Nature Journaling: Finding Your Own Way

Earlier this year, while attending a homeschool conference, I had a
conversation with a mother about nature research and nature journaling. She
had decided that her students would do nature journals and had started off
with a vengeance to see that goal accomplished.

She admitted that she had taken her youngsters to the zoo with their journal
books in hand and when they weren't fully enthusiastic, she had told
them they were not going household till they had sketched and written in their
journals. She was searching at me expectantly, and I replied, "Well, that
would undoubtedly be one way to do it."

"Not the preferred?" Then she smiled. I cautiously began to outline what I
thought could possibly be a improved way to elicit genuine excitement from her
students.

When it comes to nature journaling, have any of you ever faced this? It
appears to me that when you teach nature subjects in school and even when
you engage in distinct field trips for outdoor discovery, it is a fine
notion to give assignments with certain parameters, such as "write a
paragraph about . . . ," "write 5 fascinating facts about . . . ,"
"draw a diagram or sketch of the topic . . . ," "analysis the
classification name of a specimen, . . ." etc. These assignments, when
completed, can be kept in a science notebook and would be considered portion
of routine schoolwork.

Nevertheless, there might possibly be a far more creative and helpful way to strategy the
somewhat numerous topic of nature journaling.

If you read the article titled "The Appreciate and Lure of Nature Walking" in
the Summer 2008 problem of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, then you had been
introduced to quite a few of the imperative factors to lead your youngsters out into
nature—to observe and find out to appreciate the planet the Lord created. You
can support your children start to make discoveries that can support them improved
comprehend the world in which they reside. As soon as you have been on a variety of
walks, you and your students may perhaps get yourselves wishing for special approaches
to "capture" in a a great deal more permanent way what you have observed and what you have
found. Nature journaling seems to satisfy this longing.

Nevertheless, it is at this point that every person's observations will in all probability
be quite various. Each child has completely different strategies that he would be
happiest chronicling his adventures and the specimens he finds along the
way. Some will want to draw or sketch in their nature journal, while
other people will want to use watercolors, colored pencils, or take photographs
of what they come across. A choice to incorporate quotes, Bible verses, poems, or
nature writings by other nature lovers is a choice that will delight a single
child, but that choice might not be the least bit exciting to an additional
kid.

In the exact same way, 1 kid could make a decision to make entries in his journal
every day, though one other falls into quite a fruitful routine of recording
his or her entries when a week or when a month. The final effort
(remember—the young start out modest) is the telling aspect. What a kid
loves, he will be glad to do. Is he starting to "see and feel" and
express himself in creative ways?

Due to the fact our aim is to assist our kids find good joy in exploring nature,
then we should really attentively observe each and every child and discern how finest to
inspire him to develop to enjoy what has been made. As far as nature
journaling goes, this may possibly not be the previously mentioned scenario of
threatening to remain at the zoo until the journal entries are total.
Rather, encourage each and every 1 to explore and uncover his personal way to record his
discoveries.

Sure, a few kids will will need even more inspiration than other folks to get them
journaling. For one particular who has stronger interests elsewhere, a really good general
hands-on knowledge of the outdoors is still important, and even though this
kind of student may well not have a nature journal that is rather as creative or
filled to the brim as those of other people, that is okay.