Navigating Life: The Sun Is a Compass

The Sun is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds 
by Caroline Van Hemert

Caroline Van Hemert is a scientist and adventurer. As she finished her doctoral dissertation, she and her husband planned a journey through the Alaskan wilderness. As she traveled, she hoped to rediscover her love of the natural world that first lured her into science and to envision the life she and her husband would create for themselves at this time of transition.

Seeing a gray-headed chickadee is special not because its feathers shimmer with iridescence of because it has just arrived from Polynesia but because almost nothing is known about these tiny birds. If I hadn't been paying attention, if I hadn't tuned my ears to the patter of wings and the echo of silence, I would have missed it entirely. (p. 14)

Dr. Van Hemert mentioned studying writing before beginning her biology graduate work, and her words are often thrilling and enthralling. She writes of her first introduction to fieldwork in Alaska.

They flew so close to one another that, for a moment, I couldn't see the sky above me. As they came directly overhead, I ducked. When I looked up again, the palette of colors--white wings against blue sky, ray rock against green water--left me gasping for breath. (p. 26)

Though her parents had spent years sending their children outside, camping, skiing, and exploring their home state of Alaska, her field work transformed her attitude.

For the first time, I saw the natural world not through textbooks but through my own eyes. I began to understand how ecological questions I'd learned about in school were embedded in the muddy, messy realities of fieldwork, and I loved it. (p. 27)

Cue poetic knowledge, though most of us probably don't imagine tents, camp stoves, rain, snow, and lots of guano when we think of the term. A recurring theme in the book is the contrast between fieldwork and laboratory work in modern science. Time in the laboratory is the norm for scientists, but Dr. Van Hemert obviously has fallen in love with the natural world, not with the laboratory. She writes of the early naturalist and indigenous people who learned to observe the natural world, that by watching and listening, they were able to learn about the seasons, plants, animals, and birds. Today's scientist, however, uses more equipment and laboratory tests than observation to advance knowledge.

Science has gone the way of most other things in our digital world. High-tech, computer-centric, and data-hungry. As a result, we know much more than we used to. But we also spend much less time as observers. Wandering through the woods with only a backpack, a notebook, and a pair of binoculars has become a novelty, rather than a necessity, for many biologists. (pp. 125-126) 

This book reminded me of the generous gift we provide in nature study, the habit of walking through the natural world and paying attention to it. Dr. Van Hemert fell in love with birds and being outside with them. Her love of them led to advanced study in biology, because she wanted to understand and protect them, but that very study pulled her away from time immersed in their wild world. It's a tension every biologist and naturalist will recognize.

We tend to think the days of crossing the arctic on skis are over, but they're not! Few make the attempt, and it's no less difficult than in early days of exploring.

In this transition zone, where spring is nudging out winter, there is no perfect way to travel--too much snow for hiking and too little for skiing. The river flows through a narrow slot canyon choked with ice, making paddling impossible. We clamber over logs and across fields of pine needles and crispy brown ferns, skis dangling from our feet like useless appendages. Sweating and straining, we cover less than a mile in two hours.

If you're traveling by ski and boat, you run many great risks, even with air-dropped supplies. More than once, they escape real danger or barely avoid starvation. There are many times they escape death through quick action or luck. The water, the mountains, the bears, the hunger...they all present very real dangers.

As a mother with daughters, I paid close attention to Dr. Van Hemert's conversations with herself about the possibility of having children. A baby would limit their freedom to explore, but her sister and others reveal some of the great joys of children.

If parenthood inspires the sort of bond I feel with them [her parents] right now, even from a distance, maybe my sister is right. Maybe having a child matters more than battling brush and postholing through last season's snow. Maybe family trumps wilderness. Or perhaps these pieces--made of illness and love and birth and death--are inextricably linked, tangled and messy like the green stalks of alder that grow on every hillside. (p. 155)

The book itself doesn't give a final answer except in the epilogue, which describes their first backpacking trip with a ten week old son. It's different, but enchanting.

I knew a baby would change our lives. What I hadn't realized is that this doesn't mean we must let go of what we love. Only now do I see that my worries about losing myself, or us, or our desire for adventure, were misplaced...We will continue to navigate by the only means we know: one stroke, one footfall, one moment at a time. (p. 293)

If you're interested in dangerous adventures like hiking through the Arctic, this book will give you an excellent idea of what that will be like, and perhaps some tips on the planning and preparation. If you know me in real life, you know this is far more ambitious than anything I'd even consider. It doesn't sound fun or worthwhile in the least. But I love reading about adventures like this one. I'm completely content to live vicariously through Caroline Van Hemert and others who share their tales in books I can drink while sipping tea at my kitchen table.

This book is about a crazy journey through Alaskan wilderness, but it is also about finding wonder in the natural world, balancing self and others, and learning how to make a life as a family.

I will include this in our list of possible high school North American geography books. It's definitely best for a more mature reader as the author writes about traveling and living with her husband before they were married, even as the author asks herself what their future as a couple will be. She also occasionally mentions times when they are intimate. These instances are sometimes a little more descriptive than I may prefer for my teenagers, but there's nothing explicit.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links. I checked this book out from our library.

Science in Second Grade: The Burgess Seashore Book for Children

The Burgess Seashore Book for Children

by Thornton W. Burgess

This book has been on my shelf for a few years now, purchased when I thought I might read it aloud before we went to the ocean for the first time (and still the only time), but it's never been read. Second Son heard much of The Burgess Bird Book for Children (one of the Level 1A science recommendations on the Mater Amabilis™™ syllabus) as I read it aloud to Second Daughter so I thought he might be interested in this alternative. I offered him the choice of the bird book or the seashore book and, based only on the cover (and maybe what he remembered), he chose the seashore book.


