Nature Walks - A Lifelong Joy of Possession
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An article on the joy of nature walks, by yours truly back in 2018, that was featured in the HSLDA Court Report (archived here in the “Preschool Science” article).
When my children were young, we enjoyed many a ramble around our yard and down our country lane, delighting in both the changes and the constants that we observed in the flora and fauna through the seasons. Over time, as I studied Charlotte Mason’s principles, I learned that those rambles had an official instructional name: nature walks.
A nature walk with a preschooler is a simple, low-cost, high-return investment in your child’s natural curiosity and wonder. Simply get outside and walk, taking the same route each day. Even if you live in the city, make a local park or trail your regular haunt. Set up a simple routine for particular focus: on Mondays, trees; on Tuesdays, sounds; on Wednesdays, small plants or flowers; on Thursdays, the sky and clouds, on Fridays, a stream or a pond. On tree day, point out the trunk, the bark, the branches, and the leaves of a particular tree which you have chosen for regular observation. Give your child names for the things you observe, and words to describe shapes, textures, sounds, and smells. Over time, begin to ask your child to stand still and look carefully at one thing, like a leaf or a seed, or even a bug crawling on a branch, and tell you what he sees. In the beginning, you may get very short tellings. You can help your child improve this skill by modeling it for him. Describe something you observe to your child—this will actually help you understand the challenges that he faces! This simple little practice of description is actually powerful preparation for writing, as it requires your child attentively to observe, discriminate, and order details. As your child grows older, the discipline of nature study can grow with him to include practices like classification, drawing, and written descriptions.
“An alert intelligence towards what goes on in the open-air world is a great possession . . . the gentle art wherein the eye is satisfied with seeing (is). . . a lifelong joy of possession.” (Charlotte Mason, Home Education) I am grateful that I was able to give that gift to my children. The years have quickly flown away, leaving me no little ones at home to take those daily walks with, but those same years have kindly granted frequent little visitors who love to take nature walks at Grammy’s house, and who are gaining that lifelong joy of possession for themselves.
