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Charlotte Mason Nature Study: How We Keep It Going Past September
When I first started nature study, I asked one mom a lot of questions. Which guide did she use? How long did they stay out? What went in the nature journal, and what if my kids didn’t want to draw? She listened to all of my questions patiently. Then she told me, kindly, that I was overthinking it.
She was right. For months I had felt discouraged because we were never getting to nature study. I had a picture in my head of what it was supposed to look like, and since I couldn’t pull off the picture, we did nothing.
Maybe you’re there now. You read about Charlotte Mason’s children spending long afternoons outdoors, and you think, This sounds lovely, but we can barely get through math. Where would nature study even fit?
This post is my answer: our real Friday rhythm, the books we use at home, and the one change that finally kept nature study on our calendar.
Free resource: If nature study isn’t the only subject slipping off your week, take my free Feast Audit. It takes two minutes and shows you which subjects are quietly disappearing, so you can put them back on purpose. 👉 GRAB THE FEAST AUDIT
Why Charlotte Mason Nature Study Is the First Subject to Disappear
The October problem
Most of us start the year with the whole feast on paper. Picture study. Composer study. Handicrafts. Nature study. By October the math is getting done and the readings are getting done, and the rest has started to fade.
Then the guilt shows up and we wonder if we’re giving our kids enough, and whether they’re missing the heart of the very education we chose Charlotte Mason for.
A subject without a slot
I’ve seen the same pattern in my own home and in the homes of moms I’ve helped plan. The subjects that fade are almost always the ones without a set time. Nobody decides to drop nature study. It just never gets a time of its own, so it loses to whatever feels more urgent that week.
Charlotte Mason Nature Study for Beginners Is Simpler Than You Think
Mason wanted children outdoors, often, and paying attention. In Home Education she writes,
“Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.” Home Education, Vol. 1, p. 42
Of all the Charlotte Mason methods, nature study may be the simplest. What she wanted was time outside and a child who notices things. The nature notebook grows out of that.
The advice that changed everything for me
“You’re overthinking it.” I think about those words often. Once I stopped trying to build the perfect nature study program, I could see what we actually needed. A regular time. A friend to go with.
The consistency and simplicity of our nature group is what made it doable, and over time it has borne a lot of fruit.
Our Friday Charlotte Mason Nature Study Rhythm
Every Friday afternoon, my friend and I meet with our kids at the same spot. Here’s what our time looks like.
Our Charlotte Mason Nature Study Curriculum
Our Charlotte Mason nature study curriculum is Sabbath Mood Homeschool’s Nature Explorers guide– I love how simple and open and go it is, and stays true to Charlotte Mason’s method. Before Friday, I try to do her object lesson with my kids, so they come in already knowing a little about the week’s topic.
A five-to-ten minute lesson
When we get there, we give a short lesson on what we’re studying. One week it was pokeweed. Five to ten minutes, and that’s it. The kids are ready to move by then.
A walk with a goal
Next we walk, and the walk has a goal that ties back to the lesson. If we just talked about pokeweed, we’re looking for pokeweed with a specific goal in mind. Having something to look for keeps a nature walk from turning into a stroll.
Free Play
After the walk, the kids play. They’ve been building forts in one special area, and last week each of them built a bed out of leaves, twigs, and milkweed.
Nobody assigned that.
The nature journal at home
When we get home, my kids each write a nature journal entry about our time together (These are our favorite journals to use.)
My older children might have a prompt from our nature study guide or I might just ask them to share about our time there. They usually include a date, observation, and picture. My younger child tells me about our time, I write it in his journal, and then he sometimes will add a picture to go along with what he told me.
Here’s the whole week at a glance:
| When | What we do | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Before Friday | Object lesson from the Nature Explorers guide | 5-10 minutes |
| Friday, 1:00 | Short lesson with our nature group | 5–10 minutes |
| Friday | Nature walk with a goal (This is related to our nature lesson– so, if we learn about a hawk, we might look for a hawk on our nature walk or evidence that it was there.) | 10 – 15 minutes |
| Friday | Free play outdoors | 2 hours |
| Friday or Monday, at home (after nature group) | Nature journal entry | 10 minutes |
| During the week | Read more about the topic in a living book and make daily entries in their nature notebook about daily observations. | 10 – 15 minutes |
Charlotte Mason Nature Study Books We Use at Home
During the week, we dig deeper into the topic with a living book. These are the Charlotte Mason books on our nature shelf right now. (Not sure what makes a book “living”? I wrote about that here: What Are Living Books and How to Tell If a Book Qualifies.)
The Year Round by C.J. Hylander
My older kids read The Year Round. This is a lovely book that has short but helpful readings about specific nature topics, arranged by season. We use this book throughout the year depending on what nature topic we are focusing on each term.
Eyes and No Eyes by Arabella Buckley
My younger child uses the Eyes and No Eyes series by Arabella Buckley. We include these readings in our lessons and they are lovely and clear, with beautiful illustrations that help my youngest connect ideas to our weekly nature walks.
How to Protect Nature Study in Your Homeschool Timetable
Give it a day and a time
Nature study has a protected slot in my timetable. Every Friday at 1:00, we meet. I don’t have to decide each week whether we’ll get to it, because the decision is already made.
If you’ve never given your subjects set times, start here: What Is a Charlotte Mason Timetable? A Simple Guide for Homeschool Moms.
Do it with a friend
Scheduling nature study with a friend is what kept it from disappearing for us. When another family is waiting at the spot, you go.
Start smaller than you think
If you’re starting from nothing, skip the program for now. Pick a day. Pick a spot. Invite one family. Focus on a simple object lesson or nature walk goal and the guide and the books can come later.
Nature study also fits beautifully into the afternoon. I share how we protect that time in Our Charlotte Mason Schedule: Why Afternoon Occupations Belong in Every Homeschool Day.
Start Your Charlotte Mason Nature Study This Friday
I didn’t have it figured out when we started. What changed things for us was a regular time and a friend who showed up.
If you want to see which other subjects are fading from your week, take the free Feast Audit.
👉 GRAB THE FEAST AUDIT
And if you’re ready to give every subject its own place, the Digital Timetable Builder walks you through it, so you can get to the whole feast and not only the basics.
You might also enjoy:
- How to Create a Homeschool Charlotte Mason Schedule Without Losing the Feast, Even in a Full Season
- Charlotte Mason Handicrafts: How We Actually Fit Them Into Every Term
- Our Charlotte Mason Schedule: Why Afternoon Occupations Belong in Every Homeschool Day
