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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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49 Items found Print
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Active Filters: Botany & Mycology, Used Books & Materials
A Closer Look at Plant Life
Closer Look books
by Bernard Stonehouse, illustrated by Richard Orr, Philip Weare, Gary Hincks
from Gloucester Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Ones
by Barbara Bash
from Sierra Club Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Berries, Nuts and Seeds
Take-Along Guide
by Diane Burns
from Northword Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Botany Coloring Book
by Paul Young
1st edition from Harper Perennial
for 5th-9th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Compact Guide to Wildflowers of the Rockies
by C. Dana Bush
from Lone Pine Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$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)
DK Eye Wonder: Plant
by Fleur Star
from DK Children
for 3rd-6th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
DK Smithsonian Trees, Leaves, Flowers & Seeds
by Dr. Sarah Jose, consultant Dr. Chris Clennett
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$12.00 (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)
$41.60 $28.00 (4 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)
$31.20 $17.50 (1 in stock)
Familiar Trees of North America - West
National Audobon Society Pocket Guide
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Flower Grows
by Ken Robbins
from Dial Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Flowers Flashcards (old)
from A Beka Books
for 4th-10th grades
in A Beka Science (Old Versions only) (Location: OABK-SCI)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Fungus is Among Us!
by Joy Keller, illustrated by Erica Salcedo
from The Innovation Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$7.00 (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 (2 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 (1 in stock)
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 Flowers Grow
Usborne Beginners
by Emma Helbrough
from Usborne
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Usborne Beginners (Location: SCI-USBREA)
$4.99 $3.00 (1 in stock)
I Wonder What a Rainforest Is
by Annabelle Donati, Sharron O'Neil
from Golden Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
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)
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)
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)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Mushroom Fan Club
by Elise Gravel
from Drawn & Quarterly
for 2nd-4th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
My Garden Grows
by Aldren A. Watson
Second Printing from Viking Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Naming of Flowers
by Anne Halpin, illustrated by Rob Proctor
from Harper & Row
for 6th-Adult
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms
by Gary H. Lincoff
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$26.00 $14.00 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society First Field Guide: Trees
by Brian Cassie
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Plant Kingdom
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-Adult
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
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 (2 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)
$4.24 $2.00 (1 in stock)
Sharing Nature with Children
by Joseph Cornell
from Dawn Publications
for Adult
in Nature Study & Journaling (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 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)
Trees, Leaves and Bark
Take-Along Guide
by Diane Burns
from Northword Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Usborne Beginners: Nature - 10 book set
from Usborne
for 1st-2nd grade
in Usborne Beginners (Location: SCI-USBREA)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
What Is a Plant? (Science of Living Things)
Science of Living Things
by Bobbie Kalman
from Crabtree Publishing
for 2nd-5th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Why Do Plants Grow?
Miracles of Creation
by Susan Horner, illustrated by Nancy Munger
from Moody Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Wild Flowers
by Matthias Hermann, translated by Grace Jackman, illustrated by Redoute, Besler and several sartists
from Galahad Books
for Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Wildflowers
Peterson Field Guide Coloring Books
by Roger Tory Peterson & Frances Tenenbaum
from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-10th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Wildflowers of the Columbia Gorge
by Russ Jolley
from Oregon Historical Society Press
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Wonder Book of Trees
by Cynthia Iliff Koehler, illustrated by Alvin Koehler
1974 printing from Wonder Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
World of Plants
God's Design for Life
by Debbie and Richard Lawrence
4th edition from Answers in Genesis
for 4th-8th grade
$12.00 (1 in stock)
World of Plants
from Usborne
for 3rd-8th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
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