It's a quintessential rite of passage to grow plants from seeds, and now you can watch the growth of the roots with this Root Observation kit from Nature-Watch.

Here's a fun little project you can do so you can have fresh herbs at the ready when cooking. A big bonus is that these frosted blue mason jars look super cute on your kitchen counter. And once the herbs start growing, they add a splash of vibrant green that brightens your space and brings the outdoors in.

Welcome to my garden! Again, I'm trying to grow a little vegetable and herb garden and soon I want to add fruit trees, too. But my problem is that I don't have a green thumb! In fact, I'm pretty convinced I have the opposite.

I can't tell you how much we love the kits we got from Nature-Watch. The one I'm sharing to day is a classroom kit for 25 students called Forever Forests. In addition to providing content for a lesson, this kit comes with enough supplies to plant more than 25 pine trees from seed

There are two ways to compost: The right way and my way ;) I don't compost with the intention of balancing nutrients; I compost primarily to keep our kitchen waste from ending up in the landfill.

In the Waldorf approach, autumn is a time of observation, gathering, and gratitude. Students are gently guided to notice the world around them as it begins to contract and prepare for winter. Nature walks are a daily rhythm, where children collect leaves, seeds, nuts, and observe changes in animal behavior and plant life. These experiences are brought back into the classroom through watercolor paintings, beeswax modeling, nature journaling, and verses that celebrate the season’s bounty. Teachers may tell imaginative stories about trees releasing their leaves or animals preparing their winter homes, nurturing a child’s connection to the living world through wonder and narrative rather than analytical explanation. Science in these early years is sensory, experiential, and artistic—laying the foundation for deep reverence and curiosity about the natural world.

Winter in the Waldorf classroom invites inward reflection and still observation. While the natural world may seem quiet or dormant, it becomes an opportunity to explore hidden aspects of nature: animal tracks in the snow, the bare structure of trees, and the deep silence of the earth at rest. Children may learn about hibernation, migration, and the cycle of light and dark through nature stories and verses. Candlelight, crystals, pine cones, and evergreen boughs often adorn the nature table, reminding children of life continuing even in the cold. This season supports the mood of quiet inner growth and wonder, encouraging children to recognize the rhythms of nature within themselves and the world.

Spring bursts forth with energy, and the Waldorf curriculum mirrors this joyful expansion. Nature study comes alive with the return of birds, blossoming flowers, and sprouting seeds. Children witness transformation daily—buds opening, eggs hatching, insects buzzing—and these experiences are celebrated through stories, movement, songs, and hands-on gardening. The emphasis remains on direct observation and reverence, not dissection or measurement. The teacher may guide students in planting seeds and observing their growth, or draw their attention to the changes in weather and the return of color to the landscape. The mood of spring in the early grades is one of celebration and renewal, and nature science is woven into the child’s sense of joy and discovery.

For children, a calendar is abstract, but the seasons are experienced. The days of the week are abstract, but colors and grains are relatable. In Waldorf education, in the younger years and grades, colors, grains, and other representations of the calendar or seasons are used to help children find rhythm and routine.

These adorable peg dolls represent the seasons. We use them with our calendar peg dolls. Each day, the kids replace the day of the week and day of the month peg dolls. And each month and each season they replace another one.

This is a super cute and fairly easy four seasons mini peg dolls tutorial. We made these super fast and they were easier than the original set of four season peg dolls.

This has to be the cutest way to learn the days of the week. These little peg doll gnomes are easy to make, especially if you don't complicate the process as I did! I'll tell you how I did this project with my daughter, and I'll also tell you some shortcuts you take to make this project faster, but just as cute.

Invasion of the mini gnomes has begun! Brace yourself for this cuteness. These 31 calendar mini peg dolls are for our homeschool calendar. These small peg dolls were easy to transform into gnomes. I painted the peg doll with Lyra watercolors and twisted a triangular shaped piece of wool felt into a gnome hat. I love the colors and they look darling on our homeschool room window sill.

