A few weeks ago we started using our Exploring Nature With Children curriculum and I thought it would be fun to share some of the units we’ve been doing as well as the support curriculums, guides and resources we are using.
On this post I will be going over our Tree Unit. Our two main guides for this unit was “Exploring Nature With Children” by Raising Little Shoots and The Peaceful Preschool Tree Unit by Jennifer Pepito. These two curriculums really complement one another, both had great recommendations for nature inspired literature and also living books. If you are looking into using the Charlotte Mason method of education for your home, I would highly recommend these two sources of information.
To support our activities, I brought in some of our Montessori materials. It was such a good idea to combine them with our books and nature observation this week, kids love working with hands! Levi is still a pre-schooler, that’s why I try to make these activities fun so he can feel like he’s simply playing.
Our tree anatomy puzzle is from Adena Montessori, our beautiful leaf puzzle can be found at Mirus Toys on Etsy. The movable alphabet is from Alison’s Montessori and the Three Parts Cards are Free Printables from Trillium Montessori.
I like to display our units in Montessori inspired open shelves because they allow the child to see the unit as a whole. Having the unit displayed this way also motivates the child to choose what she’s interested in. All the adult has to do is to observe and follow the child’s lead. It makes homeschooling so easy and intuitive!
Our Montessori Inspired Shelf is from Sprout Kids. It’s the best shelf we’ve ever owned honestly, it’s sturdy and I love that it doesn’t have dividers. It’s so hard to find real Montessori shelves out there and I can’t recommend this one enough. I rotate the materials and books every week, the other two shelves we have usually stay the same, they are filled with Math materials and natural toys.
The book Nature Anatomy, by Julia Rothman, has gorgeous illustrations and it’s my favorite science book we own. I always have it in our shelf, the author was so great about compiling so many different themes into one single book, we always find a reason to use it.
The other books we have displayed are: The Tree Book, Because of An Acorn, A Tree Is Nice and Tree: A Peek-Through Picture Book.
Remaining materials: The picture we have of a tree is from The Peaceful Preschool Curriculum, as well as the letter “T” sheet. Our tools for tree observation were a magnifying glass from Fawn & Forest and nature treasures we’ve collected in the past. The ABC Scripture Cards are from my Etsy Shop.
Not seen here is our homemade play dough, which we used to shape a tree and create nature scenarios.
I really enjoy this interest-led learning style, it suits our family and the way I manage our home. Sometimes my hands are busy with our baby girl, so having Levi explore each unit independently does help lighten my workload. This approach has been working really well for us, every Monday I notice Levi excited to find out what we will be studying throughout the week. It’s been so fun, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thank you so much for reading!
Be sure to follow our Homeschool Journey on Instagram! (@themasalins)
Bru Masalin
// Book List:
Tree: A Peek-Through Picture Book.
