5/15/09 I am going to edit this post to take the dates off the challenge. You can complete the challenge and email me and I will be happy to send you a certificate when you are finished, no matter how long it takes you.
I am taking down the Hall of Fame on my sidebar but you are welcome to add your nature journal pages to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Flickr nature journal group.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/naturejournal1/
Rules for the Thirty Nature Journal Page Challenge
(I do not like rules but there needs to be some guidelines to make it fair.)
1. Children of any age can participate. Parents are encouraged to participate too as a way of modeling a new habit. You do not need to be completing the Outdoor Hour Challenges in order to participate in the Nature Journal Page Challenge.
2. Here are some links to free blank nature journal pages for you to print out and use for this challenge:
Notebooking Nook: http://www.notebookingnook.com/FreePages/FreeScienceNatureNotebookingPages/index.html
Notebooking Pages.com:
http://www.notebookingpages.com/index.php?page=Free-Science-Experiment-Notebooking-Pages
You may use pre-made pages or you can use your own blank notebook for the challenge.
3. Each page will be one day’s entry from your outdoor time. I do not want your child to sit down and complete all thirty pages in one day. The entries must be over a period of at least six weeks.
4. It must include some sort of illustration, either a sketch, a rubbing, or a photo. The illustration must be labeled with at least the date and the subject to be considered a “page”. If the child is too young to write, the parent can label the illustration. You can count nature journal pages from any of the Outdoor Hour Challenges that you complete from this date on.
5. The parents are the ones who will check the pages and count them. It is totally on the honor system and I will take the parent’s word that the child has accomplished the task.
6. Once the child has completed thirty pages, the parent will email me with a note that includes your child’s name, age, your email address, and a sample page from the journal. Harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
7. At that time, I will email the child a certificate of completion in the form of a PDF file for you to print out to include in their nature journal or to be framed for the wall. You will need to tell me how you want the child's name on the certificate.
8. This challenge will go on continuously.
If you have any questions, please email me at any time. Harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
Outdoor Hour Challenge #21
Keeping a Nature Journal
1. Read the rules for the Thirty Nature Journal Page Challenge.
“As soon as a child is old enough, he should keep his own nature notebook for his enjoyment. Every day’s walk will give something interesting to add--three squirrels playing in a tree, a blue jay flying across a field, a caterpillar crawling up a bush, a snail eating a cabbage leaf, a spider suddenly dropping from a thread to the ground, where he found ivy and how it was growing and what plants were growing with it, and how ivy manages to climb.”2. Use your 10-15 minutes of outdoor time to casually observe whatever comes your way. Many families are finding that if they are diligent about keeping their eyes alert to things around them, interesting subjects come up while going about their everyday life. Try to view your whole week as outdoor time and if you are out running errands, keep alert to anything you can observe as you walk along. Children can over time start to see more and more details and as their skills and senses are trained, your outdoor time will become more of a way of life.
Charlotte Mason in Modern English, volume 1 page 54
3. After you have your outdoor time, provide an opportunity for working on a nature journal entry. My son was around three years of age when he started making “entries” into his journal. He would draw and I would label for him. You can help your child think of something to draw after discussing the day’s activities. Here is a link to the Outdoor Hour Flickr group with examples of nature journals done by participants.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/naturejournal1/
You can join the group if you would like to participate in contributing to the nature journal archives.
4. Post an entry on your blog sharing your experiences and then come back to the Outdoor Hour Challenge post and add your blog link to Mr. Linky. All the challenges are listed on the sidebar of the Handbook of Nature Study blog.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
Tina at Jetihoja Academy has put together notebook pages to go along with the Outdoor Hour Challenges that she would love to share with you all. Thank you Tina....
Outdoor Hour Assignment Notebook Pages (Lulu.com)
