Oh, Anna—Is Your Handbook Dusty? by Jane Claire Lambert | HOMESCHOOLING TODAY Magazine

Recently I have found great joy in reading the works of nature lovers, naturalists, and scientists from the late 1800s and early 1900s. It seems like so long ago, and yet their observations of nature are exactly the ones I have journaled throughout my life! What they saw in nature, season after season and year after year, I have seen and loved as well. We learn from those who have tramped the woods and fields or gazed into the night skies before us, and we can allow them to help us make and interpret wonderful discoveries of our own and share them with our children.

Anna Botsford Comstock wrote her Handbook of Nature Study in 1911. She created it to help teachers have, at least, a large volume and variety of nature writing, a quick reference, and guidance in leading actual lessons. We can utilize it today for our children.

Using the Handbook

Think of your Handbook of Nature Study in the same way you would use an encyclopedia, as a reference, when necessary, or as a place for you or an older student to explore new and exciting things.

Picture yourself on a walk with your children: You see a tree that you haven’t noticed before, and you point it out to your children. You look at the bark and the leaves, and you are not sure what kind of tree it is. Talk about the type of bark—smooth, bumpy, or rough—and note the color. Then take a leaf or two for identification. At home, you use a typical tree guide, and based on your observations, you find the name of the tree. Now, take your Anna Comstock book off the shelf, turn to page 620 and read some interesting facts about how trees grow.

Another day, another walk, and you are again thinking and talking about trees. When you return home, reach for your Handbook of Nature Study on page 733 for information about planting to conserve the soil. Talk about how the trees you saw on your walk are helping keep the soil in place. In vast areas of the prairies where there are few trees, what helps keep the soil secure? Through these observations, you are leading your children to observe and understand the world around them.

When you discover a mushroom, you might use a common guide to identify it, but also check Comstock’s work for interesting information on mushrooms to share with your children.

Whether the subject is birds, fall nuts, leaves, skunks, salamanders, or an amazing snail, many times you will find that the index of your handbook will bring just the right lesson to accompany your own special discoveries.

Each year, teach more about nature in your regular school curriculum. The lessons in your handbook will be the first inspiration for a particular topic or a wonderful review of things you have presented in years past. Either way, this is a book that continues to yield information and inspiration each time you pick it up.

Content Your Own Soul

Anna Comstock wrote that teachers should be sure to spend time outdoors. When harried and stressed teachers complained to her that they simply did not have the time, she declared, “Out in God’s beautiful world, there is everything to heal lacerated nerves, to strengthen tired muscles, to please and content the soul that is full of duty and care. To the teacher who turns to nature’s healing [for herself], nature study in the classroom is not a trouble; it is a sweet, fresh breath of air. . . . She who opens her eyes and her heart to nature once a week [for herself] finds nature study in the school room a delight and an abiding joy.”

I agree with Anna Comstock that we all need to spend some time each week out of doors, letting the wonders around us speak volumes about who God is and how He can relieve our stresses and strengthen us through His own marvelous works.

More timid adventurers should look for It’s Going to Sting Me!: A Coward’s Guide to the Great Outdoors by Ronald Rood. Try your library or find it used from Amazon.com. This book will change how you look at nature and let you know exactly what to do in any natural encounter. You and your children will love it.

Mrs. Comstock suggests that spending time in nature with children will also build companionship. Before I ever read her words, I had already found this to be gloriously true. The camaraderie that ensues when groups set out to walk together or explore nature is magical. There are thrilling sights to see and wonders to observe, and people of all ages are brought closer together in the experience. Whether you are discovering a tiny ant with your toddler or a giant Sequoia redwood on a family vacation, it is an adventure together!

 

It does not matter whether you are taking your children on a walk through nature, requesting them to do a nature notebooking assignment, or presenting actual classroom science lessons as the object of your endeavor. The goal of your instruction should always be to help your child fall enthusiastically in love with nature. Your enthusiasm, your gentle inspiration, your sense of adventure and discovery is critically important in this goal. Even as you use the handbook, tell it and show it; don’t just read it. Be excited about the bit of information that you are sharing. If you are successful, you will have offered your children a natural legacy of awesome and glorious proportion.

Anna Botsford Comstock truly understood what most of us have neglected for too long. Being out in nature is vitally important to our well-being. Her book, a bit dusty, may be sitting on your shelf, but it is a rich resource for you to mine often. So bring it out, and let the dust fly!

 

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