Nature study in this modern day of technology may not look exactly the same as it did during Charlotte Mason’s time. How do we know which tools to use, and which to skip? Consider this a mini-FAQs as we jump into a year of nature study!\u00a0<\/p>
Let’s take a look at some of the most useful (and sometimes detrimental) tools of technology to aid our study of nature. <\/p>
Sure! <\/p>
In Charlotte Mason nature study, we include what we call nature journaling, where you draw, sketch, or paint the things you find in nature. Because we live in the digital age, it\u2019s a good idea to take pictures using our phones (or even DSLR cameras), but they do not in any way replace the actual act of using pen and paper to record our observations. We recommend you to use these digital tools as a way to record your findings especially for fast-moving creatures like birds and butterflies, or even slow-moving ones like insects and caterpillars. But after you or your child takes the photo, we recommend still going for the actual act of nature journaling. This is why we may include smartphones or cameras in our list of resources needed, but know that these can be optional. <\/p>
We actually have plenty of precedents of naturalists who took photographs of the objects they\u2019re studying. One prime example is the naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter, author of several classic novels set in the out-of-doors (such as \u201cFreckles<\/a>\u201d), who was also a photographer and illustrator of natural history books.\u00a0<\/p> Sorry, watching videos may be educational by all means, but it\u2019s not a replacement for actually encountering nature as Miss Mason described nature study. Feel free to supplement with nature videos, but it\u2019s a poor substitute for the true joy and learning that happens when we expose our kids (and ourselves!) to nature! Not only are they getting their science foundation down, you\u2019re also doing wonders for their mental health! \ud83d\ude42 <\/p> For nature study, we recommend having field guides in your arsenal. However, we understand that it\u2019s not always easy to find the different field guides for all the types of nature things we want to study. As such, we will include a list of guides that we have found useful ourselves, and we suggest you use your own discretion as to which books you will be able to buy, which ones apply to where you are in the Philippines, and which to skip for now. <\/p> Check out this quote that explains why we need field guides, especially when we’re just getting started: <\/p>2. Can we just watch these things on YouTube?\u00a0<\/h3>
3. Do we really need field guides? We can just Google, right?\u00a0<\/h3>