Nature Study in the Home of Nicola

We’ll be visiting four home educators to observe how nature is studied within their homes. We start with the home of Nicola from The World is Their Classroom in the UK. 

We don’t follow a particular curriculum for Nature Study, rather we make time throughout the week to explore nature and take part in various awards and challenges such as The John Muir Award  and 30 Days Wild.

The John Muir Award is an environmental award scheme which allows children to discover, explore and conserve a place which they feel passionately about protecting and preserving.

My children decided to complete their award in our local park and started planning the activities they wanted to carry out. They helped clear streams, identified pond life, recording the birds using the bird boxes, went on scavenger hunts, as well as making wooden duck huts for the island in the lake during the winter months. The award took over a year to complete, but they learnt so much and it tied in nicely with their other subjects.

 

 

 Every June we take part in 30 Days Wild

 

Garden Detectives

We are sent a great pack of cards, one for each day of the month, and we complete the nature challenge. Last year the kiddies had a great time creating Art with nature, listening for wild sounds, sketching up close and spotting mammals. They were so excited when a hedgehog finally decided to visit our garden! Follow us on Instagram @theworldistheirclassroom to see what we get up to this year!

We also take part in surveys, which is another great activity, especially for the older kiddies to connect with nature. We recently took part in Clean Water for Wildlife

They found out just how clean the water is in our local park, for wildlife, testing the levels of Nitrate and Phosphate. During this great ‘hands on’ activity they learnt that it only takes a little pollution to damage habitats like streams and ponds, which harms the most sensitive plants and animals that call these places home.

For my younger children, I plan lots of outdoor Nature activities throughout the week. They love exploring and using all their senses and it fosters their intellectual, social, emotional and physical development. We go bug hunting and collecting bits of nature which they then use for counting, art work or freezing into blocks for excavation activities. Some of our favourite activities are weaving with flowers, gluing bits of nature onto card bracelets and making journey sticks.