From the article: Discovering Nature
Nature journals are an excellent way for students to record what they observe in nature. Do your children keep a nature journal? We'd love to hear about your journaling experience. Can you offer pointers to help others get started with a nature journal? Do you make assignments for the journal? What kind of journal do you use? What other supplies do you provide? Share Your Experience
Growing into journaling your learning
- The consistency is not great in terms of follow through but I cherish my older children's attempts to start a nature journal. Their early attempts to draw what they saw on walks (bringing samples home) inspires them when they think they can't draw anything well. Nature Friend magazine, etc. has provided a boost of inspiration. I would encourage parents who want to try this to have one of your own and do it with your children as a model of learning to them and also to challenge them to make it their own. On a more practical note, be willing to write out their thoughts for them at first to provide encouragement and take away the strain of the additional mechanics- to let the creative juice of the memories flow. Some may fly with it and yet not want too many admirers or critics. You can ask to photograph or select what they consider to be their best work for a portfolio later (once or twice a year) for a record. The goal is a trophy of memories, not just a notebook of knowledge.
- —Guest Tanis M.
Start Today
- My daughter had been learning about Beatrix Potter, which inspired her to keep a nature journal. She’d go out in the back yard and sit by the butterfly bush, the bird bath, or the large oak tree where squirrels cavorted. And sometimes on her nature adventures she wrote poetry, like this one. Tomorrow I’ll pick up my room Til it’s tidy and straight I’ll eat cabbage and broccoli And clean my plate. I’ll grab my nature journal And sit under the crepe myrtle And be a Real Writer Like Beatrix Potter! Tomorrow I’ll… Hey, wait! Why don’t I Just start today?
- —Guest Debra Elramey
Gathered free seeds and lessons
- This year we asked all if we could collect seeds from their yards and pots...with a camera and baggies. We took pictures for the journals, collected flower heads, note book as we went along to gather information. At home we dried the flower heads and looked up official names. I then printed out free plant worksheets from the internet on plant zones and plant parts (labeling) since my son is a 4th grader. This was great fun to him. I have also used plants and charts to expand his interest in food. We grew our own basil which know is the only way to have pizza in our house and garlic, now a must. We have weather stations around the yard for daily temperature reading which will be charted, plus a reading for inside the house. I used free printables from the web to start our work. I am now moving on to make my own charts. We finish the projects as a notebook and some for a portfolio. An added bonus - spring will be a new lesson on plants, planting and growing.
- —Guest shirley
