Day 2 - NATURE CONVERSATIONS

STARS

This was taken at sunrise.  The "star" is actually Mercury.

4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him [Abraham]: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:4-6

NATURE CONVERSATION

Enjoy the night sky with your kids (or early morning!), read the Scripture and ask questions. Why did God make the stars? How many stars are there? What did God promise Abraham? Why did that take faith for Abraham to believe? (He did not have ANY children at this point in Genesis.)

NATURE JOURNALING

Spend some time under the stars. Not with tons of instruction or for the purpose of positively identifying the constellations. Just be still and enjoy the number of stars and the vastness of the universe.

After time observing, your children could draw or take pictures of make notes in the journal of what they see. Or they might be inspired to write a poem or song, or to write the words of a song or poem someone else has written. One song that comes to mind is "Indescribable" by Chris Tomlin.

NATURE STUDY

• Research: how many stars are there? How many visible to man?
• Learn the names of the brightest stars and identify them.
• Learn to identify the planets in the night sky.  
• Log/record the position in the sky of planets, particular stars, or constellations. Do this daily or just periodically to observe how the stars "move" across the sky. Or record several times in one evening.
• Visit a planetarium. Learn about the night sky in the other hemisphere of the earth. How is it different in different parts of the earth?

DAY 1 NATURE CONVERSATIONS

FLOWERS

28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Matthew 6:28-30

Spring time is a great time to observe flowers. I particularly love bluebonnets and other wildflowers that spring up throughout April. Children are naturally drawn to flowers and will likely pick some for you.

NATURE CONVERSATION

Read the Matthew 6:28-30.  While looking at some flowers, remind your children that God causes these flowers to grow.  He makes beautiful things.  Have your children make observations about the flowers - the detail that God put into each flower.  Take note that these flowers don't last all year - they come only in their season, yet God considers each flower significant.  Remind your children that God cares for them even more that flowers and He will take care of their every need.

Ask questions.  Why did God make the flowers? Why does He care for them? What purpose do the flowers serve?  These questions can spur on conversation and research.  God made flowers because He is creative and makes variety.  God made the flowers for our enjoyment, for the beauty of them.  Your discussion may lead you to look at how flowers play a part in the ecosystem, with birds and insects, or the life cycle of flowering plants.

NATURE JOURNALING

• Draw flowers
• Press flowers and add them to your journal later. The above picture I used a flower press my husband had made and after a few weeks, I covered it with contact paper to better preserve it.
• Identity types of flowers
• Make observation about when flowers bloom, when new flowers appear, when they die. Although this would take much more consistent effort, it goes along well with the verse, to see the temporariness of flowers.  
• Take pictures of flowers 

NATURE STUDY

• Learn about the Parts of a Flower.  I recommend the Homeschool Scientist for a printable resource.
• Learn to Identity Types of Flowers and when they bloom.  
• Edible Flowers.  Did you know Dandelions are edible? Do some research to find out about other edible plants.  You may even have some in your own backyard.

30 DAYS of NATURE CONVERSATION

Why should we study nature?  Did you know some ancient cultures would not have studied nature?  Nature was too sacred - the gods were everywhere, dwelling as part of nature, or so they believed.  In fact, science as we know today was birthed when Europe was under the influence of Christianity.  Only under this worldview did people pursue study of the natural world.  Science and the Bible were not separate. *

These 30 DAYS of NATURE CONVERSATION is based on the notion that creation reveals the Creator.  Each day will include:

• Scripture about Nature
• Ideas for Conversation to have with your kids about Nature
• Ideas for Natural Journaling
• Ideas for Nature Study

How to use this Guide:

• Read the Scripture to your kids; then let them loose to make their own observations.  You can plant in their minds some questions to ask or instructions on what to observe.
  Example:
  Read Psalm 19:1 or Romans 1:20 and then ask, "How does the sky declare God's glory?" or "How is God's divine nature and eternal power revealed by observation of _____?" Get the kids thinking before they explore.  You can then allow them to observe through various activities listed below.
• Another option is use this guide to familiarize yourself with what the Bible says about nature.  Then allow the Lord to bring to mind at appropriate teachable moments.
  Example:
  The kids point to a bird flying through the sky and you can bring up Scripture that mentions birds.  I will give more specific verses in a later post.
• The third option is to do a nature study rather than journal and use nature as a springboard for teaching both science and spiritual concepts.
  Example:
  Scripture is full of garden illustrations, astronomy, the water cycle, and animal life.

NATURE ACTIVITIES

• Observation - visual and conversation, no recording
• Keeping records or logs (of weather, of plant growth, of heavenly bodies)
• Collections (plants, insects, rocks, etc)
• Experiments
• Drawing
• Photography
• Writing Inspired by Nature - poetry or songs or stories
• Research Projects inspired by nature observation
• Scripture memory or art with Scripture
• Gardening or other yard work
• Cooking
• Animal Care

*For more information on how modern Science began, I highly recommend The Soul of Science

What Next?

Ahhhh!  Breathe a sigh of relief!  Summer is coming in a few short weeks and time to relax.

While a break can be good, I don't want our break to evolve into zero structure and laziness.

So here is our plan for the next few months, until we resume CC in August.

our summer schedule, hung on the back of my kitchen counters

On some days, it may be as simple as reviewing CC memory work (from any of the cycles).  It may be reading or drawing or playing games related to the CC work or to topics we did not have time to cover during the busy weeks of CC.

Our first weeks has already been great - nature journaling that turned into writing a poem, online piano lessons with Hoffman Academy, writing letters to friends who have moved off.  

For days when I am especially lazy and I have extra kids in the house, I have technology plans that will keep us learning something over the next few months.

SPANISH - I will be teaching a Spanish class over the next few months and hope to post some learning videos on this blog.  Additionally, there are songs on youTube to learn Spanish.

BIBLE - What's in the Bible with Buck Denver?

LANGUAGE ARTS - School House Rocks

WRITING - how to videos on "cursive"

HISTORY, TIMELINE - Liberty Kids, Audio version of The Story of the World

SCIENCE - Sonlight's Dvds 

MATH - Sonligh's Dvds

PIANO - Hoffman Academy

GEOGRAPHY - songs on YouTube such as "Fifty Nifty United States,"  or CCHappyMom geography videos,  also tracing maps while listening to music or audio books

So, I have technology options for every day.  This will come in handy for days my creative juices are low or when it is way too hot to go outside.

Other Activities that can be added into this schedule:

• Scripture memory
• Adventures in Odyssey while coloring, drawing, card making, map drawing, legos, or playdough
• SRN of Essentials class - Language Arts activities we didn't get to during the year
• Summer Reading Program at the library
• Writing letters and cards as a ministry opportunity
• Cooking and learning life skills
• Latin Roots workbook to build our vocabulary