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Dawnie
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| Posted: Oct 15 2007 at 9:17pm | IP Logged
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Dh and I tried to take the kids on a nature walk this afternoon.
It didn't go well. 
To make a long story short, the littles were tired and the bigger kids were bickering, so we came home early.
How do those of you w/ babies and toddlers do nature study? Nature study is supposed to be our science this year, so I feel "under pressure" to make sure we go on nature walks regularly. It seems like more often than not, our nature walks are not very fun b/c someone is tired, hungry, has to go potty, or is bickering and complaining.
I'm thinking of either leaving the littles w/ dh while I take the bigger kids, or sending the bigger kids w/ dh while I stay home w/ the littles. I wanted this to be a family thing, though. 
Suggestions?
Dawn
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: Oct 15 2007 at 9:45pm | IP Logged
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We have our rough ones too 
I just keep trying. I bet you try next week and it will be so wonderful.
If this is the beginning of this type of adventure with them try to point things out, the caterpillar crawling, different bugs, spider webs, trees or logs with holes("what do you think lives there?"),collect pretty leaves from the ground(my 4 year old is so into this I had to give her a nature box in the garage for her finds), follow their lead and encourage them in their findings-"yes, that is a really neat color dirt, no, no don't EAT it!!!" Touch, experience and use all their senses. I love when dd who is 4 says, "Mommy, it smells like winter." Yes, it may have been said in August, but she is trying.
You might also try a class or two in a park. The parks around here have wonderful programs. While they are hard to do with littles, the bigs get a lot out of them. If you do one every 6 months or so or based on interest(we did monarch butterfly tagging last month, so cool)it might open up the natural world a little more. And they get to enjoy it with some peers. Our parks have some nice homeschool classes and they are used to little ones hanging out. My dd and I stayed with the ranger and watched the kids bring back their nets with the monarchs and saw each one tagged and let go. It really kept her entertained while ds was off trying to find some monarchs.
You will develop a routine too as you practice. Try to go potty before you leave, pack snacks, camera, notebooks and pencils. Get the bigger kids their own little backpack to carry stuff.
Hang in there. We nature walk a lot and even after many years we still have bad days, days when the kids beg not to go. Don't give up. It will be better.
Anne
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KackyK
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| Posted: Oct 16 2007 at 6:40am | IP Logged
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Sometimes we just stay in our own yard and try to find "nature".
We all sit around some flowers or bush or tree. We dig a little, see what we can find or uncover. We sit still and see what "nature" flies by or crawls by. I have found there are a lot more pictures and notes taken in their books on these days.
Staying at home is nice because I can even leave the bigs ones sometimes to go in whenever the potty calls the littlest or the 5yold will die of thirst!
I try not to do this all the time, but mixed in between times out seems to be a good break for me and the littles but we still get some nature. HTH
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Stephanie_Q
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| Posted: Oct 16 2007 at 9:52am | IP Logged
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We mostly do nature study in our own backyard. Granted, our backyard is 3 acres in the country, but I learned a lot about nature in my small suburban backyard(s) growing up, too. There's so much you can do with what you have close by if you just "look closer". My kids have gotten interested in nature just by watching me get excited about it. My husband bought me a finch feeder for my birthday in June and my 4yo asked for a hummingbird feeder for her birthday in August. Look to the sky: sun, moon, and stars, clouds...that's all "nature". My favorite school memories were the science experiments that taught me about nature. Growing carrot tops, sweet potato vines, watching beans sprout in a plastic baggie and celery stalks drink up colored water. Have fun!
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: Oct 16 2007 at 11:02am | IP Logged
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I'm with you, Dawnie. We've found it helpful to scale back our plans and expectations to a point where we can pretty much expect our nature study to go well. Take what works well and go from there with a lot of repetition if necessary. I agree that backyard nature study is very success oriented because you have quick access to necessities (snacks, bathroom, tools, etc.) plus it is an environment that you can return to again and again. Familiarity helps.
