How to Do Charlotte Mason Nature Study

Perhaps one reason why we don’t do much nature study is that we don’t know what to do once we’re outdoors. Let’s see what Miss Mason has to say: 

Supposing we have got them, what is to be done with these golden hours, so that every one shall be delightful? They must be spent with some method, or the mother will be taxed and the children bored. There is a great deal to be accomplished in this large fraction of the children’s day. They must be kept in a joyous temper all the time, or they will miss some of the strengthening and refreshing held in charge for them by the blessed air. They must be let alone, left to themselves a great deal, to take in what they can of the beauty of earth and heavens; for of the evils of modern education few are worse than this––that the perpetual cackle of his elders leaves the poor child not a moment of time, nor an inch of space, wherein to wonder––and grow.

(vol 1 pg 44) 

Here we can see that we don’t need to feel pressured about lecturing or knowing everything. In fact, the first thing we need to know is how to let our children alone or left to themselves! 

But that’s not ALL that we do. Miss Mason also says that it’s our chance to train our children in powers of observation: 

At the same time, here is the mother’s opportunity to train the seeing eye, the hearing ear, and to drop seeds of truth into the open soul of the child, which shall germinate, blossom, and bear fruit, without further help or knowledge of hers. Then, there is much to be got by perching in a tree or nestling in heather, but muscular development comes of more active ways, and an hour or two should be spent in vigorous play; and last, and truly least, a lesson or two must be got in.

(vol 1 pg 44-45)

A Sample Nature Study Lesson

Let’s take a look at how she describes a “lesson or two”: 

No Story-Books.—Let us suppose mother and children arrived at some breezy open wherein it seemeth always afternoon. In the first place, it is not her business to entertain the little people: there should be no story-books, no telling of tales, as little talk as possible, and that to some purpose…

Our wise mother, arrived, first sends the children to let off their spirits in a wild scamper, with cry, hallo, and hullaballo, and any extravagance that comes into their young heads… 

Here we can see that we don’t have to prepare a lecture—in fact, we’re discouraged to do much talking! Did you catch that? She says, “as little talk as possible,” but that it’s not just a passive keeping quiet, it’s “to some purpose.” 

And what is this purpose? First, we let the kids let off steam by running around and going as loud as they want to! 

Let’s see what happens next: 

II. —Sight-Seeing

By and by the others come back to their mother, and while wits are fresh and eyes are keen, she sends them off on an exploring expedition—Who can see the most, and tell the most, about yonder hillock or brook, hedge, or copse. This is an exercise that delights children, and may be endlessly varied, carried on in the spirit of a game, and yet with the exactness and carefulness of a lesson. 

Here we can see that the next part is to send the kids off to explore, expecting them to come back and tell as much as they remember about what they’ve seen. The following tells the details about how to do this: 

How to See.—Find out all you can about that cottage at the foot of the hill; but do not pry about too much. Soon they are back, and there is a crowd of excited faces, and a hubbub of tongues, and random observations are shot breathlessly into the mother’s ear. ‘There are beehives.’ ‘We saw a lot of bees going into one.’ ‘There is a long garden.’ ‘Yes, and there are sunflowers in it.’ ‘And hen-and-chicken daisies and pansies.’ ‘And there’s a great deal of pretty blue flower with rough leaves, mother; what do you suppose it is?’ ‘Borage for the bees, most likely; they are very fond of it.’…

(vol 1, page 45)

Do you see how the dialogue can go? Of course, this is a scene with a few kids in the mix, so most likely it will look different if you only have one or two kids. But you get the picture! 

5 Steps on How to Do Nature Study

From the above passages, here we summarize nature study in 5 easy steps:

1. Bring the children to some outdoor space.

Possibilities of a Day in the Open.––I make a point, says a judicious mother, of sending my children out, weather permitting, for an hour in the winter, and two hours a day in the summer months. 

That is well; but it is not enough. In the first place, do not send them; if it is anyway possible, take them; for, although the children should be left much to themselves, there is a great deal to be done and a great deal to be prevented during these long hours in the open air. And long hours they should be; not two, but four, five, or six hours they should have on every tolerably fine day, from April till October. 

vol 1 page 43-44

2. Let them run wild for the first few minutes.

Remember, we respect the nature of children who just desire to run and jump around and make noise, and what better place than in the outdoors?

3. Send them off to explore and then return.

The important thing is that they know what is expected of them, so that they can come back with their “treasures,” perhaps not literally in their hands, but in their mind’s eye.

4. Let them describe in detail things that caught their interest.

Encourage them to be as detailed as possible. We also remember that each child is born a person, so what catches one child’s fancy may not be what the second or third child pays attention to.

5. Have them draw in their nature journals.

As soon as he is able to keep it himself, a nature-diary is a source of delight to a child. Every day’s walk gives him something to enter: three squirrels in a larch tree, a jay flying across such a field, a caterpillar climbing up a nettle, a snail eating a cabbage leaf, a spider dropping suddenly to the ground, where he found growing ivy, how it was growing and what plants were growing with it, how bindweed or ivy manages to climb. Innumerable matters to record occur to the intelligent child. While he is quite young (five or six), he should begin to illustrate his notes freely with brush drawings; he should have a little help at first in mixing colours, in the way of principles, not directions. He should not be told to use now this and now that, but, ‘we get purple by mixing so and so,’ and then he should be left to himself to get the right tint. As for drawing, instruction has no doubt its time and place; but his nature diary should be left to his own initiative. A child of six will produce a dandelion, poppy, daisy, iris, with its leaves, impelled by the desire to represent what he sees, with surprising vigour and correctness.

(volume 1 page 54-55)

Here we can see that the nature journal should be the child’s own possession, with his own initiative as to what he wants to draw in it–but of course, of things he finds in nature. Some of my friends’ kids struggle because their child wants to draw, say, a picture of a butterfly without actually looking at a butterfly. I recommend a different notebook for free drawings; the nature journal should be kept solely for the purpose of copying our nature finds into them by direct observation.

Taking Time to Do Nature Study

We encourage you to take nature study seriously with your children. That’s why, in our Charlotte Mason International Curriculum, we include a time slot for nature study once a week! Hopefully that will keep you accountable, and we believe the time you spend out of doors will be worth it!