Tag: nature study

Getting our Summer Groove

Tracy

We’re several weeks into our new routine now, and loving summer! Nature walks, art, some music theory, poetry—summer school is in full swing. And thankfully, it’s all that I’d hoped and intended it to be.

I get a lot of questions about our summer school schedule, so I thought I’d share what our day looks like right now.

First of all, I’ve split our subjects and assigned them on different days. For instance, we do art and nature study one day; we do music and perhaps some poetry on another day; we do Life of Fred everyday. In all, we do our activities for roughly an hour a day. Nothing heavy, and lots of fun mommy-time with the kids.

music theory and music appreciation
music theory and music appreciation

Every day looks a little different. This is summer. This is our break. And while I want something to structure our days, I don’t want to be so regimented we’re not getting our breather. So first thing in the morning, I send them outside to play, to take advantage of the cool mornings before everything heats up. After playing for a couple of hours, they are usually ready for some structured activities. Oldest is still doing his Reflex Math everyday, usually while I shower and finish up with Littlest. Our “summer school” usually gets started around 11 a.m. and finishes up when we get hungry, around noon-ish.

Oldest's rendition of our dog at sunset
Oldest’s rendition of our dog at sunset

One day, we took a walk and did a nature scavenger hunt  (something taller than you, something smaller than your thumb, something that needs air, etc.); we also talked about the anatomy of trees and the different kinds of trees (deciduous/broadleaf and conifer/evergreen). Then we came in, cooled off, and did some art, learning to sketch with an ebony pencil.

art and nature study
art and nature study

On another day, we read Life of Fred on the front porch and then did a read-aloud together.

Another day, we practiced music together, learning notes on the scale using Lady Treble and the Seven Notes and Oldest’s recorder lesson book and Middlest’s Dora piano.

We added some extra stickers from "Lady Treble" to her Dora piano.
We added some extra stickers from “Lady Treble” to her Dora piano.

On yet another day, we went for a walk to pick different kinds of leaves, we read about the different leaf shapes and why plants need leaves, then we did leaf rubbings in our nature notebooks—and watercolored.

summer school schedule

It’s a little structure and a lot of fun. It’s learning in a casual setting. It’s creating and exploring and enjoying summer.

Summer Unschooling

Tracy

We’ve got a tradition at our house that is now 3 years in the making. Summer school is absolutely the highlight of the year. All of us can hardly wait to close the textbooks and start summer.

I started summer school at the end of Oldest’s K4 year for a few different reasons. First, we love the structure that school brings to our day. Too much unstructured play breeds chaos and bickering at my house. We’re a family that loves a routine and a regular schedule. Second, I didn’t want to spend three months forgetting what we’d just spent months to learn. I wanted something to hold it all in their little heads and to keep it growing.

Thus, summer school was born, but not an endless rhythm of the same lessons: even we need a break. Summer school is our time for nature walks, nature journals, and nature study; science and discovery; messy art and picture studies; classical music, water parties, and mud pie bakeries. It’s not at all “school” in the traditional sense. It’s not even school in the classical sense. It’s more a mixture of Charlotte Mason and unschooling, nurturing a fascination for the beauty of creation.

Summer School

And our summer studies have been some of our most memorable. Middlest, who was 2 when we had our first “summer school,” loves Handel’s water music and often asks when we will have another water party. Both of the kids light up when they see a waterlily painting; it’s Monet! And the nature journals are close-companions all summer long, including on vacation trips.

So what’s on the agenda for this summer?

Let’s break out the swimming pool and turn up the Mozart. It’s time for summer!

Study of a Bug’s Life: Insect Parts

Tracy

Our nature study has finally taken us to arthropods. I’ve been eagerly waiting for this all summer. I love bugs! Even spiders. I find them all fascinating. And I’ve been chomping at the bit to share my fascination with the kids. However, with all that life has brought along this summer, my month’s worth of plans became a week’s worth of bugs. Still, the kids learned a lot, and we had tons of fun in the process.

insect study for young children

For our study, I used God’s Design for Life: World of Animals book and an old favorite that my mom read to us when I was a kid (the exact book! My mom saved it all these years) All Nature Sings. I used these books as our read-alouds. We began each day reading the Beginner section of the World of Animals chapter. I adapt this as I feel the need. Some days, the beginner section doesn’t cover all I want to cover, so I read the intermediate section for older children. Other days, the intermediate section reads so advanced that I revert back to the beginner section. On most days, however, I can read the Beginner section and add the bolded vocabulary from the intermediate; it’s perfect for us. Then, we’ll read a couple of “bug” stories from All Nature Sings, a book that shows children God’s design and purpose for all those pesky critters.

Because of our animal classifications that we’ve been doing all year in geography, the kids are pretty familiar with the idea of arthropods including insects and spiders. So we began our study by taking a closer look.

Insect parts

On our first day, we learned the parts of an insect. My mom blessed us with some really fun plastic critters that made taking a closer  look much less intimidating. We got out our plastic bugs, counted their legs, and named their three body parts. Then, we lined up all of the bugs. The kids took turns working down the line and naming the body parts on each insect (head, thorax, abdomen). It was a fun way to work in repetitive drill.

insect study for young children

 

insect study for young children

We left a plastic ant on the table that day so that the kids could name all the parts for Dad when he came home. Even Middlest was able to name off head, thorax, and abdomen.

