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How to Put Together a Middle School Nature Study With Book List

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Putting your own middle school nature study together fits an unschooling, unit study, Charlotte Mason and eclectic homeschool approach. Also, you’ll love more ideas on my How to Homeschool Middle School.

I’m showing you how to put together a middle school nature study.

Besides, once you learn the general framework of a unit study, you can spend as much time or as little as you want on it.

You’ll learn how to do it easy peasy, make it a little more challenging, cover more than just simple nature study, and give you a list of wonderful books and other resources to go along with it.

How to Put Together a Middle School Nature Study With Book List

While nature study is wonderful you may want to be able to make it more well-rounded and use it as credit for their sciences.

It is possible to do that with a little more intentional planning.

How to Put Together a Middle School Nature Study

You can still enjoy the carefree times of nature walks, simple observations, and nature-based art but it’s time to kick those things up a notch.

1. Expand What the Term Nature Study Means

First, build your curriculum on more subjects than just nature.

See how you can expand it.

While nature study is important and wonderful, you want to make sure that you are giving them access to multiple streams of learning.

For example, look for interesting videos, living books on a variety of topics, and deeper study into topics,

In addition, include parts of science that are not naturally in nature studies.

Encourage study and find ways to incorporate learning about electricity, rocketry, chemistry, anatomy, microbiology, and other topics.

2. Nature Journals Become Science Notes & Labs

These can be a great way to work on art and creative writing.

However, nature journals can easily turn to lab notes and physical documentation of what they have been learning.

How to Put Together a Middle School Nature Study With Book List

Too, journals show progress and can be used to highlight what interests your child.

More Nature Study Activities

But at this stage, you can start expecting a little more out of them, a little more writing, more challenges with their artwork, and expanding their interests.

How to Put Together a Middle School Nature Study With Book List

Instead of just drawing, take the next step to nature photography or classifying rocks with bulleted lists, add a bit more structure to the expectations.

3. Keep Records

No matter what your homeschool style you may or may not have kept more of a record than the smiling photographs and jotted notes that you needed.

You can also “reverse plan”, which just means you write down what you accomplish after it’s done rather than what you plan to do in advance. 

How to Put Together a Middle School Nature Study With Book List

This helps you get a feel for if you are doing enough.

And I find it really encouraging to look back on all we accomplished that I might not have remembered without writing it down. Grab any notebook or paper pad and start writing it all down.

4. Offer Learning Baskets

Gather different types of books and resources like field guides, tools, specimens, and picture books, with a broad nature study scope as well as some specific to certain topics.

Then put them all together in a basket to create interest.

Next go with a specific nature topic of a mix to see where the current interests lie. You never know they may find a new passion!

5. Expand the bookshelf

Don’t sell those picture books yet!

There are many amazing nature study picture books that will appeal to middle schoolers and teach them so much more than any dry textbook would.

Don’t discount those books you may consider picture books and too young for middle schoolers. They are still a great resource and wonderful to use for art inspiration, identification, and research.

How to Put Together a Middle School Nature Study With Book List

Then here are more nature study activities and resources.

Other Nature Study Activities and Resources

How to Put Together a Middle School Nature Study With Book List

Also, add one or two of these fun nature lapbooks to your nature unit study for a hands on project.

How to Put Together a Middle School Nature Study With Book List
How to Put Together a Middle School Nature Study With Book List

6 Nature Study Books and Resources

Add one of these resources or books to your study about nature. They all give you a starting point or use one or two of them as a nature spine.

Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World

See the world in a whole new way! Acclaimed illustrator Julia Rothman combines art and science in this exciting and educational guide to the structure, function, and personality of the natural world. Explore the anatomy of a jellyfish, the inside of a volcano, monarch butterfly migration, how sunsets work, and much more. Rothman’s whimsical illustrations are paired with interactive activities that encourage curiosity and inspire you to look more closely at the world all around you.

Handbook of Nature Study

The Handbook of Nature Study is a classic Charlotte Mason text. A big book full of information on pretty much every area of nature study from tools to birds, weather, and rocks.

The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

This beautifully packaged facsimile of Edith Holden’s original diary is filled with a naturalist’s masterful paintings and delightful observations chronicling the English countryside throughout 1906. As one of the few true records of the time in print, the handwritten thoughts and paintings contained in The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady transport readers to a more refined, romantic, and simpler time.

Botanicum

Filled with both recognisable, and tropical flora, Botanicum is the ultimate companion guide to the variety of plants, and how they have evolved and grow.

