While Nature Study can be an academic endeavor, it offers an opportunity for our senses and relationships to be cultivated. We are invited to slow down and see, to listen and hear.

Over a century ago, Charlotte Mason boldly spoke and wrote about the importance of introducing children to the glories of the natural world. She encouraged parents and teachers alike to rediscover their own relationship with creation and to give children ample and consistent opportunities to study, know, and delight in the creatures around them.

“Let them once get in touch with Nature, and a habit is formed which will be a source of delight through life. We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree…”
– Charlotte M. Mason

Along with our fellow Ambleside schools across the world, Calvary gives students in each grade opportunities to get to know nature better. We do this through studies in classrooms where students observe and take delight in the design and beauty of plants and insects, birds and mammals, trees and rocks.

For parents who want to grow in this practice and incorporate it into their family life, this can be as simple as taking slower steps together while walking to and from the car. It can also mean spending regular time in nature with their children. The whole family can take a moment to look, enjoy, and discuss what is seen.

We are reminded that even as God cares for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, He faithfully watches over us. We can settle peacefully into our role as creation’s caretaker and better understand our relationship with one another as God’s image bearers. These are all lessons that creation is uniquely designed to teach, and that a classroom and family focus on Nature Study can provide