The kids loved playing with the insects. And to prove to you how well this plastic insect concept worked, here’s the contrast. We went outside later in the week on a bug hunt. I found a dead cicada and called the kids to come take a closer look, count legs, name body parts, etc. Oldest took one look and ran the other way. I finally convinced him that it was dead and harmless; he came just close enough to see what I wanted to point out to him.

Maybe one day I’ll get my timid explorers to hold a real insect. But for now, I’m counting my blessings and thanking God for plastic.

 

A Homemade Bird feeder

Tracy

As we finished up our bird study this summer, we also finished our Your Backyard DVD on birds. We’ve had fun trying to identify the different birds in our yard by listening to them, and I really wanted to be able for the kids and I to see a few of our feathered friends. The end of the DVD provided instructions for a homemade bird feeder, and we decided to give it a try.

nature study birds

I happened to have a leftover canola oil bottle that looked like it would work. The kids had a blast scouring our yard for a stick that would work as a stand for the birds. We I cut holes in each side of the container, one nickel-sized hole at 4″ and one smaller hole (just large enough for our stick) at about 1 1/2″. Then I cut holes at the top. The directions from the DVD said to use a wire, but I didn’t have any wire. Instead, I had zip-ties. I worked one through my holes, and we were ready to fill it. The kids, who had watched this section of the DVD, excitedly reminded me of exactly which seeds to use—black oil sunflower seeds. Then, we proudly hung it up in the front yard.

making a bird feeder

We’ve waited very patiently for the birds to visit our feeder. But unfortunately, we haven’t had any visitors yet. Instead, I am now growing sunflower plants in the bottom of my feeder. Guess it’s time to change the seeds and perhaps its location.

I’m off to google a solution, unless someone has some advice. Any words of wisdom from my wonderful readers?

A Nature Journaling Memory

Tracy4 Comments on A Nature Journaling Memory

I love our summer nature studies. Oldest has especially bonded with his nature journal this summer. He’s always got it with him, including when we went on vacation. He sat on the balcony of our hotel room and sketched. When we visited with friends, he and my friend’s son sat outside on a rock pile with their nature journals and shared colored pencils.

books for nature study

I consulted two different sources this year: The Handbook of Nature Study and Nature Journaling, both from my library. The Handbook is rather intimidating, I’ll admit—very comprehensive and very hard to use with young children. I always feel like a momma bird when I use the Handbook; I have to read and digest the information and then feed it to my children in small, already-been-chewed bites. But I do understand when others write that you can’t do nature study without it. It is very comprehensive. On the other hand, Nature Journaling is inspiring and inviting. It not only provides ideas for how to have a nature journal but intentionally removes the fear factor. This book is why my son loves his journal.

journal for nature study

I haven’t forced a curriculum or made journaling an assignment. When he shows me an entry, I’ll ask him questions that relate to what we’ve been studying. Is it a vertebrate or an invertebrate? What classification is it? But his journal is not purely scientific; it’s a place for him to record his summer memories—the blue-taled skink that regularly visited our front porch, the squirrel they tried to lure with acorns, the varied leaves found in the yard.

His journal is made with my Proclick binder: a piece of cardboard for the backing, some notebooking pages with places to sketch and lines to write on, and a laminated cover.

But it’s not really how I made his journal that makes him love it; it’s about how I’m letting him make his own memories and then experience them a second time on paper.

nature study for little kids

Beginning Bird Study

Tracy

For our nature study, we are now starting our bird study, and it’s already been so much fun. I love how the Lord blesses with unique opportunities to observe His creation up close.

The kids found this abandoned nest fallen from a tree. The little innocents brought me the nest and a branch, asking me to glue the branch to a tree so that the nest would have a place to go.

We examined the nest and talked about what the bird had used to build the nest. Both the kids got a big kick out of the fact that the nest was made mostly from our dog’s hair! Then Middlest put it in her bicycle basket and rode around with it the rest of the day.

Another fun aspect to our bird study has been the Feeder Bird DVD from Your Backyard. I was actually sent the DVD as part of a giveaway that I won and have really enjoyed it. Kid-friendly and informative, the DVD helps the viewer to identify common feeder birds by sight and sound. Each day, we’ve watched a short segment of the DVD on a particular bird then looked and listened for that particular bird. I’m sure we’ll watch this several times until we get our bird IDs down.

It’s been a fun, relaxed introduction to bird-watching. Regardless of the kids, I can’t wait to learn more!

Fishing for Vertebrates

Tracy

My husband went trout fishing recently and brought home a nice catch of fish. The kids were ecstatic about the whole thing, and the oldest couldn’t wait for Daddy to clean them so that he could see a backbone.

(I was relieved that Daddy got to tackle this dissection since the oldest’s last obsession was to see the backbone of a dead frog he found. I got to do the honors with the frog.)

Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on your stomach for such things—I did not get pictures of the event, but both of the big kids were very involved in the process and had a blast poking around with the fish waiting to be cleaned. So, after this major family affair, it seemed most natural to read about fish as part of our science lesson the next day. We read about fins and gills and swim bladders. Then we read about cartilage vs. bone, sharks, rays, and lampreys. My son absolutely couldn’t wait to notebook a page about sharks. And the kids have been going around ever since wiggling the tips of their noses and giggling about cartilage.

my son's lego fishing pole, in honor of the occasion