Natural History Resources
Everything NHC members need to begin outdoor adventures!
Download the materials
Your guides
View or download your guides to begin planning for your outdoor adventures! Each guide includes a walk in all four seasons. See below for further resources and tips on structuring your time. Share your finds with us! #CMINatureClubs
Join the conversation
gathering community
Join a call with Anna Ritter, leader of the CMI Natural History Club Initiative, for suggestions, tips, and support on beginning or continuing your Natural History Club. If you've already had your first meeting, come tell us how it went! If you want some ideas on how to use these guides effectively in your particular landscape and climate, join the conversation! We'd love to meet you. And in the meantime, please share your finds on social media with #CMINatureClubs.
Directory
Open to others joining you? Add your club to the directory!
Upcoming Meetings
Email anytime for support: natureclubs@cminst.org
- September 30 @ 8pm EST 2024
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Extras
Nature Study collections
Charlotte Mason and the Parents' Review journal which she edited, spoke often on Nature Study, Natural History, and life outdoors. Enjoy these curated collections of Parents' Review articles centering on these topics.
Steps to success
Practical tips
Groups can use the guides in any order and use each guide in a rhythm that works best with their climate and personal schedules, but here is one way to organize your year of walks.
- September: Forest Guide (Autumn Visit)
- October: Grasslands Guide (Autumn Visit)
- November: Wetlands Guide (Autumn Visit)
- December: Forest (Winter)
- January: Grasslands (Winter)
- February: Wetlands (Winter)
- March: Forest (Spring)
- April: Grasslands (Spring)
- May: Wetlands (Spring)
- June: Forest (Summer)
- July: Grasslands (Summer)
- August: Wetlands (Summer)
In addition to the suggested questions in the guides, beta club leaders have started using "prediction" questions to encourage participants to think about past and future seasons:
- What do you think this landscape will look like in the winter?
- (On your second visit) Does this look like what you thought the landscape would look like when you made your prediction last season?
You might also want to use index cards to write down a few questions before you go to use as you begin your walk.
The first visit takes longer - give yourself and your participants grace as you both figure out how to use the guides and plan your walk for the first time. Even the intro lesson to each location is longer the first time. As you continue to visit the same locations, you'll build knowledge and context - and you and your group will be familiar with the process.
We have LOVED the guides. We have been meeting in the same park for our nature club for 9 years and this has helped us engage with the space and explore areas we haven’t before.
