Nature Study

Between global warming, holes in the ozone, and the pollution of our seas and rivers, maybe it is best to keep kids indoors and pacified in front of the television....but probably not. If these aren't real threats then there's nothing to protect our children (or ourselves) from, and if they are real threats—all the more reason to instill a love of nature in the younger generations.

Kids have an inclination toward exploration and learning. Allowing them to do so encourages not only active bodies and active minds, it fosters a healthy imagination and love of beauty. Charlotte Mason understood this over a century ago, and developed a system of education in which nature study played a prominent role. It is in nature, more than in the classroom or the rec room or even the library, that children best learn by observation, and this habit once formed will never disappear.

The often-referenced "childlike wonder" inherent in all of us from a young age (though modern society seems to be stamping it out quicker and more efficiently) isn't just some esoteric feeling of awe. It's literal wonder—kids wonder how birds fly, why their pet dog's fur falls out in summer, where ants go in the winter, why it gets colder and harder to breathe the higher you get. The less contact they have with the natural world, the less wonder they'll have; but the reverse is also true, and kids allowed to roam and explore the outdoors will develop a sense of inquisitiveness that can only help them in the so-called "real world."

Preparation for the Real World of modern myth often takes on peculiar guises. Children are snatched from the fields and streams and placed in front of computer screens or television sets. They are crowded into classrooms and made to feel good about the fact that they are learning nothing at the same rate as everyone around them. They are given plastic toys with supposed educational properties and made to "play" with them under close adult supervision.

Meanwhile, the real real world waits outside the walls and doors and windows with its fresh smells, its colors brighter and more unique than anything on HDTV or Blu-Ray, its real wind, and its endless mysteries. If you don't like answering questions, don't want your kids to grow or exercise, prefer fat and lazy to fit and intelligent offspring, by all means somberly prepare them for a life without questions, and consequently without answers. If you want children who will grown into thoughtful adults with a sense of the loveliness of Earth and their place in it, keeping them inside is possibly the most dangerous choice you can make on their behalf.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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26 Items found Print
Active Filters: Science Experiments & Activities
Birds, Nests and Eggs
Take-Along Guide
by Mel Boring
from Northword Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$7.95 $5.00 (2 in stock)
Creepy Crawlies and the Scientific Method
by Sally Kneidel
from Fulcrum Resources
Science Curriculum for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Clearance: Science & Health (Location: ZCLE-SCI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Dinosaur Activity Book
by Earl & Bonita Snellenberger
2015 Printing from Master Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$7.99 $5.50 (1 in stock)
Dinosaurs on the Move
by Cathy Diez-Luckie
1st edition from Figures in Motion
for 3rd-6th grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
DK Eyewitness Explorers: Insects
by Steve Parker
from DK Publishing
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Fall
by Dianne Hayley, Pat Wishart, Will Husby
from Lone Pine Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: Science & Health (Location: ZCLE-SCI)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Great Animal Search
by Caroline Young
from Usborne
for 3rd-7th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$7.00 (4 in stock)
Hawaiian Coral Reef Coloring Book
by Katherine Orr
from Stemmer House Publishers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Habitat Coloring Books (Location: COL-HAB)
History's Mysteries! Animals
by George Toufexis
from Dover Publications
for 4th-7th grade
in Animal Life Coloring Books (Location: COL-ANI)
$3.00
Marine Biology - Coloring Book
by Thomas M. Niesen
from Harper Perennial
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: Science & Health (Location: ZCLE-SCI)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Museum Guide (old)
by Answers In Genesis
from Answers in Genesis
for 3rd-7th grade
in Old Edition Science (Location: OSCI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
One Small Square: African Savanna
One Small Square
by Donald M. Silver & Patricia Wynne
1st edition from McGraw-Hill
for 1st-3rd grade
in One Small Square (Location: SCI-1SS)
$11.00
One Small Square: Arctic Tundra
One Small Square
by Donald Silver & Patricia Wynne
from McGraw-Hill
for 1st-3rd grade
in One Small Square (Location: SCI-1SS)
$15.00
One Small Square: Cactus Desert
One Small Square
by Donald Silver & Patricia Wynne
from McGraw-Hill
for 1st-3rd grade
in One Small Square (Location: SCI-1SS)
$13.00
One Small Square: Coral Reef
One Small Square
by Donald Silver
from McGraw-Hill
for 1st-3rd grade
in One Small Square (Location: SCI-1SS)
$13.00
One Small Square: Pond
One Small Square
by Donald Silver & Patricia Wynne
1st edition from McGraw-Hill
for 1st-3rd grade
in One Small Square (Location: SCI-1SS)
$15.00
One Small Square: Seashore
One Small Square
by Donald Silver & Patricia Wynne
1st edition from McGraw-Hill
for 1st-3rd grade
in One Small Square (Location: SCI-1SS)
$15.00
Peterson Field Guide Coloring Book: Forests
Peterson Field Guide Coloring Books
by John C. Kricher, Sara Bennett
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
in Forests & Mountains (Location: SCI-FOREST)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Peterson Field Guide: Birds - Coloring Book
Peterson Field Guide Color-In Books
by Peter C. Alden & Roger Tory Peterson
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$11.99
Peterson Field Guide: Mammals - Coloring Book
Peterson Field Guide Color-In Books
by Peter C. Alden & Fiona Reid
from Mariner Books
for 3rd-Adult
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$10.99
Pets in a Jar
by Seymour Simon
from Puffin Books
Non-fiction Science for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
Predicting with Plants
Stepping Into Science
by Illa Podendorf, illustrated by Tom Dunnington
from Children's Press
for Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Science with Plants
Usborne Science Activities
by Helen Edom
from Usborne
for 2nd-5th grade
in Usborne Science Activities (Location: SCI-EXP)
$5.99 $4.00 (4 in stock)
Secrets of Backyard Bird-Feeding Success
by Deborah L. Martin
from Rodale Press
for 7th-Adult
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
What's That Bird?
by Joseph Choiniere & Claire Mowbray Golding
from Storey Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Zoology Coloring Book
by Lawrence M. Elson
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 9th-Adult
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$24.99 $14.00 (1 in stock)