Almost every day lately we’ve had thunderstorms, temperatures near or above 90 and humidity levels at 70 percent.  In fact the buckets of rain have been more than our little creek could handle and it flooded the lower level of our yard.  That was a bit scary.

However, it’s nice to know when life give you lemons and a whole LOT of water, you can make lemonade.  We’ve been using activities from the Remarkable Rain unit and have been measuring rainfalls, watching the weather forecasts and comparing notes.  And learning many more weather related things, including all about floods. :)  We’ve sat outside under our covered deck and have listened to the rumbling thunder as the storms have rolled in and out, and marveled at the night sky lighting up with lightning like a fireworks display.

And when lightning and thunder wasn’t threatening we’ve even been doing a little rain dancing.

Even though the weather conditions might not be ideal there are still many things you can do to enjoy and learn about God’s magnificent creation!  Now pray for us that we start looking a little more like a deciduous forest again!

]]> http://shiningdawnbooks.com/2010/06/22/welcome-to-the-rainforest/feed/ 0 http://shiningdawnbooks.com/2010/05/17/growing-up-in-nature/ http://shiningdawnbooks.com/2010/05/17/growing-up-in-nature/#comments Mon, 17 May 2010 15:04:33 +0000 Melissa http://shiningdawnbooks.com/?p=1320

“It would be well if we, all persons in authority, parents and all who act for parents, could make up our minds that there is no sort of knowledge to be got in these early years so valuable to children as that which they get for themselves of the world they live in. Let them once get touch with Nature, and a habit is formed which will be a source of delight through life. We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things.” –Charlotte Mason, Vol.1, p. 61

Up until about five years ago my children rarely really got out into nature. If they did it usually wasn’t with Mom or Dad, it was with neighborhood kids to play.  But as soon as the Creator “lit my fire” for His creation, being in nature has become our second home.  At that time my oldest daughter was about eight years old, my son was about six years old and my youngest daughter wasn’t on the scene quite yet. We embarked upon a journey, a journey into falling in love with the beautiful things that God has gifted us with on this earth by His hands.

What surprised me more than anything, was not only did we find enjoyment amongst nature, we began learning and growing in character from it.  My two older children, even though they didn’t start from a really young age in nature, clung right to it naturally, and a joy that we all didn’t have before in our lives emerged. Charlotte Mason says in her quote above that once they get in touch with nature a lifelong habit is formed, and I couldn’t agree with this more. We have lived that quote. She says we were all meant to be naturalists, each in their own unique way, God put a love for His creation into our hearts when He created us.

Even though my oldest daughter is now a teenager, her love for God’s creation continues. Sometimes in her “teenage awkwardness” she becomes embarrassed with how much she LOVES and knows about nature, but she recognizes it’s importance in her life and continues to thrive in it.

As a family we thrive on nature observation and walks. Each day I get up, check the weather, and determine if it’s possible to get outside in nature that day. Whether it’s for a grand adventure or just a quick stop at a park between errands, I’m glad to make time for it. I see the “fruits” from the time we spend out there. At first it took a lot of effort to get out there, I didn’t like to be uncomfortable and sometimes in nature you might sweat or be a bit chilly.  But soon I learned that the desire and the outcome was far worth a little uncomfortableness!!

I challenge you to become in touch with nature, make the effort to find beautiful spots in His creation to visit and explore. Bring your children, sometimes go alone, just get out there and give Him the opportunity to touch your soul with what He created for YOU.

Off on the Hunt!

Our prized find - a beautiful Snowdrop!

Upon closer inspection, we found a Honeybee! Can you see his little rearend sticking out? Now that's a sure sign of Spring!

My Youngest Explorer - she even looks like Spring to me!

My Oldest Explorer - Feeling the Fresh Spring Breeze!

A "St. Patrick's Green" Mossy Area

Gabby loved the way the moss felt.

Bulging Buds...

and more Bulging Buds!

And what's this creature...yes the dreaded fly. Yet, I must say, it's a sign of Spring!

While we were there, we collected some seeds from conifer tree cones. Do you see the winged tip of the seed? Perfect for flying away on a Spring breeze!

And lastly, I'll share a photo of the VERY full wetland area. It is full from the 9 inches of snow melting down into it. I wasn't able to get a picture of it, but across the wetlands we saw a turtle out sunning itself!

Well, that was our early signs of spring hunt. It was so refreshing and we are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for giving us these refreshing days of hope. I hope you are taking time on the warm spring-like days to get out and breathe it in and enjoy it!

Don’t forget about our SPRING BUNDLE package on sale right now! And take your spring nature study to a new level this year.

