The last few months have been busy..very busy.
I have written the book that I have always wanted to buy; a book that really does take the hassle out of nature study, the book that I can just open and go.
I am so very excited to present: Exploring Nature With Children
Exploring Nature With Children is a complete, year-long curriculum, that will guide you step by step, through an entire calendar year of nature study. It has been a true labour of love, and one that I know will make nature study actually happen for many home educating families out there.
Inside Exploring Nature With Children you will find:
An entire chapter devoted to getting you up and running with nature study. This will get you all fired up and ready to go.
Forty-eight weeks of nature study; four weeks for each month of the year, organised by season. Exploring Nature With Children can be used as a whole year’s study, or dipped in and out of as you please. Each study comes with a complete list of
Each week’s nature study contains the following:
A themed nature walk.
Exploring Nature With Children will take you step by step through a themed, Charlotte Mason-style, nature walk. There is no need to hunt through various books and websites; all the information you need is there, leaving you free to enjoy being out in nature with your child.
References to the Handbook Of Nature Study.
Exploring Nature With Children is completely self-contained, but we have also included references to related pages in the Handbook Of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock, should you wish to delve a little deeper.
A themed book list.
With books for children of all ages, you will find a comprehensive list of living books related to the week’s nature study theme. Again, Exploring Nature With Children is a self-contained course, so the book list is a bonus, not a necessity.
A poem
Related to the nature theme of the week; a classic piece of poetry that can be used for copywork, dictation, or simply to just read aloud and enjoy.
A piece of art
The name and details of a piece of art that relates to the nature theme of the week has been included. This can easily be looked up online, or in art books available from your local library.
Extension activities for your child
Here you will find a list of activities, written directly to your child, that will extend their nature study throughout the whole of the week. You will find ideas for crafts, writing, science and more, with absolutely no busy work.
I have written the book that I have always wanted to buy; a book that really does take the hassle out of nature study, the book that I can just open and go. I have tried to make Exploring Nature With Children as user friendly as possible for all families. The book gives you the necessary scientific information for each week’s nature theme, then the parent can present that information to each individual child as they see fit.
The extension activities included vary; venn diagrams, writing poetry, making models. A child that is old enough to keep a nature journal would get the most out of this book, however, the reason Exploring Nature With Children came to be written, was because I have been looking to buy something like this since my twelve year old was a toddler. I would have jumped at this book, even with such a tiny child, because it would equip me as a mum to talk with my child about nature, without having to go through a pile of different books first! To know what to be specifically on the look out for each week, with out a lot of extra information that overwhelmed me!
If you click on any of the blue links, it takes you to the page where you can buy the book. On that page is a preview page. Click on the preview (the top right-hand corner) and you can view the table of contents, plus a whole week’s activities. It should give you a good idea of whether the book would be a good fit for your family.
Exploring Nature With Children is currently available as a PDF. Click on one of the blue links in this post to see a preview of the book or to go ahead and purchase.
The regular price of the download is $15, but I have a coupon code for 30% off the price that runs until August 31 2015. Please enter coupon code: Earlybird15 for your 30% discount.
Please feel free to join my FaceBook page & do let me know what you think.
Update:
Here is a review from a happy customer:
I am so thrilled to be reading “Exploring Nature With Children: A Complete, Year-long Curriculum” by Lynn Seddon. It came out exactly when I needed it as well, being a first time home educator of a very spirited four year old boy. While Charlotte Mason advocates waiting a few years before starting formal education, I believed my child would benefit from learning about the rewards of patient observation and he could certainly make meaningful drawings for himself in a nature journal. Armed with two other wonderful CM based books on the subject of Nature Study, I thought I was completely ready to deliver Nature Study to my son.
However, I found myself overwhelmed when it came to trying to figure out where to start. I was afraid of missing very relevant details and was unsure about when to commence certain parts of study. For example, its said that winter is the best time for studying bird song. When exactly? What other activities could we be doing in winter? How often should I be taking my son to revisit pond study? What if I completely forget to do this particular nature craft which is holiday themed, in time for that holiday?
I learned a lot about Nature Study from my existing resources as an overview, but when it came to the week by week nuts and bolts of putting a comprehensive lesson plan together, I often found my enthusiasm for natural wonder waning, bogged under the practicalities of actually having to pull it off.
Lynn Seddon’s book solves a lot of problems for me. First, it is written with gentle, loving reverence for the study of nature which makes it an enjoyable read. At every step, she offers suggestions for adapting the lessons for younger children and then for older children. In Lynn’s lesson plans, she asks questions that encourages the use of all of the senses that invites more inquiry and curiosity. The lessons are all laid out complete with equipment lists of everyday, inexpensive items and additional related activity suggestions that build upon what’s being learned, using many different skills from many adjoining disciplines. I find the extensions engaging and I look forward to sharing these with my son.
