Grab your baskets, today we are going strawberry picking! Inspired by Charlotte Mason, you'll find us chasing our curiosities through our read-aloud, nature adventures, and big conversations. This Looking Glass Nature Study includes six open-and-go lesson areas to engage literature, science, outdoor studies, and the arts, filled with hands-on exploration.
I. NATURE TALES
There’s nothing more powerful than storytelling to connect us and make sense of our world. Introduce our topic with our read-aloud, The First Strawberries - A Cherokee Story Retold by Joseph Bruchac, and related discussion. This Cherokee folktale tells how strawberries came to be, teaching a lesson about kindness and forgiveness when the Sun helps a quarreling couple reconcile by growing sweet berries along the wife’s path.
II. DISCOVER
Enrich your understanding as we begin to explore what strawberries look like, their anatomy, and their life cycle with our illustrated lesson guides, vintage posters, and a variety of activities.
III. INVESTIGATE
Bring out your 'looking glass' and delve deeper into different categories of fruit with a guided dissection, strawberry farming methods, extract strawberry DNA, and learn the science behind that bright red pigment.
IV. POETRY & ARTS
Enjoy a related poetry study (with copywork), art study, and music study.
V. CREATE
Celebrate everything we've learned with a strawberry watercolor tutorial, then make fresh strawberry ice cream and strawberry shortcake!
VI. ON THE TRAIL
These nature study activities will take you outside as you go on a Berry walk and explore their role in the ecosystem. Record your observations in your new Berry Nature Journal.
From our family to yours,
Jacqueline
