Nature Study Curriculum | How I Use Gentle + Classical Nature | Flip-Through + Resources

In this video, I'm sharing a look inside the nature study curriculum that I've been using, Gentle + Classical Nature volume 1. This is a nature curriculum that mainly focuses on the temperate climate of North America, and we don't live in a temperate climate, so that does affect some of the changes that I make in how I use it.
I also share the books that I have to go with it, how I add extension activities (even though I'm a low-prep homeschooler!), and how I incorporate Spanish into this study.
Here's a link to purchase Gentle + Classical Nature Vol 1 (Affiliate Link): shopgentleclassical.com/colle...
WELCOME //
I'm Rachel, a mom of two and the oldest in a family of 8 kids. I'm a second-generation homeschooler who is passionate about education. I'm originally from Michigan, but am living overseas. My two young boys and teaching homeschool lessons to my youngest sisters keep me busy, but I make time for writing and for making KZbin videos, too! On this channel, you can expect videos featuring books and homeschool curriculum, homeschool tips for hard days, our journey raising bilingual kids, and vlogs about the intentional adventure that our homeschool lifestyle allows! Subscribe to join our family here:
/ @seveninall
Expect two videos a week, uploaded at 7:30 a.m. EST on Mondays and Thursdays.
THE CURRICULUM I WRITE//
Our family creates printable homeschool curriculum. Find those resources right here: www.wheredyoulearnthat.com
WATCH MORE //
Get to Know the Seven In All Family: • We're The Seven in All...
Limit Screen Time for Kids: • LIMIT SCREEN TIME FOR ...
Raising Bilingual Kids (Without OPOL!) • How We're Raising Bili...
Strategies for Homeschooling Gifted Learners • HELP! I'm Homeschoolin...
My DIY Preschool Learning Binder • Preschool Learning Bin...
Classroom Management for Homeschoolers (Series) • Homeschool for REAL - ...
HOMESCHOOL RESOURCES //
Need a Printing Service for all the awesome homeschool resources you download? Use our affiliate link for Family Nest Printing: lddy.no/t747
EQUIPMENT //
Sony RX100: amzn.to/2KzbdFy
Intro Music Credit: www.bensound.com
FOLLOW //
Instagram: / seveninallfamily
Facebook: / seveninallfamily
For collabs and business inquiries, contact us at: seveninallfamily (at) gmail.com
DISCLOSURE //
Seven In All's videos are not intended for children. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you purchase through any Amazon affiliate links in this description, our family earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.

[@SevenInAll]

If you're new to Gentle + Classical, but you want to give it a try, you can purchase using my referral link to get $5 off your first purchase of $20 or more: i.refs.cc/IEQfeXvv?smile_ref=eyJzbWlsZV9zb3VyY2UiOiJzbWlsZV91aSIsInNtaWxlX21lZGl1bSI6IiIsInNtaWxlX2NhbXBhaWduIjoicmVmZXJyYWxfcHJvZ3JhbSIsInNtaWxlX2N1c3RvbWVyX2lkIjoxMjAxNjg3NTM5fQ%3D%3D If you make a purchase through that link, then I will get $5 off of my next purchase from them. A win for both of us!

[@countrywisheshomeschool]

I've been interested in this curriculum since Erin first came out with it but this is the best in-depth review I've seen of it. I actually love his sweet little drawing but I've always thought little kid drawings were precious. 😍 And great idea to get a real fish for him to look at even tho I wouldn't be thrilled with the dissecting either. Perfect for daddy to help with! 😄

[@SevenInAll]

I love it when kids first start learning how to draw, I love seeing how they figure out how to put what they see on paper! And yes, I think my husband is going to handle all the dissections from here on out (he's a nurse and can handle easily anything that would make me squeamish. lol!)

[@SevenInAll]

One resource I forgot to grab that I am consistently using with this is the "Slow Down: 50 Mindful Moments in Nature" book. I have found that it, so far, has had at least one 2-page spread of a "moment in nature" that lines up with the topic for each unit: frog, fish, ducks, etc. I enjoy the style of that book more than the Julia Rothman book.

[@ylopez4204]

The Caterpillar and the Polliwog by Jack Kent is a good frog book for this age group!

[@SevenInAll]

Great recommendation!

