My Calendar of Firsts this week:
My ‘colours’ for the week, along the top left hand page, are the moody greys of the skies, with flashes of yellow and purple from the flowers in the park.
In our home we regularly study great works of art. Picture study is an integral part of a Charlotte Mason style education; it opens the child’s heart to the beautiful ideas that artists over the ages have expressed.
“Every child should leave school with at least a couple of hundred pictures by great masters hanging permanently in the halls of his imagination.” Charlotte Mason
The idea is to look at the picture very closely, and for the child to give a narration .The following questions may be helpful discussion-starters:
• What is happening in this picture?
• How is this picture different from real life?
• How would you describe the colours?
• How do you think the artist felt when they painted this picture?
This morning Rose and I had been studying a beautiful work of art by Albrecht Durer:
After discussing the painting, we found this video on YouTube, which shows of the amazing colours of this beautiful bird.
In the afternoon we spent a few moments seeing which colours from the painting we could recreate with our own watercolours. I printed out a photograph of the painting for us to add to our journals for reference at a later date. Our time was short but sweet, however as the lure of the sunshine was too great for Rose, who declared she needed to go looking for frogs in the garden!
Happy exploring!
“Lectio Divina” is a Latin term for the Christian practice of “divine reading”, a way to read the scriptures, meditating upon them, and moving forward in prayer. The reader is changed by this deep and powerful experience; but what has this to do with nature study?
These three stages of learning are reflected through many ideas of education. They are a truly wonderful way to approach nature study. Let us look at the three stages of Lectio Divina and how we can bring these ideas to the study of nature.
When studying nature, this would be the stage at which we closely observe. Like the grammar stage of The Trivium, we are learning the facts about our subject. We spend time closely observing nature, learning, reading books and field guides and building up a store of knowledge about our subject.
In our nature journals, this may look like:
Key facts such as the location, date, time of day or night.
Brief notes on the weather.
We may make quick sketches to capture what we see, notes at the sides of our sketches to help us remember key details, such as notes on textures, position etc.
Latin names of subjects
Measurements
Photographs
This is such an important step in nature study; not to be rushed or missed by the harried parent! Reflecting upon what we have learned, making our own connections, thinking critically is important to building a relationship with, and understanding, the natural world around us. How does all that we observed in stage one fit together? This would be the logic stage within The Trivium.
In our journals we may make notes on connections; ‘what does this remind me of ?’ I would strongly urge you to read this blog post by naturalist John Muir Laws: Prompts For Deeper Nature Observation. His questions, I notice, I wonder, It reminds me of, are wonderful, thought provoking tools.
The final stage is our response to all we have learned and discovered. We have been changed by our experiences and have a need to communicate and express that. We cannot do this stage well, or authentically, without the building blocks of the previous stages, like the Rhetoric stage in The Trivium.
Our nature journals are the perfect place to respond; we may choose to:
Create more intricate, fully formed paintings or drawings of the focus of our nature study.
An arrangement of pressed flowers or leaves
Quotes that pertain to the subject
Passages of scripture
Poetry; either written by ourselves in response to our wonder at the focus of our studies, or poetry written by another, that our heart connects with.
Lists – insects, wild flowers, mammals, trees, whatever appeals to the journal keeper.
These stages are not fixed rules, but an oft-practiced pattern to mark the way as we progress in our journaling of the natural world, and enter into a deeper relationship and knowledge.
Happy exploring!
My Calendar of Firsts this week:
My ‘colours’ for the week, along the top left hand page, are a lovely bright yellow for the sunshine, along with the splashy blues of the sky.
As it is the end of the month, I thought I would update you on my ‘list’ pages.
Temperature
My chart is not reflecting the cold temps we have had this last few days. I need to make a regular time of day for temperature reading.
My flower list is picking up!
My bird List.
A lovely reader shared her smashing idea to use the traffic light system to denote ‘birds of concern’ from the RSPB
Colours of the year (The idea for this is from Claire Walker Leslie)
February was rain, rain, and more rain. We had some bright sunny days, so I had to represent those too, with a splash if bright yellow!
How is your calendar coming along?
Happy Weekend!
I am really excited to let you know about a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Charlotte Mason method of nature study.
My lovely friend Leah will be doing a live periscope event tomorrow (Thursday) at 1:30pm GMT.
Leah and I go back a long way, and she truly is a wonderful, gracious lady, who has so much to offer the Home Education community.
Along with husband Dave, Leah Pastors Mosaic Church in her city, and has home educated their four beautiful children with the Charlotte Mason method for the past 8 years.
Please do tune in to Leah’s talk tomorrow; it really is a chance to learn from an experienced Charlotte Mason mother, who will come along-side and encourage you as you seek to educate your children with a rich and varied education.
You do not need an account to watch the event, but you will need to register with Periscope if you wish to comment or ask questions.
If you are unable to make the live event, you can watch the event later here and I strongly urge you to have a look at the other videos Leah has; a real treasure trove for us mothers.
Leah will also be sharing a 25% discount code for Exploring Nature With Children, so tune in, and enjoy, and please do let me know what you think of the show.
Leah blogs and shares her gorgeous photography at leahboden.com
My Calendar of Firsts this week:
My ‘colours’ for the week, along the top left hand page are not showing up that well in the photograph. I used grey-blue and yellow of the skies.