JGC
Love it Lynn
Thanks so much for your support, Pete. It is very much appreciated.
It’s me Sarah from http://www.lifeloveandliterature.co.uk btw. For some reason I turn into my husband on blog comments sometimes 🙂 I’ve planned our year but considering if I can add this.
Hello Sarah!
That would be wonderful. Please do let me know if you decide to go ahead & use Exploring Nature With Children – I would be thrilled 🙂
Congratulations on writing the curriculum! It’ll certainly help many busy parents and/or teachers who want to spend more time in nature with their children!
Thank you 🙂
What ages is this appropriate for? Sorry if I’m missing something obvious.
Age range…it really is hard to say…I have tried to make it as user friendly as possible for all families. It gives you the necessary scientific information for each week’s nature theme, then the parent can present that information as they see fit to each individual child.
The extension activities included vary; venn diagrams, writing poetry, making models. I think a child that is old enough to keep a nature journal would get the most out of it, but honestly, I wrote this book because I have been looking to buy something like this since my 12 year old was a toddler. I would have jumped at this book, even with a tiny, because it would equip me as a mum to talk with my child about nature, without having to go through a pile of different books first!
So how was that for not giving an answer to the question!?!
If you click on any of the blue links, it takes you to the page where you can buy the book. On that page is a preview page. Click on the preview button (top right corner) and you can see the table of contents, plus a whole week’s activities. It should give you a good idea of whether it would be a good fit for your family. I really do apologise, because that button is easily missed.
Thank you for your interest & question, Hannah. Please do let me know if I can be of any more help.
This is wonderful! congratulations on the enormous accomplishment of publishing a book 🙂 I’m off to purchase this now. We have nature walks scheduled weekly and having a good guide will be invaluable. Although we love art, and we spend tons of time outdoors, we have trouble incorporating a nature journal into our explorations. Thank you! -Kim
Kim, what kind words, thank you so much.
Please do keep in touch & let me know how you get on.
Will do! Thank you! And thank you for providing the coupon code. I’ve enjoyed the supply list… and have loved seeing your own journal page samples, and those of your girls, in the past. Your watercolors are lovely! (Kim)
Thanks Kim 🙂
Just purchased! Can’t wait. Thanks for the coupon too!
You are very welcome, Christy!
Do keep me posted on how you get on.
Is this a download that we may print out? I was just assuming so but was just unable to at Staples because of the copyright.
Hello there
I am sorry to hear you have been unable to have this printed at your local staples; you are more than welcome to print Exploring Nature With Children for your own, personal use.
I would be happy to email you a release email that you could print & take into Staples. Please feel free to email me if you think this would be helpful:
lynnseddonhs AT gmail.com
This looks excellent but I am having trouble purchasing it. The page I am sent to doesn’t have any link to click on other than ‘continue’ which reloads the same page. I have tried it on Chrome and Safari on a Mac – both have the same problem.
Hello there
I am sorry to hear you are having difficulties.
If you go here:
https://payhip.com/b/vWOq
there should be a big green ‘buy now’ button…
failing that, email me at:
lynnseddonhs@gmail.com
& I can send you a paypal invoice, & the PDF link.
I hope that helps & thanks for getting in touch.
I have tried several times to purchase this book and when it tries to connect to PayPal every time it tells me the page is unavailable….
I got it using the link in the above comment. Thanks so much:)
Thank you for letting me know you got it working ok!
Happy exploring 🙂
I have just bought this but when I try to open after downloading it says file cannot be opened
Hello there!
Sorry to hear this; it’s a simple PDF, so should be no issues. I have no info to contact you, please could you email me at lynnseddonhs at gmail dot com
I shall wait to hear from you.
Kind regards
Lynn
Hi Lynn,
I love the idea of this book but we are not Christian and I hesitate to buy a resource that (from what I can see) associates the world around us with the Christian faith (no offense intended!). I was wondering if you have any plans to create a Version 2 of this book that omits the references to religious holidays and events as seasonal references. Untapped market opportunity, perhaps? There are loads of secular or non-Christian faith based homeschoolers who would love to take advantage of the work that you have put into creating this guide, which has an outstanding reputation already!
Good evening, Kimberly!
Thank you for your kind words (no offence taken!)
I do not have any such plans at the current time, but I shall keep it in mind for the future.
Kind regards
Lynn
Am I right in thinking this curriculum would not fit for someone living in Phoenix, AZ that has no seasons? Our seasons are warm, hot, hotter, and hell. LOL
Good morning, Debra!
Exploring Nature With Children is written to be as accessible as possible to all families, however, it has a definite northern hemisphere, four season slant. Other families will need to adapt the book slightly to fit with either their climate or location. I have many happy readers from all around the globe. Take a look at the preview. Here you can see a complete week’s lessons and the table of contents, which shows the theme for each week. This should help you decide if this curriculum will work for your family.
Happy exploring!
Lynn