[@emilieelizabeth3831]

Honestly I agree about the Geraldine woolkins, we switched to the Beatrix Potter tales instead. Switched out Ellie's log for over and under the snow instead. We never really used Rothman Nature book. We also just did the memory statements and Spanish vocabulary. My oldest did it from 4 and half to 5 and half.

[@SevenInAll]

The Rothman Nature book is something I think my boys will get more out of later when they can just sit and page through it themselves...I don't find it to be an easy book to teach from. The one book I found that has added on to this immensely (and of course, forgot to include in the video), is "Slow Down: 50 Mindful Moments in Nature)--that has been an excellent addition! I like the idea of switching out Geraldine Woolkins and Ellie's Log books for other books, more fitting to the preschool level.

[@emilieelizabeth3831]

@@SevenInAll I think Rothman Nature book would work better if you child likes doing nature drawings or journaling components of the curriculum. Now that she is kindergarten age, I will say I have pulled it out more then the beginning. We just finished the mushrooms and moss unit, she loved the waterbears drawing. It's been fun seeing her get excited when she sees something she learned about outside or in documentaries.

[@anaf.848]

Sarah MacKenzie, from the Read-Aloud Revival, has a great Nature Study booklist. I bet you could find several more appropriate picture book options to supplement the Term 3 books.

[@SevenInAll]

Thanks for the recommendation!

[@TheMumfordMob]

I haven't heard of this curriculum before, so I really appreciate the review. I love the variety of activities and the age range that this can be used for. The cards you showed are really helpful. So smart to do a 'lighter' science before digging into more in depth science curriculum. I think this would be fun to do over the summer, too!

[@jessicajones7056]

Hello! I’m a new subscriber and I’m really enjoying your videos. Thank you for all of the information you share with us about different curricula. (Also loved the Little Mermaid and fish shirt your husband and son were wearing during the fish dissection! So funny!) I look forward to watching more of your homeschooling videos!

[@SevenInAll]

ha--I totally didn't notice that about the shirts...what a great coincidence. :P So glad you find the videos helpful!

[@sarahmora5207]

I love the over and under books!!

[@SevenInAll]

I hadn't know about the series until I got this book, now I'd love to read more of them! Especially the Rainforest one, because that's the climate where we live.

[@monicamoreno3629]

One book my kids really enjoyed over the Nature Anatomy book is the Fun With Nature take along guide. I believe it has 6 books in one. You could buy them separately. This one is better for younger kids in my opinion.

[@SevenInAll]

Thanks for the recommendation of an alternative!

[@RockSimmer-gal4God]

We use words related to our units in German, my kids don’t always want it but I think it helps them!!! I feel the same way with many languages!!! I can’t teach from book like that either, but they are awesome for older kids to read themselves!!! A drawing is age appropriate, I’m amazed that your son took in the information drew it so well!!! I love the fish activitiy!!! Sorry I can’t spell. If we do this we will leave it till kindergarten with my youngest!!!

[@SevenInAll]

I love incorporating language learning into all of our topics! And I was so impressed with his little drawing!

[@andreadriver6532]

The drawing is adorable!

[@SevenInAll]

:) Thank you! Seeing their drawings is such a fun part of this stage.

[@thehudsonshub]

That really looks like an interesting curriculum.

[@SevenInAll]

It's been fun and easy to implement so far!

[@jessicazanetti4781]

I just purchased this last night. Kind of bummed Somehow I missed your video before- totally would have used your link!!! Your son’s drawing is total swoon worthy ❤ we just started Frog and Toad from Year of Learning today and even though my 4 yr old’s story sequence is a bunch of green circles and random letters he knows how to write - it’s on the fridge for all to see ❤. Also the Year of Learning Slow Down has some “units” I think will go along with the Nature units.

[@SevenInAll]

Aww, sorry about that, but I hope you guys love this one! And I love that you can relate to being totally obsessed with the drawings of these tiny humans--I've kept that frog drawing in a special binder. :) We're about in unit 11 right now, learning about spiders, which my boys love, of course.

[@jessicazanetti4781]

@@SevenInAll we are loving it!! Just printed the student notebooks and both kids can’t wait to get started.

[@Rofamily6]

Thank you for your videos! We are an overseas missionary family of 10. My oldest is your highschool sister's age. I was thinking too print off the G+C Primer and Nature for our youngest four. I just dislike printing, since I've printed so many books over the years and I dream of the day when we can buy already made books, hahaha. However, we are blessed with an Epson printer, I am thankful. I would love to see a video of a DITL of your classical morning; Primer and Nature. Also, I wanted to ask if you use Book Depository, living overseas? Such a blessing to have free shipping!

