One of the most common difficulties in home education is not knowing what to do next. We may believe in the value of nature study. We may love the idea of our children keeping nature journals. We may know that Charlotte Mason considered time out of doors, close observation, and a growing relationship with the natural world to be deeply important.
Yet, in the middle of ordinary family life, it can be hard to make it happen.
What shall we look for today?
What should the children draw?
How do we keep going when the weather changes, or enthusiasm dips, or we have missed several weeks?
That is exactly where Exploring Nature Around The Year: 365 Days of Nature Journaling is so helpful.
A unique, easy-to-use nature study curriculum that provides a comprehensive nature journaling prompt for every day of the year. It is simple, structured, and already planned for you, while still leaving plenty of room for your own family’s observations, interests, and local landscape.
A Daily Habit of Attention
Charlotte Mason nature study is not about rushing through facts or producing perfect notebook pages. It is about forming the habit of attention. A child learns to look closely, to notice what is changing and comparing one day with another. They recognise the signs of the seasons, becoming familiar with birds, trees, flowers, weather, insects, fungi, seeds, skies, and small ordinary wonders.
Exploring Nature Around The Year supports this habit gently and steadily, each day offering a thorough nature journaling prompt. Some days may invite a drawing, others a written observation, a comparison, a search for something particular, or a closer look at what is happening outdoors. Over time, these small entries become something far greater than isolated notebook pages, becoming a record of the year in nature where you live.
No Planning Required
One of the great strengths of this resource is that the planning has already been done. You do not need to decide on a theme, search for ideas, create a list of seasonal topics, or wonder whether your nature study is “enough”. The prompts are already arranged around the year, with major and minor nature study themes woven throughout.
You simply open the curriculum, find the day, and begin, which makes it especially helpful for busy home educating mothers who want to offer rich and meaningful nature study, but do not have the time or energy to prepare something new every week. A true pick-up-and-go resource.
A Living Scientific Record
A nature journal is not merely a pretty sketchbook. In the Charlotte Mason tradition, it is a serious and living record of a child’s developing knowledge of the natural world. As your child follows the daily prompts, they begin to build a dynamic scientific log of what they are learning. Which teaches children to see the natural world as something ordered, changing, alive, and worthy of careful attention. They also help them understand nature through direct experience, rather than only through books or screens. These resources have their place of course, but there is nothing quite like the knowledge that comes from personal connection.
Gentle Structure Without Rigidity
Although Exploring Nature Around The Year provides a prompt for every day, it is not intended to become another burden. Use it daily, or dip in and out as needed. You can return to it after a missed week. You can use it during term time, holidays, quiet afternoons, or alongside your existing nature study rhythm. Nature study should become part of family life, not another thing to feel guilty about. The daily structure is there to help you to begin, to remove decision fatigue, and to keep nature study moving through the year. An invitation.
How Is It Different from Exploring Nature With Children?
Many families are familiar with Exploring Nature With Children which is a complete 48-week nature study curriculum. It includes weekly themes, a guided nature walk, poetry and art selections, themed booklists, references to The Handbook of Nature Study, and extension activities.
Exploring Nature Around The Year is different.
Rather than offering a weekly curriculum structure, it gives you an authentic nature journaling prompt for each day of the year. Its focus is specifically on helping children keep a nature journal and grow in the practice of close, regular observation.
In simple terms:
Exploring Nature With Children gives you a full weekly nature study curriculum.
Exploring Nature Around The Year gives you a daily nature journaling rhythm.
Choose one or the other
FAQ:
This resource is best suited to children who are old enough to keep a nature journal, whether through drawing, writing, labelling, or a combination of these, however, younger children can certainly take part orally. A parent may read the prompt aloud, talk through the observation with the child, and write down the child’s words. In this way, even a young child can begin to develop the habit of noticing and narrating what they see. It is also a lovely resource for the parent. Many mothers find that nature journaling helps them slow down, pay attention, and enjoy the changing year alongside their children.
When Can You Begin?
You can begin at any point in the year.
The resource includes a beginning prompt on 1st September to help set up the journal. After that, you simply continue with the actual date.
For example, if you begin on 3rd May, you would use the 1st September prompt first to set up your journal, and then continue with the 4th May prompt the next day. N need to wait for a new school year, a new term, or a perfect starting point., begin now.
A Note on Climate and Faith Content
Exploring Nature Around The Year is written for a northern hemisphere, four-season climate.
The December prompts include themes of Advent and Christmastide, and some poetry selections may contain religious themes. However, the resource is used by secular families and by families from different faith backgrounds.
As always, parents are free to adapt the material to suit their own home and convictions.
SPECIAL OFFER:
Please use code: ENAY20 for a 20% discount on your purchase – it’s valid for the next week.
Happy exploring!
