Snowdrops

Friday is nature study day in our home.
This morning, we observed a wee patch of snowdrops growing in in our front garden.
The girls took great pleasure in sketching them in their nature notebooks:



Here is Elianna's sketch (7 yo)



Here is Rosie's sketch (4 yo)



Now, the waldorf purists will notice that my 4 yo has written in her notebook!
We came to waldorf late with Elianna - she was already reading a writing a small amount when we went fully into waldorf last year. With Rose I was determined to hold back on the academics. Hmmm - i should have told Rosie this! The last few days she has been engrossed in 'reading' & 'writing'.
I am happy for her to do this - it is where she is at. we wont be doing any 'formal' lessons yet & she has abundant time to play & be outdoors. We are all happy : )

Our resources for nature study today are favourites of mine:

Field Guide in Colour to Wild Flowers

My favorite guide to wild flowers. This was bought for me by my aunt when I was a small girl, so it has great sentimental value, but also, as a resource, it cant be beaten! The illustrations are hand drawn, which I prefer to photographs. The edges of the pages are colour coded, to make finding your chosen flower very easy.
There is an index of scientific names & another for common names & I just love the layout & the information contained within this book.

The second book we used is A Gospel of Wild Flowers

This description of the book from amazon sums it up perfectly:
This work is a thought-provoking portrait of the natural world, written by the former Bishop of Lynn and illustrated by celebrated artist Pat Albeck. Pat presents a beautiful painting of a different wild flower on each spread. Accompanying this is text by the Bishop describing the plant and its practical uses, and then linking the plant and its properties to aspects of Christian thought and devotion. This is a comforting book that will appeal primarily to mature people with a Christian inclination, but will also be appreciated by nature lovers of all ages. Full of thoughtful stories and insights, this is a gentle and peaceful book, written in a direct, open way that is both soothing and refreshing.

I read selected parts from the chapter on Snowdrops to the girls this morning - not all of it was (in my opinion) suitable for them, but the parts I read appeared to resonate within them - I need to let them sleep on it, as I do myself : )

This wee book is a great one for mothers to tie their own innerwork around the changing flowers of the seasons.

Happy nature study!