Introduction: Enjoying Nature the Charlotte Mason Way

Or is it just the way it was meant to be enjoyed since the beginning of time?

Observing Silk Worm Moths. (All photographs copyrighted and the property of Joy Murray, not to be used without permission)

In the late 1800's, early 1900's a British educator, Charlotte Mason set out to improve education for children by improving three elements: atmosphere, discipline (the development of good personal habits relating to character), and life (education had to be relevant to life; not just dry academics. This was not our modern practical idea that we should be hands on but rather that we should think uplifting and beautiful and wonderful, interesting and challenging things that will make us interesting and well developed and well rounded individuals; that we should have deep and meaningful lives.) See more about Charlotte Mason here http://simplycharlottemason.com/basics/what-is-the-charlotte-mason-method/ 

Our local gecko's are being threatened by Asian Geckos who are bigger and noisy. (All photographs copyrighted and the property of Joy Murray, not to be used without permission)

One of Charlotte Mason's delights was to take her pupils on a variety of weekly Nature Studies where children would observe, draw, paint and write about what they saw.  As a South African ‘Kaapie’ ( Capetonian), some of the highlights of my childhood were holidaying at the awesomely untouched Scarborough Beach (Cape Peninsula) and walking the Cape Mountains regularly. I loved the Cape's wild and unpredictable weather and her fynbos passionately …The smell is still there in my mind. And I would treasure the chance to take my children there one day; there is nowhere in the world like it!

I escape to the Brisbane Botanical Gardens on occasion to find a splash of flora from home, Kaapstad. (All photographs copyrighted and the property of Joy Murray, not to be used without permission)

We took our young family from South Africa to New Zealand to home school freely at a time when a South African home schooling family was jailed for home schooling, much has changed since then. But we actively pursued our love for nature study in New Zealand as well, as we revelled in this new beautiful country. Jessica just three, Jonathan was still a baby. We lived close enough to walk to the beach and our house was just two doors away from a nature reserve which was teaming with interesting flora and fauna. We never did get to see a Kiwi Bird in the wild, that was always Jonathan's dream as a little boy! But the Tui , the NZ Wood pigeon, Fantails and the pukekos all kept us fascinated. I remember Jessica driving her our Aunty crazy when we went walking together …Jessica  would stop for anything and everything and ask a million questions…"What’s that, Why does it do that? What for? How come?  What if? When will it?" I suspect my replies like, "what do you think, look here and you may be able to see the answer" etc, just about drove Aunty crazy as well. Walks went really slowly; so slowly in fact that they would have been better labelled "stops"!

 Higher and higher. Big children push younger ones. (All photographs copyrighted and the property of Joy Murray, not to be used without permission)

 It has not ended yet - we still have a 3 year old and many more besides who watch and ask and puzzle over nature….and as we now live opposite a pretty park in Logan City, near Brisbane, Australia, we have the opportunity of watching nature unfold exquisitely season after season.

Watching Tadpoles 'Hatching'. (All photographs copyrighted and the property of Joy Murray, not to be used without permission)

I love to see a child studying the colours of a leaf, just looking and looking and enjoying God creative art!

Leaves of interest are collected and kept in a nature bowl or pressed. (All photographs copyrighted and the property of Joy Murray, not to be used without permission)

Nests, to dream of a wild bird coming to it on our veranda and becoming our pet. (All photographs copyrighted and the property of Joy Murray, not to be used without permission)

 An Empty Paper Wasps Nest.

I have observed though that bar one family who play often in the park with us and an elderly couple who stroll around pushing their daughter in a wheel chair, stopping to enjoy nature, no one else notices much or takes time to enjoy the changes of nature. I may be mistaken but as I observe it seems that people exercise in the park…round and round on the cement path they go, intent on losing weight, heads down as fast as can be. People scurry through the park as a short cut or take their dogs there to do their business, bags to clean up mess in tow.

 Seed Pods.

Teens meet in the park and send texts or have a party, free from adult observation. Parents come quickly to appease the children for a while or appease their consciouses after a day cooped up with computer games. Sometimes there is a kid's birthday party to spare a house the bombshell mess that is usually left behind after such events.  Other times a Father has a kid for a weekend or is giving Mum a break and so does a half an hour on the swings and the slide.

To find a fallen nest is a 

real feather in your cap in our household.

But I never see children like ours and like our special friends who have  time or inclination ...   to build huts, climb trees (and sit there for a half an hour),  fly helicopter seeds, pick the odd flower or leaf for pressing, collect fallen seed pods, make a pile of leaves to jump into, notice the large grasshopper etc.

Another local, our Queensland Green Tree Frog. This one was sickly so not as bright green as usual. (All photographs copyrighted and the property of Joy Murray, not to be used without permission)

And so I have decided to try and keep a record of our delights for you to enjoy with us and to encourage me to take more time out with my children; besides we have  so many nature photographs lying dormant and so many keen observers that it seemed a pity to not do something with it all… We are also about to remove the odd lumps and bumps some distant previous owner introduced to our garden and so we will have a clean slate to begin a garden of our choice...what better place to share it growing than here.
I do have an ulterior motive too, I must admit, I am hoping you will help us with identifying things....trees especially tend to puzzle me. So thanks in advance for your input.

It is in our hands....we choose how much time we will spend enjoying nature and praising nature's Creator!

(All photographs copyrighted and the property of Joy Murray, not to be used without permission)