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Nature Study

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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42 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 2nd grade (Ages 7-8), 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
Animal Lives - 8 Book Set
by Sally Morgan
from QEB Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Bat Loves the Night
by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Sarah Fox-Davies
from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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)
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 Animals Around the World
from DK Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$7.00 (2 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)
Egg Is Quiet
by Dianna Hutts Aston
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$7.99
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)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Forest in the Trees
by Connie McLennan
from Arbordale Publishing
for 1st-4th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$10.95
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)
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)
$2.00 (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-JUN)
Insect Detective
by Steve Voake, illustrated by Charlotte Voake
from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$7.99
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)
Look Up!
by Annette LeBlanc Cate
2nd edition from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-6th grade
2014 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$8.99
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 (Location: NAT-GEN)
$7.99
On the Wing
by David Elliott, Illustrated by Becca Stadtlander
from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.99
Patrick's Dinosaurs
by Carol Carrick, illustrated by Donald Carrick
from Clarion Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Peregrine's Sky
by Consie Powell
from Western National Parks Assoc.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$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)
Raccoons and Ripe Corn
by Jim Arnosky
from Mulberry Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf
by Lois Ehlert
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$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)
Spiders and Other Creepy-Crawlies
Wild, Wild World
by Denny Robson, illustrated by James Field
from Paragon Publishers
for 2nd-4th grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
True Book: Animal Homes
A True Book
by Ann O. Squire
from Children's Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
True Book: Bees
A True Book
by Larry Dane Brimner
from Children's Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
True Book: Beetles
A True Book
by Ann O. Squire
from Children's Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
True Book: Birds
A True Book
by Melissa Stewart
from Children's Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
True Book: Fossils
by Ann O. Squire
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
True Books: Animal Babies
A True Book
by Ann O. Squire
from Children's Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
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)
Usborne Book of Wild Places
by Angela Wilkes
Revised from Usborne
for 1st-3rd grade
in Ecology (Location: SCI-ECO)
$7.20 (4 in stock)
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)
Who Lives at the Seashore? (2024)
by Glenn O. Blough, illustrated by Jeanne Bendick
from Purple House Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
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 (Location: NAT-GEN)
$10.99
Young Naturalist
An Usborne Guide
by Andrew Mitchell
from Usborne
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$6.29 $3.15 (1 in stock)
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