I read it this summer before the school year began because I am ambitiously asking him to read it independently and narrate it to me. I'm fairly certain he can handle the material, given what he reads on his own, though I don't necessarily recommend this route for all second graders. He's a great reader and is already 8 years old since we started kindergarten a year later than recommended.

If you have read any of the Burgess books for children, you will be familiar with the format. An animal or two wander an environment and learn about the creatures that live there. The Seashore Book follows mostly a mouse and a fox. Some of the conversations are stilted, but there are lots of opportunities for curiosity and wonder. If you're near a seashore or manage to find a copy cheaper than the Burgess Bird Book, feel free to substitute this one.

To get through the entire book without reading more than a chapter at a time, I'm assigning this twice a week. Because I have four children and my oldest is starting high school, I made no ambitious second grade science plans this year. We'll read this book and have our nature walk two or three times a month and consider it excellently covered.

I purchased this book used from another homeschooling family. I received nothing for this review. The links above are affiliate links to Amazon.

Nature Study as a Life: The Girl Who Drew Butterflies

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science

by Joyce Sidman

I happened upon this book in a library search while searching for something else. Maria Sibylla Merian is not entirely unknown to me as we've read Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian. This book, though, is a much more developed biography which incorporates aspects of the culture, industry, and geography of the European world during her lifetime in order to understand her better. It's a biography, but one so bursting with other kinds of information it could fit just about anywhere in a homeschool curriculum (science, nature study, art, poetry, photography, history, and geography, to name a few subjects).

The story of Maria Merian's life is told in twelve chapters, each named after a phase in a caterpillar and butterfly's life cycle, beginning and ending with Egg. They parallel the periods of growth and change experienced by Merian. Throughout the book are maps, photographs, reproductions of engravings and paintings (many by Merian) and quotes from Merian's writings. While it's possible her art was not entirely responsible for changes occurring in scientific studies at the time, Merian's life was remarkable. At a time and in a culture where women were excluded from professional lives by law, she persevered in artistic and business pursuits.

Her personal life was not ideal. She leaves her husband, eventually seeking sanctuary from him in a religious community until he abandons his attempt to convince her to return home with him. He then divorces her and leaves her to financially support their daughters. Undaunted, she not only succeeds in supporting them, but travels to South America to study insects and create a stunning book of her observations.

But her extraordinary skills set her apart. She had the curiosity of a true scientist, the patience it took to raise insects, and the superb artistic skill necessary to share her observations. In short, she was quietly engaged in some of the finest insect work of her time.

This lovely book is going on our read-aloud schedule for next year, when Second Son will be in second grade, the year I order caterpillars we can watch turn into butterflies. I think much of it will go over his head (he'll be eight) but he'll understand enough, and the others will learn a great deal. I hope, too, they feel a little more inspired when we're on our nature walks and pulling out the nature journals.

There is another book on Merian, published just a week earlier. Our library doesn't have a copy and it has fewer pages (according to Amazon), but it might also be interesting: Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer.

I checked this book out from the library to read it and received nothing for this review, but the links above are affiliate links to Amazon.

A Coloring Plan for The Burgess Bird Book for Children

The Burgess Bird Book for Children

by Thornton W. Burgess

Mater Amabilis™Level 1A recommends The Burgess Bird Book for Children as one of the books for year 1 (2nd grade) science, a focus on nature study. I tried reading this book to First Son and we made it through most of it but he often found it tedious. First Daughter read it to herself but didn't enjoy it very much.

Second Daughter, though, loves birds and is the best at bird identification in the family. I knew she would love this book, but I also knew she would not want to read it herself. I wanted her to be able to color pictures for each of the birds. There are lots of websites out there with links to all sorts of pictures for each bird in the book. I found these pictures to be troublesome to print because they're all over the internet and, for the same reason, they were often of uneven quality. (Any accomplished bird artists out there? I think you could make good money on a coloring book of the Burgess birds; all you need are line drawings of all the birds in the books in one PDF and a site to sell it.)

Anyway, I thought I could purchase a coloring book that would get me 90% of the birds at a fraction of the hassle and ordered the Peterson Field Guide Coloring Book: Birds.
The main problem with my plan was the unexpected lack of an index in the coloring book. I therefore had to go through and look page by page for each bird. You don't have to, though, because I've typed it up below. This list is only useful if you have a copy of the Burgess Bird Book and this exact Peterson guide; I can't make promises for other Peterson guides because I don't have any others in front of me.

I read one chapter a week to First Daughter, which means this book carried over into the third grade year. (I gave her the option to finish it herself, but she preferred to double up on science for a while.) Each week, she'd find the birds in the guidebook (I gave her the page number) then color it to match the Peterson sticker while I read the chapter. Then she'd narrate for me. With interest and time, we would check a few other resources, too:

• YouTube for videos of the bird (there are some playlists, but I found it easier to just search)
• All About Birds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (particularly good for listening to the birds)
• The Guide to Kansas Birds and Birding Hot Spots (obviously, choose a guide for your area, but we love this one and use it all the time)

Integrating the Peterson Field Guide Coloring Book: Birds with The Burgess Bird Book for Children

