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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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45 Items found Print
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Active Filters: Preschool (Ages 4-5), Hardcover, In-Stock Books & Materials
Ancient Ones
by Barbara Bash
from Sierra Club Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Animal Babies in Grasslands
from Kingfisher
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Animal-Go-Round
by Johnny Morris
from DK Publishing
for Nursery-1st grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Babes and Cradles
by Maud Wolcott Spalding, illustrated by Lucile Patterson Marsh & Anita Parkhurst
from Southern Publishing Association
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Baby's Book of Animals
by Roger Priddy
from DK Publishing
for Nursery-1st grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Beak Book
by Robin Page
from Beach Lane Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$18.99
Beetle Book
by Steve Jenkins
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$19.99
Bird's Eye View: The Natural World
by John Farndon and Paul Boston
from Words & Pictures
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Caterpillars and Butterflies
Usborne Beginners
by Stephanie Turnbull
from Usborne
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Usborne Beginners (Location: SCI-USBREA)
$2.70 (2 in stock)
Curious Garden
by Peter Brown
from Little, Brown & Company
for Nursery-2nd grade
E.B. White Read Aloud Award
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Dinosaurs for Little Kids
by Ken Ham, Illustrated by Bill Looney
from Master Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$11.19
Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins
by Barbara Kerley
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd Grade
2002 Caldecott Honor Book, NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$19.99
DK First Animal Encyclopedia
Revised from DK Children
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$17.99
Earthworm
by Andrienne Soutter-Perrot, illustrated by Etienne Delessert
from Creative Education
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
EyeLike Letters
from Play Bac
for Preschool-2nd grade
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Fall Walk
by Virginia Brimhall Snow
from Gibbs M. Smith
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99
Giraffe: A Living Tower
by Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
from Reader's Digest Young Families
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
How Flowers Grow
Usborne Beginners
by Emma Helbrough
from Usborne
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Usborne Beginners (Location: SCI-USBREA)
$4.49 $2.70 (4 in stock)
How Grace Got Her Name
by Alice Elshoff, illustrated by Jennifer Curtis
from Moonglade Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Keeper of Wild Words
by Brooke Smith, illustrated by Madeline Kloepper
from Chronicle Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
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
Lifesize
from Kane Miller
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Little Turtle and the Song of the Sea
by Sheridan Cain, illustrated by Norma Burgin
from Crocodile Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Living Fossils
by Caroline Arnold, illustrated by Andrew Plant
from Charlesbridge
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Look to the North
by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by Lucia Washburn
from HarperCollins
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Lucky Porcupine
by Miriam Schlein, illustrated by Martha Weston
from Four Winds Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Nest Full of Eggs
by Priscilla Belz Jenkins
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$5.00 (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)
Original Water-Color Paintings by John James Audubon for Birds of America
by John James Audubon
1985 edition from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Owl Moon
by Jane Yolen; illustrated by John Schoenherr
from Philomel Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
1988 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Polar Opposites
by Erik Brooks
from Two Lions
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
Pond
by Jim Lamarche
from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Rare Treasure
by Don Brown
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
River Ran Wild
by Lynne Cherry
from Harcourt
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in River, Pond & Swamp (Location: SCI-ECO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Spring Walk
by Virginia Brimhall Snow
from Gibbs M. Smith
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99
Summer Walk
by Virginia Brimhall Snow
from Gibbs M. Smith
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99
Toad Overload
by Patricia Seibert, illustrated by Jan Davey Ellis
from Millbrook Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Ecology (Location: SCI-ECO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Two Bad Ants
by Chris Van Allsburg
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Usborne Pocket Nature
by Barbara Cork
from Usborne
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$4.05 (1 in stock)
We Are Water Protectors
by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michaela Goade
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
2021 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
We Dig Worms!
Toon Level 1: Giggle and Learn
by Kevin McCloskey
from Toon Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?
by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?
by John Morris & Ken Ham
from Master Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Why Do Sunflowers Face the Sun?
by Terry Martin
from DK Publishing
for Preschool-1st grade
in Clearance: Science & Health (Location: ZCLE-SCI)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Wild Folk in the Mountains
by Carroll Lane Fenton
from The John Day Company
for Preschool-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
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