Nature Study is a huge and important part of a Charlotte Mason education. It’s not more important than all the other subjects included in “the feast,” but it’s one that doesn’t come as naturally to me to incorporate into our school day and our life. We school for three terms and go from about September through May, so we take a full summer off from our regular “school” routine, but since education is “an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life,” we definitely don’t stop learning!
Nature study has been something I’ve been able to focus more on this summer without all the other demands on our time and it has been fantastic. Besides spending lots of time outdoors at our favorite nature spot, we’ve done quite a lot of note making in nature journals with dry brush illustrations. And last year one of our special study topics was birds, and we are continuing to enjoy studying and identifying and learning about birds through the summer. Mostly we have been painting the birds we see around.
To go along with our observing, note taking, and illustrating, I found two fabulous resource – a Wildflower Go Fish game, and a Match a Pair of Birds memory game. My kids are joyfully learning to identify birds and flowers without even realizing it. My 4 year old is the best so far – he can name almost every single bird in the memory game! The illustrations are gorgeous, the games are standard favorites, and the knowledge is stuck in their brains!
Two other invaluable resources I’ve relied on so far this summer are The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling and the Laws Guide to Drawing Birds, both of which have helped me, a non-artistic, new-t0-nature-loving, teacher/mom. I had no idea where to start with painting birds or making notes or even observing nature, and these two books have taught me everything I need to know and then some. They are like the Bible of Nature Study, and we will enjoy the wisdom and creativity inspired by these books for years to come.
These are my first two attempts at drawing birds after reading some of the books. I have tried painting birds before and these attempts were so much more successful! The Guide to Drawing Birds is so helpful because it gives you a step by step tutorial on how to get the proportions right, the wings, eyes, feet, everything! I need lots more practice, but it was a great first try!
And this drawing is of a Western Kingbird, which we see many of at our nature spot. Our birds just had babies too so we’ve been watching them grow in their nest. Because I have spent some time observing them, I had lots of questions to right, as is suggested in the Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling. I wrote down some things I’ve started to wonder, and hopefully, as we continue to observe, I’ll be keyed in to these aspects of the bird and learn some things about him!
We are just getting started in our life long nature study pursuits, and it really is a subject that has become a hobby and source of delight for my kids and for me.
