Guiding Your Child in Nature Study

By Ina Woolcott

Schedule regular time outdoors and encourage your child to investigate. If possible go outdoors daily. It is infinitely worth your while that your child spend hours if possible outdoors every day to be surrounded by rural and natural objects. Instil in them a love for the great outdoors and exploration.

Encourage your child to work things out for himself, before you provide the answer or your child expecting you to do all the work. Encourage them to ask questions - why does it rain? How do tress grow? Why does the sun shine etc. Don’t rush to provide all the answers. See what they come up with first.

Also, when answering questions, don’t just use a textbook - make the answer a living answer. Give direction, encouragement and sympathy. Help with experiments.

Science should be taught through a combination of nature study, lab work, and living books, using random and structured studies. The best way to teach science is a combination of field or lab work together with appropriate literary comments and any expansions on the subject necessary.

Don’t inundate your child with heaps of scientific terms too soon. This may intimidate them and take the fun out of studying. Keep things simple and on par with their learning ability.

Looking at random scientific information is not the same as learning careful observation and understanding. We may only ever cover a minuscule amount of the broad spectre of Science, but the mind set and attitude we get from our own work will give an understanding at least of what is being done elsewhere.

Never display your own fear or distaste of something that interests your child. If they see that the things which interest them are of no importance to you or digust you, the fun will go out of this area of nature study for them forever.

Share your child’s awe and admiration for their nature discoveries. A secret of the educator is to present nothing as stale knowledge, but to put themselves in the shoes of the child, and wonder and admire with him.

Continue to learn about science and nature yourself, in order for you to give your child information when desired. Not only will reading a nature book educate you, but you will also be able to read relevant bits to your child with regards to matters they have already come across. You may also be able to answer questions and lead their observation.