These Months of the Year . We use them with our calendar peg dolls. Each day, the kids replace the day of the week and day of the month peg dolls. And each month and each season they replace another one. It's a fun way to keep track of the days, months and seasons. Each morning the kids look forward to changing the day. They can also use these with our weather gnomes we made last year.

These are probably the cutest peg dolls I've ever made! I actually made a complete lunar phase set to last an entire month! Granted it did get a little tedious and some crescents and moons look awfully similar to one another, but we got a complete set! Now we can track the lunar cycle with these adorable moon phase peg dolls.

Making a Ramadan Calendar for you and your kids is a great way to track this blessed month. There are so many different ways to do it, and this is just one color, crafty method.

Curious how we are doing our non-religious winter themed unit? I'm sharing what materials we are using and how we picked them. This Waldorf inspired winter themed unit will last from December through February and will include fairy tales, songs, poems, activities, watercoloring, block crayon drawings, form drawing, crafts and cooking.

This winter inspired nature table is more than a place to display our nature finds from walks, it's a themed table with winter peg dolls, winter books and an assortment of decorations that turn this winter nature table into a themed play center.

Making suncatchers is an easy satisfying craft for the whole family to enjoy. You can find this kit at A Child's Dream. It comes with an instructional book with several star designs with easy-to-follow step by step instructions.

If you're looking for a simple winter inspired peg doll tutorial, this is it! These bunting babies with white painted snowflakes and petite bonnets are fast, easy and super adorable. I made this trio of snowflake babies to accompany our other peg dolls and finger puppets on our winter themed nature table

I made this set for my daughter for our Winter Nature Table. While these are winter peg dolls, I found that because of their detail and size, they did not get enjoyed as much as the simpler, more generic dolls and so they were gifted.

It's time for some winter crafts! Do you make peg dolls, finger puppets or anything with felt? Check out this winter collection by A Child's Dream. It's called Winter's Cape and the colors are beautiful for all kinds of fall and winter inspired projects.

Looking for a creative way to use up old bits of candles? Try melting them down to make new candles! We did just that for this project. I used leftover wax from a large three wick candle from Colonial Candles from Cape Cod.

This is one simple yet beautiful project you can complete in no time, especially if you do the stitching like my 11-year-old son and not like me! We used gold and metallic DMC thread to stitch designs on the wool blend die cut snowflakes using two simple stitches: the running stitch and the back stitch.

How darling and cozy do these little winter inspired dolls look?! I have to say that to date, these are my favorite set of finger puppets. I had to dip into a large 18x18 inch piece of grey felt that I was saving for another project, but it was worth it!

It's the season to get cozy with hot chocolate sitting by the fireplace while the little ones play. Add these charming winter inspired dolls to your kids' pretend play toys for hours of open-ended creative play. Supplies for this project are wool felt, wool batting, wool yarn, finger puppet base, enamel dots, glue gun and scissors.

This is the last in a set of three winter inspired finger puppets. Perfect for this winter season, whether you live in a place that snows or not. These cozy looking puppets will inspire sitting around the fireplace with hot cocoa. Add these puppets to your kids' stash of pretend-play toys for hours of creative open place.

Looking for felt that's of better quality than the acrylic felt from craft stores but more affordable than 100% wool felt? How about a wool blend? Or bamboo felt! I found Over The River Felt during a search on Amazon and later contacted the company to see if they'd like to donate products for my felt comparison video.

Let's see how we did. Our winter themed Waldorf inspired unit has come to an end. Some things we enjoyed and others really started to annoy me. I was surprised that winter themed books were eventually going to rub me the wrong way.

Like clockwork, when spring makes its first appearance, the energy in our home shifts. Suddenly, we can't sit still, we can't concentrate and the strong urge to declutter and clean out takes hold of me. Though I'm a big fan of winter and cozy evenings, I found that we didn't get the winter we hoped for.

It's spring and that means it's time for a new unit study. It also means it's time to put away our completed history units and bring out the new spring science units.

Welcome spring with a craft the whole family can enjoy. Suncatchers are star shaped origami designs you can make with your children. My six and ten year old made these with me and now they are hanging in the homeschool room window adding a bright festive spring feel.