• Chapter 1: house wren p 43
• Chapter 2: English or house sparrow p 55
• Chapter 3: song sparrow, white-throated sparrow, fox sparrow - all on p 64
• Chapter 4: chipping sparrow and tree sparrow on p 63 (no vesper sparrow)
• Chapter 5: bluebird (eastern) p 45, robin on p 47
• Chapter 6: phoebe on p 38 (no least flycatcher)
• Chapter 7: kingbird p 37, great crested flycatcher p 38
• Chapter 8: peewee p 38
• Chapter 9: woodcock p 27, spotted sandpiper on p 25 and 27
• Chapter 10: red-winged blackbird p 56, northern flicker p 36
• Chapter 11: downy and red-headed woodpeckers p 37, hairy woodpecker p 36
• Chapter 12: brown-headed cowbird p 57, Baltimore oriole p 57 and 47
• Chapter 13: orchard oriole p 57, bobolink p 56
• Chapter 14: northern bobwhite p 22, eastern meadowlark p 56
• Chapter 15: chimney swift p 35, tree swallow p 39
• Chapter 16: purple martin p 39, barn swallow p 40
• Chapter 17: American crow p 41, blue jay p 47
• Chapter 18: red-tailed hawk p 20, ovenbird p 52
• Chapter 19: ruffed grouse p 22, common grackle p 57
• Chapter 20: osprey p 19, bald eagle p 21
• Chapter 21: great blue heron p 9, belted kingfisher p 35
• Chapter 22: bank swallow p 39, American kestrel p 22 (sparrow-hawk)
• Chapter 23: common nighthawk p 34 (no whip-poor-will or chuck-wills-widow)
• Chapter 24: yellow warbler p 50, American redstart p 55
• Chapter 25: black and white warbler p 49, yellow-throated warbler p 53, yellow-breasted chat p 55
• Chapter 26: northern parula p 50, magnolia warbler p 50, yellow rumped myrtle warbler p 51
• Chapter 27: gray catbird p 44, cardinal p 47
• Chapter 28: scarlet tanager p 58, rose-breasted grosbeak p 59
• Chapter 29: red-eyed vireo p 49, warbling vireo p 49 (no yellow-throated vireo)
• Chapter 30: brown thrasher p 44, northern mockingbird p 47
• Chapter 31: wood thrush p 44, hermit thrush p 45 (no Wilson's or tawny thrush)
• Chapter 32: indigo bunting p 59, eastern towhee p 62
• Chapter 33: American goldfinch p 61 and 63, purple finch p 60
• Chapter 34: mourning dove p 32, yellow-billed cuckoo p 33
• Chapter 35: ruby-throated hummingbird p 35, loggerhead shrike p 48
• Chapter 36: European starling p 47, cedar waxwing p 48
• Chapter 37: black-capped chickadee p 41 (could also include the Carolina chickadee, same page)
• Chapter 38: common loon p 8, Canada goose p 12
• Chapter 39: brown creeper p 42, white-breasted nuthatch p 42 (red-breasted on p 43)
• Chapter 40: dark-eyed junco p 63 (tree sparrow done earlier)
• Chapter 41: horned lark p 63, snow bunting p 63
• Chapter 42: screech owl p 34
• Chapter 43: red crossbill p 61
• Chapter 44: common redpoll p 62 (no pine grosbeak)
• Chapter 45: great horned owl p 34 (no goshawk)

There are lots of birds left to color now that we're finished with The Burgess Bird Book.  I thought a bunch might be in The Burgess Seashore Book which we already own, but it appears there are only a handful in that book. I plan to let Second Daughter just color the rest of the birds on her own.

This is the copy of The Burgess Bird Book we have, which was pricey at about $20 when I bought it in 2010. I wanted the full color illustrations, which were indeed nice and helped my oldest son focus while we were reading. I think the addition of the Peterson Guide, though, makes the illustrations less important. If I were looking for a copy today, I'd probably get the Dover one above. Be careful about some of the print on demand options as they often have minuscule text, no page numbers, or limited margins. The Dover one has a complete index which includes the common name of the birds as well as the nicknames used in the text.

Links above to Amazon are affiliate links. I received nothing in exchange for this post.

Joy in the Natural World: My Family and Other Animals

My Family and Other Animals

by Gerald Durrell

This book is recommended as a nature study book in 
Mater Amabilis™ ™Level 4, eighth grade. It is the memoir of Gerald Durrell, who moved to Corfu in Greece with his mother and siblings when he was about ten. Though autobiographical, the book takes significant liberties; his brother's wife, for example, is not mentioned at all.

The natural descriptions are lovely.

The goats poured among the olives, uttering stammering cries to each other, the leader's bell clonking rhythmically. The chaffinches tinkled excitedly. A robin puffed out his chest like a tangerine among the myrtles and gave a trickle of song. The island was drenched with dew, radiant with early morning sun, full of stirring life. Be happy. How could one be anything else in such a season?

The description of an early life spent wandering an island, often accompanied by a naturalist, is practically the ideal Charlotte Mason study of the natural world. He even writes about scribbling and sketching in journals.

Theodore had an apparently inexhaustible fund of knowledge about everything, but he imparted this knowledge with a sort of meticulous diffidence that made you feel he was not so much teaching you something new, as reminding you of something which you were already aware of, but which had, for some reason or other, slipped your mind.

Each Thursday, Theodore and the author would wander outside, letting the day and the natural world guide their feet and their minds.

Every water-filled ditch or pool was, to us, a teeming and unexplored jungle, with the minute cyclops and water-fleas, green and coral pink, suspended like birds among the underwater branches, while on the muddy bottom the tigers of the pool would prowl: the leeches and the dragon-fly larvae. Every hollow tree had to be closely scrutinized in case it should contain a tiny pool of water in which mosquito-larvae were living, every mossy wigged rock had to be overturned to find out what lay beneath it, and every rotten log had to be dissected.

This is how I imagine nature study should be, though for us it usually devolves into sword-fighting with sticks and someone sketching mud.

