Today I want to show you what nature study looks like in my homeschool. With children ages 4, 6, 9, and 11, in my family, we all share in nature study together as we study the world around us. I believe it is important that children first learn about nature in their world through the plants, animals, and trees where they live, followed by learning about the world at large. This is a special practice to me, and something we have developed since my children were small. 

In this blog post: 

• How we use Treehouse Nature Study [Video]
• How to use Treehouse Nature Study with both younger and older children
• A day in the life of Treehouse Nature Study in our homeschool 
• Try a free week of Treehouse Nature Study

How we use Treehouse Nature Study [Video]

Watch the video below to see what a day of nature study looks like in our homeschool.

How to use Treehouse Nature Study with both younger and older children

In my homeschool, I combine lessons from Treehouse Nature Study, Primary Years and Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years. By using both curricula, I can focus on one nature topic (like apples or deciduous trees) and integrate different elements from both studies that are suitable for my children’s ages. I enjoy using the curriculum as a menu to tailor our studies to their age levels and interests. As we revisit the study year after year, I find doing it this way allows it to feel fresh and new each time. We also have been trying out stretching one theme for two weeks this school year, to go deeper and wider and take our time on a subject.

Both Primary and Intermediate Years focus on the same seasonal nature topics but are designed for different ages and learning levels.

Treehouse Nature Study, Primary Years is a gentle guide designed to invite various ages to connect with the world around them through living books, nature notebooking, hands-on projects, and beauty subjects such as poetry, picture study, and folk songs. 

Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years is geared towards students in 4th-8th grades. This study features living books, nature notebooking, hands-on projects, poetry, and picture study, plus advanced language arts and scientific experiments.

Related: Overview: Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years

I love letting my older children use our studies as a launching point for other learning – what I call “chasing rabbit trails.” If a particular subject captures their attention, I happily let them dedicate more time to learning about that subject. If they love a particular artist, theme, or poem, I will let them explore that topic in more depth than I originally planned.

A day in the life of Treehouse Nature Study in our homeschool 

Morning Time

We often begin our nature study when we gather around the table for Morning Time. In short, Morning Time is a coming together of all of the children in a home education setting, enjoying subjects that span across a wide age range. You may know this as Morning Basket or Circle Time. Morning Time can look different from one family to another, but the bottom line is that it includes the subjects that everyone can do together. Usually, these subjects emphasize character training, connection, truth, goodness, and beauty. 

Related: Our Homeschool Morning Time

During this time we do activities related to the week’s nature study subject. We may sing a folk song, read a poem, or read aloud from picture books. We may discuss the art piece or poem together, and I will try to have each child comment on what stands out to them. I love that even though my children are at different levels, they can all learn from each other during this time.

Folk song

Treehouse Nature Study, Primary Years includes a folk song for each week of study. This is a fun way to invite little children into learning in a way that is engaging and fun. Below is the song we enjoyed from Treehouse Nature Study, Primary Years: Autumn:

Poetry

Another part of nature study I love is including poetry in our daily lessons. Both Primary and Intermediate Years include a different poem related to the week’s nature theme. When we study poetry, we read the poem aloud, discuss the vocabulary in the poem, learn about poet’s life, and work on reciting the poem from memory. This is something we have practiced and come to love over the years. 

Related: Poetry in Your Homeschool: Why and How? and My Must-Have Children’s Read-Aloud and Story Treasury Books

Picture Study

Similarly, we spend time studying art and learning about different paintings, artists, and art mediums. I find that looking at different works of art captures the essence of different studies and brings the subject to life. I like to display each art piece on a stand on our table, and I may ask my kids different questions about the art. We may spend time learning about the artist or replicating the art piece in our nature notebook.

Related: Picture Study in Your Homeschool: Why and How?

Read-aloud books

We gather as many books as we can relating to the nature study topic and I read them aloud to all of my children together. Primary and Intermediate Years include robust book lists for both levels with fiction, non-fiction, and reference selections. Sometimes I read to them and other times I have the older children read aloud, or they may read these books independently. We may read one or two each day, or we may repeat any we particularly enjoy. 

Related: Abundant Autumn Picture Book List [Free Download]

Get outside

I am passionate about spending time outdoors when we do nature study. Being present in nature is at the heart of any nature study. I believe it is so important to let children explore nature in their immediate surroundings – like in their backyard or local community – before trying to explain and explore life beyond their home. When studying deciduous trees, we used the activities from Treehouse Nature Study to identify trees in our backyard and do leaf and bark rubbings. I love having a reason to spend time in nature, but also connect it to learning.

Notebooking pages

Finally, all of my children will spend time documenting what they learned through books, art, poetry, and the outdoors and document it in their nature notebooks. This is something we work on throughout the week. Each day we will focus on a different aspect of notebooking; it may be copywork or research, writing sentences or paragraphs, or doing watercolor pages to illustrate their notebooking page. As the week progresses, they gradually work on their notebook pages so that by the end of the week they have created a really wonderful presentation of our learning experiences. Here are some of my favorite supplies to have on hand for nature notebooking.

Related: Notebooking in Your Homeschool: Why and How?

What does nature study look like in your homeschool? Share your experience in the comments below. To see how other families use nature study in their homeschool, join the Treehouse Schoolhouse Facebook community.