Curiositree: Natural World: A Visual Compendium of Wonders from Nature - Jacket unfolds into a huge wall poster!

Discover the interconnectedness of the natural world and learn why living things look and behave the way they do in a series of visually compelling information charts, maps, and cutaways, all illustrated in a nostalgic, vintage style. Packed with incredible facts about the natural world and the animals that populate it, the whole family will enjoy the full-page spreads grouped into the categories of habitats, species, and adaptations.

Nature Study & Outdoor Science Journal: The Thinking Tree Presents: A Creative Book of Observation, Drawing, Coloring, Writing & Discovery

The Thinking Tree presents: A Creative Book of Observation, Drawing, Coloring, Writing & Discovery Through Nature, ideal for all ages (even adults!)

Creativity and discovery at its best, this journal is a bestseller among The Thinking Tree publications! Your nature-loving student will treasure this journal designed to ignite their wonder of the outdoors. With more than 180 lessons and beautiful illustrations, the Nature Study Journal invites the student to read, write, draw, color, explore and appreciate the outdoors while covering a variety of subjects such as science, poetry, observation instructions, and more.

What Are The 5 Learning Styles to Know to Form a Powerful Homeschool Foundation

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

What are the 5 learning styles to know to form a powerful homeschool foundation? After 20+ years of homeschooling, I want you to be in the know. You’ll love the other tips I have on my page homeschool learning styles.

Too, although there are more learning styles than 5, it’s important to know what are the ones most popular.

They are popular because the learning styles align with the goals each homeschool family has set.

What Are The 5 Learning Styles to Know to Form a Powerful Homeschool Foundation

You’ll want to know the different learning styles so you can match them to the personality of your different children.

In addition, there is no need to have to learn educationalese or jargon to understand what are the 5 learning styles.

But, first, here are some books you’ll want to add to your library to understand how to form a strong homeschool foundation.

Homeschool Learning Personality Books and How Tos of Homeschooling

Homeschool Learning Style and Personality Book Helps and How to of Homeschooling

Arming yourself with more information as to how children learn and how to teach them best should be part of every homeschool library.

Our goal in homeschooling is to be the best teacher and learn how OUR kids learn best and not every child or grade level.

31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers: When You Don't Know Where to Begin

Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers is a real eye-opener on homeschooling. It will alleviate a lot of the anxieties about getting started homeschooling. Reading each chapter’s highlights will give you encouragement, knowledge, guidance, and peace of mind to homeschool with confidence. The best part is that you’ll be educating the person who loves your kids the most in this world--YOU! 

How to Get Your Child Off the Refrigerator and On to Learning

Carol Barnier knew that her son -- more likely to be sitting on the table (or the refrigerator) than in his chair -- was worthy of high expectations. She also knew that he could easily miss achieving them if she didn't find the right key to unlock his capacity to learn. Carol found volumes of information on how to recognize the challenges in ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) children, how to manage them, how to discipline them, and how to accept them. But no one told her how to teach her son math tomorrow. In her search for solutions, she developed techniques that are not only fun for all children, but highly successful with any child who struggles with focus.

The Big What Now Book of Learning Styles: A Fresh and Demystifying Approach

All children want to learn, but so often we give students a key to unlock their understanding of a new concept only to discover that it was the wrong key. The question then becomes, WHAT NOW? Carol Barnier delivers a fresh and demystifying approach to learning styles. You'll find answers and so much more. You, the newly energized "Keeper of the Keys," will now have access to the following ideas that will help you find the right key to unlock a love of learning in your K-12th grade child:

Next, look at these questions which it make easier to sort out learning styles.

3 Questions about Homeschool Learning Styles

Determine what your children like and don’t like and then you can see ways to teach that fits their learning style.

1. Does my child learn best by hands-on, auditory, or workbook?

For example, if you have a child that learns best by hands-on, should you waste your time looking JUST at workbooks?

Next, what is your idea of success in homeschool is another one to think about.

2. How Will I Define Success for my homeschooled child?

For instance, do you think completing workbooks equates to master?

Or, do you feel open-ended learning without a clear cut answer is better?

Then again, do you want to combine the two types of approaches.

Finally, what subjects do you consider more important to the success of your child?

3. Which subjects are more important to your family?

To illustrate, some families are more sports minded, some natured minded and yet others academic minded.

Different learning styles puts emphasis on some subjects above others.

