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kristacecilia
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| Posted: Aug 13 2010 at 6:47am | IP Logged
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So I am going to have my boys, 6 and 4, do nature journals starting September. Mostly for the 6 year old, but the 4 year old will want to have one, too.
So... what do I have them do? We'll do a little nature walk everyday and spend time working on the nature journals. How structured do you make this? Do I just give them the blank sketch book and a pencil and say, 'have fun!' or should I make it more directed, like ask 6 year old to write a sentence and draw a picture everyday of something he saw outside?
How do you do nature journals when you are just starting out?
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Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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Chris V
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| Posted: Aug 13 2010 at 10:10am | IP Logged
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My children are young, as yours, and I have them do nature journaling as well. When I first started out, I wanted to make sure (as with all else that I was presenting to them) that it was something that they would long to do, that they wanted to do, and really enjoyed doing. So we didn't do it everyday and I never *made* them do it.
We spend a lot of time outside and we go on many nature walks, and often, we just walk. That is all. No lengthy discussions, no forced stopping to "learn" something. I just let them walk, explore, stop when they want to and ask questions (as they always do) naturally. We typically bring some treasures home. A leaf, a flower, a pinecone, even a twig  ; then I make some tea and we sit at the kitchen table and sketch them in our journals (well, not *my* journal, just theirs). But since they are so little, I draw right along side them and help them. So far I haven't had much difficulty identifying what it is that they've brought home, but if I need help, we've got books and the internet for searching on a "name" to give our little treasure from nature.
And if we don't leave our home for our nature time, then I bring out a blanket for the backyard and we sit in the sunshine and draw the little green (often brown  ) blades of grass before us, the occasional ant or beetle, the spider in the web, and the clover-a-plenty that blankets my yard.
I keep it fun, light, and enjoyable. I have absolutely no expectations from them when it comes to journaling because it is something that I want them to do out of the love of doing it.
My hope is that as they get older, they will look through the many journal entries that they've made, how their drawings and sketches have matured, how their writings have become more fine-tuned, and their journals become timeless treasures.
We keep sketch books in the car as well. Each of them have a little basket next to their car seat and in the basket is a sketch book and some colored pencils, often they draw what they see out the window as we drive, or my oldest one will make up short poems and write them in her book, while my 3.5 year old writes her name, over and over and over  .
I suppose my point it to make it something wonderfully enjoyable, and I think to acheive that, you have to start out slow and easy, and have very little expectations of them. Provide the opportunity and sit with them, drawing right along side them, a treasured leaf from a walk, or the front yard. As they get older, your walks will broaden along side their skills.
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Chris
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ekbell
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Mostly I've encouraged my girls to add labels to their drawing, starting with the date and setting.
An unidentified bug might be identified later from a drawing (this has actually happened with my oldest's drawings) but not the date and setting.
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: Aug 14 2010 at 5:48am | IP Logged
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Thanks, ladies.
I just wasn't sure how much direction I should be giving them. I like the idea of having them mark everything with the date and setting, and I like Chris' idea of drawing along beside them. I will definitely do both of those. Hopefully that is enough to sort of keep them on track.
With no direction I could easily see their nature journal being turned into a book of Transformer sketches.
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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Grace&Chaos
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| Posted: Aug 18 2010 at 9:25am | IP Logged
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Krista, Have you had a chance to check out http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/She has what she calls the Outdoor Nature Hour and some pretty good links to starting nature journals with children. This was a nice start until I got into my own rhythm and comfort zone for directing them. (I started nature journals three years ago) Having little ones like you believe me the "structure" time was not long at all just a quick explanation and some question/answers and for some just some doodles on the page with mom asking "let me label this for you" My now five year old can sit and really focus on a butterfly or leaf and will take his time drawing then loves to talk more about it.
Sometimes if I know we are going to be seeing or studying something specific I will find a picture book to read first. Oh, I shouldn't forget. My kids love field guide books. I end up just answering to the same question for every page but I love that they are looking at them (especially my three year old who would rather look at the guide than draw).
I have to admit that I have had to define the difference to my kids about a nature journal vs. a drawing sketch pad. I have a special tote for our nature journals and invested in some nice Strathmore 80lb spiral bound notebooks (for durability and to stress the difference). They have lots of other pads and paper for drawing etc.
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Jenny
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: Aug 23 2010 at 5:35am | IP Logged
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Jenny,
Thank you so much for that link! I just purchased the books she recommends for starting out and I am going to be using her as my primary resource for awhile.
You have helped me solve two dilemmas- not knowing where to start with nature journals, and how to teach art. Thank you so much!
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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Grace&Chaos
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| Posted: Aug 23 2010 at 10:39am | IP Logged
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Krista, I'm so glad this helped. Have fun.
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Jenny
Mom to dds(00,03) and dss(05,06,08,09)
Grace in Loving Chaos
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Starting out with Nature Journals
