Nature Journaling-the Most Natural Way to Learn

We wanted to post some of our nature journaling pages in hopes of encouraging you to start your own notebook. It doesn't matter what age you are or where you live. If you can't draw or paint (maybe you could just try) then photographing (my mom does this) could be sufficient to help you remember the names and characteristics of whatever you choose to observe. Try! It seems we come away in more awe of our Creator as we continue to marvel at the millions of different species of insects or plants and animals. We at least can learn about the creatures and plants in our current surroundings.



Anyone who has a humming bird feeder can be caught up with these dainty incredible creatures.

Paul ,age 6 at the time, combined his copy work with this page

Lily just started her notebook and if you notice -along with the fly there is an elephant shape.

This page included a bark rubbing

We even got the boys to do a page on wild flowers.

The black widow was much more exciting as we actually found her web.

My nephews caught one of these and placed it in their aquarium for observation-they are suprisingly vicious toward other insects especially their own mate. (they eat them after mating)

Mom (me) even has her own book and these were just some of the twenty different species of mushrooms we collected on our property.

Sometimes we label all the parts

_The practice of Nature Journaling is one of my favorite activities that the whole family

can enjoy. It doesn't matter if you homeschool or not. We started it in 2002 when the boys were only 9 & 5 years old. Now we have over 100 pages combined of creatures, plants, and whatever catches our fancy. As long as God made it, it qualifies. I have looked back and chuckled to see how the kids have matured with their art and writing. This nature journaling was a part of Charlotte Mason's students education over a hundred years ago. It's simple: Go for a walk. Look around. Draw something you see or find. Identify it. Make some notes or add a poem or scripture. Not only do we identify these things but we practice our drawing and writing skills right along with getting some exercise in the fresh air. We have met with another family for the past five years to keep up the practice. My dear friend, the mother of four sons, denied her prissy nature on one outing as she scooped up a blob of slimy frog eggs. She has been transformed. Ha Ha. Anyway each of our children have their own notebook which will make a nice field guide through the years. Any questions? Just E-mail me and I would love to share more about it.