My favorite find so far has been this pile of Ohio buckeyes that some sweet little creature has been working diligently on. Can you see how the coverings are separated from the nuts?

We've found a bazillion perfect little nuts on trees and off.

Wild fruits and not-so-wild fruits hang prettily from many trees, bushes and wildflowers.

We've used notebooking pages to compare fruits, compare nuts, note the way seeds travel and go on a scavenger hunt for fruits and nuts.

If you’re also studying fruits and nuts this season, I’d love to hear about some of your adventures!

~Cindy

1. Barbara L.
2. Jeanette B.
3. Susan M.
4. Jenn of Guesthollow
5. Beth S.
6. Renee M.

Each winner has been contacted via email with details about choosing a FREE unit!

Rose of Sharon

I’m not sure what’s perfect for nature study in your part of the world this time of year, but in much of the United States, it’s a great time for studying:

• Animal Signs
• Birds
• Butterflies
• Clouds
• Erosion
• Fruits and Nuts
• Rocks
• Ponds
• Spiders
• Wildflowers

We look forward to sharing our nature studies with you here at Shining Dawn Books and hope you will share your nature studies with us as well!

Simply click on the unit you have purchased (in the right side bar) and you’ll find all the links near the bottom of the page.  Please let us know how you like the new additions.  We’re hoping it helps you!

Here’s a little NaturExplorer trivia…

What unit has sold the best so far?  Captivating Clouds!

Here are my boys venturing out into the field.  When I say we went out right after the rain, that’s exactly what I meant!  LOL  You can see the steaminess of the air in the background.  My camera lens even kept fogging up!  By the end of the walk, my son and daughter were both barefoot in the field because their boots were too heavy with mud to stay on.  :)

We haven’t identified our rock finds yet (and we found a bunch), but here are two pictures to show the variety of colors and textures we were collecting.  I wish the brilliance had shown up better in the pictures.  The top rock is actually very red.

You don’t just come upon rocks in a wet field!  We found at least four toad friends who very graciously allowed us to take pictures.

And take a look at this!  It wasn’t found during the same walk, but a day later in our freshly plowed garden.  We’ve found arrowheads on the farm before, but rarely are they in such good condition!  Caleb (my 9 year old) was trying his hand at a wet field walk on his own – quite a treasure to find, don’t you think?

You can find many, many more nature ideas for rock hunting in the Hard as a Rock NaturExplorer unit!  It’s one of our biggest units because it focuses not only on rocks, but life under rocks as well.  It’s almost like getting two units in one!

Oh, and congratulations to Laurie from the Lexington Homeschool Fair!  She was the winner of our giveaway!

Those of you who are attending the CHEK Convention this weekend, be sure to stop by our booth to register for the giveaway we’re offering there!

~Cindy

Our most interesting find also happens to have stumped us.  Maybe you can help us figure out what tree this is?

The pictures below show several different saplings of the same variety in different stages of their leaves unfurling.  It was a magnificent site to behold!

We were able to identify locust, walnut, hickory, buckeye, maple and oak trees in the general area.  A quick leaf identification hunt led us to this page on About.com.  My first inkling is to say the leaves were most similar to an ash tree, but we couldn’t find any other proof of this in the wooded area or online.  So, what’s your guess??

~Cindy

Home of the NaturExplorers Unit Study E-Books

We are so glad you’ve stopped in for a visit and hope you find something to encourage you as you learn more about the beautiful and miraculous world God has created!

Please browse around all the tabs and images to learn more about us and our company.  We can’t wait to “meet” you through this website.  Please feel free to leave comments as we LOVE to hear from you!

We post articles here regularly to:

• show you how we do nature study in our own homes.
• give you additional ideas for particular units.
• highlight how others are using the units.
• share interesting nature facts.
• encourage you in any way we can!

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