How to Do Nature Study with Preschoolers

The preschool and Kindergarten years are a perfect time to cultivate a child's natural love for God's creation outdoors!
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Tags: #CharlotteMason #homeschool #naturestudy

[@bluewind1811]

The sticker book is a cute idea for those getting started. As a mom with preschoolers, I've found that just keeping my own nature journal has encouraged my children a lot. They love to watch me draw and look through my journal all the time. We have a bird feeder in front of a window and they watch me writing things about the birds and drawing them. They have learned to emulate so much of my own joy and practices without any sort of lessons taking place. They flip through the field guides and find birds, they press flowers and draw in their own journals. These things can happen very naturally if mom has the habit first.

[@SimplyCharlotteMason]

Thank you for sharing what has worked well for your family! Our attitudes about a subject and our habits as parents can have such an impact on our children!

[@RaeBehrs]

Thank you for your wonderful work! My children are 6, 4, and almost 2 years old. When my first two were babies we lived in town and had so much opportunity for walking and going to parks. We'd be out of doors easily 3 to 5 (or even more) hours in a day. Now that my oldest has moved onto formal lessons, my youngest definitely doesn't get that same amount of time outdoors. What with breakfast, schooling, lunch, then naptime, and cleaning up (with the older two after they've been unsupervised while I was putting the baby down) it seems as if there isn't much time in the day to take all three of them outside. Most of them time we get in an hour or two before I have to haul us all back inside to start on dinner. Those early preschool years of nature time will always hold a special place in my heart. I often need to remember that there are different seasons to motherhood and that I don't need to feel guilty about the difference in their experiences. The preschool years of your oldest will very likely look different than the years for your youngest. And that's okay too.

[@SimplyCharlotteMason]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I am sure that so many in our community can relate to this!

[@JA-vv8wy]

This was very timely, thank you! My toddler just turned 2 so I’m looking forward to subscribing to the preschool kit (I saw it is intended for age 3 so I’ll have to wait 😅). We collect items we find in nature and lay them out on the table to look at and even paint on during rainy days. Bringing them into the house to take a closer look on bad weather days has really helped keep the interest alive when we can’t get outside.

[@SimplyCharlotteMason]

While "Our Preschool Life" is designed for children aged 3-5 years old, you can read more about it here to determine at what age you would like to subscribe: ourpreschool.life/ Here are SCM's recommendations for the preschool years before formal school lessons begin, you will find a lot of great ideas and suggestions for living books to start reading aloud together: simplycharlottemason.com/planning/preschool-guide/

[@_withjazmin]

Thank you. I especially appreciated Karen’s final encouragement. ✨

[@SimplyCharlotteMason]

You are very welcome, so glad you enjoyed this post!

[@KathyHutto]

Great advice! So many things to study outdoors. 🥰

[@SimplyCharlotteMason]

Thank you!