• April 19, 2008 - Nature Study -- Turtles
We are in Hong Kong renewing our visas and taking care of some other business. We're trying hard to make the most of our time here when in reality we would rather be home in China.
Nature walks are always something I have to be very deliberate about. Being away from home in an urban area makes it even harder! But it is true that nature is all around you. We found an oasis of animal life in an unlikely place -- a pool of turtles in an apartment courtyard!
In Chinese culture, turtles are a symbol of long life (since they do, in fact, live long lives) and are commonly used in feng shui along with goldfish. But we don't go in for superstitious ideas. We simply like to enjoy God's creation.
I packed my Handbook of Nature Study, and back at home we read the part about turtles. Although we couldn't precisely identify our kind of turtle from the handbook, we did learn some interesting facts! Sprite drew the turtle from a photograph I'd taken. For the nature journal, I gave her a list of key words from what we'd read in the Handbook of Nature Study. She had to include those words in her journal entry.
So, be encouraged. Nature is all around you! Keep looking for it.
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• March 21, 2008 - Nature Walk March 20
This week Sprite wanted to take the photos, so I obliged. These were the three images selected by her to share on the blog.
We had a great tiime wathing this butterfly. Its wings were green like a leaf on the outside, but when it flew, you could see the most beautiful, brilliant yellow on the other side!
She chose this particular shot because you can see its mouth parts so well.
We did more catching small fish, but this time we managed to document it.
I even pulled out the Handbook of Nature Study and read some details in passing, with the book on my lap as Sprite added to her journal. It was worthwhile because as I mentioned the number of fins most fish have, we evaluated her drawing again. Her fish was lacking some fins. So I told her to look at the fish more carefully.
She said, "Well, if the book says it has seven fins, then I'll draw more!"
"No, Sprite!" I corrected her, "The FISH itself is the authority not the book! Look at the FISH!"
A great teachable moment! I also encouraged her to look closely at the small bits of color that are on these seemingly gray or clear fish. We saw blue, yellow, and red.
But it was a bit funny when her dad asked her about her day of homeschool and the one thing she could remember was that fish have an anal fin. Oh my. He gave me a funny look. What can I say? Nature study is memorable!
And lastly here is my journal page (with photo inset).
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• March 14, 2008 - Nature Walk -- Signs of Spring
Our nature walk this week certainly had a theme -- signs of spring. We went expressly looking for tadpoles. We didn't find any. Last year this time, we had many. Maybe it's because of our harsh winter this year that we have no tadpoles yet. I certainly hope we will find some eventually. They are so fun to watch and raise. Sprite did catch two very tiny fish, however.
The tree below is the one with the yellow blooms. From a distance you can hardly see them they are so tiny.
The bees are already busy.
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• February 11, 2008 - Nature Study Surprise
I fear you will "hate" me for blogging this. This is our latest nature study!
You know, it's not winter everywhere in the world.
We are in Thailand again, and longing for home despite the lovely warmth and stolen moments at the beach.
Making the most of every opportunity to enjoy nature -- an hour here, thirty minutes there.
We are not here strictly for fun, but God is good to give us those chances.
We will be home (China) at the end of this week.
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• February 2, 2008 - Last Child in the Woods Book Review
People need nature - really need nature, not merely enjoy nature or benefit from nature. Children need experiences with nature just as they need sleep or healthy food.
This radical thought is something I gathered from a great book I've recently read -- Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. During my time in America, I was able to purchase a lot of books that are listed on my nature study page. Last Child in the Woods was the first one I read. And it didn't disappoint. I actually read it twice!
If you're a Charlotte Mason homeschooler or one who simply has an interest in nature studies, you really should find a copy of this book. My blogging friend Barb has also mentioned this book on her blog.
According to Louv, nature offers all of these benefits:
- Emotional well being
- Spiritual sense of perspective
- Observation skills
- Cognitive abilities
- Creativity
- Healthy risk taking
- Observation skills
- Balanced sense of humility
- Stress management
- Increased attention
- Lowered depression
How can nature offer all of these advantages? What happens if we don't get this needed nature time? For more about this book, click here. I continue the book summary and offer my own critique.
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• January 21, 2008 - Winter Ice Play
We've had an unusually cold winter this year, and the weather has done some strange things. We've been covered in ice for four days now! Although it's made transportation difficult, it's been great fun for Sprite to have some winter nature walks in the outdoors right inside our apartment complex.
She is fascinated by icicles even if they are hanging from cars! But more fun and beautiful are the ice leaves. The ice leaves actually show the imprints of the veins!
This tree right in front of our building 
creates ice leaves like this, a double
and this, a triple.
This tree's curly leaves made delicate, curved ice leaves.
Sprite says this is her favorite plant for finding ice leaves.
You can see why. What a huge ice leaf! And look at that detail!
She told me that the leaves with insect holes create ice leaves with holes in them. Wow! She's really observing carefully. This is play, but it's learning at the same time. It's worth braving the nasty weather to go outside and experience nature. Charlotte Mason said that bad weather was no excuse for not having nature walks. She's right! I'm cold inside anyway; why not go out and have some fun? I'm terribly cold natured. But the fun we have really does take my mind off the cold. And when I go back indoors to my 50 degree home, it seems toasty!
More ice leaves from a long, spiky leaved plant.
And one last plant.
Its ice makes for great fun. Watch the video to see it.
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• December 13, 2007 - Pecans
Winter is on its way. The weather is getting cooler; the skies are consistently grey. Goodbye fall. But before it goes for the year, here is one last glimpse -- picking up pecans on a sunny day. It was a great informal nature walk with delicious results!
We used this handy contraption to gather the nuts. It's much easier than bending down.
Pecans are unavailable in China. They are a special treat for us here!
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• November 3, 2007 - Last Nature Study for a While
We had an excellent nature walk at the botanical gardens last week! It's amazing how things work together! We'd been listening to Burgess Bird Book for Children. (Sprite loved it! She was sad when it ended! I was pleased to tell her that there is also a Burgess Animal Book for Children which I put on her MP3 player for our travels.)
Well, what was the highlight of our nature walk? Birds, of course. We didn't get any photos of them, but we think they are a type of magpie: long tail feathers, black and white patterns, red beak. They were beautiful birds. We stalked them all over the park and had so much fun watching them. I know that this new interest in birds was sparked by the Burgess Bird Book. Living books are great for every subject! Even nature study! (For more living books related to nature see Nature Tales.)
We did record some bird calls, but we're not sure if they were the magpie or not. We're realizing just how little we know about nature. But that's just more motivation for continuing our nature study.
Besides birds, we enjoyed watching the leaves fall. In the quiet of the park, we could even hear them fall to the ground. It was so soothing. We collected some to bring home and make leaf rubbings and crafts.
This was probably our greatest "take home treasure." We immediately realized it was the shed exoskeleton of some insect. Below is her journal page (with image taken from online). It is, in fact, a praying mantis exoskeleton.
We are not in China right now. We're "on the road." I'll blog more about our mystery location later. We're in a major Asian metropolis. Yesterday, DH pointed out some geckos to Sprite. He commented, "This can be our weekly nature walk." We laughed! We were on a busy sidewalk in downtown traffic. But yet, there was a bit of wildlife right beside us. So nature study is really about making and taking opportunities, wherever you live.
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