Autumn Pond Study

Autumn Pond Study

Hello all

Sorry for the delayed post this week – I have been under the weather.

Our nature walk for this week from Exploring Nature With Children was the Autumn Pond Study. We went on Monday; a beautiful, glorious Autumn day! Unfortunately I forgot both my camera and ‘phone!

I do have photos of our nature journals, however, which we did ‘en plein air’.

I did a very ‘sketchy’ sketch, breaking the rule I give my children; ‘Draw what you see, not what you think you see, or want to see!” But I have to confess that after several years of painstakingly sketching exactly what is in front of me, I do enjoy this more ‘laissez-faire’ style.

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Elianna sketched the plant life

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And Rose sketched a fish she could see in the shallow, clear water.

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Exploring Nature With Children ~ Autumn Leaves

The first week’s nature walk for October in Exploring Nature With Children is Autumn Leaves. We headed off for a rather wet Autumn leaf hunt determined to brave the rain.

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We found a lot of beautiful Maple leaves for our collection, then Rose began hunting for conkers.

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We managed to collect a good haul, all the while discussing how leaves change colours.

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We headed home and came across a large growth of fungus on the pavement edge

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Once home, we got stuck into our nature journals.

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Next job; preserving our Autumn leaves!

Happy exploring!

The Lunar Eclipse

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We made it for the eclipse!

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We had a very vocal visit from a neighbourhood cat, plus one of our garden hedgehogs was out enjoying the food we leave for them each night.

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We listened to our hedgehog munching as we watched the final light of the moon disappear, to see the whole moon suddenly turn red! Unfortunately I could not pick it up with my camera. This is the best shot I could get.

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I am sorry it is so poor! I am really not the best photographer.

We had a great night. The children are now tucked up in bed, and at 4am, I am wide awake 🙂

Exploring Nature With Children ~ Autumn Equinox

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We had a beautiful morning for our Autumnal equinox nature walk using Exploring Nature With Children.

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We found several items on the treasure hunt list:

A golden leaf

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Something soft

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Something wet

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A cluster of berries

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A red leaf; what a beauty!

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A beautiful spider landed on my arm whilst we hunted, we found his web & heard migrating geese overhead.

We were slightly distracted picking Elder berries, which shall be later made into cough syrup.

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Here are our nature journals from this week

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Happy Exploring!

The Autumn Book Basket

The Autumn Book Basket

The Autumn Equinox is almost upon us, so I wanted to share with you the children’s books that I have collected over the years. They are very much family favourites, and I hope that you will find a favourite or two here also.

Brambly Hedge Autumn Story by Jill Barklem

The Brambly Hedge stories are an absolute treasure, and these books were my own as a child. The stories are sweet and the illustrations are truly outstanding.

Mousekin’s golden House by Edna Miller

Again, beautiful illustrations. This is a lovely story for the younger child on Halloween.

Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall

A gentle, rhythmic story about seasonal nineteenth century New England farm life. This is my own personal favourite, one that I look forward to having grandchildren to read it to!

Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington

A great introduction to the lifecycle of the pumpkin, a little boy plants a seed & waits for it to grow..

Halloween Is… by Gail Gibbons

A book about the origins of Halloween, & modern celebrations. Beautifully told.

The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons

Another smashing book from Ms Gibbons, all about..pumpkins 🙂 Bright pictures & very informative.

Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

A simple tale of a kitten seeing the world bathed in moonlight for the very first time.

We Gather Together by Wendy Pfeffer

A glorious telling of Autumn celebrations from around the world & over time. A must!

Hello Harvest Moon by Ralph Fletcher

A beautifully written tale that is essential reading for the Harvest Moon. One you will read year after year…

Woody, Hazel, and Little Pip by Elsa Beskow

Another delightful nature tale from Elsa Beskow.  Two acorn children who get carried away by the blustery autumn wind. A wonderful, curl-up-by-the-fire Autumnal read.

Please note, the booked linked is the mini edition

The Pumpkin Blanket by Deborah Turney Zagwym

The bitter-sweet story of a child giving up her treasured blanket. (Though I confess, I didn’t really think she needed to!)

The Dandelion Seed by Joseph Anthony

One for all year around, I choose to keep this wondrous tale in our Autumn basket. A smashing read about the plant lifecycle.

A Seed is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston

Inspiring illustrations (think your nature journal!) and packed with information for all ages.

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

A magical story that will inspire your child’s creativity. One to pull out & read before heading out of doors on an Autumn day.

Thank you for sharing with me my favourite Autumn books. I would love to hear about your own; please do share in the comments section.

Please note, I have linked to the books on Amazon.co.uk as I am in England 🙂

Some of the books may now be out of print, which either makes them super-cheap, or super-expensive!

Book Review On A Charlotte Mason Home

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Exploring Nature With Children has been reviewed on the wonderful blog, A Charlotte Mason Home.

You can read the review here. Debi’s post includes a 30% discount code, which is valid until October 18th.

Please do pop over and have a peep around Debi’s blog; it is a real treasure for the Charlotte Mason home educator.

Exploring Nature With Children: Week Two

Week Two: Mini-beasts in Exploring Nature With Children.

We had fun searching for mini-beasts on our nature walk today!

Here are our journals:

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