Throughout the book are hilarious stories of misadventures, like the time Gerry captured a mother scorpion covered with her youth and trapped them in a matchbox, which his brother mistakenly opens when searching for a match at the dinner table. Chaos ensued.

There is some crude language, especially from one of their Greek friends, and some references to sex, though nothing my thirteen-year-old has never heard. There's quite a bit of drinking and one episode in which a brother drinks himself into a stupor and nearly sleeps through a blazing inferno in his bedroom.

The Durrell family is not Catholic and there are some references to the Catholic faith of Greeks on the island. In one episode, they are trapped in a surge of people pouring into a church to kiss the feet of a local saint and ask his intercession. Gerry's sister does so and comes down with influenza which is blamed on the saint.

Gerry names one of the animals frequenting his room Geronimo, in honor of the "Red Indian," which while meant to be complimentary is not written with contemporary language. It's hard to know how I would feel about the passage if our family were Native American.

Finally, there is a description of a female dog going into heat and attracting many males, including the three of the household.

It was owing to this Victorian innocence that Dodo fell an easy victim to the lure of Puke's magnificent ginger eyebrows, and so met a fate worse than death when Mother inadvertently locked them in the drawing-room together while she supervised the making of tea. The sudden and unexpected arrival of the English padre and his wife, ushering them into the room in which the happy couple were disporting themselves, and the subsequent efforts to maintain a normal conversation, left Mother feeling limp, and with a raging headache.

Such episodes are scattered throughout the book, though most are much more innocent. I just wanted to mention these so a parent could be aware of pretty much everything if you (like me) assign it before actually reading it.

The language is delightful, love of the natural world flows throughout, and the antics are uproarious. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and count it as one of the best books I read in 2017.

I purchased this book used and this post reflects my honest opinion.

Nature Journal Inspiration: The Curious Nature Guide

The Curious Nature Guide: Explore the Natural Wonders all Around You

by Clare Walker Leslie

Many years ago I read Keeping a Nature Journal and was inspired. It helped me feel more confident going out on nature walks with the children, but it wasn't the kind of book I would have read out loud to them.

Now, though, we have The Curious Nature Guide! I added a "nature" reading to our meal-time reading this year, mostly to accommodate Pagoo which I'm reading out loud for (probably) the last time for my youngest. When I saw this book at the library, though, I knew I was going to read it to them first.

It's full of beautiful illustrations, examples and sketches from the author's own nature journals, and the kind of prompts that make nature study easier to manage. Designed for people who might be noticing the natural world around them for the first time, even those who might live in populated cities, it's small steps are also perfect for young people faced with a blank journal page during nature study. Even after a few years under our belts, I thought the suggestions in the book would be helpful to my children.

There are a few main sections, but no chapters proper. We read a few pages at a time once or twice a week (with a break when I had to return it to the library).

School Week Highlights: Week 3

We started the week with another break, of course!

The kids all stayed overnight with their grandparents while Kansas Dad and I celebrated our anniversary with a quiet dinner and some games in our quiet peaceful house. Did I mention it was quiet?

So we started bookwork late on Monday but...we're here to focus on the positive, the learning that's happening instead of the book-reading that might not be happening!

1. Everyone came home and worked on Monday. We didn't finish everything, of course, but I appreciated the effort.

2. We spent an hour at children's adoration.

3. We took Tuesday afternoon off to celebrate our anniversary (because it's our family's birthday) and treated the kids to a movie at the theater.

4. First Daughter made 2 layers of apple cake. We ate one (yum!) and she shared the other on her first visit to her mother's helper family. She had a lovely time and was kept very busy.

5. We had our first piano lessons this week for First Son, First Daughter, and Second Daughter. Their teacher didn't seem too dismayed at the effects of a lack of regular practice over the summer.

6. First Daughter has been using her K'nex simple machines sets with these Marbles and Wildflowers plans. Sometimes the building takes a bit long and we spread it over multiple days. This week, she brought out her small stuffed animals to enjoy the seesaw.

7. We met my aunt, uncle, and cousin in town for lunch on Thursday, followed by a visit to the Keeper of the Plains and a science museum. More skipping lessons, but we were able to hear how my uncle hiked from the North Rim to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Very important lessons there, I'm sure.

8. Thursday was the Feast of the Triumphant Cross, one of my favorites, and we always make hot cross buns (always since 2010 when I discovered this recipe; we also make them on Easter Sunday). First Daughter made them this year and they were delicious!

9. On Friday...we had school! Real school, with books and everything! First Daughter also made dinner for us - grilled cheese and tomato soup. It sure seems like I depend on that girl a lot! But while she's in the kitchen baking for us, First Son is outside taking care of the chickens for us. The division of labor has more to do with their personal desires and interests than strict gender-typing. First Son can bake; he just doesn't like it. And he did more lessons on Friday while she made dinner.

10. On Saturday, I took the kids on a bit of a drive for a monarch butterfly festival at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center. This is a great little place and the festival was huge!

Painted lady butterflies

There were millions of painted lady butterflies, so all the kids caught some of them, just for practice. The monarchs were few and far between. We saw two, one of which First Son caught!

Sadly, he suffered a mishap and the butterfly escaped before it could be tagged.

Apparently most of the monarchs would be arriving in the days after the festival, but you have to plan festivals in advance and monarchs come when they come. I think we'll give it another try next year and hopefully we'll have our own nets. And long pants. The kids know how to dress for nature study; they just chose to ignore me.

We also visited the Ord's kangaroo rat at the education center. Second Son has been fascinated by them ever since our trip to the Great Sand Dunes years ago. Usually he's sleeping because they're nocturnal but this time he was digging and nibbling, so that was fun.

