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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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58 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 12th grade (Ages 17-18), New Books & Materials
Animalium
by Jenny Broom, illustrated by Katie Scott
from Big Picture Press
for 4th-Adult
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$37.99
Arboretum
Welcome to the Museum
by Tony Kirkham, illustrated by Katie Scott
from Big Picture Press
for 4th-Adult
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$37.99
Birds of the Pacific Northwest
by John Shewey & Tim Blount, edited by Hendrik Herlyn
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 5th-Adult
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$29.99 $18.00 (1 in stock)
Botanicum
Welcome to the Museum
by Kathy Willis; illustrated by Katie Scott
from Big Picture Press
for 3rd-12th grade
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$37.99
Countryside Rambles
by W.S. Furneaux
from Yesterday's Classics
for 7th-12th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$14.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Farm Anatomy
by Julia Rothman
1st edition from Storey Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Self-Sufficiency (Location: SS-Self)
$18.99
Field and Hedgerow
by Richard Jefferies
from Living Book Press
for 6th-Adult
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$11.99
Forager's Harvest
by Samuel Thayer
from Forager's Harvest
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$27.95
Fungarium
Welcome to the Museum
by Esther Gaya (and other contributors), illustrated by Katie Scott
from Big Picture Press
for 4th-Adult
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$37.99
Great Alaskan Dinosaur Adventure
by Buddy Davis, John Whitmore, Mike Liston
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$8.79 $6.00 (1 in stock)
In the Heart of the Sea
by Nathaniel Philbrick
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th grade-adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00
Insectarium
by Emily Carter and Dave Goulson
from Big Picture Press
for 6th-Adult
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$37.99
Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America
by Eric R. Eaton & Kenn Kaufman
from Houghton Mifflin
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides: Insects & Arachnids (Location: NAT-FG04)
$25.00
Laws Guide to Nature Drawing & Journaling
by John Muir Laws
from Heyday Books
for 6th-Adult
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$35.00
Life of the Fields
by Richard Jefferies
from Living Book Press
for 6th-Adult
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$9.99
Living Fossils
by Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$23.99 $20.00 (1 in stock)
Living Fossils - DVD
by Dr. Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$15.99
Living Fossils - Presentation CD
by Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$11.99
Living Fossils - Teacher's Manual
by Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$13.59 $11.00 (1 in stock)
Moby-Dick
Everyman's Library
by Herman Melville
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$27.20
Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville
from Penguin Putnam
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$14.45
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest
by Joe Ammirati, Steve Trudell
1st edition from Timber Press, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$29.99
My First Summer in the Sierra
by John Muir
from Gibbs M. Smith
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$14.41
My First Summer in the Sierra
by John Muir
from Living Book Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.34
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds: Western Region
National Audubon Society Field Guides
Revised from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$26.00
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 Field Guide to Seashore Creatures
by Norman A Meinkoth
First Edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Fish & Water Life (Location: NAT-FG02)
$27.00
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Shells
Reprint from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Fish & Water Life (Location: NAT-FG02)
$24.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Night Sky
First Edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides: Weather & Astronomy (Location: NAT-FG10)
$24.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest OSI
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: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$23.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Weather
National Audubon Society Field Guides
by David Ludlum
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Field Guides: Weather & Astronomy (Location: NAT-FG10)
$25.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers: Eastern Region
2nd edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$24.95
Nature Anatomy Notebook
by Julia Rothman
from Storey Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$19.99
Notes on Birds 1
The Nature Notebook Series
by Anna Botsford Comstock
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$8.50
Notes on Birds 2
The Nature Notebook Series
by Anna Botsford Comstock
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$8.50
Notes on Common Animals
The Nature Notebook Series
by Anna Botsford Comstock
2021 Printing from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$8.50
Notes on Fishes
The Nature Notebook Series
by Anna Botsford Comstock
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$8.50
Notes on Insects
The Nature Notebook Series
by Anna Botsford Comstock
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$8.50
Notes on Plants and Flowers
The Nature Notebook Series
by Anna Botsford Comstock
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$8.50
Notes on Trees
The Nature Notebook Series
by Anna Botsford Comstock
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$8.50
Notes on Zoo Animals
Nature Notebook Series
by Anna Botsford Comstock, illustrated by Louis Agassiz Fuertes
from HearthRoom Press
for 3rd-12th grade
$9.99
Ocean Anatomy
by Julia Rothman
from Storey Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$18.99
Pacific Northwest Foraging
by Douglas Deur
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$25.99
Pacific Northwest Insects
Timber Press Field Guides
by Judy Haggard, Peter Haggard
from Seattle Audubon Society
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides: Insects & Arachnids (Location: NAT-FG04)
$34.95
Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants
by Scott Kloos
2022 printing from Timber Press, Inc.
for 11th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$27.99
Peterson Field Guide: Birds - Coloring Book
Peterson Field Guide Color-In Books
by Peter C. Alden & Roger Tory Peterson
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$11.99
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 Butterflies and Moths
by Paul A. Opler
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-12th grade
in Field Guides: Insects & Arachnids (Location: NAT-FG04)
$9.99
Rock Hounding Encyclopedia
from Unknown Publisher
for 6th-Adult
in Geology (Rocks & Minerals) (Location: SCI-GEO)
$29.95
Smithsonian Natural History
2nd edition from DK Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$60.00
Snow Goose
by Paul Gallico
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.96 $11.20 (3 in stock)
Trees and Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest
Timber Press Field Guides
by Ellen Kuhlmann, Mark Turner
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$29.99
Watercolor with Me in the Forest
by Dana Fox
from St. Martin's Press
for 6th-Adult
in Painting Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTPAI)
$24.99
Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest
Timber Press Field Guides
by Mark Turner, Phyllis Gustafson
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$29.99
Wildlife Anatomy
by Julia Rothman
1st edition from Storey Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$18.99
Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest
Timber Press Field Guides
by David Moskowitz
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Animals (general) (Location: NAT-FG03)
$29.99
Zoology Coloring Book
by Lawrence M. Elson
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 9th-Adult
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$24.99
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