You’ll want to know what is important to you so you can make an informed choice.

Why Your Child’s Learning Personality is Important

Because teaching styles are only part of choosing curriculum easily, I’ve included a link to my online course Identifying Your Homeschooled Childs Learning Personality.

How to Determine the Best Learning Style Approach for Your Child? Determining the best learning style approach is much easier when you know about homeschool learning styles. A learning style is not something I thought about when I started homeschooling or even when my kids were struggling. However, had I taken time to learn what is the best learning style for each of my children, I would have saved myself unnecessary stress.

YOU WILL LEARN:

  • How to understand the way your child prefers to learn so that you can teach him in a way that he enjoys learning;
  • How to pinpoint your child’s learning personality;
  • A starting point in understanding (barring any special learning challenges or disabilities) and accepting your child’s preferred way of taking in information;
  • Understanding when the learning personality emerges; and
  • Teaching tips for each learning personality to stop the head-butting.

Too, don’t forget to grab my book above chock full of teaching tips.

What Are The 5 Learning Styles to Know to Form a Powerful Homeschool Foundation

Then look at some of these other helpful tips on homeschool learning style resources.

Other Homeschool Learning Style Resources

Finally, look the different homeschool learning styles.

What Are The 5 Learning Styles

Look below at the 5 learning styles or homeschool approaches.

1. Unit Study Approach for Families Who Want Free Exploration

2. Workbook Approach for Families Who Want Memory Work and Workbooks

3. Classical Approach for Families Who Put Emphasis on Learning from Ancient Minds of the Past

4. Charlotte Mason Approach for Families Who Nurture a Love of Nature and Living Books

5. Unschooling Approach for Families Who Want Child-Led Learning Without Bounds

Tapping into the way a child prefers to learn is essential to success.

6 Easy Ways to Identify the Charlotte Mason Homeschool Style

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Six ways to identify the Charlotte Mason homeschool style is important to understanding homeschool learning styles

Because you want to align homeschool learning styles approach with how your children learn best, you need to know the basics of each homeschool approach.

Not only do you want to identify characteristics of the Charlotte Mason homeschool style but identifying Charlotte Mason curriculum, you make better choices for your family.

6 Easy Ways to Identify the Charlotte Mason Homeschool Style

First, you need to understand that learning differences is a good thing.

I’ve helped many homeschoolers who think something is wrong with their child.

The point is folks are different from each other and so are our kids.

I’m a firm believer in finding the homeschool style to match your child’s temperament and most important his learning style and needs.

Charlotte Mason Approach

Let’s dive into looking at the Charlotte Mason homeschool style of teaching.

Who was Charlotte Mason

First, you need to understand who was Charlotte Mason.

Charlotte Mason was a turn-of-the-century British educator who used “living books” rather than textbooks or twaddle.

She encouraged curriculum which includes nature study, picture study, music study, and handicrafts and the normal academic subjects.

Here are 6 ways to identify characteristics of a Charlotte Mason homeschool approach.

  1. A gentle approach to language arts.
  2. There is emphasis on the arts, music, and nature.
  3. Learning should include forming lifelong habits.
  4. More time should be spent outdoors.
  5. Literature based learning is one foundation.
  6. Poetry is important.

The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days.
— Charlotte Mason


Also, you’ll love this book Laying Down the Rails: A Charlotte Mason Habits.

Why Your Child’s Learning Personality is Important

Because teaching styles are only part of choosing curriculum easily, I’ve included a link to my online course Identifying Your Homeschooled Child’s Learning Personality.

How to Determine the Best Learning Style Approach for Your Child? Determining the best learning style approach is much easier when you know about homeschool learning styles. A learning style is not something I thought about when I started homeschooling or even when my kids were struggling. However, had I taken time to learn what is the best learning style for each of my children, I would have saved myself unnecessary stress.

YOU WILL LEARN:

  • How to understand the way your child prefers to learn so that you can teach him in a way that he enjoys learning;
  • How to pinpoint your child’s learning personality;
  • A starting point in understanding (barring any special learning challenges or disabilities) and accepting your child’s preferred way of taking in information;
  • Understanding when the learning personality emerges; and
  • Teaching tips for each learning personality to stop the head-butting.

Other Homeschool Learning Style Resources

In addition, look at these other Charlotte Mason resources:

Charlotte Mason Resources

6 Easy Ways to Identify the Charlotte Mason Homeschool Style

Top 5 Homeschool Approaches New Homeschoolers Need to Know

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

After deschooling, a new homeschooler’s first step is to get a basic grasp of the top 5 homeschool approaches.