Life in the Tide Pools for People who Live in Kansas: Pagoo

Pagoo by Holling Clancy Holling

Pagoo is recommended in Level 1B of Mater Amabilis along with Nature Study. I read it aloud years ago, when First Son was in first grade. I remember enjoying it myself but the children were not as interested. That year, we read one chapter a week for twenty weeks. I think I skipped it the year First Daughter was in first grade. This year, Second Daughter was in first grade, and we were hoping to visit a state that actually has tide pools, so I knew I wanted to read it again. I decided, however, to make it a family read-aloud. We read about a chapter a day (sometimes twice a day) over a few weeks and did not narrate it.

Little Pagurus--"Pagoo" for short--floated at the surface of the sea. Pagurus (Pa-gu-rus) would grow into a two-fisted Hermit Crab--if he could make it.

The book follows Pagoo from a hatchling to an adult hermit crab, introducing all sorts of marine biology and fascinating creatures. Holling is a master story-teller and illustrator. One full page color illustration appears for each chapter, but the other pages usually contain black and white sketches in all the margins.

Pagoo delighted Second Daughter (age 7), the book and the hermit crab. She loved listening to his adventures, looking at the pictures, and talking about what was happening in the story. The older children (First Son at ate 12 and First Daughter at age 9) loved the book as well, much more than they did the last time we read it.

Maybe, just maybe, we'll see an actual hermit crab when we visit the ocean!

Prepare for the Spring Migration!

A few weeks ago, Kansas Dad put out a bird feeder for us. It's just outside our kitchen window and near a scraggly bush I grudgingly allow because the birds love to nestle in its branches.

As the birds discovered and accepted the feeder, we've seen new birds regularly and have come to know some of them quite well. It's been a delight to all of us, but especially Second Daughter, who adores birds. Many of the birds we've met in The Burgess Bird Book for Children have been fluttering around just outside our window as we read.

Here's our list since early February:

House Sparrows
Cardinals
Eastern Bluebird
White-crowned Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Blue Jay
Song Sparrow
House Finch
Red-winged Blackbird
Eurasian Collared Dove

We keep a list on a clipboard hanging next to the window so it's easy to note any new birds. We also keep The Guide to Kansas Birds and Birding Hot Spots nearby.

The spring migration is just beginning and I anticipate many new birds at our feeder in the next few weeks and months. We're all excited! (Except maybe Kansas Dad, who jokes often with Second Daughter that her birds are eating us out of house and home. At least, I think he's joking.)

How to Do Nature Study when Mom Doesn't Like Going Outside

Nature study is an integral part of Charlotte Mason's philosophy. It was, in fact, one of the main tenets that drew me to shaping our school around her philosophy of education. Then, as my children grew and we dove more deeply into formal schooling, it became clear that nature study rarely happened for one simple but overwhelming reason.

Though I loved reading about being in nature with my children and the idea of being in nature with them, I dreaded going out in nature with them.

Partly it was the hassle of getting everyone out the door, partly is was the lack of proper gear, but mostly it was my own disinclination to leave my snug little house.

Nature study was on the schedule, but week after week, I just crossed it off and we stayed home. Determined to address what I saw as potentially the most serious problem in our education, I declared 2015-2016 The Year of Nature Study and discussed with a dear friend all my thoughts on the matter. I invited her and her family, also homeschoolers, to join us on this quest. She accepted.

We are now within a few months of the end of our school year and I am declaring The Year of Nature Study almost entirely a success! So far we have gone on 18 nature walks with our coop (more on that later), visited new baby lambs, camped at two state parks and one national park, and spent a day at a preserve.



How to Do Nature Study when Mom Doesn't Like Going Outside


First, convince your spouse to make nature study a priority.

This isn't really a step, but I wanted to give Kansas Dad his due. He has supported my efforts to better our nature study time immeasurably. He borrowed equipment and arranged camping trips for our family last summer. The Great Sand Dunes was amazing and the kids all loved Roaring River State Park. When I suggested taking a day our first week of school to explore Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, he took the day off work to join us (and drive - I hate driving).

Whenever he's with us for a hike, he's encouraging the kids and pointing out all sorts of interesting plants, fungi, and rock formations. He leads by example and my family especially loves it when he comes with us. He doesn't draw in a nature journal, but he keeps an eye on the kids so I can draw in mine when we're out with our family.

Second Son bundled up for freezing rain

Next, gather the equipment.

Clothing - The exact needs here will depend on your climate and personal preferences. The most important thing I needed was shoes for myself. I had only one pair of old exercise shoes, a size too big and with "breathing" openings which meant if it was chilly or damp, my feet were cold or wet (or both). Knowing I didn't have good footwear gave me too easy an excuse to avoid nature walks. So I invested in a quality pair of hiking shoes. You may not need something as expensive, but since we were planning on camping and hiking as a family quite a lot, it seemed a wise investment for me. (I love them, by the way, and now wear them almost exclusively.)

We have had an unusually mild winter with lots of lovely nature study days. On one day, it was sleeting rain. Though I had said we wouldn't go out in such weather, we did. I joked with my friend that we were either an example of supreme dedication to Charlotte Mason's philosophy or an example of women who had taken it a too far and neglected to use common sense in our nature study. (We lasted about 20 minutes that day, but the kids did have a grand time trying to beat through the ice with rocks.)

learning about ice ("Let's hit it with a rock!")

Water bottles - I firmly believe in avoiding plastic bottles. It may be unreasonable, but that's just how it is. I grab the metal ones just about wherever I find them for a decent price because we lose them all the time. All the time. My favorites are Klean Kanteens, but I rarely buy them. You know, because we lose them. Ideally, we have one water bottle per person, but we can't always find enough of them (because we lose them) and so must share.