Last year, we did most of our formal nature study at a local raparian preserve. We packed the same snacks, walked the same path, parked in the same spot in the parking lot! We didn't tire of this routine because of the mastery involved (expecting to see the northern mockingbirds on one end of the preserve and not the other) and the natural changes involved (visiting birds, etc.)
Sure there will be dud outings but these are just to keep us humble and appreciative when things go well  . Keep up the good work, Dawn!
Love,
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LisaR
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| Posted: Oct 16 2007 at 11:21am | IP Logged
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I'd keep going as a family, but change my expectations. The kids end up discovering so much, maybe not seeing/learning what I wanted them too, but when it is more "self led" it works out fine. Maybe the bickering would let up if you let them fan out and walk further apart? My olders just have to be within earshot, and stay on the path.
I, too frequent just one or two at the most Nature preserves per year, over and over again. Less stressful all around!
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mellyrose
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| Posted: Oct 16 2007 at 12:40pm | IP Logged
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We do nature study in our backyard/front yard as well. It works very well for our family -- last year when I was big & pregnant, and this year with an infant.
We try to do this first thing Tuesday mornings, and the boys take their nature journal to the yard and choose something to draw, then write a brief entry. What has been really neat is to watch the changes in their drawings from last year to this year of the same plants (our barrel cactus for instance.)
It is completely self-led on their part -- they draw whatever they want, and I help writing their entry when needed (but they dictate.)
It's super simple, but I think it helps them appreciate nature more.
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Sarah
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| Posted: Oct 16 2007 at 5:59pm | IP Logged
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I had to stop forcing nature study to happen and just let it unfold. . .completely unscheduled. . .and spontaneous.
Then we pursue whatever is interesting. This means sometimes dropping everything and running to the window or outdoors to observe. If we want to know more we look it up in books or on the computer.
We usually stay in our own yard, or go somewhere kid friendly like our local children's zoo/botanical garden or drive-thru wildlife park (see wildlife in the car--hey, its neat!).
Typically I park myself under the tree in our yard and watch whatever comes into view. . . then call the kids over. For us, nature has been thoroughly enjoyed right at home. Sweeping the garage we see monster spiders, living outside our windows was the loveliest orb spider-we would watch her in the evening spin her orb. . .again, it cannot be planned and you have to drop what you're doing if you happened to catch it at the right time. At a soccer game the other day our whole family forgot the game momentarily and were interested in what was migrating overhead.
No, not everyone is interested at the same time, either. Whomever is within earshot or is interested gets the lesson. Sometimes the kids have things on their mind and they are just too distracted to sit and watch a spider spin a web and that's okay. . .maybe next time they are the one running in to tell us about the moon or a hawk or a frog.
I USED to feel guilty about the nature walk too. Then I discovered the unplanned method and I think for us it works better.
Also, we don't spray in our yard nor do we pull every weed. We often let things go a little nuts and see what happens. And no our yard is not ready for the magazine photo shoot, but we have really learned.
I wrote this on my blog to kind of illustrate this point. garden surprise
Dawn, I'm like you with lots of little people. The idea of running through a forest or something equally wild does not appeal to me right now. Sure, I'd love it without little people, but the fact is, they are always with me and they are the barometers of how our days go.
In our house we have tons of empty parmesan cheese jars & lids under the sink for collecting, lots of butterfly nets, field guides, "weeds" in the yard, etc. This method works!
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eileenonhim
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| Posted: Oct 16 2007 at 10:49pm | IP Logged
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When we go back by our pond, I put our not-yet-two in a baby back pack for most of our time back there. My 4 yo is fast, but he listens well enough that I don't fear he will dive into the pond (at least not unnoticed!) :) When he was younger, I kept him in the stroller during our walks, and we kept them pretty short.
