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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118 Items found Print
Active Filters: Botany & Mycology
All About the Flowering World
All About Books #14
by Ferdinand C. Lane, illustrated by Russell Francis Peterson
from Random House
for 4th-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
Ancient Ones
by Barbara Bash
from Sierra Club Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Beginning Knowledge Book of Backyard Trees
by Hanniford Rush; illustrated by Raul Mina Mora
from Rutledge Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Berry Book
by Gail Gibbons
from Holiday House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Big Tree
by Mary Buff, Conrad Buff
1st Edition from Viking Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
1947 Newbery Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Biology Middle/Upper Grades Reproducible Workbook
by Martha Schmitt
from McDonald
for 6th-9th grade
in Biology (Location: SCI-BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Trees
by Sean Brooks
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 6th-8th grade
in Memoria Press Science (Location: SCICUR-MP)
$17.90
Book of Trees - Curriculum Package
from Memoria Press
for 6th-8th grade
in Memoria Press Science (Location: SCICUR-MP)
$68.68
Book of Trees - Student Guide
by Sean Brooks
from Memoria Press
for 6th-8th grade
in Memoria Press Science (Location: SCICUR-MP)
$17.90
Book of Trees - Teacher Guide
by Sean Brooks
from Memoria Press
for 6th-8th grade
in Memoria Press Science (Location: SCICUR-MP)
$20.05 $11.50 (1 in stock)
Botany Adventure!
by Kim Wright
for 1st-4th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
Botany Coloring Book
by Paul Young
1st edition from Harper Perennial
for 5th-9th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
Botany in a Day
6th edition from Hops Press
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
Burgess Flower Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$19.99
Burgess Flower Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$18.99
Burgess Flower Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$28.99
Compact Guide to Wildflowers of the Rockies
by C. Dana Bush
from Lone Pine Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Complete Guide to North American Trees
by Carlton C. Curtis and S.C. Bausor
1971 printing from Collier Books
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Drawing Trees
by Victor Perard
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Advanced Drawing Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTDRAD)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Exploring Creation With Botany
Young Explorer Series
by Jeannie Fulbright
2nd edition from Apologia Educational Ministries
for 3rd-6th grade
in Apologia Young Explorer (Location: SCICUR-AEM)
$39.20 $28.00 (1 in stock)
Exploring Creation With Botany (old)
Young Explorer Series
by Jeannie Fulbright
from Apologia Educational Ministries
for 3rd-6th grade
in Apologia Science (Old Versions only) (Location: OSCI-AEM)
$9.00 (3 in stock)
Exploring Creation With Botany - Notebooking Journal
by Jeannie Fulbright
2nd edition from Apologia Educational Ministries
for 3rd-6th grade
in Apologia Young Explorer (Location: SCICUR-AEM)
$27.20
Fall Walk
by Virginia Brimhall Snow
from Gibbs M. Smith
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99
Favorite Perennials - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Ilil Arbel
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Flowers & Plants Coloring Books (Location: COL-BOT)
First Book of Plants
by Alice Dickinson, illustrated by Paul Wenck
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$14.99
First Book of Trees
by M. B. Cormack
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$14.99
First Look at Leaves
by Millicent E. Selsam, Joyce Hunt
from Walker and Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
First Studies of Plant Life
by George F. Atkinson
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-9th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$14.95
Flower Grows
by Ken Robbins
from Dial Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Flowers are Calling
by Rita Gray, illustrated by Kenard Pak
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Forager's Harvest
by Samuel Thayer
from Forager's Harvest
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
$27.95
From Seed to Pumpkin
Lets-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 1
by Wendy Pfeffer, Illustrated by James Graham Hale
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-1st grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
God's Design for Life - Student Book
by Debbie & Richard Lawrence
Master Books Edition from Master Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Master Books God's Design (Location: SCICUR-MB)
$43.19 $35.00 (3 in stock)
God's Design for Life - Teacher Guide
by Debbie & Richard Lawrence
Master Books Edition from Master Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Master Books God's Design (Location: SCICUR-MB)
$34.39 $28.00 (2 in stock)
God's Miracle –a Seed
by Rebecca Newswanger, illustrated by Harold Weaver
from Christian Light Education
for 1st-3rd grade
in Christian Light Reading (Location: REA-CLE)
Good and the Beautiful: Fields and Flowers Course Set
by Jenny Phillips
from The Good and the Beautiful
for Preschool-2nd grade
in GATB Science & Health (Location: CUR-GABSc)
Herbs - Coloring Book
by Stefen Bernath
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-4th grade
in Flowers & Plants Coloring Books (Location: COL-BOT)
$4.99
How a Seed Grows
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 1
by Helene J. Jordan
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
How a Seed Grows
by Helene J. Jordan
Revised from HarperCollins
for 1st-3rd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
How and Why Wonder Book of Mushrooms Ferns and Mosses
by Amy Elizabeth Jensen, illustrated by Cynthia Iliff Koehler and Alvin Koehler
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
How and Why Wonder Book of Trees
by Geoffrey Coe, Illustrated by Cynthia Iliff Koehler & Alvin Koehler
1972 Printing from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
How and Why Wonder Book of Wild Flowers
by Grace F. Ferguson, illustrated by Cynthia Iliff Koehler and Alvin Koehler
from Wonder Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
How Do Apples Grow?
by Betsy Maestro
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-3d grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
How Flowers Grow
Usborne Beginners
by Emma Helbrough
from Usborne
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Usborne Beginners (Location: SCI-USBREA)
$4.99 $3.00 (3 in stock)
Humongous Fungus
by Lynne Boddy, illustrated by Wenjia Tang
from DK Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Illustrated Book of Trees
by Eric A. Bourdo Jr., consultant editor
from Salamander Books Lmt.
