Category Archives: Charlotte Mason Science

Preparing (and sharing) Science Supplies

In my experience, the biggest challenge related to science lessons is doing the experiments. But we can do a few things to increase our motivation and eliminate obstacles. For example, we can gather all the supplies needed for the whole term (or the whole year) in advance. After all, when the baking soda is nowhere to be found, or mom forgot to order the magnets, the lesson is over before it starts!

I’ve invited Emily Kiser, my co-host on A Delectable Education Podcast and homeschool organizer extraordinaire, to share her method for gathering and storing supplies. She has four children and, therefore, will use these supplies repeatedly for several years. But beyond that, she has found a way to share the cost and the blessing with others.

Emily originally shared this tip with our ADE Patreons, where she often posts tips for organizing everything from her planning notebook to her kids’ paper stuff to her school cabinet. I hope her ideas here will help you prepare for the science experiments your kids will do in the upcoming school year.


A few years ago, Morgan Conner of @CMintheNaturalState made Science Supply boxes to go along with each of Nicole’s science guides, and she “checks them out” to the members of her CM Reading Group, just like we check out Five in a Row unit boxes to our library members! I thought at that time it was a brilliant idea and wanted to use her idea for my own Natural History Club. We keep our group pretty small since we all have 4 children, so there are just 4 families–20 people make a lot of noise walking down a trail, but that’s another story. As my eldest will be in Form 2 next year, and my sister’s eldest is in his second year of Form 2, I offered to gather the supplies and assemble the boxes this summer.  Continue reading

Nature Lore: The Beginning of a Science Education

“In Science, or rather, nature study, we attach great importance to recognition, believing that the power to recognise and name a plant or stone or constellation involves classification and includes a good deal of knowledge. To know a plant by its gesture and habitat, its time and its way of flowering and fruiting; a bird by its flight and song and its times of coming and going; to know when, year after year, you may come upon the redstart and the pied fly-catcher, means a good deal of interested observation, and of; at any rate, the material for science.” (3/236)

The primary means of science instruction in the early years of a Charlotte Mason education is through direct observation of the natural world. However, this wouldn’t be a Charlotte Mason-style curriculum if we didn’t have our books!  Therefore, children beginning school in Form 1 (grades 1-3) were assigned two “Nature Lore” books each term. The purpose of nature lore is to open the children’s eyes, help them know what to look for, and increase their interest and curiosity. Charlotte Mason said:   Continue reading

A Special Study: Let’s Learn About Mushrooms

Does nature study make you uncomfortable? What is it, after all? And how are you supposed to do it? When I was pretty new to this style of education, I thought nature study just meant going outside for a walk. While that is largely true, I felt awkward because I didn’t understand what was happening when we got out there. Furthermore, I had no idea if I was supposed to be doing something to facilitate my students’ learning instead of just letting everyone wander. Then one Autumn day, the whole thing finally became clear. Continue reading