|
Nature Study
We’ve all heard this and that about how kids need to get out in nature. Charlotte Mason advocated it ruthlessly – demanding we take a book and go sit outside somewhere natural (even if we have to take a twenty minute train ride every day to get there) and let them experience nature. Mason’s brilliant, high achieving students did the nature thing. They excelled academically, though they spent the greater portion of their lives outdoors.
Recent research shows us that Mason had the right idea. As it turns out, the kids excelled academically in a large part BECAUSE they spent so much time in nature. Numerous studies show that regular intervals into the natural world improve a person’s mental and emotional quotient. Children who spend more time in nature actually do better academically and emotionally. Before and after studies showed improvement in all areas of development.
A study done in California utilized several schools that all had similar achievement scores. They took a few schools and removed their playground equipment and turned their school grounds into a natural garden. All the students were given more time outside. Standardized tests scores went up significantly higher in the schools that had a natural environment. They found that students with ADD displayed fewer symptoms and there was less aggression among the students.
How to Make Nature Study More Enjoyable
Okay, well, we've all been told that nature walks were part of the Charlotte Mason education. Upon reading this, many of us promptly bought Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study, packed our pencils and nature journals - one set for each child - and drove to some lovely nature spot to explore and enjoy the beauty of God's creation.
We hoped to open their eyes to the magnificence that surrounds us, and encouraged them to pick something to sketch or write about. Unfortunately, our family found it rather dull after a half hour or so. All we saw in nature was an endless trail of weeds, dirt, rocks and trees. Weed, dirt, rock, tree; weed, dirt, rock, tree; some moss on this rock and that rock; some strange weeds growing here; dirt, rock, tree.
I wondered what it was that made our nature walks such a dismal failure. Are my children and I so used to the fast paced and entertaining world of video and computers that we are unable to focus our attention on the quiet and still wonder of God's creation? The answer, I found, is a resounding NO! That was not the problem at all. The problem was that my children didn't understand nature. They didn't know what anything was, and therefore couldn't enjoy it.
Once we began studying botany, our love of nature literally blossomed. A walk through a forest didn't seem so dull anymore. Each little plant was a wonder to behold, such as the tiny blossoms on that former weed that we would never have noticed. We could now discuss how they might be pollinated. Oh! A small fly is crawling around the blossom! Is that the pollinator? Look in the other blossoms. Many other similar flies are found. It must be pollinated by this kind of fly. (After studying zoology, we could then tell you what kind of fly that was). Walking a little further, we saw the moss anew. Look at the small stalks coming out of it with a node on top. They are filled with spores. One spore capsule has broken open. We can look inside with our magnifying glasses. There is some powder in there - moss spores. We wonder where the spores have spread. Can we guess where there might be moss growing next year? We notice that it grows in the north side of the rock. We discuss why this is. We know to look on the north side for more nonvascular plants. A little further we notice a tree with an odd shaped branch, twisting and turning its way up to the top of the forest. We talk about phototropism. My child decides he wants to sketch that tree for his nature journal. So we all wander around closely while he sketches.
What a blessing to realize we are not completely ruined by videos and computers. We were on a quest which was difficult to enjoy because we didn't understand it. I suppose it would be like plopping an alien from another planet down in the middle of Disney World. How would they know that there were delights to enjoy at the end of every long line? How would they know what each of those strange characters dressed in odd costumes represented? How would they know that people are happy to get on those rides and be thrilled with the whirling, twirling and splashing they bring? Some basic knowledge is necessary to really enjoy both Disney World and nature. It blesses me that I have been used by God to make nature walks a delight for others. One homeschool mom sent this, " My oldest son was playing with hot wheel cars beside our tree when he noticed all the branches on the ground have lichen on them. 'Wow, Mom...now that we know all this new stuff, we're realizing it's so IMPORTANT! Before, we just thought it was nothing but strange bark.'"
To enhance your nature walks, I can't recommend enough the study of botany. Whether you use Apologia's Young Explorer's series (which I wrote) or another botany curriculum, I encourage you to immerse yourself in this amazing field of study so that you and your family can experience the joy of discovery when they see up close those things they have studied.
|
