Posted in Homeschooling

Summer is an ideal time for utilizing the idea of nature study in homeschool.  Charlotte Mason encouraged the use of nature study for children to learn from personal observation about how the world around them works.  Children guided in nature study learn first-hand about various science related aspects of God’s creation.  When allowed ample opportunity, they will investigate, observe, and discover the world around them, learning and making connections with great amounts of scientific information.

The carefree, relaxed days of summer are a wonderful time to implement nature study into the homeschool routine.  Pleasant weather and plenty of free time make studying nature a perfect pastime for the summer months.  Often my children will learn more about science and nature in a few short weeks of summer than they could ever glean from textbook studies during the winter.  Birds, worms, butterflies, plants, rocks, squirrels, turtles, and even bugs all make wonderful subjects for an impromptu nature lesson.  Time spent in observation and a few moments of research in an informative book on the chosen subject (such as Anna Botsford Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study) make for a well-rounded learning session which children will remember for many years to come.  The process of metamorphosis takes on greater impact after you have found a chrysalis and observed a butterfly light on a flower.  Germination and photosynthesis have more meaning when you have grown a garden, watching the plants pop out of the soil and grow to maturity.

As a homeschooling mother, I know that the kind of educational lifestyle my family leads is only enhanced by the freedom and unstructured nature of the summer months.  The large quantities of time my children spend out of doors at this time of year are often used in highly productive ways to store away information learned from real-life discoveries.  And often, I am learning just as much as my children are.

If you are a homeschooling mother who has never tried nature study with your children, I would encourage you to do so this summer.  Get outside, find some interesting aspect of nature, and start learning.  You and your children will appreciate and enjoy the experience.