A wonderful post from my friend, Rachel Q., a homeschooling mother to eight!
The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.
Proverbs 30:28
As a child and even into my early adult years, I hated spiders. Just seeing them made my skin crawl. But something happened that changed my perspective. I don’t remember all the details of the event, but I looked out my window one evening, and there was a spider spinning a web. It was rather mesmerizing so I continued to watch her as she added detail upon detail. For several hours she worked tirelessly, becoming distracted from time to time as an insect would become trapped in her web. She would hasten to wrap the intruder in her threads, then return to her work.
I left her long enough to identify her. She was a golden orb weaver, pretty enough as spiders go, but it was her work that intrigued me. What amazed me even more was the next morning when I looked at her she was undoing her hard work in the exact reverse of how she had spun it. And guess what! That evening she was back, spinning again. I’m not sure how long I continued to watch her, but she changed my perspective on spiders. I’m still not a fan of having them in the house, but I do have a deeper appreciation for these amazing creatures.
There is so much knowledge to be gleaned from studying God’s creation. I think that’s why so many of the lessons Jesus taught had nature as their subject. Nature study is one of my favorite scheduled lesson times with my children. I love for them to notice details that might get ignored if that study weren’t the focus of the moment. I love how they ask questions—how they want to know more. Recently on a rainy day, I was trying to get my younger children to rest for a while. As I tucked them in, we looked out their window. There on the electric wire were 9 or 10 barn swallows enjoying the steadily falling rain.
“Mama,” said my five-year-old. “Do birds take a bath in the rain?”
“Well, it sure looks like it,” I said.
“If I were a bird would I take a bath in the rain?” he continued.
“Probably.” I smiled.
“I wish I were a bird so I could take a bath in the rain.”
So silly, yet how thoughtful!
Nature study for us becomes even more special when Daddy is able to join us. Sunday afternoon walks in the woods or spur of the moment mushroom hunting—these make for treasured memories. Fresh air, great exercise and Daddy’s observant eye lead to all-around good times. Add in the imaginations of eight curious children, and it’s a recipe for success.
“Children should be encouraged to watch patiently and quietly, until they learn something of the habits and history of bee, ant, wasp, spider, hairy caterpillar, dragonfly, and whatever of larger growth comes in their way.”—Charlotte Mason
In the very beginning of time God commanded, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Genesis 1:28
In order for us to have dominion over something we need to have an understanding of it. We need to observe it! Children are capable of noticing and understanding so much.We would do them a disservice not to involve them in nature study of some kind. For our family, sometimes it’s scheduled. Sometimes it is spontaneous. Always it is enjoyed!
How about you? What types of nature study does your family enjoy?
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beautiful post, we love nature study here too 🙂 So much to learn from God’s wonderful creation
Very true! Reading this even inspired me to jump back into nature study as a natural way to teach science. We learn so much from simply observing what’s in front of us. 🙂 Thanks for visiting. 🙂
Your story about the spider reminded of Charlotte’s Web 🙂 Psalm 19 tells us that the earth, the skies, night and day teach us about the Creator. Nice post!
I love Psalm 19! Our pastor did a series on it, and it really started me to thinking on how the Bible is easily the best place to start our science and nature lessons!
We enjoy nature study immensely , observe by collecting specimens(seeds, cones, leaves), by drawing, and photography. We also use Apologia for a more in depth studies. But the best one are the spontaneous studies.” All things wise and wonderful the Lord God made them all.”
We have added that quote to several of our nature drawings =)
Wonderful topic for learning! Featuring at Family Fun Friday. 🙂
Monica
https://www.happyandblessedhome.com/category/family-fun/