Category Archives: Nature Lore

Nature Lore: The Beginning of a Science Education

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“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 →

Does Nature Seem Like a Foreign Language to You?

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When I was 21, I spent five weeks in a little eastern German town named Wernigerode. It had only been four years since the wall came down and the people there were free to learn English, but as you can imagine, they knew little. As I knew no German, my host family and I were in a pickle. We walked around with translation dictionaries for a while, but, within a few weeks I was following conversations (to some degree,) and getting along fine. Then, on one of my last few days there, a woman ran up to me and began asking me a series of questions. I answered her and was quite astonished! It felt like I was beside myself saying, “Look at her! She’s speaking German!”

I mention this story because recently it occurred to me that nature is a foreign language to some of you. To be honest, I’m still somewhat illiterate in the language! In all seriousness though, will you consider what I’m suggesting?

Are you comfortable teaching your child about nature? When you go on a nature walk, do you know most of the plants and animals you and your children encounter? Can you use the proper scientific terms to describe the color of a flower or the parts of a bird? Do you know the common characteristics of the main plant families?

Please do not hear any judgment in my voice. I do not want you to feel bad about how much you don’t know, but I do want you to consider how that might affect you and your children as you learn about nature on walks or through books. Continue reading →

Podcasts on Living Science

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Over at A Delectable Education we are in the middle of a series of podcasts on nature study and science. You know it’s my favorite subject, so I’m thrilled that we are exploring it on the podcast. So far we have talked about Nature Study, Nature Lore books and this coming Friday we will air an interview I did with Cheri Struble, an inspiring nature study enthusiast. Next week we will move onto elementary science, and then middle school and high school science will round out the series. I hope it is really helpful to each of you. You can always ask a question on the episode blog post, or on our ADE facebook page, or here.

Enjoy!