Secular Charlotte Mason

Yes, KodyGirl has proven Ms. Mason right once again!

I've been in the process of revamping our homeschooling and have been thinking about what has and has not worked within the area of nature studies; esp. since one of my kids is considering being a forester or a naturalist as a career option. As I was thinking about this and remembering some recent nature identification based discussions with my youngest I realized that most of what she remembers she learned........in story form. She will proudly identify a Douglas Fir pine cone and when asked how she knows what it is she will give a brief synapsis of the Native American story she was told in regards to identifying this particular pine cone. She does the same thing with star identification. She remembers the story along with the facts. Whenever she and I discuss medicinal herbs, which is fairly often, she will tell me about how that plant is used in the Warriors books. She is even planning a garden based on the plants used in the Warrior books. Now she has done plenty of other types of nature and life science studies but she rarely refers back to those experiences at all....unless there was some sort of living book or story telling involved.

I am going to have to remember this as we move away from the more formal resources we had been using in the past. I need to get more comfortable storytelling and find even more living books. Thank goodness there are plenty of stories in Keepers of the Earth...I'm going to need them with this child.