We've started a new tradition this year and that's to have a special seasonal finger puppet for the our nature table. Our Nature Table is more of seasonal table decorated with toys, crafts, books and things found in nature.

I wasn't sure about this kit the first time we placed it in our cart. Then it sat in our school room for a month or so. Finally I opened it and looked curiously at the contents. I didn't feel like putting it together, but my kids were restless that spring and I handed my 11-year-old and 7-year-old this kit. An hour later I was blown away by what they made!

In a last minute moment of inspiration, I turned these darling spring bunting baby peg dolls into magnets. I used super strong magnets, and it worked! I love the versatility of these mini peg dolls. Since the fall, I've had a set of three seasonal peg dolls grace our nature table. Each set has been unique.

This is my first attempt at making animal peg dolls, and I can tell you, I love it!! These adorable ladybugs were inspired by both a similar design in Margaret Bloom's Peg Doll book as well as a mini glass ladybug my sister gave me. To get the shiny gloss, I polished them with all natural beeswax polish.

I'm once again impressed by the kits by Nature-Watch. They are creative, innovative and educational, not to mention environmentally responsible. These seeds are sourced from Costa Rica and are hand-drilled by local artisans.

I can't say enough about the Nature-Watch kits we've used so far. They are well designed and take all the hard work out of doing hands-on projects and replaces with simple projects that are easy to do with great results.

Did you know that you can do nature study in the city? You don’t need beaches, mountains or valleys to partake in nature study. In fact, when you have to search and appreciate the smallest amount of nature pushing through in a crack on a sidewalk or the relentless caw of a crow, you find that nature is a force to be reckoned with and revered. If you choose to do your nature study at the beach, forest, canyon or mountains, or anywhere else, here are a few ideas on how you can enhance the experience.

Everyone has an inner artist we can all nurture. I wanted to share the tips that might help you enjoy the art process and help you be more satisfied with your artwork. These tips are pretty simple and maybe you already do some of them, but for me it was a learning process of discovery.

Here's a little snippet of our homeschool day. We are working through our Live-Education Waldorf inspired curriculum for our Botany Main Lesson block and took a little detour.

There is a deep education in being able to be present with your surroundings and having wonder and curiosity in what you see without having to understand it on an analytical basis. And that’s why I had mixed feelings about this lesson. Flower dissection is reserved for older students, but is included here as often our lessons include mixed grades.

I should know better than to expect sit down work from my boys when we are out in un-landscaped wild nature! They would rather explore, hike, forage, and make fire than sit and draw.

Have you ever heard of a Micro Hike? I hadn't until I picked up the book by Joseph Bharat Cornell called Sharing Nature With Kids.

I can't tell you how much we love the kits we got from Nature-Watch. The one I'm sharing to day is a classroom kit for 25 students called Forever Forests. In addition to providing content for a lesson, this kit comes with enough supplies to plant more than 25 pine trees from seed

Here's a fun little project you can do so you can have fresh herbs at the ready when cooking. A big bonus is that these frosted blue mason jars look super cute on your kitchen counter. And once the herbs start growing, they add a splash of vibrant green that brightens your space and brings the outdoors in.

Self directed learning never looked so good! We got these samples from a Nature-Watch kit called Forest in a Box. It came with 20 forest specimens enclosed in zipper bags with cards describing each sample.

It's a quintessential rite of passage to grow plants from seeds, and now you can watch the growth of the roots with this Root Observation kit from Nature-Watch.

For our Nature unit we studied conifers. As part of the lesson activities we decided to weave pine needle baskets. This is a great activity for a nature unit study or for an Indigenous People.

Want to make a quick and easy nature journal? You don't need many supplies. I made these using watercolor paper, drawing paper, a long reach stapler and a paper trimmer. It was a lot of fun watercoloring the paper.

Join me as we learn how to make hiking sticks from found branches and sticks. We cut them down to size, removed protruding parts and sanded them down using a power sander, metal file or sandpaper.

