There are countless reasons to include nature study in your homeschool, but I’ll just focus on the reasons that make it invaluable to me. Creation is used throughout the entire Bible to point to its Creator. Trees, roots, branches, stars, rivers, torrents, sparrows, eagles, mountains, steams, deserts, gardens, clouds, constellations, rocks, fire, seeds, wildflowers- can you even imagine the Word of God without its nature references? Romans 1 even tells us that man is without excuse when it comes to acknowledging that there is in fact a God, as the beauty of Creation makes it impossible to refute. Jesus uses nature references in almost every parable, every sermon. He teaches about seeds, pearls, vines and branches, the fig tree, living water, and more. And what about Job? When God questions Job, He makes reference to all He created, asking questions like, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Who marked its dimensions? Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb? Who made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness? Have you given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place? What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?” All of these questions set our faces to behold the Beauty and Vastness of our God, Jesus Christ- how powerful and awesome He truly is. This is why we study nature- to teach us more about our Creator, and to receive all of the. benefits that God has freely given us through nature.

The Lord uses nature to give whatever is needed at the moment. We can go into nature to relax; we can explore nature to exercise our bodies. We can go into the forest to study nature, or think deeply. We can go into the forest to clear our thoughts and think nothing at all. The Father designed the garden for His children. We were made to be outside. Our bodies come alive, our minds get clearer. It’s a gift the Lord has given us, that we must receive and pass down to our children.

In this particular post, I will focus on nature study for Form 1, which is grades 1-3. I’m going to break nature study down into three topics which, together, create a beautiful and rich feast for your children.

1. Nature Lore

Nature Lore books read like a story, and allow you to learn numerous facts about whatever you’re studying without it feeling dry or lifeless like a textbook. Nature lore should grab the child’s attention, bringing life to the nature topic and inviting the child into the world of that topic. Since there are 36 weeks in the school year split up into three 12-week terms, you could choose from a larger nature lore book and read throughout the school year, or you could do three smaller nature lore books, reading one per 12 week term. You can also do both, which is what I like to do. So for example- you could read a longer nature lore book (say- Burgess Bird) on Tuesdays, reading one chapter per week for the entire school year. Then on Thursdays, you could read from a shorter nature lore book (say- Insect Life by Arabella Buckley) reading one chapter per week. Because the Arabella Buckley books are shorter (around 12 chapters), you could finish three of those in a year (say- Insect Life, Birds of the Air, and By Pond and River). So by the end of the year and only using two lessons per week, you would have read Burgess Bird, Birds of the Air, Insect Life, and By Pond and River, learning ever so much about pond life, insects, and birds.

Here’s the rule of thumb- If a book catches your interest, check the page number and simply divide that by how many weeks you want to finish it in. Keep in mind that you really don’t want your nature lore reading each week to exceed 15 minutes, and that includes narration. So a maximum of 10 minutes of reading aloud the chapter, and five minutes of narration and discussion would be ideal. Remember- narration is the child telling back what they heard you read. Splitting chapters in half also works too, reading one half of the chapter one week and the second half the next week, if the chapters are longer.

Nature Lore Books for Grades 1-3

Burgess Nature Series by Thornton Burgess (These are longer books with meatier chapters; at one chapter per week scheduled one day a week, you would get through one of these in a year.)

• Burgess Flower Book for Children
• Burgess Bird Book for Children
• Burgess Seashore Book for Children
• Burgess Animal Book for Children

Among the People Series by Clara Dillingham Pierson

• Among the Meadow People
• Among the Night People
• Among the Pond People
• Among the Forest People
• Among the Farmyard People

Eyes and No Eyes Series from Arabella Buckley (These are so short that you can read 3 in a year, 1 per 12 week term)

• Birds of the Air
• Insect Life
• Wildlife in Woods and Fields
• By Pond and River
• Plant Life in Field and Garden
• Trees and Shrubs

Christian Liberty Nature Readers (Books 1-4 based on grade level; 1 for 1st grade, 2 for 2nd, etc.)

My full Nature Lore Amazon List is here.

Just a reminder- these nature lore books are simply to be read to your children weekly, with an accompanying time of your children telling back what they’ve heard you read. As they get older, they can obviously read these independently and simply come and give you their narration, telling you what they’ve read and learned, or writing down their narration once writing comes more naturally to them.

2. Special Studies

Special Studies are the hands-on “lab work” of your Nature Study curriculum. This is the part of your nature study where your children get to make some decisions. Each 12-week term, your child will choose two nature topics they want to observe. This topic must be something they can observe nearby- whether it be in your backyard or in your neighborhood, or at minimum, a park nearby. Each topic will be observed daily (weekdays) for 6 weeks, studying two topics per term. These nature topics can be birds and bees, a certain tree or flower, etc. Let me give you an example. As I’m writing this, it’s Springtime, and the birds in our yard are building nests and laying eggs. For 6 weeks, my children could track all the nests in our yard. During Week One, they could create a bird’s eye view map of our yard in their nature journals, showing where each nest is located. For the remaining 5 weeks, they could observe the nests daily, or at minimum weekly, taking a 10-15 minute walk around the yard and jotting down (or drawing) what is happening in each nest. If they are not yet able to write, they could simply tell you what’s happening in each nest while you, the mother, write down what they are saying word for word. Their job can then just be the drawing of what’s happening.

