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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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57 Items found Print
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Active Filters: Kindergarten (Ages 5-6), New Books & Materials
44 Animals of the Bible
by Nancy Johnson
from Master Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Bible Study & Reference for Kids (Location: BIB-STU)
$9.59 $6.00 (1 in stock)
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
Answers Book for Kids Volume 2
by Ken Ham
from Master Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Worldview & Apologetics for Kids (Location: BIBWV-APK)
$6.39
Ant Cities
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 2
by Arthur Dorros
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$5.99
Beak Book
by Robin Page
from Beach Lane Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$18.99
Bed for the Winter
DK Readers Level 1
by Karen Wallace
1st edition from DK Children
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in DK Readers (Location: EAR-DK)
$4.99
Beetle Book
by Steve Jenkins
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$19.99
Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature
by Stan & Jan Berenstain
from Dover Publications
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$15.99
Bugs Big & Small God Made Them All
by William Zinke
from Master Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$13.59
Butterfly Is Patient
by Dianna Hutts Aston
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99
Butterfly Is Patient
by Dianna Hutts Aston
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$7.99
Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book K
by Florence Lindstrom
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
for Kindergarten-1st grade
in CLP Phonics & Reading (Location: REA-CLP)
$8.90
Classical Acts and Facts Science Cards: Spinning Harmonies
from Classical Conversations
for Kindergarten-8th grade
in Classical Acts & Facts Cards (Location: HISCUR-CC)
$23.99
Curious Garden
by Peter Brown
from Little, Brown & Company
for Nursery-2nd grade
E.B. White Read Aloud Award
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Diary of a Wombat
by Jackie French
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Dinosaur Activity Book
by Earl & Bonita Snellenberger
2015 Printing from Master Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$7.99 $5.50 (1 in stock)
Dinosaurs for Little Kids
by Ken Ham, Illustrated by Bill Looney
from Master Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$11.19
Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins
by Barbara Kerley
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd Grade
2002 Caldecott Honor Book, NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$19.99
DK First Animal Encyclopedia
Revised from DK Children
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$17.99
Egg Is Quiet
by Dianna Hutts Aston
Library Binding from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99
Egg Is Quiet
by Dianna Hutts Aston
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$7.99
Fall Walk
by Virginia Brimhall Snow
from Gibbs M. Smith
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99
From Caterpillar to Butterfly
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out-Science Stage 1
by Deborah Heiligman
from HarperCollins
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$6.99
Grasshopper on the Road
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$5.99
How Flowers Grow
Usborne Beginners
by Emma Helbrough
from Usborne
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Usborne Beginners (Location: SCI-USBREA)
$4.49 $2.70 (2 in stock)
How to Hide a Butterfly
by Ruth Heller
from Grosset & Dunlap
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$5.99
I Love Guinea Pigs
by Dick King-Smith
from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.99
Insect Detective
by Steve Voake, illustrated by Charlotte Voake
from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$7.99
Katya's Book of Mushrooms
from Living Book Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$12.99
Keeper of Wild Words
by Brooke Smith, illustrated by Madeline Kloepper
from Chronicle Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Leaf Can Be . . .
by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Violeta Dabija
from Millbrook Press
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Life and Times of the Honeybee
by Charles Micucci
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$8.99
Little Naturalists: John James Audobon Painted Birds
by Kate Coombs
from Gibbs M. Smith
for Nursery-1st grade
in Board Books (Location: PIC-BOARD)
$9.99
Little Naturalists: The Adventures of John Muir
by Kate Coombs
from Gibbs M. Smith
for Nursery-1st grade
in Board Books (Location: PIC-BOARD)
$11.99
Made By God: Poisonous, Smelly, and Amazing Plants
I Can Read Level 2
from Zonderkidz
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.99
Made By God: Sea Creatures
I Can Read Level 2
by Mary Hassinger
from Zonderkidz
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.99
Nature Sketch Journal
from Classical Conversations
for Kindergarten-10th grade
in Classical Conversations (Location: CUR-CC)
$13.99
Nest Is Noisy
by Dianna Hutts Aston
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99
Nest Is Noisy
by Dianna Hutts Aston
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$7.99
Night Animals
Usborne Beginners Level 1
by Susan Meredith
from Usborne
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Usborne Beginners (Location: SCI-USBREA)
$4.49 $2.70 (1 in stock)
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
Ostriches
by Herbert S. Zim, illustrated by Russell Francis Peterson.
from Purple House Press
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$7.99
Over in Australia
by Marianne Berkes
from Dawn Publications
for Preschool-1st grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$8.95
Owl Moon
by Jane Yolen; illustrated by John Schoenherr
from Philomel Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
1988 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Peterson First Guide to Trees
by George A. Petrides
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$8.99
Polar Opposites
by Erik Brooks
from Two Lions
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
Pond
by Jim Lamarche
from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Redwoods
by Jason Chin
from Square Fish Publishing
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$9.99
Spider and the Fly
by Tony DiTerlizzi; based on the story by Mary Howitt
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
2003 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Spring Walk
by Virginia Brimhall Snow
from Gibbs M. Smith
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99
Summer Walk
by Virginia Brimhall Snow
from Gibbs M. Smith
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99
Sunflower House
by Eve Bunting
1st Voyager Books Ed from Sandpiper Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-Ups
by Gina Ingoglia
from Brooklyn Botanic Garden
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$15.95
We Are Water Protectors
by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michaela Goade
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
2021 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
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 (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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