I think games are a great way to learn or review. Want to play a cooperative board game with your kids while learning about herbs and their medicinal qualities? Check out this video. It's especially enjoyable for kids under puberty as there is no competition nor strategy. It's pleasantly informative and fun to play and the cards and board game are a work of art.

Games and hands-on projects are a staple in our learning environment. Into The Forest is a nature game we used to play in our Opening Activities and as inspiration for art projects.

We love making things! This paper making kit from Acorn Naturalists comes with everything you need to make homemade paper (except the paper scraps). The DVD and paper directions were easy to follow.

There are two ways to compost: The right way and my way ;) I don't compost with the intention of balancing nutrients; I compost primarily to keep our kitchen waste from ending up in the landfill.

Make a charming nature inspired doll house for fairies, finger puppets or gnomes. Find all the material you need for this project in nature or at your local craft store. You can also find assembled kits at A Child’s Dream.

This is another awesome kit from Pied Piper Crafts. This wind car kit is designed for kids eight years an d up and comes with everything you need to make one wind car. The only thing you'll need is a pair of pliers. The best part: It actually works!

I'm so pleased with the kits by Pied Piper. This sailboat kit comes with everything you need to make a real working sailboat. The only tool you need is a hammer. It's perfect for children ages six and up, though you may need to help young children.

I shared what we keep in our nature bag when we go to the park for our nature study lessons. We use a simple backpack, and in the main compartment I usually pack water, snacks, and a few tools like a compass, shovel, binoculars, and a magnifying glass. I also bring Kleenex, lavender essential oil for cuts or stings, and a small activity booklet with nature questions to start conversations.

Join us as we explore the beautiful Santa Ana mountains in search of the seasonal vernal pools. Being in our fourth year of drought, the vernal pools haven't had water in them for years, but don't worry the shrimp (eggs) that are unique to this area can survive decades in this area without water.

I'm using my Arnold Grummer's Paper Mill kit which is one of the better kits I've used. While it comes with high quality materials, it does not include the large water tray which we had separately. However, I found that you could easily make paper without that tray, and simply use a baking tray instead. You will also need a towel to dry your paper and a blender to turn your scraps into paper pulp.

If you watched my Nature Unit planning video, you know I scheduled a lot for this spring! It didn't work out though. It was too broad and too hard to plan, so I broke up that big unit into weekly units and it's been perfect!

So if you follow me regularly, and if you catch the date with our calendar peg dolls, you'll know this video is a tad late. For the fun of it, post the date you notice with our calendar peg doll. Our nature table got refreshed.

Ever since we started making suncatchers, we've been enjoying this beautiful craft. I think my friends and neighbors enjoy it too because they can see out decorated school room windows from the street.

I love it when I can mix art and science or art and math for that matter. Any lesson is an opportunity to pull out the watercolor paper and art supplies. For this lesson we are using our Tim Holtz Distress Inks as our watercolor medium for our Anatomy of a Monarch Butterfly.

Sculpey Ultra Light oven bake clay is my new favorite modeling medium! It's awesome!! Let me tell you why this is a must have item for your art supply stash or homeschool supplies. It comes in white and can easily be painted with various art mediums.

These monarch butterflies look so real, from a distance, you would think they were. We didn't intend to make so many. We just needed a few for a Life Cycle of a Butterfly project, but we (er, I mean I) got carried away and made about 20 of them! That's okay, I have lots of ideas on what to do with the extras.

I'm always surprised when my children want to felt. It's not the easiest craft and it takes a while to felt, but their projects turned out so cute! Especially my 7-year-old's caterpillar.True to her spirit and personality, she did her own thing, and it turned out better than both my son's and mine combined. Hers looks like a little puppy with ears and a nose and a super long skinny body. I love it!

I love adding watercoloring to our lessons when possible, and this monarch butterfly watercolor is a great beginner project. With just a couple of colors, you can make an extraordinary painting.

This started out as a simple project, but turned into a homeschool keepsake. I'm not even sure at what point it happened, but this project took on a life of its own! It pulls together three different projects we've done over the course of our Butterflies and Caterpillars unit.