Backpacks - In honor of a camping trip we were taking last summer, my mother-in-law bought us some backpacks like these. They're light and perfect for the children to carry their own notebooks, pencils, and snacks. I also keep my bag stocked with a mini first aid kit, Neosporin spray, wipes, old grocery bags to use for wet things or garbage, bug spray, sunscreen, and a whistle.

Having dedicated nature study bags is a tremendous asset: they're always packed and ready to go. We just throw in a snack and toss them in the van.

Notebooks - We have Moleskin extra large notebooks, but regular old lined notebooks work, too. Saint Nicholas brought each of the kids a pencil kit last December. He found them on clearance at a local hobby store, but something like this pencil set would work, too. Ones that snap or zip close are nice because the pencils don't get lost or jumbled in the bag.

We've added lots of fun things to our bags over the past year: a pocket microscope, binoculars, a small ruler, magnifying glasses, and identification books, but these are all just extras. (Make these things inexpensive because the children will drop them, step on them, leave them behind, bury them in sand, splash them in the water, and generally have a marvelous time.)


Once you've got the equipment, make the time and get it on the schedule.

Here's where the coop comes in. My friend organized our coop with an intricate time table and children moving between three different locations (before we even begin nature study!). Our coop day includes piano lessons, speech class, and some church classes. My job is to drive kids back and forth to classes, supervise speech class, and decide where we're going each week for nature study. (I got the easy jobs.)

In retrospect, it's amazing how combining nature study with other activities was essential in making sure I got it done every week. I don't have to motivate for nature study because we're already in the van with our bags packed.

There is also nothing like twelve children from two (three now) to thirteen, waiting eagerly in two vans, to make you realize nature study better happen.


Then, choose the locations.

I brazenly asked friends with river-graced property to allow us to tromp along their paths about once a month this year, and they said yes!

I also selected one other location we would visit about once a month through the year.

Those two locations became our backbone. Visiting often throughout the year would allow the children to become familiar with the changing of seasons and weather in a particular place.

Then I did some research and online searching for other natural places or parks we could visit sporadically through the year. Kansas Trail Guide was really helpful for me. You don't need much or a "serious" nature trail. Our second backbone location is a city park with a paved trail. Three of the other locations we visit regularly have playgrounds; they are city parks and not wild nature trails.


Finally, set the ground rules.

Taking twelve children anywhere can be overwhelming and I knew I could only handle a weekly excursion if I wasn't anxious about someone getting hurt every week. I established some ground rules to allow us to keep a semblance of order and get everyone home safe and sound.

"icky water" (an honest display of a nature journal)

• If you hear us call or blow the whistle, stop where you are and look for one of the grown-ups.
• Children who do not respond appropriately will spend the rest of the nature walk holding one of our hands. (The big kids are horrified by this possibility.)
• Respect personal property and water safety.
• Be kind to God's plants and creatures.
• No sharing snacks. (We have severe allergies in our group.)
• You must draw in your journal before you eat your snack. The location and date should be included. (Later we added a requirement for a sentence or two about the day or the drawing, but even so, nature journal entries will need some bolstering next year.)

For the most part, we try to allow the children free rein to explore, climb, and wander. Therefore, we spend a lot of time counting to twelve.

In our family, we also needed to institute immediate showers for First Daughter when we get home. She has extensive allergies and has more than once developed a serious rash after our nature study walk. We just recently discovered Zanfel, which seems to help a lot (as it should, given its price).


Success!

I joke all the time that our nature study is much more Last Child in the Woods than Handbook of Nature Study. With twelve rambunctious children as excited to be together as to be outside, it's difficult to maintain peaceful contemplation of nature. As a first year, it's been a success and I'm hoping we can build on that next year and in the future to improve our nature journal skills and actually learn some names of plants or something. (It's the blind leading the blind, folks.)

We had some breaks during the year. Because we follow our church's class schedule, breaks for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Ash Wednesday, and such, are built into the year. We also took advantage of time together to do a few other activities. In December, we spent one coop day caroling instead of doing nature study. We're also having a little concert one week this spring. Though we focus on nature study, it's convenient to have that time available for a few special things we can still all do together.

Be sure to share in the comments any tips on getting nature study done. I definitely need help on the nature journal and identification skills.

My Favorite Picture Books: Winter Is Coming

Winter Is Coming by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Jim LaMarche

If you're looking for a book to read to encourage quiet contemplation of nature, look no farther. In the book, a girl waits and watches outside with her sketchbook and is rewarded with glimpses of animals preparing preparing for winter. Time passes as the pages turn and we see fall (September) turn slowly to winter.

Immediately after reading it, my girls wanted to make a place outside where they could just sit and watch the birds and animals. We have sketchbooks in which the children grudgingly draw when I insist they must before having a snack on our nature walks. Drawing and the sketchbook are never mentioned in the text, but the girl carries them everywhere and sketches appear in her hand. A book like this is more likely to encourage drawing in nature than one that specifically directs attention to the activity. She doesn't draw because she should or she must but because she loves the world in which she lives.

The italic print: Links to Amazon are affiliate links. As an affiliate with Amazon, I receive a small commission if you follow one of my links, add something to your cart, and complete the purchase (in that order).  

