This year I get to teach the 5-6 year olds weekly at our homeschool co-op and the goal is to prep them for their future Charlotte Mason journey of observation, the science of relations, and attentiveness. My most favored topic for practicing all three of those aspects is a nature study. We all can gather our own quick interpretation of what a nature study entails, but it took me longer than a year to fully grasp and understand the concept of how Charlotte Mason may have executed what she calls an “object lesson.” Today I’m sharing my own interpretation of an object lesson.

Each month I’m bringing inside a plant that’s currently in bloom out of doors so today I brought purple echinacea or a coneflower. I also intentionally choose edible or foragable plants for our studies because our families specifically lean towards holistic healthcare and it’s a chance to teach the healing properties at the same time. I’ll take a moment to say that most nature studies occur outside, but this is specifically a class room setting and there’s never a problem of bringing a bit of nature in for observation if that’s what is required.