Back yard nature study is a wonderful thing. We followed the development of three baby robins from nest building to first flight (we actually saw it happen!) when the robins took over our swing set's tree house. The baby didn't really get a lot out of it, but the older two sure did--not only did we watch them outside, we also kept a pair of binoculars next to the window with the best view for the entire time they were there!
One idea I love is just mapping off a spot of grass with four sticks or a picture frame, and watching to see what's there. It's also a lot of fun to turn over rocks (or old bricks, or the runoff pad under the gutter, or a toy that was left in the yard in the same spot for a few days), just to see what has taken up residence there. The time does not have to be long in order to be fruitful!
Finding lots of books about birds, insects, etc. in the picture book section of the library also helps--the more familiar they are with what they *might* see, the more they will enjoy the miracle of actually finding it! They need not (and perhaps even ought not) to be "instructive" books, just simple, beautifully illustrated stories that include a nature theme. (This, by the way, works for me, too--I am constantly gasping at the things we discover, so much that I wonder who is getting more out of it!)
The older kids can do the same kinds of things, but extend the activity with field guides to make identifications, flower pressing, sketching/journaling, and making crafts related to what they are finding (bird houses/feeders, "signs of fall" collages, etc.) If you are in your own back yard, the little ones can wander off to the sand box when they've had enough (and you might be surprised at what you can discover there, too, by the way! Toads, ants and spiders have all "invaded" our sand box at one time or another!)
One of the women on this board had a great idea, to paint egg carton cups different colors and then encourage the children to find things in the various colors to fill the cups (I can't remember the date of the post in this forum, but the idea is beautifully described on her blog, here.) We got a lot of mileage out of that activity at our house!
Anyway, I hope that helps! Nature study has been one of the great gifts that homeschooling has brought into our lives, well-worth any of the struggle that occasionally ensues!
Warmly,
Eileen
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Dawnie
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| Posted: Oct 17 2007 at 12:29am | IP Logged
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Thank you all so much for your suggestions and encouragement.
Here's what I picked up:
1. Change my expectations.
2. Explore nature and/or do experiments at home or closer to home.
3. Allow more self-led nature study.
4. Check into park programs.
5. Establish a routine: same park, same time, same day, same snacks!
I think a big reason our nature walk didn't go well was b/c I wasn't prepared first thing in the morning. I was up late the night before writing lesson plans, so I didn't get enough sleep and I didn't gather our supplies the night before. The weather was rainy in the morning, so we couldn't go until after lunch. Then everyone had to wait around while I ran around the house gathering jackets, field guides, sketch books, colored pencils, etc., etc. Then several other things delayed our getting to the park so that it was 3pm by the time we finally arrived. That's an hour past naptime for my kids, so no wonder it didn't go well. Next time, I plan to either go in the morning after breakfast or in the afternoon AFTER naptime. I'm also going to gather everything up the night before and pack it in the car! And I'm going to make sure we have some quick, healthy snacks to take along. Lastly, I need to accept that sometimes, things just won't work out and it will serve everyone's needs better if we just stay home. We don't have to go every single week!
Thanks again!
Dawn
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eileenonhim
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| Posted: Oct 17 2007 at 9:27am | IP Logged
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Oh, one other thing, about "preparation!"--we have a "Nature Backpack" in which we keep things like colored pencils, magnifying glasses, binoculars, a mini-microscope, a small flower press and simple supplies (tissue paper, newspaper squares, thin cardboard), old yogurt tubs and a dollar store bug hut, along with a couple very simple field guides. It's a "grab and go" kind of thing, and it really helps!
Older kids could each have one of their own, and include their personal sketch books and any simple inexpensive supplies to aid in their searches/crafting/assignments. Your backpack can hold the stuff that needs to be shared.
We load up a stroller with everything we'll need, and push it to wherever we'll be "camping out"--in our case, a picnic table back by our pond, but it would work just as well with a blanket in any clearing.
Best of luck with this!
Eileen
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: our terrible nature walk