November 2015 Book Reports

Editha's Burglar by Frances Hodgson Burnett is the story of a little girl who confronts a thief and foists upon him her own treasures in a courageous effort to prevent discomfort to her mother. It's a short book and sweet in its way. First Daughter (in third grade) will probably want to read it. (library copy)

The Diary of John Wesley Powell, Conquering the Grand Canyon edited by Connie and Peter Roop is an abridged and edited version of Powell's diary of his first expedition through the Grand Canyon. The editors claim to have remained faithful to Powell's meaning when adapting the text. From what I can tell, his writing would have been well served by better editing before his original book was published, so I wouldn't be too wary of sharing an edited version with my children. This book was created for young readers and I would expect First Daughter (in third grade) to be able to read it easily. I am considering reading this aloud to all of the children in anticipation of a hoped-for trip to the Grand Canyon ourselves. The natural world is portrayed in glorious and exciting language and the real risks of the expedition are clear. (library copy)

Francie on the Run by Hilda van Stockum is the second book in the Bantry Bay series. I read the first, The Cottage at Bantry Bay, aloud to the children last year. The one finally made it to the top of the pile. Though my mother's heart stopped at the thought of a six year old boy wandering Ireland, his adventures lead him to kind and generous hosts and all turns out well. I loved reading in my pale imitation of an Irish accent, too, and the children did not complain. They all loved Francie! (purchased Kindle version directly from the publisher)

Good Poems ed by Garrison Keillor is a book Kansas Dad and I picked out with a gift card on a visit to a bookstore on our anniversary. Oh, how exciting we are! I enjoyed reading the variety of poems selected. Well-known names like Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are mingled with new poets. A book like this is a good one from which to read a poem a day, which is what I did. (purchased copy)

Laudato Si -- On Care for Our Common Home by Pope Francis in an encyclical which teaches the important of being good stewards of the earth and how that stewardship is intertwined with care for all people, most especially the weak, the manipulated, and those trapped by poverty. We read this with the adult education class at our parish. (copy provided by our parish)

Don Camillo and His Flock by Giovanni Guareschi, translated by Una Vincenzo Troubridge - Read my review. (inter-library loan copy)

The Education Of Catholic Girls by Janet Erskine Stuart - Read my review. (free Kindle version)

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare - I have the Shakespeare Made Easy version. I like these editions because I can read the play as Shakespeare wrote it without interruptions unless I want to check my understanding. Then I can glance at the other page to see a contemporary version. Often I turn to the modern words for the comic scenes. The puns and allusions are the most difficult to understand. The children are memorizing lines from Twelfth Night right now with How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare. (received in a swap on PaperBackSwap.com)

In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden - Read my review. (library copy) 


Books in Progress (and date started)

• Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol 2 (sixth edition) (August 2014)
• For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (January 2015, with my Start Here book club)
• Humility of Heart by Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (February 2015)
• Towards A Philosophy of Education (Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series) by Charlotte Mason (May 2015)
• George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War by Thomas B. Allen (November 2015) 
• Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen (November 2015)
• The Long Christmas by Ruth Sawyer (November 2015)
• The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (November 2015)
• The Nature of Kansas Lands edited by Beverley Worster (November 2015)

The italic print: Links to Amazon are affiliate links. As an affiliate with Amazon, I receive a small commission if you follow one of my links, add something to your cart, and complete the purchase (in that order). Links to PaperBackSwap could give me a referral credit if you follow the link, establish a new account, and post ten books. Links to RC History are affiliate links. Other links are not affiliate links.

These reports are my honest opinions. 

Challenges and Encouragement: The Education of Catholic Girls

The Education of Catholic Girls by Janet Erskine Stuart

Originally written in 1912 (with an imprimatur), this book speaks to the educators and parents of Catholic girls, though much of the content applies to all Christian students, male and female. There are chapters on religion and character, Catholic philosophy, lessons and play, mathematics, natural science, English, modern languages, history, art, manners, and higher education of women.

The sections focused on mathematics and science are the ones most likely to seem outrageous to modern readers. As a woman with a degree in cell biology and genetics, I believe the author's discouragement of women and girls studying such subjects is incorrect. Men and women all contribute to the glory of God and many women may do so in math, science, and engineering. Yet finding a balance between the blessings of intellectual abilities and what it means to be a woman, how that might shape our families and our lives (because there are differences between men and women), is a challenging struggle. One of the most important reasons she presents for her hesitation in young women pursuing higher education is that "an atmosphere for the higher education of girls has not yet been created in the universities." I believe universities still lack such an atmosphere. Many women who successfully maneuver through sciences do so by bravely sacrificing their respectability as scientists to serve their families or reluctantly sacrifice service to their families (or a family at all) in order to compete in what is still a field dominated by men and a set of expectations nearly unchanged since the publication of this book.

Let us admit the author is incorrect in some of her assumptions regarding the intellectual capabilities of girls and continue reading regardless.

The early chapters focused on faith, specifically the Catholic faith. Many faith-filled and well-meaning materials for children are, in fact, childish. Mother Janet rejects simplifications. (I think Charlotte Mason would agree.)

The best security is to have nothing to unlearn, to know that what one knows is a very small part of what can be known, but that as far as it goes it is true and genuine, and cannot be outgrown, that it will stand both the wear of time and the test of growing power of thought, and that those who have taught these beliefs will never have to retract or be ashamed of them, or own that they were passed off, though inadequate, upon the minds of children.

For this reason, I love the Faith and Life books for catechism for our homeschool. They are not exciting and lack a story or narrative (other than the narrative of creation), but they are clear and precise at every level. There are no simplifications or glossings in even the earliest books that must be clarified later on.

The habit of work is another necessity in any life worth living, and this is only learnt by refraining again and again from what is pleasant for the sake of what is precious.

Another aspect of this book was the encouragement to develop our own characters, knowing that as educators our very persons and daily actions are more important than any "subject" we teach.

We labour to produce character, we must have it. We look for courage and uprightness, we must bring them with us. We want honest work, we have to give proof of it ourselves.

