If you intend to use this curriculum with a small group, you will need to purchase a Small Group License. You may select a group size from the drop-down menu below. This listing is for the small group license. If you wish to purchase an individual copy of the curriculum, visit this page.

Recommended for: Intermediate Years (4th-8th)

A Year-Long Charlotte Mason-Inspired Seasonal Nature Study for Upper Elementary to Middle School

Introducing Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years geared towards grades 4th-8th. Experience a seasonal study that invites your older children to connect with each other and the world around them through living books, nature notebooking, hands-on projects, poetry, and picture study. Deepen your child's learning through advanced language arts and scientific experiments.

It would be a great fit for your upper elementary or middle schooler’s science curriculum or your whole family’s home education Morning Time and Nature Study. It also provides supplemental work for your children’s language arts through poetry copywork, creating an Illustrated Science Dictionary, creative writing prompts, notebooking, and internet research.

Curriculum Overview

Treehouse Nature Study is a year-long study with everything you need to guide your children through each day's nature study lesson. Each week of this 52-week study includes a weekly grid with daily lesson instructions making it easy to follow along. Each week has a themed poem, picture study, language arts lessons, recipes, and scientific experiments. The daily lesson plans walk you through engaging with these subjects in a new way each day.

At the core of each week's Language Arts lesson is an Illustrated Science Dictionary which your children will compile over the season. There are also prompts for creative writing and nature notebooking.

In addition to the beauty subjects, the teacher's guide includes step-by-step instructions for each day's Hands-On Connections including in-depth science experiments, recipes, and prompts for exploration and deeper research. There are detailed material lists for each week making it easy to quickly prep for the week's activities.

Treehouse Nature Study focuses heavily on quality books and multimedia reference material. Each week includes fiction, non-fiction, and reference books that correlate to the week's theme. The guide highlights relevant reference pages from Smithsonian The New Children’s Encyclopedia, Everything You Need to Know to Ace Science in One Big Fat Notebook, and The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs. There is also a robust Multimedia Reference list with links to documentaries, podcasts, and short videos to deepen your study.

Nature Study Themes

Each week of this 52-week guide is focused on a seasonal nature theme. The themes are:
Autumn

• Apples
• Birds of Prey
• Autumn Equinox
• Arachnids
• Fungi
• Deciduous Trees
• Moon
• Pumpkins and Corn
• Stars
• Woodland Creatures
• Tracks and Scat
• Rocks, Minerals, Fossils
• Changing Leaves

Winter

• Winter Birds
  
• Wind
• Winter Solstice
• Coniferous Trees
• Seasons
• Mountains
• Animals in Winter
• Snow and Ice
• Shadows
• Nocturnal Animals
• Maple Sugaring
• Weather
• Moss and Lichen

Spring

• Seeds and Sprouts
• Rainbows
• Spring Equinox
• Snails and Worms
• Caterpillars, Moths, and Butterflies
• Birds
• Edible Gardening
• Clouds and Rain
• Bees
• Snakes
• Spring Flowers
• Insects
• Pond Life

Summer

• Soil and Composting
• The Sun
• Summer Solstice
• Bodies of Water
• Marine Mammals
• Sharks and Fish
• Mollusks and Crustaceans
• Seashells
• Summer Flowers
• Storms
• Beetles
• Reptiles
• Landforms

About the Author

Lisa Burns is the creator of This Pilgrim Life, a source for down-to-earth food and recipes, organization and life hacks, and ideas for nurturing a holistic learning environment at home. A former teacher, Lisa is in her 13th year homeschooling her five children in high school, middle school, and elementary. Living an authentic, creative, connected, and adventurous life are most important to Lisa and her family. Read more about Lisa's inspiration behind Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years.