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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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53 Items found Print
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Active Filters: Mammals, Used Books & Materials
100 Things You Should Know about Mammals
by Jinny Johnson
from Barnes & Noble
for 2nd-5th grade
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
All About Monkeys
All About Books #26
by Robert S. Lemmon
from Random House
for 4th-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Apes and Monkeys
by Deborah Dennard, illustrated by John F. McGee
from Northword Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Bats
by Lily Wood
from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Early Readers (Location: EAR-MISC)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Big Red Kangaroo
by Claire Saxby, illustrated by Graham Byrne
from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Biography of a Rhino
by Alice L. Hopf; illustrated by Kiyo Komoda
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$44.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Small Mammals
by Ted S. Pettit, illustrated by G. Don Ray
from Garden City Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Bringing Back the Wolves
by Jude Isabella; illustrated by Kim Smith
from Kids Can Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ecology (Location: SCI-ECO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 4 (old)
by Paul Lindstrom & Edward Shewan
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
for 4th grade
in Old Edition Reading (Location: OREAD)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Dedan Saves the Day
Take A Walk on the Wild Side
by Thea Feldman
from Meredith Corporation
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Cat
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Cat Books (Location: SCI-MAMCAT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Mammal
DK Eyewitness Series
by Steve Parker
from DK Publishing
Science Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
DK findout!: The Living World - boxed set
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$45.00 (1 in stock)
Elephants of Africa
by Gail Gibbons
from Holiday House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Encyclopedia of Mammals
by Professor David Macdonald, editor
from Barnes & Noble
for 8th-Adult
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Exploring Creation With Zoology 3
by Jeannie Fulbright
from Apologia Educational Ministries
for 3rd-6th grade
in Apologia Science (Old Versions only) (Location: OSCI-AEM)
$36.40 $28.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Good and Beautiful Animal Guide: Rabbits
Good and the Beautiful Library Level 2B
by Brooke Hodson Davies, illustrated by Zoe Damoulakis
from The Good and the Beautiful
for 1st-2nd grade
in GATB Language Arts & Reading (Location: CUR-GABELA)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Horse Anatomy Coloring Book
from Anatomy Academy
for 6th-Adult
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
How and Why Wonder Book of Cats - Activity Book
by Sarina Simon, illustrated by Lesley Boney
from Price Stern Sloan
for 2nd-5th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$2.00 (2 in stock)
How Do Bats See in the Dark?
by Melvin, Berger
from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
How to Draw Horses
by Lucy Smith
from Usborne
for 4th-7th grade
in Drawing for Beginners (Location: ELE-ARTDRAW)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Is a Camel a Mammal?
Cat in the Hat's Learning Library
by Tish Rabe
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Cat in the Hat's Learning Library (Location: EAR-CAT)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Jackrabbit and the Prairie Fire
Smithsonian Wild Heritage
by Susan Saunders, illustrated by Jo-Ellen Bosson
from Soundprints
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Joey
from Tambourine Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Key to the Skulls of North American Mammals
2nd edition from Oklahoma State University
for Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Lion Family Book
by Angelika Hofer, Gunter Ziesler, Translated by Patricia Crampton
from Picture Book Studio
for 2nd-4th grade
in Cat Books (Location: SCI-MAMCAT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Lone Muskrat
by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Look to the North
by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by Lucia Washburn
from HarperCollins
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Dog Books (Location: SCI-MAMDOG)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Mammals
The Good and the Beautiful Board Books
by Maggie Taylor, illustrated by Robin Fight
from The Good and the Beautiful
for Preschool-Kindergarten
in Board Books (Location: PIC-BOARD)
$4.40 (1 in stock)
Mammals of Small Pond
Level 4
by Phoebe Erickson
from The Good and the Beautiful
for 3rd-6th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Milk from Cow to Carton
by Aliki
Revised from HarperCollins
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Food & Farming Around the World (Location: HISMC-FOOD)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Naked Mole Rats
by Gail Jarrow and Paul Sherman
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-4th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Once Upon an Elephant
by Linda Stanek, illustrated by Shennen Bersani
from Arbordale Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Otter
Animal Lives
by Sandy Ransford, illustrated by Bert Kitchen
from Kingfisher
for 2nd-4th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Otters
by Bobby Tulloch
from Colin Baxter Photography Ltd.
for 6th-12th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Peterson First Guide to Mammals of North America
by Peter Alden
3rd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Field Guides: Mammals (Location: NAT-FG05)
$9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Pinto Horse
by Gail B. Stewart, Photography by William Munoz
from Capstone Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
$4.00 (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)
Rabbits, Rabbits, & MORE Rabbits!
by Gail Gibbons
from Holiday House
for 1st-4th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Sloths
South American Animals
by Julie Murray
from ABDO Publishing Co.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Special Wonders of the Wild Kingdom
by Buddy & Kay Davis
from Master Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Story of a Hippopotamus
by Alfred G. Milotte, illustrated by Helen Damrosch Tee-Van
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
The Tiger
by George B. Schaller and Millicent E. Selsam
from HarperCrest
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Tiger Trail
by Kay Winters, illustrated by Laura Regan
from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Walt Disney's Odyssey of an Otter
Walt Disney's Animal Adventures
by Rutherford Montgomery, Illustrated by Hamilton Greene
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.80 (1 in stock)
Wolves of Denali
by L. David Mech
from University of Minnesota
for Adult
in Dog Books (Location: SCI-MAMDOG)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Wolves: Life in the Pack
from Barnes & Noble
for 5th-Adult
in Dog Books (Location: SCI-MAMDOG)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Woolly Sheep and Hungry Goats
Rookie Read-About Science
by Allan Fowler
from Children's Press
for Preschool-1st grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Young Kangaroo
by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Symeon Shimin
from William R. Scott Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats
by Ann Earle
from HarperCollins
for 1st-3rd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
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