Once upon a time, we wandered around with nature notebooks trying to capture nature study. Eventually, we gave up because we lacked focus. Our story changed when we started NaturExplorers this year. Each unit we've used has had a happy ending.
We finished out our fall nature studies with Spectacular Spiders.
Jason was able to join us again for this one. Great family fun.
Our first victim. Just kidding. We only observed.
Some got closer than others.
We were able to watch this one weave. Stunning, beautiful, wondrous.
Looking up something in the spider guide.
Learning about venom!
Another day of spider hunting.
We found lots of egg sacs in our haunted garage.
We added a few things to this study. I made some kindergarten kit printables for Simon (see yesterday's post to download these freebies).
Elijah tried Spider Symmetry.
Elijah also learned about synonyms and rewrote "Itsy-Bitsy Spider." We both thought the entire process was hysterical, and I want to thank Farley over at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for this fun idea. I underlined the words I wanted him to change. I showed him how to use a thesaurus. He chose new words and wrote his version on the stationary page.
The minute arachnid scaled the rain gutter.
Down came the rainfall and pushed the arachnid out.
Out came the brightest star and fried up all the drizzle,
and the minute arachnid scaled the gutter again.
The study comes with plenty of great notebooking pages for older kids. You can grab my additions by clicking on the picture below.
We will be taking a break from nature studies until January; I'm sure my boys will be ready to get back outside then!
Would you like to try NaturExplorers? The Homeschool Share blog is having a grand giveaway right now! Go enter to win!
How do you decide what nature study to do when? Which NaturExplorers do you use when? How old should the child be to start using them. My boys are 3 and 5 should I wait a year to look into them. What grade level are they?
Love to see daddies join in!
Joella,
I have a list on my FAQ’s page (http://shiningdawnbooks.com/frequently-asked-questions/ – scroll down a bit) about which units are best during which season. They can be used in any order. :o)
They are best for 1st -8th grades, but there are definitely ideas that can be tweaked to work with younger children, as well as a small section of ideas specifically for preschoolers. (You might be interested to know that I’m getting ready to release the winter version of a new series written specifically for PK and K! The series with be called Nature Study by the Season. I’m hoping to finalize it in the next few weeks.)
I hope this helps!
Cindy West
Shining Dawn Books
Joella,
I’m so glad Cindy jumped back in to answer your question. 🙂
I decide by asking Cindy 🙂 and asking my boys.
They’ve decided they want to study Snow & Ice next, so that’s what will start back up with in January. 🙂 Lots of the books are easy to use in 2-3 different seasons. Some, like Captivating Clouds, would work anytime. 🙂
One good thing about these studies is that you can do them and then do them again. There are too many ideas and notebooking pages to use in one pop. 🙂 My boys are already talking about an Incredible Creek repeat. We have PLENTY more to do from that study. Fun!
What fun. My daughter loves spiders (wish I shared her love) and she would enjoy doing so many of these great learning activities!
Shauna
myshaenoel.blogspot.com