I think that the most drastic seasonal change occurs from winter to spring: when nature, rested from its natural respite, awakens in all its glory to start the cycle of life once again.
To learn about the season's cycle, we started with a Four Seasons Book set (buy here), where each of the books describes the characteristics of one season. Spectacular images of children, plants, and animals in all seasons combine with simple text to demonstrate how seasonal changes affect all life on Earth.
โIt is Winter. It is cold. The days are short.โ
โIt is Spring. It is getting warmer. The days are getting longer.โ
โIt is Summer. It is hot. School is out.โ
โIt is Fall. It is getting colder. The days are getting shorter.โ
Adrian loves My First Discoveries series Trees book (buy here), which gracefully explains how nature's cycle works.
Through these beautiful overlay pages, a child can see a little seed grow into a mighty tree. A tree flowers every year, bearing seeds, which will fall to the ground, to grow slowly into more trees.
Woods and Forest book (buy here) is another great book from the same series which will teach a young reader about nature, seasons, woods and forests. Deciduous trees grow leaves, which wither and fall off in the autumn. Evergreen trees have needles. See how forests change with the seasons …
The Woods and Forest book (buy here) tells a beautiful story about nature's cycle, and the gracious transformation the trees undergo: from bare elegant branches in a winter to emerald green shoots in a spring, to bright forest-green hats in the summer, to golden crimson red in the autumn.
To make nature, seasons, and weather observation more hands-on, we decided to get a perpetual Montessori calendar, where children can actively learn about the concept of time, by monitoring days, weeks, weather, seasons, and even the moon phases.
This artisan perpetual calendar is crafted by hand from solid hardwood maple. It is a great tool to bring attention to the purpose of the day and upcoming events and to teach children about weather conditions and cycles of the moon. I am loving the "Waldorf Colored Days" option, which follows the specific colors Waldorf homeschooling families assign for each day. And seasonal watercolor painted coins are so useful in allowing your child follow the season.
By understanding nature's seasonal cycle and through daily monitoring of the passage of time, I hope my children can feel closer to nature, appreciating its cycle and all the beauty each season brings.
To find out which "Botany ๐ธ Books ๐ we are ๐ Reading" ~ see a post here.
For more Botany Lessons, read a post "Learning About ๐ Leaves" here.
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