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Nature Study & Journaling

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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Nature Study & Journaling
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47 Items found Print
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Active Filters: Science Picture Books, 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Used Books & Materials
Animals Born Alive and Well
by Ruth Heller
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Animals in Winter
by Henrietta Bancroft
Revised from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Baby Animals
Extraordinary Animals
by Andrew Brown
from Crabtree Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Bald Eagle
by Gordon Morrison
from Walter Lorraine Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature
by Stan & Jan Berenstain
from Dover Publications
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$15.99 $10.00 (2 in stock)
Big Book
by Kathleen Ruckman
from Master Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Birds: Nature's Magnificent Flying Machines
by Caroline Arnold, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne
from Charlesbridge
for 3rd-6th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Butterfly Is Patient
by Dianna Hutts Aston
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99 $10.00 (2 in stock)
Cactus Hotel
by Brenda Z. Guiberson
1st edition from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Deserts & Grasslands (Location: SCI-ECO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Coral Reefs
by Jason Chin
from Square Fish Publishing
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Oceanography & Marine Biology (Location: SCI-OCEAN)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Dancing on the Sand
Smithsonian Oceanic Collection
by Kathleen M. Hollenbeck
Paperback Book from Smithsonian Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Seashore & Tidepools (Location: SCI-ECO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Digging Up Dinosaurs
by Aliki
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Dinosaurs for Kids
by Ken Ham
from Master Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$13.59 $9.00 (2 in stock)
Dinosaurs of Eden
by Ken Ham
from Master Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Dinosaurs of Eden
by Ken Ham
2nd edition from Master Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$13.59 $10.00 (3 in stock)
Disguises and Surprises
Supersmarts
by Claire Llewellyn
from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Egg Is Quiet
by Dianna Hutts Aston
Library Binding from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99 $10.00 (2 in stock)
Fossils Tell of Long Ago
by Aliki
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Fossils Tell of Long Ago
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 2
by Aliki
Revised from HarperCollins
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Great Animal Search
by Caroline Young
from Usborne
for 3rd-7th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$7.00 (3 in stock)
Great Kapok Tree
by Lynne Cherry
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Jungles & Rainforests (Location: SCI-ECO)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Growing Frogs
by Vivian French, illustrated by Alison Bartlett
from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Reptiles & Amphibians (Location: SCI-REPT)
$4.50 (1 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)
Into the Forest
by Christiane Dorion, illustrated by Jane McGuinness
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Lizards for Lunch
by Conrad J. Storad
from Bobolink Media Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Manatee Winter
Smithsonian Oceanic Collection
by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
from Soundprints
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Oceanography & Marine Biology (Location: SCI-OCEAN)
$8.00 (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)
Nest Is Noisy
by Dianna Hutts Aston
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99 $10.50 (1 in stock)
Octopus' Den
Smithsonian Oceanic Collection
by Deirdre Langeland
from Scholastic Reference
for 2nd-5th grade
in Sharks & Fishes (Location: SCI-FISH)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Oil Spill!
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 2
by written by Melvin Berger; illustrated by Paul Mirocha
1st edition from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Environment & Conservation (Location: SCI-ENV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
One Small Square: Swamp
One Small Square
by Donald Silver, Patricia Wynne
from McGraw-Hill
for 1st-3rd grade
in One Small Square (Location: SCI-1SS)
$11.00 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Prairie Dog Town
Smithsonian Wild Heritage Collection
by Bettye Rogers, illustrated by Deborah Howland
from Trudy Corporation
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Puzzle of the Dinosaur-Bird
by Miriam Schlein, illustrated by Mark Hallett
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rabbits, Rabbits, & MORE Rabbits!
by Gail Gibbons
from Holiday House
for 1st-4th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$8.00 (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)
Rock is Lively
by Dianna Hutts Aston
First Edition from Chronicle Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$10.50 (1 in stock)
Seed Is Sleepy
by Dianna Hutts Aston, Sylvia Long
1st edition from Chronicle Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Seed Is Sleepy
by Dianna Hutts Aston, Sylvia Long
from Chronicle Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Shine-A-Light: Secrets of Animal Camouflage
Shine-A-Light
by Carron Brown and Illustrated by Wesley Robins
from Kane Miller
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$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 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)
Tree Is a Plant
Let's- Read - and -Find- Out Science
by Clyde Robert Bulla
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$3.50 (2 in stock)
Tundra Discoveries
by Ginger Wadsworth
from Charlesbridge
for 1st-3rd grade
in Arctic & Tundra (Location: SCI-ECO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Under One Rock
by Anthony D. Fredericks
from Dawn Publications
for Preschool-5th grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Where Are the Night Animals?
by Mary Ann Fraser
1st edition from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Wild America Habitats: Deserts
by Melissa Cole
from Blackbirch Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Deserts & Grasslands (Location: SCI-ECO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Wonder of Animals
by Kathleen N. Daly, illustrated by Tim and Greg Hildebrandt
from Golden Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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