Some peg dolls and fingers puppets end up looking super cute and charming while others look like a nice try. This peg doll is one such project in which all the extra time it took to make something I envisioned turned out pretty mediocre.

I think this Butterflies and Caterpillars unit was one of our favorite units this year. Well, at least I know it was mine. For my children, because there was little writing and a lot of hands-on activities, I think I can safely say they liked it too.

It's a quintessential rite of passage to grow plants from seeds, and now you can watch the growth of the roots with this Root Observation kit from Nature-Watch.

Here's a fun little project you can do so you can have fresh herbs at the ready when cooking. A big bonus is that these frosted blue mason jars look super cute on your kitchen counter. And once the herbs start growing, they add a splash of vibrant green that brightens your space and brings the outdoors in.

Welcome to my garden! Again, I'm trying to grow a little vegetable and herb garden and soon I want to add fruit trees, too. But my problem is that I don't have a green thumb! In fact, I'm pretty convinced I have the opposite.

I can't tell you how much we love the kits we got from Nature-Watch. The one I'm sharing to day is a classroom kit for 25 students called Forever Forests. In addition to providing content for a lesson, this kit comes with enough supplies to plant more than 25 pine trees from seed

There are two ways to compost: The right way and my way ;) I don't compost with the intention of balancing nutrients; I compost primarily to keep our kitchen waste from ending up in the landfill.

Every Spring we eagerly begin our science units. Sometimes we are doing Waldorf Main Lesson Blocks, other times we are doing unit studies. This Bee Unit Study is one we’ve done a couple times so there are plenty of resources and projects available. Curious on how to put together a Bee Unit Study? Start Here to get ideas and see the books and projects to support a Spring Science Unit.

We did a Bee Unit study twice! Once in 2017 (smaller unit) and again in 2019. Whenever we do an updated unit or block, we tend to use new and existing books, we may even do similar projects, but overall, I like to approach the new unit with new activities and projects.

Not every new unit or main lesson blocks gets a new chalk drawing and in some cases, one chalk drawing serves for several units as this one does. This chalk drawing has the image of an owl, the life cycle of a frog and a bee and beehive.

Needle felting is the process of taking wool and compressing it with a very sharp barbed needle. It’s a craft older children can do easily, but I found my younger students loved needle felting! Needle felting is a wonderful craft to add to a spring unit. Mind your fingers!

Bees, like other insects, go through a particular metamorphoses when growing into a mature adult. This hands-on activity engages the student to learn and understand the Life Cycle of a Bee.

Hands on projects dominate this unit! Learn how to make a bee stinger. This interactive activity was not only simple, it was probably the most educational and instructional project of this whole unit. Give it a try!

Artistic work is part of lesson whether it’s a main lesson or unit study. Learn how to draw a simple bee. Art is a wonderful way to bring a creative, hands on aspect to the lessons.

This folded paper game can be used for any subject from math to history. We've made them before for history and poetry. They are great to keep around your school room for fun review work when your unit study is complete.

This is one of our favorite projects this year and I'm sure we'll do this year after year from now on. Rolling honeycomb beeswax is so easy, young children can easily participate.

"I've never tasted a honey I don't like," I told the honey vendor at the farmer's market. Then he handed me buckwheat honey and I made a face. I guess there is a honey I really don't like! Get an assortment of honey or grab a kit and try a variety of honey. Bon Appetite!

We can’t do a bee unit study without also exploring flowers and nectar. For this lesson, we dissected a flower. This is a lesson I don’t recommend for younger children. Instead, go on a nature walk and observe bees in their natural habitat buzzing from from flower to flower.

This demonstration on how bees get pollen is one of the top educational demonstrations for this unit. It’s both simple and instructive and the materials are easy to source.

If you do a unit on bees, you’'ll quickly realize how important they are and how delicate their ecosystem is. This simple recipe for making pesticide-free bug spray is both educational and practical. I hope you try it!

Making Trivia Cards for a unit is an engaging way to help students understand the material they’ve learned. It’s a beautiful, creative and timely project; however, it’s time consuming!

