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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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Active Filters: Kindergarten (Ages 5-6), Perfectbound
After the Sun Goes Down
Nature Study Library
by Glenn O. Blough, illustrated by Jeanne Bendick
from Purple House Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$12.99
Antarctica
by Helen Cowcher
from Square Fish Publishing
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Arctic & Tundra (Location: SCI-ECO)
$8.99
Bald Eagle
by Gordon Morrison
from Walter Lorraine Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
Biome Explorers: Destination Desert
by Laura Perdew, illustrated by Lex Cornell
from Nomad Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Deserts & Grasslands (Location: SCI-ECO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Black Bear Cub at Sweet Berry Trail
Smithsonian's Backyard collection
by Laura Gates Galvin, illustrated by Will Nelson
from Soundprints
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
Bugs Are Insects
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 1
by Anne Rockwell, illustrated by Steve Jenkins
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
Bugs for Lunch
by Margery Facklam, illustrated by Sylvia Long
from Charlesbridge
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle
Smithsonian's Backyard Collection
by Deborah Dennard, illustrated by Kristin Kest
from Soundprints
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Reptiles & Amphibians (Location: SCI-REPT)
$4.50 (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)
DK Eyewitness Juniors: Amazing Frogs & Toads
by Barry Clarke, photography by Jerry Young
from DK Publishing
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Reptiles & Amphibians (Location: SCI-REPT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Do You Really Want to Meet a Weasel?
by Cari Meister, illustrated by Daniele Fabbri
from Amicus Ink
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
Egg Is Quiet
by Dianna Hutts Aston
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$9.99
Fall Walk
by Virginia Brimhall Snow
from Gibbs M. Smith
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$7.64
Feathers: Not Just for Flying
by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen
from Charlesbridge
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 2
by Arthur Dorros
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Water Cycle (Location: SCI-EARTH)
Good and the Beautiful: Fields and Flowers Course Set
by Jenny Phillips
from The Good and the Beautiful
for Preschool-2nd grade
in GATB Science & Health (Location: CUR-GABSc)
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)
Hurry and the Monarch
by Antoine O Flatharta, illustrated by Meilo So
from Dragonfly Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Icky Bug Shapes
by Jerry Pallotta, illustrated by Shennen Bersani
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$1.60 (1 in stock)
In the Rainforest
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 2
by Kate Duke
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Jungles & Rainforests (Location: SCI-ECO)
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)
Life Cycle of a Bird
by Bobbie Kalman and Kathryn Smithyman
from Crabtree Publishing
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Living World: Grasslands
by Clive Catchpole, Illustrated by Peter Snowball
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Deserts & Grasslands (Location: SCI-ECO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Lizards
National Geographic Kids Level 2
by Laura Marsh
from National Geographic
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in National Geographic Early Readers (Location: EAR-NGR)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Meet the Meerkat
by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne
from Charlesbridge
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Nest Is Noisy
by Dianna Hutts Aston
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
On the Wing
by David Elliott, Illustrated by Becca Stadtlander
from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.94
Patrick's Dinosaurs
by Carol Carrick, illustrated by Donald Carrick
from Clarion Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.40 (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)
Raccoons and Ripe Corn
by Jim Arnosky
from Mulberry Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
Red-Eyed Tree Frog
by Joy Cowley, Photographs by Nic Bishop
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-1st grade
in Reptiles & Amphibians (Location: SCI-REPT)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Redwoods
by Jason Chin
from Square Fish Publishing
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$9.99
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)
Showoffs
by Bernard Stonehouse; illustrated by John Francis
from Tangerine Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Snakes
by Gail Gibbons
from Holiday House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Reptiles & Amphibians (Location: SCI-REPT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Tale of a Tadpole
by Karen Wallace
from DK Publishing
for Kindergarten-1st grade
in DK Readers (Location: EAR-DK)
Turtle Summer
by Mary Alice Monroe, Barbara J. Bergwerf
from Sylvan Dell
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Reptiles & Amphibians (Location: SCI-REPT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt
by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Neal
from Chronicle Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$9.99
What's It Like to be a Fish?
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 1
by Wendy Pfeffer, Illustrated by Holly Keller
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Sharks & Fishes (Location: SCI-FISH)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
White Owl, Barn Owl
by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Michael Foreman
from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Who Lives at the Seashore?
by Glenn O. Blough, illustrated by Jeanne Bendick
from Purple House Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$13.99
Who Lives in This Meadow?
by Glenn O. Blough, illustrated by Jeanne Bendick
from Purple House Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$12.99
Winter Sleep
by Sean Taylor & Alex Morss, illustrated by Cinyee Chiu
from Happy Yak
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$10.99
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 Naturalist
An Usborne Guide
by Andrew Mitchell
from Usborne
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$6.99 $3.50 (2 in stock)
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