Nature journaling is an immensely rewarding pursuit for both parent and child. In Charlotte Mason’s own words:
Consider, too, what an unequalled mental training the child-naturalist is getting for any study or calling under the sun — the powers of attention, of discrimination, of patient pursuit, growing with his growth, what will they not fit him for?
Home Education Vol. 1, p. 61
Today I would like to share with you my top five tips to help you in keeping a nature journal.
There are so many different sketchbooks and journals on the market, it can be really quite confusing. The main points to consider would be:
Paper texture and weight
Choose the paper, according to the media you will be using in your journal.
Hot-pressed paper has a very smooth surface. This is actually the paper in my current journal. It is great for writing on, and using with coloured pencils, but tends to not be that great with watercolour; the paint can be quite difficult to control.
Cold-pressed paper (sometimes referred to as Not paper) has a more versatile, slightly ‘toothy’ surface which will work well with both ink, coloured pencils, and light watercolour washes.
Lastly, there is Rough paper, which has a much ‘toothier’ surface & will cope with lots of lovely, juicy paint.
Paper is a very personal preference. I often use quite wet washes in my journals, but often the paper I favour is extremely smooth, which makes no sense at all!
Play around with different papers to get a feel for what you and your child prefer to work on, but if you are starting out, I would suggest going for a cold-pressed paper to begin with, as you experiment with different media.
The thickness of paper is indicated by its weight, and is measured either in grams per square metre (gsm) or pounds per ream (lb).The papers that are most frequently used tend to be:
90 lb (190 gsm) Found in many sketchbooks, may buckle with a watercolour wash.
140 lb (300 gsm) Tends to be used for finished watercolour paintings, but will still buckle if not taped down
300 lb (638 gsm) Extremely heavy-weigh paper. does not buckle
Journal size & shape
Journals are available in all shapes & sizes, from tiny, palm-sized sketchbooks, through to huge 24″x36″ affairs! Usually rectangular, in either portrait or landscape formation, they can also be found in a square format. Try to buy from an art shop if possible, rather than online, then both you and your child can hold the books in your hands to see which feels most naturally comfortable. Your preferences may change as you progress in your nature journaling journey.
Binding
Wire bound or hardbound is again a personal preference. I find the wire bindings get in my way, however wire bound books have the ability to lay the book flat with ease, or fold the covers back completely.
Do not let yourself or your child be caught up in creating the ‘perfect’ nature journal page (whatever that may be!) Keep in your mind the thought that nature study is science rather than art, it may help a little! Observe closely and record what you see, not what you think you see.
Often people feel very nervous beginning a new journal. The pressure of the first blank page! Many journalers leave the first couple of pages blank, and begin with their first entry on the second, even third page. You can go back and work on that first page another time, or use it for lists, such as local wildflowers, birds, daily temperatures, or use the first page as a testing space for new paint colours, pens or coloured pencils.
If something goes awry in your journal, please don’t ever tear out a disappointing page from your journal. Everyone has them and tearing it out will weaken and damage your book. Instead, there are other possibilities. Learn how to correct the mistake; what went wrong, how can it be fixed? Making mistakes is the fastest way to progress in learning something new. You could simply begin a new sketch right there on the page with the old one. Or, if worst comes to the worst, stick a photograph, seed packet, or clipping from a wildlife article of the offending page. Just never tear out a page. Never give up on your journal, and it will never give up on you!
Here are some details that are helpful to include in your journal:
Basic entries:
• The location
• Date
• Time of day (or night!)
• A brief note on the weather. I usually draw a small rectangle next to the above details and make a quick sketch to represent the weather, rather than writing about it.
• Once you have sketched your subject, be sure to label it, though this may need to wait until you have looked up your subject in your field guide.
More advanced ideas:
• Latin names of subjects
• Diagrams
• Notes on sketches – you may want to include further details, such as notes on textures, or position etc.
• Measurements
• Pressed flowers or leaves
• Photographs
• Quotes
• Passages of scripture
• Poetry – use the weekly poems as a starting point.
• Photographs
• Lists – insects, wild flowers, mammals, trees, whatever appeals to you, the journal keeper.
Please do not get overwhelmed at this point. The essence of nature journaling is to get out of doors, observe and then sketch something in nature, label and date the sketch. That’s it! If you do this consistently, you cannot help but to learn about the world around you and improve your own recording / sketching skills. If you would like ideas of what to study on a seasonal basis, with all the information you need for basic study, please take a look at my book Exploring Nature With Children. It has helped many, many families make nature study happen on a regular basis.
Dare I suggest daily? The benefits of regular nature study are many;
Learning about the natural world around you
Spending just five to ten minutes a day observing nature is all you need to build your local knowledge. Can’t find time daily? Try just once a week. It is the regularity that will make the difference, noticing the changing seasons, the movement of the sun in the sky, the shape of the moon, when the apple tree blossoms, and so forth.
Connection the the natural world
The formation of habit
“The habits of the child produce the character of the man.” Charlotte Mason
To reiterate what has been said above; the consistency of spending a small but regular time with your journals, out of doors will greatly improve the skills of both you and your child. Observing nature closely, and drawing what you see (not what you think you see) is essential to building drawing skills. And vice versa; drawing will build observation skills.
“It is only what we have truly seen that we can truly reproduce; hence, observation is enormously trained by art-teaching.” Charlotte Mason