Having a basic grasp of the top 5 approaches new homeschoolers can conquer overwhelm and tame the curriculum beast.

First, understand these two basic clarifications to dispel misunderstandings about our lifestyle.

  • Deschooling is a process, not a homeschool approach. It’s the process ALL new homeschoolers or homeschoolers should do initially or from time to time if they struggle. See my link below.
  • Unschooling IS a homeschool approach. While we’re ALL homeschooling were NOT all unschooling. Big difference.

A colossal mistake is to focus first on curriculum instead of a homeschool approach. Too, taking time to read this article all the way through will put you ahead miles.

What is a Homeschool Approach

Top 5 Approaches New Homeschoolers Need to Know

Also, before jumping into homeschool approaches, you need to understand the curative power of how to tap into your teaching style and your child’s learning style. They may not be the same and from the start you may unintentionally cause problems.

Simply put, a homeschool approach or homeschool style is an educational philosophy which is implemented or followed through by using curriculum as a tool.

Besides, there are no right or wrong, better or worse, or smarter or dumber approaches. I’ve seen success stories and failures with each approach.

An approach is a method, goals, and values that are important to you. Part of deciding a homeschool approach is to determine what are your families priorities. That is why there is no right or wrong, just what is best for your family. An approach is how you will implement what you want your children to learn.

Secret Revealed: Homeschool Approaches Essentials

For example, on a history topic, a Charlotte Mason homeschooler will look for a living book on the topic while a Classical homeschooler may look for a book from the great minds of the past.

That is just one simple example.

Whether you intentionally or unintentionally chose it, EVERYONE has a homeschool approach when they begin.

It’s better to pick it for your family’s needs. So, don’t jump in and choose curriculum that is fitted for a homeschool approach that is opposite of your child’s learning style.

There are a few things for you to know so that you make an informed choice.

Next, look at my video on YouTube How To Easily Choose and Distinguish between Homeschool Educational Approaches.

Additionally, understanding these 6 fundamental points will help you to increase the odds of success. Below are the first three points.

  1. Did you know that just about ALL curriculum falls into one or more of the homeschool approaches? By narrowing down to an approach that fits your family’s values and your children’s needs you have tamed the curriculum hunt. Reduce overwhelm by choosing the method FIRST.
  2. It’s NOT necessary to know EVERY approach just like it’s not necessary to understand EVERY ingredient in a homemade dish. The most used ingredients are key to understanding the big picture. Homeschool styles or approaches are similar. You don’t need to know EVERY single one, but only the most popular one. Some styles are not as popular. Not that they are unimportant, but the top 5 homeschool approaches are what a majority of homeschoolers use. As you’re more experienced, you can delve into the others.
  3. There is NO need to choose only one. If you see that one or two follow your goals, then pick and choose the teaching points and combine them. It’s called eclectic. Eclectic is not really an approach, but a type of homeschooler.

And then look at the next three points.

Best Homeschooling Approaches

  1. With that being said, DO choose one that fits MOSTLY with your goals because it cuts down on frustration. By having one that is your dominant one, you can find curriculum that fits it first and then delve into curriculum that fits other approaches that comes in second. It REALLY reduces teaching fatigue to have one major approach that you can rely on.
  2. You can change on a dime if one is not working. There is no harm done. Maybe you’ve not accomplished what you’ve set out to do because you chose a homeschool approach that doesn’t really embrace how your child learns. He probably has still retained some of the information. Just switch approaches, chalk it up to being inexperienced, and move on.
  3. One more HUGE point to remember and that is NOT every homeschool approach has a plethora of planned out curriculum to choose from. There are more choices now than used to be, but remember you’re following an APPROACH and using curriculum as tools. Bottom line: An exceptional teacher will be able to use what she has to tweak to fit her students. Yes, it may take a bit more work, but it can be done. Be sure to see my post at the bottom where I used a textbook to do our unit study.

Moreover, here are some of the most popular homeschool styles and I’ve listed a few curriculum suggestions as examples of each.

5 Homeschool Approaches

Traditional Textbook Homeschool Approach

Characteristics

  • textboook driven
  • worksheets
  • test driven
  • follows a sequential scope and sequence
  • record keeping/grading services
  • often been called “conveyor-belt” education

Textbooks and workbooks are used. This is what a lot of us used in public school and the approach most of us are familiar with. And this is the way most new homeschoolers start out. Ask yourself why you would want to repeat the same approach that is not working in public school.