I declared this year the Year of Nature Study in our homeschool and therefore took careful notice of the sections on nature study. Week after week, we go out for a nature walk and week after week, I am doubtful we have learned anything of value. Perhaps we have...

The object of informal nature study is to put children directly in touch with the beautiful and wonderful things which are within their reach. Its lesson-book is everywhere, its time is every time, its spirit is wonder and delight.

Our walks are certainly "informal." A friend and I have a small co-op for nature study, among other things. I commented to her our nature walks are more Last Child in the Woods than Handbook of Nature Study, but at least we're there.

How little we should know if we only admitted first-hand knowledge, but the stories of wonder from those who have seen urge us on to see for ourselves; and so we swing backwards and forwards, from the world outside to the books, to find out more, from the books to the world outside to see for ourselves.

Repeatedly this year we have read something and then encountered something similar or related in our nature walks. Rivers and Oceans (which is outrageously expensive so use this link instead) and Rocks, Rivers and the Changing Earth come to mind.

One must know the whole round of the year in the country to catch the spirit of any season and perceive whence it comes and whither it goes.

We have also been visiting a few of the same places to acquaint ourselves with them through all the seasons.

The outcome of these considerations is that the love of nature is a great source of happiness for children, happiness of the best kind in taking possession of a world that seems to be in many ways designed especially for them. It brings their minds to a place where many ways meet; to the confines of science, for they want to know the reasons of things; to the confines of art, for what they can understand they will strive to interpret and express; to the confines of worship, for a child's soul, hushed in wonder, is very near to God.

The author's thoughts on recitation and memorization struck me as well. I wrote about our own poetry memorization years ago, and have continued to ponder its worth. Mother Janet believed there is a value to recited poetry aloud (even when not memorized) because the sound of his or her own voice saying beautiful words outside his or her normal vocabulary expands the student's repertoire. In her experience, recitation leads to a desire for memorization. Memorization then leads to a love of reading and the formation of a literary taste. She cautions, however, to choose pieces wisely.

But it is a matter of importance to choose recitations so that nothing should be learnt which must be thrown away, nothing which is not worth remembering for life. It is a pity to make children acquire what they will soon despise when they might learn something that they will grow up to and prize as long as they live.

Reading aloud is eloquently supported.

Their first acquaintance with beautiful things is best established by reading aloud to them, and this need not be limited entirely to what they can understand at the time. Even if we read something that is beyond them, they have listened to the cadences, they have heard the song without the words, the words will come to them later.

A final quote:

A "finished education" is an illusion or else a lasting disappointment; the very word implies a condition of mind which is opposed to any further development, a condition of self-satisfaction.

Overall, I felt challenged and encouraged as an educator, of boys and girls, by reading this book.

Great Sand Dunes: Hiking, Wading, Mountains, Joy! (Seven Quick Tales Vol 12)

In August, we spent three nights at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado. I would like to devote today's seven quick takes to encouraging all of you to see it for yourself. Until this summer, I didn't know such a place existed and if you could design a national park for young children, you almost couldn't do better than what you'd find right here.

1. Hiking like this:

2. Sand dunes, which children can climb, scramble, slide down, roll down, and surreptitiously stash in every pocket and crevice of their clothes. I struggled with the altitude, so just sat and watched as the children wore themselves out climbing and tumbling in the sand.

Yes, those little specks are my children.

You can rent sand boards and sand wheelchairs. Our kids seemed satisfied with direct contact with the sand.

3. Mountains

We're from Kansas. There are no mountains in Kansas. My kids would see a little hill and wonder, "Is that a mountain?" No, no it is not. These are mountains!

Kansas Dad yearned for alpine hiking, but after one attempt at a mile walk up a bit to a scenic view, he knew such an excursion would have to be child-free.

4. If you come in the right time of year (or in August, if there were heavy snows in May), there's Medano Creek.

It was only a few inches deep when we were there, so we could wade right through it.

Or, you can bring swimsuits, sit yourself down, and dig a swimming pool. Recruit other children to aid and assist while you are there and to take over when it's time to leave for lunch.

It's practically a homeschooler's paradise - what with all the learning about water-based erosion, tiny waterfalls, levees, meaders, oxbow lakes, and the satisfying smush of sand between your toes and fingers.

5. For the early rising adventurous crowd, the High Dune beckons.

Kansas Dad, First Son, and First Daughter made it to the top!

6. This view while taking a guided nature walk during which a kind patient ranger endured Second Son's autobiography of his short but apparently eventful life.

We attended a few of the ranger programs, opportunities to learn actual geology, geography, and natural science relevant to the dunes. Second Daughter and Second Son were particularly enthralled by the one about night visitors and spent much of the walk to the creek the next morning pointing out all the tracks of the kangaroo rats and tiger beetles.

My favorite was the guided nature walk. We had walked the same trail the day before, but the children were drawn in by the ranger in a way they were not when it was just us. Though we had all stopped to draw the day before which we couldn't do while on the guided walk, so perhaps having both is the best option.

We camped right at the Dunes, which was fantastic. It was incredibly windy one night (high winds help create the dunes and clear them of footprints and marks), but our tent was well secured. Being right there made attending ranger events easy.

7. Sunsets a little like this

There's only one disadvantage: no showers. You have to leave the park to get to a shower (and pay a fee once you find one). I'm also still finding sand that might very well be from Colorado. Even so, Great Sand Dunes is officially one of my favorite places in the world to visit with my children and I would love to return.

Bonus, just because it amuses me. Here's a video First Son made the first morning at camp:

Read other Seven Quick Takes at This Ain't The Lyceum.