Making a beehive is surprisingly easy and I can show you how with the help of an amazing project based book on Bees. Mason beehives are different than a hexagonal beehive. Learn more by clicking below!

The more you learn about bees, the more you want to support a bee friendly environment. Growing flowers that bees thrive on is surprisingly easy. Learn now by clicking below.

We had the pleasure of touring Janet's property, owner and founder of Backyard Bees back in December 2015. We learned about beekeeping, toured her garden and of course tasted honey! Learn more about the honey making process by visiting Backyard Bees.

A hexagonal beehive is a geometric wonder. Making one can be easy, but we made one that was more complicated than it needed to be. But, it turn out beautifully in the end, and it was helpful in understanding the inner workings of a beehive.

Each spring we do various science unit, and this review post is for a spring unit in which we studies Bees. We typically use Living Books for our curriculum and I share how we liked them and used them.

Once a unit is complete, I share the materials we used, the ones we didn’t get to and how we liked the resources. I Share the projects we did and the lessons we completed. Check out the must have resources, the surprise winners and the ones to skip all together.

Check out the Resource Guide with photos and links to the materials we used.

We've come to the end of the school year and with that, the last homeschool haul of the year. While I'll still have other hauls planned for the following year, they won't be as extensive as the ones you've seen in the past. Needless to say, we have more than enough resources for this year and the years to come, and for next year, we have something different planned with our funding.

There's always excitement when I put together a new unit. It's the same excitement you might feel at the start of the new homeschool year. I love looking for new resources and assembling a nice balance of books and activities. It's not always fun though. Sometimes I hit creative roadblocks or in other cases, I'm overwhelmed by too many choices.

Not every new unit or main lesson blocks gets a new chalk drawing and in some cases, one chalk drawing serves for several units as this one does. This chalk drawing has the image of an owl, the life cycle of a frog and a bee and beehive.

WoolPets are the best kits for beginners looking to try wool felting. The kits are also an amazing value, you can get at least 4 owls from this kit (the package says 2), and if they are a bit smaller, you can get 6 adorable owls :)

After making egg replicas using chicken eggs, I decided I wanted to make something that was a little more accurate. I wasn't sure how to go about doing this project, but my Instagram family really came through. You always do :)

If you’ve never done an owl pellet dissection before, fair warning, it can be hard to stomach this activity. We took this project to the next level by assembling a complete rodent skeleton out of the remains we found in the owl pellet. While that wasn’t our initial intentions, I’m really glad we did so, and I found it to be the most educational part of this project.

While reading the book Birds, Nests and Eggs by Mel Boring, I had a moment of inspiration and thought it would be a fabulous hands-on project to create egg replicas of the birds we learned about in the book using chicken eggs.

Any excuse to pull out our art supplies for a project is a good reason! I love adding art and color to our unit studies, and this is one project I'm sure you'll love to try. This project was inspired by the book An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston and Sylvia Long.

We love our Professor Noggin's Trivia Cards, so making our own was not just a fun way to make a game we know we'll love but it was also a great way to add essential skills to our lessons: research, synthesis of information, handwriting and drawing.

This project was inspired by the book An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston and Sylvia Long. It's a beautifully illustrated book with a two-page spread on various eggs in gorgeous watercolors varying in size for accuracy.

There's a difference between an art lesson and an artistic representation of a lesson. Some lessons include narrations or dictation and some lessons include some art or handwork or hands-on project. While these activities always take longer, they are often more impactful, and meaningful.

For years now I've noticed that our science units lack substantial written narrations. While some of our science units may include a fair amount of writing, most don't and we end up with unit after unit with the same blank main lesson book.

Finding hands-on projects for our unit studies and main lesson blocks brings me so much joy, especially when we can make adorable owl peg dolls like these. They were pretty simple to do, but had their challenges.

We're on a roll with these nature cards. But this project is different. This time, because we are at the tail end of our unit (pun intended), I'm the only one who did this project. It's for a couple reasons that I didn't encourage the children to partake in this project.