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Instant Guide to Wildflowers
by Pamela Forey and Cecilia Fitzsimons
from Gramercy Books
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Introduction to Wild Flowers
by John Kieran, illustrated by Tabea Hofmann
1st edition from Doubleday & Company
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Journey of Life DVD
from Moody Press
for 7th-12th grade
in Moody Science DVDs (Location: SCI-MOODY)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Just Like Me, Climbing a Tree
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Kate Greenaway's Marigold Garden
by Kate Greenaway
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Katya's Book of Mushrooms
from Living Book Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$12.99
Kingdoms of Life: Fungi
by Gina Hamilton
from Milliken Publishing
for 9th-12th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Leaf Can Be . . .
by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Violeta Dabija
from Millbrook Press
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Life Cycle of a Tree
by Bobbie Kalman & Kathryn Smithyman, illustrated by Barbara Bedell
from Crabtree Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Made By God: Poisonous, Smelly, and Amazing Plants
I Can Read Level 2
from Zonderkidz
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.99
Magic and Mystery of Trees
by Jen Green, illustrated by Claire McElfatrick
from DK Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Miss Maple's Seeds
by Eliza Wheeler
from Nancy Paulsen Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest
by Joe Ammirati, Steve Trudell
1st edition from Timber Press, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
$29.99
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest
National Audubon Society Field Guide
by Peter Alden & Dennis Paulson
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
$27.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Eastern Region
Chanticleer Press Ed from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
$23.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Western Region
by Elbert L. Little
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
$26.00
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers: Eastern Region
2nd edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
$24.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers: Western Region
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
$24.95
National Audubon Society First Field Guide: Trees
by Brian Cassie
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Nature All Around: Plants
by Pamela Hickman, illustrated by Carolyn Gavin
from Kids Can Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Now I Know All About Seeds
by Susan Kuchalla, illustrated by Jane McBee
from Troll Associates
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Official Sassafras SciDat Logbook 3
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Our Trees: How to Know Them
by Arthur I. Emerson (photographs), and Clarence M. Weed (text)
1959 Reprint from Garden City Books
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Peterson Field Guide to Mushrooms of North America
by Karl B. McKnight, Joseph R. Rohrer, Kirsten McKnight Ward & Kent H. McKnight
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Peterson First Guide to Trees
by George A. Petrides
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
$8.99
Plant Kingdom
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-Adult
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Plant Life in Field and Garden
Eyes and No Eyes #3
by Arabella Buckley
from Yesterday's Classics
for 2nd-5th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$15.95
Plant Life in Field and Garden
Eyes and No Eyes #3
by Arabella Buckley
from Living Book Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$8.99
Plants Grow!
by Mary Dodson Wade
from Enslow
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$3.50 (2 in stock)
Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast
by Jim Pojar, Andy MacKinnon
Revised from Partners Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Play with Vines
by Millicent Ellis Selsam, illustrated by Fred F. Scherer
from William Morrow & Company
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
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)
Rare and Endangered Plants of Oregon
by Donald C. Eastman
from Beautiful America Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Reason for a Flower
by Ruth Heller
from PaperStar Books
Science non-fiction, illustrated for 1st-3rd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$9.99
Redoute Flowers - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Charlene Tarbox
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Flowers & Plants Coloring Books (Location: COL-BOT)
$3.99
Redwoods
by Jason Chin
from Square Fish Publishing
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$9.99
Sassafras Guide to Botany
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Sassafras Guide to Chemistry
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 3
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Science Vocabulary Crossword Puzzles Grades 4-6
by Noreen Conte
from Critical Thinking Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Critical Thinking Vocabulary (Location: VOC-CTP)
$12.00
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)
Secret Life of Trees
A DK Eyewitness Reader Level 2
by Chiara Chevallier
from DK Publishing
for 1st-2nd grade
in DK Readers (Location: EAR-DK)
$4.99
Seed Is Sleepy
by Dianna Hutts Aston, Sylvia Long
1st edition from Chronicle Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99 $10.00 (2 in stock)
Seed Is Sleepy
by Dianna Hutts Aston, Sylvia Long
from Chronicle Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$7.99
Seeds and More Seeds
by MIllicent E. Selsam
from HarperTrophy
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
Sharing Nature with Children
by Joseph Cornell
from Dawn Publications
for Adult
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Shine-A-Light: Secrets of the Apple Tree
Shine-A-Light
by Carron Brown and Illustrated by Alyssa Nassner
from Kane Miller
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Shine-A-Light: Secrets of the Apple Tree
Shine-A-Light
by Carron Brown and Illustrated by Alyssa Nassner
from Quarto Knows
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Smithsonian Handbook of Trees
from DK Publishing
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Smithsonian Natural History
2nd edition from DK Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$50.00
Spring Walk
by Virginia Brimhall Snow
from Gibbs M. Smith
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99
State Birds and Flowers - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Annika Bernhard
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$5.99
Sunflower House
by Eve Bunting
1st Voyager Books Ed from Sandpiper Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-Ups
by Gina Ingoglia
from Brooklyn Botanic Garden
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$15.95
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