New to The Challenges: Help to Get Started

Question from reader:

Hi Barb! Your blog is amazing! Thanks for taking time in making our lives easier. I'm about to complete Challenge #1. And I have to say if it weren't for you none of this would've happened. I just have a question: After reading the first 8 pages of the Handbook of Nature Study and going outdoors with my children they said that what they liked the most were the ants {3 1/2 yo son} and hiking and the breadfruits {8 yo son}. So, where do I go from here???

My response:
Welcome to the OHC! I am so glad to hear that you are getting outdoors with your children. They both picked interesting topics to learn about.

With an interest, first check the table of contents in the HNS. If it is listed there, you can turn and read to yourself the information shared there and then look at the lesson that goes along with it. There are questions listed to help you get started with a more in depth study. Since your children are still fairly young, I would pick a few interesting facts to share with them from your reading and them perhaps one question to investigate the next time you have your nature study.

I know ants are listed in detail in the HNS so that will be an easy one. Breadfruits are not listed but perhaps you could pick an aspect of the tree to investigate further. You could do a quick internet search for breadfruits and come up with a few interesting facts to share with your child if you would like to. Then you could look at the leaves, trunk, or branches of the tree and apply Lesson 172 (Tree Study) from the HNS to your breadfruit tree. You could dissect the breadfruit itself and make a sketch of what you find in your nature journal. You could make leaf rubbings in your journal. You could observe how the tree looks now and then look again in a few months to see if there are any changes.

Keep it simple and easy. I love that you are willing to follow your child's lead.

Let me know if you need any more help.

Barb