A few weeks ago, I wrote about outdoor time in general, as part of a healthy homeschool routine. This week, I'd like to get a little bit more specific and revisit nature study. Thus far, I've been unable to find a portrait of the "typical" homeschooling family, let alone the "typical" family who uses Charlotte Mason (CM) principles in their homeschooling. However, I believe it's most valuable to you if I write from my experience and expertise. Let's talk about pre-homeschooling nature study in two-income families!
Am I Interested in This Topic?
Most certainly yes! I don't remember exactly when in elementary/high-school age I obtained Comstock's Handbook, but I also can't remember ever not having been an outdoorsy, curious person. Last year over at The Renaissance Biologist, I wrote four times in spring and summer about nature study:
- Outdoor Reading and Nature Study (how to blend the two, and their overlap and distinctiveness)
- Gardening and (in) the Mind (metaphorical exploration of the mind as a garden)
- Great Outdoors Month: Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study (walk-through of the book, which I will reference below)
- Planning a (Small) Family's Homeschool Year (great for moms of young toddlers!)
I look very much forward to adapting the method of nature study I was raised with to the home education of my own family. While nature study for me did not result in my becoming a biologist (due to several reasons), I think it did prepare me for higher education and self-directed, life-long learning.
What is Nature Study?
If we reference the Merriam-Webster English-language dictionary, we find that nature study is considered not quite a science, but worthwhile nonetheless. Amateurs (literally, from the Latin, lovers of the subject or topic) engage in nature study by engaging with visible objects and happenings (phenomena) in nature.
In CM-land, a frequently mentioned resource--perhaps the resource--for nature study in parent-led home schools is Anna Botsford Comstock's 1986 (reprinted) Handbook of Nature Study, roughly the size of a brick in paperback form. Charlotte Mason Help has a helpful article on the book. I found the most valuable recommendations from that article were to view the book as a guidebook and to avoid designing an entire curriculum around it.
Where can Nature Study be Used in Education?
As you may have guessed, by far the most common place to use nature study is in CM education. Sources for this section include Simply Charlotte Mason, American Biology Teacher, Natural History Institute, Nature, and Psychology Today.
CM Education
Nature study is a CM subject intended to be integrated across the entirety of one's years of elementary and secondary education. While it doesn't need to be done every day of the school week, most CM-based curricula recommend devoting some time (less than 45 minutes) on 2 or 3 of the weekdays to studying nature as opposed to just spending hours outside.
Supplies for nature study are pretty basic--a blank notebook or sketchbook for each participant (including parent[s]!), drawing and writing implements, and a set of functioning special senses. Children should observe an object or happening of interest in the outdoors--for example, a robin's nest--using their senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and (if applicable) taste. They then write down and draw their observations, without judgment on artwork. Parents are typically recommended to reference the Handbook as they prepare for what they might see in a given area on a given day.
If younger children want to participate, they can narrate to an adult who then can write down what they observe, in the child's own words as a rule. CM education does not push children toward written narrations until around 4th grade, when the mechanics of writing become less laborious and cognitively intensive.
Other Modes/Philosophies of Education
In this section, I'll survey what I could find about public school, private school, and non-CM homeschool (specifically unschooling). The sources I linked above are quite interesting and more on the scholarly side, if you're interested to look into anything further! I will go in rough chronological order and discuss each source as it relates to a particular mode of education.
Nature article (1871)
Due to the format of the link, I was only able to view the abstract of this 2-page reprinted article. However, the gist of what I could read was consistent with other sources, as we will see in the rest of the subsections. Core message: people in the general public don't know science because it isn't taught in private schools.
NHI (early 2000s)
This instructive article examined nature study from the late 1800s through mid 1900s. I would restate the thesis as that nature study and science instruction must be developmentally appropriate--don't place adult-level expectations and responsibilities on young children (e.g., social activism). Children and young adults should be at least as familiar with their local enviornment as with non-local ecology. To that end, nature study is more developmentally appropriate than formal ecological study for young children.
