
yeasts.
If you have a cat or dog, dig out the Comstock book and look up
those animals and note the points she says to observe.
If you have indoor houseplants, use them for some studies- they need
to be learning to observe and note things like shape of leaves,
smell of plant, shape of stem, placement of leaves, etc. from their
own observations- but there is no reason they can't do this with a
geranium and a rosemary plant from your windowsill just as much as
from a weed outside. Spend some time studying the fruits and
vegetables you bring home from the store. The main point is their
_personal_ practice at observing real items.
Miss Mason did suggest that the children go outside everyday, rain
or snow or sunshine, but I am sure she had experienced nothing quite
like the blizzards we get on the prairies in North America. We do
what we can with the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
Nature Study ideas around the year
To do:
Keep them in a joyous temper
Allow an hour or two of vigorous play- running, climbing trees, free play, large muscle use Leave them alone to wonder over what they see and to grow
First send them to play freely, without directions
Second- send them to explore, give them something particular to observe. Give them a simple instruction such as:
Go find out all you can about that brook, that tree, that hedge...
This trains observational skills
Increased vocabulary by as they come up with words and ideas as they are asked for me detail and specifics.
Trains in truthfulness
Do not accept exaggerations
Correct omissions
The description should make it clear what is being described, so clear that you could identify the specimen by the description.
Make performances a matter of fact rather than self-conscious performances.
Give them things to think about ("Every walk should offer some knotty problem for the children to think out- ‘why does that leaf float on the water and this pebble sink?" Page 154, see more under The Habit of Thinking)
In order to reward careful observation and accurate description:
Mother will only go to see what the child has described when a fairly accurate description has been given-
If you must refuse to go see the wonderful tree or the beautiful flower, do so cheerfully- it is not a punishment. Simply laughingly explain that mother is tired, and she must know more before she can get up to go look- perhaps ask one or two questions for the child to return and discover before you can go to look yourself.
To prevent:
No lessons until after vigorous physical play and free wandering about
No reading books
No restricting games
No longwinded lectures
Lessons:
A Landscape study:
Mother demonstrates herself
Offer some help at first by taking baby steps at observation during the first few outings:
"Look at those trees, aren’t those green leaves a lovely shade? What does that plant remind you of? Look at the way the water splashes on those rocks! Look at the lovely shape of this rock
‘ The Landscape Study:
Explain that they can begin building a mental picture gallery:
Have them watch some good patch of landscape; shut their eyes until they see that view before them clearly even when their eyes are closed. Then ask them to close their eyes and describe it to you. Do this only now and then as it is fatiguing. This is to train to see fully and in detail.
See pages 46-50 of volume one for more
Outdoor play should give the children the opportunity to develop a love of nature and to learn and recognize:
Common plants, domestic and Wild- this is the beginning of classification, noting the shape, size number of petals, leaves, veins, trees with and without leaves, animals with and without backbones; plant or meat eaters. Direct observations so that the child will learn and recognize:
Field crops, in every seasonal aspect
Wildflowers and weeds, both leaves (shape, size, growth pattern) and flowers, type, whether head, single blossoms, spikes... And habitats (look at the ground to see that plant might grow)
Tree recognition:
Compare and contrast half a dozen varieties
Choose half a dozen specific, individual tress to follow throughout the year. Make a special effort to look at those trees carefully and note how they have changed.
Begin in winter to compare and note differences, watch for first signs of seasonal changes
In spring learn their names as you spot the leaves, note how the new leaves are folded.
Note the bud styles and variations between species
Keep pressed flower collections and collections of leaves and plants
Organize the collections by forms or shapes in order to assist classification skills later,
Make careful brush drawings
Paint
This is a good time to learn some simple principles of color mixing
Follow seasons, note changes in plants
View each with excitement and mystery, note when each species first is spotted blooming
Keep calendar of first sightings, where and when, use it every year and follow it, noting any changes, adding new species and information
Nature diary- descriptive entries in a nature journal
Living creatures
Keep pets and watch them, comment on their behavior and appearance
Tadpoles
Ants
Have a bird feeder (and bird bath, if possible)
Learn to recognize bird calls, and, if possible, imitate them
Practice ‘bird stalking’ on winter walks (see page 85)
Geography:
Outdoor play can also incorporate opportunities to give children experiences that will lay a good foundation for later studies in geography.
The Sun:
Observe its position at various times throughout the day
Note times of sunrise and sunset as well as their direction
The place of the sun at the hottest part of the day
Distance and direction
In addition to noting the location of the sun
Note the time it takes to walk
A foot, a yard, a block, a quarter mile, a half mile
To frequent destinations- a friend’s house, the store, the library, the barn, the corner, around the block (wherever it is you do walk- learn how far that is and how long it takes to walk that distance)
Wind
Direction, learn what a western wind means (it is blowing from the west, not toward the west, just as a Canadian is _from_ Canada)
Clouds
Observe their shape, size, style, color and note the connection between clouds and weather
Weather
Again- all of this is supposed to be done through _personal observations_ and first hand experience.
High School:
Nature study continues, though it gets a little more precise. Rather than studying a single plant or bird, they are to observe
particular habitats. CM's students had to be able to sketch out a typical
wetlands, woodland, ocean, intertidal, or other scene, complete with
identifiable flora and fauna appropriate for the season.
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