We have been having discussions lately with the older boys about how as they grow older they need to start taking more responsibility for their education.  I don’t want our educational experience to be one of me being the task master and they are the sulky, reluctant students.  There are far too many interesting things to learn about!

I’m always trying to ask for suggestions and be flexible about how and what they are studying.  It’s one of the many advantages of homeschooling!  Some suggestions are very good, Jacob and I have been working on a geography study, and some suggestions just aren’t going to fly.  We can’t do away with math and writing!  But I am trying to be flexible.

The other night Jonah, my almost 11 yo, came to me and said he had been thinking about our talks.  The one area he felt was lacking was our animal study.  That is his passion.  Gone are my days of heading out to the zoo and then calling it good!  He needs more in-depth study than that.

Right now we are using Nancy Larson Science 2 which works well for us, but this year doesn’t focus as heavily on animals and nature as Jonah would prefer.  So we need to beef it up a bit.

I asked several of my blogging friends if they had any ideas, suggestions, and recommendations for resources and I loved everything they shared so I thought you might find the resources helpful too.

Animal & Nature Homeschool Resources

Shining Dawn e-books – We have picked two books to get us started, Frogs and Toads and Animal Signs. Both books are full of easy, hands-on ideas, fiction and non-fiction book ideas, poetry selections, internet links and suggestions for including both older and younger children {great for big families!}, plus several notebooking pages. I’m pretty positive Jonah will be interested in make edible scat!

Burgess Animal Guide – We read the Burgess Bird Book several years ago for our Bird Unit and we enjoyed the book. I love how Karyn provides resources for each chapter as well as the audio version.  I may have Jonah listen to this on his own, then we could read through the Handbook of Nature Study chapters together.

An Introduction to Entomology – This is a 40 page study geared to middle school students, everything you wanted to know about insects and more! I like the idea of a long term project.  That might be a good lesson in perseverance for my highly distractible boy.  Now that we are able to frequent the beach on a regular basis, the Echinoderms and Molluscs study will be of interest to him as well.

This is not a new to me resource, but one that I have under-utilized!  Barb @ Handbook of Nature Study always has so much to share on her blog!

I have many more science resources on my Pinterest Science board too.

How do you engage your animal and nature lover?

I’m linking up with Finishing Strong – Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years