Sometimes we overlook the simplest projects because they don't seem obvious. Like this one: An egg dissection. Most of us have and eat eggs so the thought of dissecting one often passes right by us, but what a great, easy and affordable project this is!

Whenever possible, I incorporate art into our lessons. It's not a art lesson, rather it's a science lesson that's artistically depicted. Sometimes art is the perfect medium for a lesson and when it comes to nature science, I can't think of a better choice. Each spring, we pull out our nature units, and I find that our main lesson books are either wholly empty or filled with magnificent watercolors.

Needle felting a bird is probably one of the easier animal felting projects you can do. Especially when you felt it out of one large piece of wool batt and simply shape the head rather than needle felting a head separately and adding it on to the body of the bird.

Whenever possible, I incorporate art into our lessons. It's not a art lesson, rather it's a science lesson that's artistically depicted. Sometimes art is the perfect medium for a lesson and when it comes to nature science, I can't think of a better choice.

Although I'm not an artist, I still enjoy drawing, painting and other art expressions. But everyone has an inner artist we can all nurture. I wanted to share the tips that might help you enjoy the art process and help you be more satisfied with your artwork.

What if you could cozy up on the couch surrounded by a stunning library and be handed one book after another that is sure to delight you and your kids. Sounds too good to be true? That's exactly what you'll be getting each month with Build Your Library's family book subscription crate.

After many of you saw these Into The Forest game pieces, you asked about the game, where to find it, and if we liked it. The thing is that at the time, we weren't playing the game, we were only uses the beautiful cards for drawing inspiration for our nature studies.

There's always one more project I think of when a unit is over, but being able to stop at a high point during a unit is a skill in and of itself that I continually strive for! Now that our unit is officially over and the projects and hands on activities are all complete, it's time to access how everything went.

With most main lesson blocks, we start with a chalk drawing or two, or three or more! Sometimes it sets the vibe for the lessons that follow and excited the students, and other times it serves as a lesson reminder that’s helpful for the during of the block.

The first lesson in the botany block is on the complete plant. Starting with the whole and moving to the parts is a profound concept found in Waldorf and practiced in each block.

The first lesson, after examining the whole of the plant kingdom with a complete plant, is on fungi and mushrooms. While fungi and mushrooms are not plants, as they are part of the fungus kingdom, they are necessary in botany as both decomposition of plant matter, and the decomposition of rocks into soil would be impossible without them.

The first botany lesson on simple plants is algae, the simplest life form in the plant kingdom, yet absolutely essential to the sustaining of animal life on this planet.

This is an exciting turning point in the evolution of the Plant kingdom: Lichen. Fungi and algae team up to create soil. Together these two organisms form a symbiotic relationship, each serving the other so they can survive together.

Mosses appear delicate but they are surprisingly hardy with the ability to survive periods of drought. Primarily, though, you’ll find them in cool moist shady areas.

We enter the carboniferous time period of earth’s history as we explore the prehistoric horsetails. There was once a time when the towering trees of the carboniferous period were horsetails and ferns.

Still in the carboniferous period with ferns. What’s especially nice about these lessons is that ferns are easy to find as house plants or shady forested areas. Additionally, their rhizomes and spores on the backside of their leave are easy to identify.

Welcome to the world of trees! The towering coniferous forests of ferns and horsetails now has a new member member with hard barks and cone bearing seeds. Forests of conifers now dominate the skies.

Bulbs and lilies are presented as plants that hold life’s forces deep within the earth, storing light and warmth during the dark seasons so they can burst forth with delicate blossoms when the world awakens in spring.

Grains and cereals are introduced as gifts of the sun, standing tall and golden, sustaining humanity by transforming sunlight and soil into nourishing seeds.

every culture around the world has a staple food that is nourishing and calorie dense and is part of the monocot family. Familiar ones will be the grains and cereals, by bamboo, palms and plantains are also monocots.

We added a couple bonus lessons to our Botany Main Lesson Block in the Fall of 2024 to include some lessons inspired by the book Botanicum.

Broadleaf trees are deciduous or evergreen trees with wide, flat leaves that capture sunlight efficiently for photosynthesis. They include species like oaks, maples, and beeches, often producing flowers, fruits, and nuts as part of their life cycle.