“Several moms in our homeschool group want to start a nature club but we have no idea where to begin with forming a club. Can you tell me a little about yours? Thanks for the help!”

Thank you for your question Lecia and since this is a popular one I decided to write up a blog post entry about it.

This spring and summer will be my second time leading a nature club for our homeschool co-op, and I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am. Our nature club was a huge success last year and I truly loved leading it. As you probably know from my blog, I am very passionate about God’s creation and especially about sharing my love of it with others, and a nature club is an excellent way to do just that!

Here is my list of steps and recommendations for getting a club started:

Determine the interest level in your group. – Poll your group to see if you have a high enough interest level to make it worth officially forming a group. In my opinion, two or more families is great! These things have a tendency to grow quickly anyways once word gets out.

Determine a vision for how you want your nature club to be ran. – Would you like a more structured time including an appointed “leader/teacher” for each meeting and a focus topic for each meeting such as birds, wildflowers, etc? Or would you prefer a more relaxed club where you just meet and freely enjoy nature together? Again, you could poll your group to determine what the majority is looking for in the club. Determine if you want parental involvement to be mandatory at each meeting. I recommend this for a couple of reasons: parents will be responsible for their children and not the leader(s), and I highly believe in parents being involved with and connecting with their children in nature study.

If a more structured time is desired, appoint a leader or leaders who will steer the meetings, being sure the meetings stay on task to what is desired of them. – Perhaps all the members would be willing to take turns leading a meeting; however most often there are a small group of people who are “natural leaders” and/or are more knowledgeable on the subject of nature and will gladly do this. Or perhaps you will determine that having just one leader/teacher works fine too.

Determine the frequency of your meetings and the topics and locations. How many times a month will you meet? Will you meet year round or only in the warmer months? Where are the places you could meet? Make a list of local parks or other locations that your club could meet. After doing all of the previous, make a list of the dates you will be meeting and locations where you will be meeting. Decide what you will do in the case of inclement weather. Will you reschedule?

After determining this, and if you chose to make your meetings a little more structured, make a list of topics your group would like to see covered throughout these meetings. When you are picking topics, match appropriate locations that would work well. For instance, a particular park may have huge wildflower fields that would make it perfect for a wildflower focused meeting. Or another park may have a beautiful creek which would make it perfect for a creek focused meeting. When determining what to teach on the focus subjects that you will be covering keep in mind the NaturExplorers unit studies at Shining Dawn Books each have a section dedicated to giving you ideas of things to do with Nature Clubs and Co-ops. I use these for each of our nature club meetings.

After you have all these details, put the information together coming up with a calendar of dates, meeting topics and locations for your club.

Now you are ready to start implementing your meetings! It is helpful to send out weekly reminders to the group, perhaps via email or another online means. In the reminders it’s helpful to list all the basics (where, what when, etc.) and also any helpful information such as if the children should bring anything special (nets, containers, etc.) or wear anything special (mud boots, long pants, old clothes, etc.).

I have tried to be very thorough in these recommendations for starting a nature club, hopefully I have not left anything out. And hopefully I have not left you feeling overwhelmed. If done correctly a nature club will NOT be overwhelming and tedious to run. It will be well worth the minimal effort! Do not make it too structured and “textbook educational”, keep structured teaching time minimal and hands-on exploring maximal.

Lastly, here is how our nature club looks:

We meet only in the spring and summer, starting in April and going through July. We meet every other Friday morning from 10:00am to 12:00pm, having a total of eight meetings. Some of the families stay after the meetings to have a picnic lunch together. Parental participation is mandatory. We start our meetings with a 10-15 minute teaching session on the chosen focus. Then the remainder of the time is spent exploring and doing fun hands-on activities. I send out reminders at least 5 days in advance giving all the details and recommendations for the meetings.

I will be happy to answer any other questions that you may have. And may God bless you in the study of His creation!

Many times in the Bible we find mention of God’s miraculous and powerful creation in nature. God clearly wanted us to notice what He made (Job 38). Not only should we notice it, but give credit to Him, the Creator, and use it to learn from. Even amidst the sin of this world, His works are plainly evident in what He made. Not just simply by observing the visual beauty of His work, but also “seeing” the lesson in it. The more I have appreciated His works in creation, the more I’ve been able to “see” His lessons and learn about Him.

One of the ways I have found to express and foster my appreciation of God’s creation is through photography. In those frequent moments on nature walks when my children and I observe something that makes us stop and give awe to the Creator, out comes the camera because I simply must capture what I see to share with others. Is this to “show off” my amateur photography skills? Well, maybe a teensy bit :), but mostly it’s to share my excitement for the beauty I observe and give the Creator the credit for making it. Even in the midst of dreary weather, there is always something to find to appreciate and find beauty in.

