Kindergarten Nature Study

[hlynn]

I received the Kindergarten Curriculum package in the mail this week. Thank you! I loved going through all of the items.

In the Nature Study section of the Kindergarten Lesson Plans, it suggests reading The Usborne Complete First Book of Nature.

I have looked for the book in an Usborne catalog and have not been able to find it. Is it out of print?

I have found it at our local library.

Thanks for your time!

Heather K.

[hlynn]

I just received an email from my local Usborne sales rep. The book appears to be discontinued. She recommended some encyclopedias, books with the "Explainers" heading, and picture books with Pipkin the Penguin.

My understanding is that the Memorial Press curriculums for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade include nature studies. Consequently, I would like to purchase some reference material. I'm feeling unprepared to answer some of the question in the science section of the curriculum.

I realize that this is just kindergarten and that science is considered to be enrichment in this curriculum. However, I'm looking forward to doing the nature studies. I think MP has come up with some creative ideas to spend time in nature with our kids.

I went to our local nature center (we live in Kansas) and picked up some free pocket guides for identifying birds, wildflowers, insects, etc.

Do you recommend any other reference materials?

Thank you!

Heather K.

[tanya]

Thanks for this information, Heather. I will need to take that book out of our curriculum guide as a resource. We are working now on a supplemental resource list for K-2nd grade science. I know that it will include the books in the Cat In the Hat's Learning Library, several of Gail Gibbons' science picture books (a variety of topics such as Tornadoes, The Vegetables We Eat, From Seed to Plant, etc.), and the series of Take-Along Guides by Cooper Square Publishing. I'm hoping to have a solid list by fall, but this should give you a start!

Cheers,

Tanya

[hlynn]

Thank you, Tanya. I'm excited about the supplemental resource list for science! My son says that he wants to be a scientist when he grows up, so we will likely purchase those resources once you have them available.

The MP Curriclum has inspired us to have some fun "nature study" experiences lately. We have a Mourning Dove nesting in our gutter. We can see her from our living room window. I purchased a newly published book, Birds in Kansas, to read more about Mourning Doves. We also checked out a book from our library, The Burgess Bird Book for Children, by Thornton W. Burgess. It was originally published in 1919 and was published by Dover in 2003. The book contains a story about Mourning Doves that we plan to read.

Thank you again for developing a list of science resources!

Heather K.