Historical landmarks in nature study as an academic instructional component start in 1870, when the first school for nature study was opened in Massachusetts by Louis Agassiz. Comstock was another big name in nature study, starting with her classic handbook's publication in 1911. Research studies relating to nature study were published in several new journals starting around 1900/1905. Over the next few decades, progressivist educational movements (e.g., what Dewey spearheaded) incorporated nature study for various reasons. Sadly, World War I seemed to be a turning point in the modernist period, where nature study was severely decreased and dismissed as "inefficient."
Though current science standards ignore the use of nature study, authors of this article are strongly supportive of its use. Their concluding point is that it is possibly most useful for elementary-age students, because at those ages specialization is developmentally inappropriate. Nature study over many years helps expose children to a broad range of natural phenomena.
ABT (2023)
This article focuses more on high-school-age use of nature study. "Nature deficit disorder" has been noted since a few decades after WWI, and has several attributed causes, including modernity's focus on efficiency, safetyism, and use of personal electronic devices and TVs. An unfortunate direct result of this disorder is that children and young adults aren't nearly as much in touch with nature as they were in the past, or should be.
Nature journaling as part of all four years of high school science instruction can counteract this. Besides ensuring that children and teens get outside for long periods of time (which is important for normal development), nature journaling with a remarkably CM-style approach has "positive educational, environmental, and psychological effects." Educational developments include language, observation, growth mindset, literacy, teamwork, and overall achievement.
PT (2010s-2020s)
This popular-level discussion of the author's own research focuses on unschooling. The operating definition is homeschooling without curriculum, assignments, or tests. Past research showed that unschooling parents were generally highly satisfied with their decisions and experiences, particularly enjoying being closer to their children.
Several years later, a survey of a self-selected sample of grown unschooled children after that study had mostly female respondents (though males are more likely to be unschooled). Most ended up going on to higher education in some way (without significant academic difficulty) and wanted to unschool their own children. Many worked in creative arts careers or were entrepreneurs. Social adjustment in college and having to defend one's parents' choices were the biggest challenges.
What if I'm Already Quite Busy?
Who isn't busy in homeschool-land? Yet, some families are busier than others, by accident or by design. I am definitely one of the perpetually-busy people and do not handle long periods of idleness well. However, I know that as our family grows over the next years, I will get busier while doing the same things! 😅 So, partly to prepare myself and primarily to help you in the meantime, I came up with six ways to incorporate nature study. These are arranged in ascending order of time and effort needed by you, the parent-educator.
Idea 1: Existing Outdoor Walks
If you're not allergic to the outdoors, you should be taking at least some of your exercise outside! With very young children, and/or if you're new to the concept of nature study, the easiest way I can think of to get kids in nature is to take your own with you on some of those walks.
Idea 2: Take Work Outside and Supervise
If you work at least partially remotely, and your children have a low probability of running off unsupervised (i.e., older than toddler), give them their own nature notebooks and writing utensils and bring your work outside to watch them in the yard, a park, or other portion of nature!
Idea 3: Brief Excursion with Handbook
By now it should be clear that I highly value the Handbook of Nature Study, so strongly consider investing in one ($30 paperback and $7 Kindle as of the writing of this post). Bookmark any sections for things you anticipate seeing in your chosen area of nature and, if possible, read through those sections before heading outside. As your children observe and journal/draw, ask them questions inspired by the sections.
Idea 4: Brief Excursion with Your Journal
The only difference between this idea and #3 is that you're participating in observation and journaling, as the parent!
Idea 5: Longer or Group Excursion
Take idea 3 and increase the length of time and/or number of people involved. This can be a good option for homeschool co-ops.
Idea 6: Add Equipment
This last idea verges on formal science education, a step up or away from nature study as defined above. It simply adds aids to the observers' senses, such as using a microscope, binoculars, or sound magnifier. The use of this equipment can be indoors or outdoors, depending on weather conditions and any electrical requirements of the equipment.
I hope this post and at least one of the ideas were helpful to you!
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