We’ve all heard this and that about how children need to get out in nature. Charlotte Mason advocated for nature study ruthlessly—demanding we gather our kids and a book and go sit outside somewhere natural, even if we have to take a twenty minute train ride every day to get there. She was passionate about letting children experience God’s beautiful creation, so Mason’s brilliant, high achieving students did the nature thing. They excelled academically, though they spent the greater portion of their lives outdoors.
Recent research shows us that Mason had the right idea. As it turns out, her students excelled academically in a large part BECAUSE they spent so much time in nature. Numerous studies show that regular intervals into the natural world improve a person’s mental and emotional quotient. Before and after studies showed improvement in all areas of chid development.
A study done in California utilized several schools that had similar achievement scores. They took a few schools and removed their playground equipment, turning the school grounds into a natural garden. All the students were given more time outside. Standardized test scores went up significantly higher in the schools that had a natural environment. They found that students with ADD displayed fewer symptoms and also that there was less aggression among the students.
One of the best ways to make your time outdoors educational is through nature journaling or notebooking. Whether your children are studying botany or zoology, illustrating and recording what they’ve learned in nature is valuable on so many levels. Learn to identify, experience, and appreciate God’s beautiful creation.
To learn more about and see a sample of the notebooking journals I created for Young Explorer Science Series go here.
Read more about Charlotte Mason’s methodologies.
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We all want our children to be self-motivated. To take control. To be resourceful. And to be motivated to get it done—whatever it is. Especially school work! MASTERLY INACTIVITY When our children aren’t self motivated, we become frustrated, discouraged and even anxious. As usual, Charlotte Mason has the answer to our worries! It’s a tenet she calls Masterly Inactivity and it’s the key to developing self-reliant, resourceful children who possess a long range motivation that endures far beyond our homeschool. There are 7 essential elements of Masterly Activity. Here we’ll discuss the most important element: WISE PASSIVENESS Wise passiveness is […]
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Jeannie Fulbright shares about Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology. Click below to watch the basics of this course. To read more about this award-winning homeschool curriculum, click here. To purchase this course, go to Apologia.com
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Audio books can be a real life-saver. We all know the homeschool journey is harder on some days than on others. When tears are flowing and the kids are slow as molasses, just getting through the three R’s can be a huge feat. We find ourselves letting everything else slide-you know, like science and history or art and literature. It’s okay. It happens to everyone. But Apologia has a solution. The Young Explorer Audio Books are designed to make science easy, when life isn’t. At the push of a button, science gets done. Not only do the audio books give […]
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