Flowering fruit trees produce blossoms that later develop into fruits, playing a crucial role in plant reproduction. These trees, such as cherry, apple, and peach, are valued for both their ornamental beauty and edible harvests.

Our Bees Unit Study is perfect for Grades 1-4 as it complements the Nature Sciences of the early years. A Unit Study meets the needs of multiple grades in a single unit by using various resources and providing an assortment of projects that children may do at their own level.

While, we tend to follow the Waldorf pedagogy, there are times I put together a unit study rather than a Main Lesson Block. A unit study is a concentration on a single subject for a short period of time. This Unit Study on Birds includes hands-on activities and plenty of picture books.

Unit Studies on plants and animals (or insects) children see often is a great way to introduce a nature science to young elementary ‎students. The study of butterflies delights children and watching them go through their metamorphic process is thrilling.

A unit study can be as broad or as specific as you would like it to be. While doing our unit study, we departed to do a smaller owl unit study. In part I was inspired by resources I had seen other homeschoolers using and was excited to include that into our bird unit. Once we included those resources into our bird unit, I realize that we had created a mini Owl unit.

The Ocean Main Lesson block is an opportunity to dive into the ocean and explore above and below. This block centers around the California coast primarily, but takes on a broader historical aspect as well. Smaller blocks on Whales, Turtles and more are included within the larger block.

Our Whales unit is another mini unit inspired by a larger unit: Ocean. However, sometimes it’s a book or project that inspires a unit as well. Some of the resources for this unit were ones I’d see other homeschoolers use and found them inspiring and thus a mini unit on Whales emerged.

When doing our Ocean Main Lesson block, we were inspired by the several other topics that would be their own months long unit. Sea Turtles appealed to us as we have visited Hawaii and swam amongst sea turtles. This unit is a mini unit lasting about a week or two. The resources are easily covered in a couple days but the projects take longer.

This unit emerged and faded several times over the years before I finally collected our resources to put together a unit study. The projects are drawn from other units as very little was organized specifically for this unit which inspired a unit on Dinosaurs and evolution.

On occasion, a child of mine will have a specific interest that warrants a specific unit study. The study of horses is one just unit study. My daughter become enthralled with horses and horseback riding, so I put together a unit to serve her interests as well as serve an older student with a variety of resources including historical for my older son.

Nature science is explored in the younger grades through nature stories, nature walks, gardening, and playing in nature. Honing their powers of observations and through nature curiosity, children build a foundation for the sciences. Following the life sciences, students learn mineralogy, astronomy, physics, chemistry and anatomy.

The power of storytelling is especially present in the study of history which begins with the stories of fairy tales, Legends, stories of Indigenous tribes and Prophetic stories. By 5th grade, students explore the Ancients before embarking on the history of Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. By the end of middle school, students have covered the Renaissance, the Age of Discovery and the Industrial Revolution. By High School, students take on US History and World History for a second time.

For the first 3 years of elementary school, student are learning the quality of numbers and the four basic mathematical operations for whole numbers up to 5 digits. Fractions are introduced in grade 4 followed by geometry in grades 5 and 6 with pre and basic algebra in middle school. It takes a full 8 years to master the four mathematical operations for whole numbers, fractions and decimals.

Language study in the first years of elementary school focuses on the basics of writing, spelling, grammar and reading. Once the student is proficient in the basics, poetry, creative writing and composition are included. Foreign language begins in Grade 1 with one or two foreign languages. Literature and the various types of essay writing are explored in upper elementary.

Handwork draws the will of the student in the hands as the she learns and eventually masters the art of knitting, crocheting, stitching, embroidery and sewing. As the student preservers through each project, their confidence sense of accomplishment, and joy in handwork develops. The efforts made to visualize the project and execute the steps necessary to complete the work are skills that will serve the student for life.

Form drawing is the first lesson a student engages in in Grade 1 and will continue with through the grades. While the formal lessons for form drawing may come to an end around grade 4, the practice continues well into middle school and high school.