Many online public school at home providers have popped up in the last 10 years. Even online schools which may not necessarily use printed material may still under this approach because it’s based on textbooks.

A graded textbook guides teaching, and subjects are covered in increments over the course of a school year.  Textbooks may be supplemented with worktexts or books.

A few curriculum providers (both secular and Christian)

  • Abeka
  • Acellus
  • Bob Jones
  • Calvert

Unit Study Homeschool Approach

Characteristics

  • where all subjects are covered by being focused on one topic
  • child-led or parent directed
  • emphasis is on mastery-based learning instead of ages
  • natural real-life approach to learning
  • students can see the whole picture
  • creating self-learning

Unit Studies take a specific theme or topic and delves into it deeply over a period of time. The emphasis is on integrating language arts, social studies, science, history, fine arts, and math together while focused on one unit of study or theme.

The unit study philosophy emphasizes that all knowledge is connected and remembered longer when taught in an integrated fashion.

A few curriculum providers

Charlotte Mason Homeschool Approach

Characteristics

  • oral narration
  • written narration
  • copywork
  • nature study
  • journaling
  • use of living books
  • form habits

Homeschool Approaches

Charlotte Mason was a turn of the century British educator whose approach was to teach children skills such as reading, writing, and math, and then expose them to the best sources of knowledge for all other subjects.

This means taking nature walks, visiting museums to view art up close, or reading what she called “living books.”  Textbooks are viewed as dry and dull and to be avoided in favor of richer sources of knowledge.

A few curriculum providers

Classical Homeschool Approach

Characteristics

  • intensive language arts focused
  • emphasis on Latin, Greek and Hebrew
  • progression through learning based on child’s development
  • reading great books as a way to connect to great minds

In Ancient Greece, emphasis was place on learning the tools of learning. 

These tools could then be applied to the study of any subject. 

This classical” approach would have students study grammar, the dialectic or logic phase, and finally rhetoric. These tools were known as the “trivium.”

Following the study of these subjects were arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music – called the “quadrivium.” The approach is to teach learning in “stages” according to the child’s development.

The book by Dorothy Sayers’ The Lost Tools of Learning is a reference  for this approach; Susan Wise Bauer’s The Well Trained Mind was the first book of its kind to lay out curriculum suggestions for this approach.

A few curriculum providers

  • Institute for Excellence in Writing
  • Veritas Press
  • Memoria Press

Unschooling Homeschool Approach

Characteristics

  • learning is directed almost entirely by the child which is where unschoolers differ from other homeschoolers
  • instead of teaching being at the center, the child is at the center of learning
  • children should not be forced to learn something against their will
  • more access to the real-world
  • creating self-learners
  • to provide an environment with rich resources

Homeschool Styles Are Homeschool Approaches

John Holt was a twentieth-century American educator who believed that children’s natural curiosity and desire to learn were destroyed by traditional schooling. 

He is generally associated with the unschooling approach, which focuses on nonstructural learning that allows children to pursue their own interests and believes that children should be included in a meaning full way in the life of adults.

The approach has the child at the center of learning and subjects revolve around his interests.

The child is exposed to a rich environment of resources, including an adult who models a lifestyle of curiosity and learning.  Formal academics are pursued when the need arises or when the child indicates willingness.

A few curriculum providers

  • Because learning is child-led, homeschoolers will have many resources in their homes from living books to games. Also, every day learning experiences are used to teach every day. Many curriculum resources are unschooling friendly.

Look at some of these posts The Big List of Unit Study Hands-on (and Hands-off) Curriculum and Big Ol’ List of All-In-One Homeschool Curriculum (a.k.a Boxed) which will help you with curriculum.

I hope these tips give you a starting point.

Top 5 Approaches New Homeschoolers Need to Know

You’ll want to read these other tips.

Hugs and love ya,

After deschooling, a new homeschooler’s first step is to get a basic grasp of homeschool approaches. Having a basic grasp of the top 5 approaches new homeschoolers can conquer overwhelm and tame the curriculum beast. CLICK HERE to read this SUPER helpful list!
After deschooling, a new homeschooler’s first step is to get a basic grasp of homeschool approaches. Having a basic grasp of the top 5 approaches new homeschoolers can conquer overwhelm and tame the curriculum beast. CLICK HERE to read this SUPER helpful list!