[@SevenInAll]

Yes, I'm not the biggest fan of printing or of "DIY" printed books, either. "Real" ones just feel so nice and are so easy. BUT...the advent of digital curriculum has been a huge gift to us overseas homeschoolers. We do use Book Depository when we need to, yes--just sometimes it hurts that their prices can be much higher than the discounted prices we could have gotten through Thrift books or something like that if we were in the US. ;) I do a DITL at the end of every month, so that video will be coming next week, and you see bits and pieces of our morning routine with Primer and Nature, although not the whole thing. I can keep in mind the request to do a more Primer and Nature-focused DITL in the future. :)

[@ClowPow]

Thank you so much for showing the books and explaining how you use the program! Did you end up using Geraldine Wilkins and Ellie’s Log? They look like cute books but I agree that they would be hard to read to a preschooler. Wondering if I should order them or switch out for something else. 🤔 thank you!! Love all your videos! ❤️

[@SevenInAll]

I did use them, but I did end up skipping wordier parts of the chapters and summarizing some of it to hold with the attention span of my boys. If you're doing this with a preschooler like I did, I probably would swap out those two books--they're great titles, but would work better with kids just a little bit older--you could always use them later if you go back through this again down the road. (I plan to do it again with my younger son...he was only 2 when we were going through this...he definitely was around for a lot of it but it's such a fun program, I want him to have his own chance to remember doing it.

[@ClowPow]

@@SevenInAll ok, I’ll take that advice and switch them out. So many great nature books we can use anyway!

[@koralswinney4823]

Do you have any recommendations for term three alternatives of Ellie’s Log Geraldine Woolkins that would be more appropriate for a preschooler?

[@SevenInAll]

Maybe some of the books from the Crinkleroot series by Jim Arnosky? I don't have them, but we've read and enjoyed a number of picture books by Arnosky and they've fit the attention span of my boys better.

[@steffa648]

Ok this question has nothing to do with the video but I wonder every time I watch one! Your intro- who are the people in it and why is your channel called seven in all? I only counted 6 pictures in the intro.

[@SevenInAll]

hahaha--well, the short answer is, if I could change the channel name, "Seven in All", I would! But this KZbin channel does not allow its name to be changed. The story behind it is: we started this channel many years ago and at the time, it was a channel where the SEVEN of us SIBLINGS made silly videos together--hence, Seven in All. We made videos sporadically for a few years just for a fun family activity, and even when we started making videos consistently, it was usually several of us siblings making videos together. Then the content started shifting to homeschool during the pandemic and lockdown...and here we are. My youngest sister (sibling #8) only joined the family a few years after the channel was started, which is why, although it was named for the siblings...it's seven in all instead of eight in all. Alllll that to say, you're very justified in being confused. At this point, we are just rolling with it since the channel name can't be changed and I just treat "Seven in All" as kind of our internet "Last Name" (i.e. "Seven in All Family" instead of "Smith Family"). All the people in the intro are my siblings (+ spouses), so that also harks back to the origins as a sibling channel (and my siblings do still occasionally join videos...less so now because of borders being closed). The intro is long overdue for an update but my mom loves it and she loves seeing all of her babies in a quick clip even though we've been separated by international borders for a few years at this point. Maybe if the channel gets "big enough" one day KZbin will allow me to change the channel name so that it stops being so confusing. :)

[@steffa648]

@@SevenInAll thank you so much for your kind and fast reply! Wow that’s crazy KZbin won’t let you change it. But now it makes total sense. Thank you! And I love your homeschooling content!!

[@CharlotteMasonTT]

I don’t like nature anatomy either … we’re thinking along the same lines

[@SevenInAll]

I have definitely not found it easy to teach from--but the "Slow Down" book has been great for us!

[@CharlotteMasonTT]

@@SevenInAll which book is that ?

[@SevenInAll]

@@CharlotteMasonTT It's called "Slow Down: 50 Mindful Moments in Nature" by Rachel Williams-- covers a lot of the same topics that are in this Nature Curriculum, but has two page spreads that read like a mini 'story" of something happening in nature--a snake shedding its skin, a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, etc.