What to do with Little Ones ~ Nature Study

Well, what a long time it has been between posts!  I am determined, however to continue my series on What to do with the Little Ones.  I've been reminded lately to be more intentional with my time with my little ones.  My youngest daughter is 6, and my son is fast approaching 4, and is eager to learn and "do school." 
One of the first things we did when the big girls were about 4 and 5 was to go on nature walks.  We would go for a walk around the block, or to the local park, and pick up different leaves or cones to bring home for identification.  We would also try to identify trees by their leaves, or the birds and insects at the park and in our backyard.  If you have access to a good beach, go and look at shells and try to identify them. Sometimes we would draw our finds in our nature books, but almost always we would look them up in our nature books. 
Here are some helpful New Zealand nature books for identification of New Zealand flora and fauna:

This is just one of a series of pocket guides to New Zealand wildlife. We own this one, as well as one on native trees and shrubs, and one on New Zealand birds.  They are great for identifying common species, not just natives.

This book is from another GREAT series by Andrew Crowe.  They include life-size photos of common species in New Zealand, and you can get books on insects, native trees, birds, sea-life, wild-flowers, or for ease of use, some of them come in a plastic-covered fold-up pocket guide, for while you are at the park or the beach.  These books are readily available from your local bookstore or you can buy online at Fishpond.

Dave Gunson also has a great series of books on NZ nature.  I recently picked up the above book on sale at our local bookstore for $10.00.  This book not only has lovely illustrations of shore life, but also includes information about each species, and its location within the different tidal zones. 

We have many more books on NZ nature, many of which I have picked up at library book sales for just a few dollars.

So get out there and enjoy the beautiful natural world that God has given us here in New Zealand!  Your children will love it, and I believe, they will have a life-long love and interest in God's creation.

What to do with the Little Ones - Family Devotions

I plan to do a series of short blogposts on what to do with young children. These will serve both to help out others just getting started at homeschooling, but also help to remind ourselves to do these things with out little ones, even as our older girls get busier as they enter the high school years.

The first subject is Family Devotions.

In a Christian home, it should go without saying that reading the Bible to our children is the most important part of our homeschooling. However, sometimes with our younger children we are not quite sure where to start. Some passages seem too difficult for our children to understand. While I would like to encourage you to just "read the Bible" with children of all ages, there are some Bible reading plans we have found helpful with our young children.

Penny Gardner has put together a very helpful list of Bible "episodes" designed to give the children a good overview of the stories of the Bible. You can find it here.

Rod & Staff put out a lovely Bible story book which also has a companion
colouring book. We have used these at home, and in church Sunday school classes. These books are available in New Zealand from Geneva Books, and are very affordable.

Another important aspect of our family devotions has been learning a Catechism. We believe it is important to teach our children the truths of God's Word from an early age, which is when memorisation is so easy for them! Children as young as 2 years old can start learning the answers to the First Catechism, which is available as a little booklet, and is also free on the internet here. Our Sunday school has recently started using a curriculum called Show Me Jesus which is designed around the First Catechism. This includes short lessons with colouring pages, and review of the catechism questions each week.

 

Yet another great little book for teaching about the truths of God's Word through stories is Big Truths for Little Kids by Susan Hunt and Richie Hunt. This book tells about a Christian family who seek to witness to a neighbouring family, while learning biblical truths along the way. The book also utilizes questions from the Westminster Catechism.

Reading the great stories of the Bible and teaching your children catechism when they are young will give them a great start to later understanding of the truths of God's Word, enabling them to apply them to their lives.