And as the seasons pass by I love looking back on photographs that I have taken in different seasons to remember and appreciate them for the beauty I find during that particular time of year.

I have particularly become fond of macro photography. Macro photography, to me, is simply taking very close-up pictures with the “macro” setting on your camera. It allows you to see detail, that sometimes, even the human eye cannot see easily.

Do you have to be an excellent photographer or own a very expensive camera? Absolutely not! Not every photo I take is of high quality (my camera is not a professional camera). In fact I just snapped a couple of pictures this morning of our friendly neighborhood Pileated Woodpecker and since I have to zoom so far in to take the picture, my photos aren’t the best. But I love them just the same as they are a memory to me of how excited my children and I were to observe this beautiful bird.

My children also enjoy looking back over our nature photos from previous years. It brings back many fond memories and continues to foster an appreciation of God’s creation in them too. This is a photo of my daughter from several years ago (she’s 13 years old now!) nursing a House Finch back to health that had flown into our glass sliding door. And the one below that is Grandpa holding my son (who’s 11 years old now!) up to see a bird’s nest with babies in it.

In many of our units we suggest nature photography as part of the lessons and notebooking pages for nature notebooks. We hope that you are able to make nature photography part of your nature walks and nature appreciation!

]]> http://shiningdawnbooks.com/2010/02/08/appreciating-nature-through-photography/feed/ 0 http://shiningdawnbooks.com/2009/05/16/exploring-his-creation/ http://shiningdawnbooks.com/2009/05/16/exploring-his-creation/#comments Sun, 17 May 2009 01:08:03 +0000 Melissa http://shiningdawnbooks.com/?p=377 Our good friend Julie from Forty Acres, A Husband, and Three Kids has written a blog post which epitomizes what we believe about observing God’s creation.  Her article is beautifully written, full of insight into the reasons we and our children need His creation. She has graciously allowed us to post it here to share with our viewers. Thank you Julie for sharing your heart and love of God’s amazing creation in nature! Now, on to her article.

The girls and I have been a bit puny with colds. So after getting some school done this morning, I thought it might be nice to get out in the warm sunshine and explore a bit.

Some of my favorite memories as a child were exploring the vacant lots around our house with my brother and sister. I hope someday that my kids will reminisce fondly about our explorations but even more than that I hope that an appreciation for what God has created for us is being instilled in their hearts.  

While some may not agree with the importance of teaching children about nature, I feel I am compelled to. Sounds odd I know, but we don’t watch a lot of videos or TV . I would rather they get excited about seeing a small turtle coming up for air in the spring behind our house as Samuel did this morning.

Beauty is so evident all around us in our Lord’s creation and I personally believe that our need for pure and natural beauty is innate, He gave it to us. We see breathtaking photos of the Grand Canyon or violent ocean waves hitting large boulders and we’re awed. Or even gorgeous sunsets, sunrises, and peaceful scenes of a lake with a foggy mist hanging over it elicits a sense of serenity. 

I’m going out on a limb now but I think that God enjoys our enjoying His creation. That’s not too out there is it? I mean He made it for us to live in and He enjoyed making it, so I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say or believe that He put the desire in our hearts to be outside enjoying His artistry and creation from a very early age.

From the time that they could crawl every one of my children yearned and struggled to get outside. As toddlers they would cry at the patio door to be let out in the backyard.

I hate to say this, but it seems our society has conditioned our kids as well as adults for the most part to find entertainment by sitting and watching. I just don’t think that that is what God intended for us.

I guarantee that getting out with your children and exploring what is flying, crawling, and growing around them will enlarge their world as well as yours.

We have been doing family devotions with a book called “Heaven for Kids” by Randy Alcorn and I have been so pleased with how we are able to pull our nature walks into the discussions while doing these devotions. Heaven has become so much more real to them as well as God’s personal love for each of them.

Now I’m aware that I’m preaching to the choir so forgive the know-it-all tone. 

I also wanted to add that teaching my children to identify insects, birds, plants, and other has sharpened their skills of observation and increased critical and logical thinking. I’m sure many of you would tell me the same thing. 

If you have the time please share with me what nature study in your home looks like or a recent nature find that has excited your kiddos.

Once again we’re expecting violent storms tonite and more rain. We have had so much more than our normal amount of rain this spring and the garden is saturated. There are peas, carrots, and onions that are struggling along out there but I’ll have to wait till it dries out before I can get anything else planted.

I was able to get some clothes hung out this morning and with the Oklahoma winds rushing down the plains they were dry in no time. It’s just one more way to save money around here.