For the next 6 weeks, we may observe the blooming of a flower. Perhaps we might go purchase a flower for each student and allow them to plant it themselves. They can record in their nature journal what it looks like at the beginning. Each week, they can record the changes in the flower- the colors, how many blooms, if it’s growing taller, etc. If this doesn’t interest you, your child could always map your yard like we did above with the birds, drawing out where every different type of flower or plant is, and keeping track of their growth each week. Another idea could be if your family wanted to plant a small herb or vegetable garden. Your child could be instrumental in the selection process of the herbs and vegetables. They could help select the placement of each vegetable in the space alotted in your yard. They could draw in their nature journal what the vegetables/herbs look like at the beginning and track their growth weekly. They could also note how much they’ve watered it, how the weather has affected the garden, etc. There is so many other topics you could do.

Here is a list of potential special studies topics:

• Wildflowers
• Insects
• Birds
• Non-flowering plants (Moss, Lichen and Fungi)
• Reptiles
• Grasses
• Trees

You could also bring special studies indoors if needed, by purchasing a monarch raising kit like this one and observing daily the transformation of the chrysalis into a butterfly. You could also purchase an ant farm and observe the happenings of the ants! I like this one. Here are a list of some other kits you could purchase, allowing for beautiful nature observation indoors.

• Mushroom Growing Kit
• Ladybug Raising Kit
• Indoor Daisy Garden Starter Kit
• Hydroponic Indoor Herb and Vegetable Growing System

An example of a year’s schedule of special studies may look like this:

You may decide to read some picture books to go along with your special studies. Here is my Amazon List of possible books you could choose from.

The last tip I’ll give for special studies is that you keep your own nature journal as the mother-teacher. You may select a different flower or tree or bird’s nest to study; but by showing your child that you too are learning to observe, he will take it much more seriously. You will also find so much relaxation and enjoyment in the practice of slowing down to track the blooming of a humble flower or the daily happenings of the bumblebees in your yard.

3. Nature Walks + Nature Journaling

The final element of a beautiful year of nature study is nature walks. At least weekly, get out either in your neighborhood, a nearby park or a beautiful local hiking trail. Even if you have to drive for 30 minutes to an hour, this is a beautiful time to pack snacks or a lunch, waters, and spend half of the day out in the woods. If this makes you feel uncomfortable safety-wise, invite another family or an uncle/aunt/grandparent with you. It helps to rotate the same 3-4 hiking spots, so that the child can become familiar with the flora and fauna of the same few particular spots. They learn the whereabouts of the trees, the mosses, the stumps, the flowers, the creeks, etc. As you’re hiking, you can simply call out what you see! Three questions can you can ask your child as you’re hiking, exploring and observing nature are:

What do you notice?

What do you wonder?

What does that remind you of?

After you’ve finished your hike, it’s usually a nice idea to find a spot to sit down and have a snack or eat lunch, and just let the children romp around and play. Let them skip rocks in the pond, and jump from stump to stump. Let them crouch down and watch a bug, or play hide and seek behind the trees. Let them be free for at least another hour. Then, pack up and head home with a car full of sweaty, happy kids that just enjoyed the wonder of the forest.

Once you get home from your nature walk, pull out the children’s nature journals and ask them to draw a picture from memory and/or write about the thing that stuck out to them the most about their nature hike. Perhaps that beaver dam built across the creek? Or maybe a weird bug that was crawling up a tree? Or a deer track? It can be absolutely anything! Do not hover when it comes to their nature journals. Their nature journals are THEIR possession to enjoy and delight in. No spelling checks, grammar checks or anything like that are needed. Their nature journals are simply the record keeping of their life outdoors, representing their personalities and styles (not ours!). This also may be the time to grab a field guide and try to find the name of whatever it was they saw. If they saw a black beetle with a red stripe in the middle of its back, look that up in an insect field guide. I linked a few of my fave field guides in the special studies Amazon List above, as well as my preferred nature journals and colored pencils.

Conclusion

Some of us moms have never been hugely into nature. Some of us have fond memories of hours spent outdoors after school. Regardless of where you stand, allowing your children to revel in nature and even study it will bless them in ways you can’t even imagine. In an age of technology and screens, nothing compares to the outdoors. Our children need a place where they can be unhindered, wild and free. Where they can take risks and try jumping across a running creek, just to get their shoes soaked. They need adventure. They crave it! And once you experience it yourselves (even if it’s the first time), you may find that you’ve been craving it too. Blessings, friends!