Science with Nature Study (our favorite resource)

 

Science has always been one of Ben’s very favorite subjects. Space and flight, human body, chemistry, batteries and magnets, animals . . . he loves it all. I’m not sure he could tell you his favorite science topic or resource. But I can tell you mine. Hands down, my favorite science topic is nature study. And my favorite resource for nature study (besides God’s amazing creation itself) are the NaturExplorers unit studies from Shining Dawn Books. 

 

 

I remember a time when I wanted to study nature with Ben, but I wasn’t sure where to start. We could go outdoors with a nature bag filled with a drawing book, colored pencils, magnifying glass, some containers for catching bugs and observing them, a butterfly net, and some field guides. MY plan would be to draw a flower, look for bugs under a log, and discuss what we saw. BEN’s plan would be to climb trees. Not that climbing trees is a bad thing. There’s much to learn when you climb trees. But I wanted a little more direction to our weekly nature walks.

 

We needed a better plan. 

 

Then one day I discovered NaturExplorers. Cindy West had done all the planning for me. 

 

 

These awe-inspiring unit studies lay out a plan perfect for one nature walk or a dozen. With living books, carefully selected non-fiction books and websites, tons of hands-on activities, notebooking pages, and a complete list of ideas for how to learn about and enjoy nature, we now love our nature walks and creating a lifetime of memories while photographing and drawing our discoveries.

The topics are fun, too. There are the ones that you would expect, like Wonderful Wildflowers, Butterflies Flutter By, Captivating Clouds, and Hard as a Rock. But then there are those that are not as expected, like Flying Creatures of the Night, A Fungus Among Us, and Spectacular Spiders. 

 

Probably our favorite NaturExplorers study so far has been Incredible Creeks. We used this study with our Nature Club and had so much fun. I blogged about it here: Dragonflies and Crawfish and Wasps-oh my! 

 

I love that nature study is not just a great science topic, but also brings the focus of our homeschool back to God’s glorious creation. It helps us see just how much God cares about the smallest of details, how He makes everything work together, and how much he cares for us!