Nature Walk

Nature study is an important part of Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education. It doesn't really feel like nature study to talk a walk around a city block though. We love the opportunity to escape the city and enjoy a more rural setting. Today we took the chance to visit the Hassayampa Nature Preserve. A guide took us through a couple of trails and encouraged the kids to make notes in their nature journals.


One exercise that I will use in the future was to divide blank page into four sections by drawing a cross in the middle of the page. Then devote each section to four senses: touch, hearing, seeing, and smell. Our guide asked the kids to sit for 1-2 minutes, concentrating on one sense and then to write or draw.


We came across this little fellow. His scales shone iridescent and yet he still blended in well with the tree.

"Hassayampa" comes from a Yavapai word meaning "upside down river." Most of the Hassayampa River flows underground. It is an unexpected surprise in the middle of the Sonoran Desert!