Treehouse Nature Study: Four Seasons, Intermediate Years
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$149.00 - Regular price
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$180.00 - Sale price
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$149.00
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
Digital Download Details
This file is a digital download and will be sent to the email address you use to checkout. You can also access your downloads in your customer portal. Each season's guide will be released seasonally on the following dates and will automatically appear in your portal:
- Autumn: August 12, 2024
- Winter: November 4, 2024
- Spring: February 3, 2025
- Summer: May 5, 2025
For best quality print results, we recommend you print using Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free application.
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.
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Features
Learn Alongside Multiple Age
Robust Science Curriculum
Go Deeper in Your Learning
Beauty and Goodness
Designed to coordinate with Treehouse Nature Study, Primary Years, this upper elementary to middle grade curriculum can be used in tandem with your younger children.
Introduce your children to core science concepts in a fun, engaging way. Each week includes activities and experiments to learn natural science through hands-on experience.
Enjoy an extensive booklist of picture books, non-fiction titles, and relevant reference selections. Go deeper through multimedia reference links to documentaries, podcasts, and short videos.
Incorporate beauty subjects such as art and poetry while deepening your child's artistic and language arts skills.
“Early in our home education I went on a search for a gentle guide to take our family on an educational journey through the seasons. I wanted something that was simple and beautiful and that introduced my children to art, poetry, living books, and nature in an organic way. I couldn't find what I had dreamed up in my head, so instead I developed it. My hope is that Treehouse Nature Study is a tool to truly awaken delight and wonder in your home education.”
– LYNDSEY, FOUNDER AND AUTHOR OF TREEHOUSE NATURE STUDY
Try a free week!
Get a free week fromTreehouse Nature Study: Autumn, Intermediate Yearswhen you join our Treehouse Schoolhouse email community. This free download comes from Week Five: Fungi.
FAQs
How long do the lessons take?
Since the lessons are presented as a menu, the amount of time spent on lessons can vary from family to family. It can also vary depending on the ages of your children and the depth at which you desire your children to explore the topic. For our family, we use it as our morning time plans, for about an hour, 3-4 days a week.
How many days a week should I do lessons?
The lessons plans are set up for five days a week, though many families prefer to pull certain pieces from the weekly plans and schedule only 2-4 days a week. Other families may use one week of lesson plans and spread the lessons for two weeks. Let the curriculum be a guide and serve your family.
What subjects does this cover?
Through the lens of natural science, Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years incorporates picture study, poetry, literature, computer and research skills, language arts, writing, and art.
How do I use both primary and intermediate together?
All of the week’s themes are identical to Treehouse Nature Study, Primary Years, making using both of them together seamless and straightforward. I recommend preparing the books and materials for both studies and guiding your children of all ages to engage with the study at their level, while maintaining the atmosphere of family-centered learning.
Are the poetry, picture study, book selections the same in both levels?
Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years includes all new selections of poetry and art, as well as more advanced ways of interacting with them.
What are the differences between Primary and Intermediate?
In Treehouse Nature Study, Primary Years, you will find hand rhymes, folk songs, a lot of fiction picture books, and simple hands-on projects and experiments. In Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years, there are in-depth language arts connections, like creative writing and creating an illustrated dictionary. You will also find more non-fiction titles, multi-media links like videos, and podcasts, and more in-depth notebooking opportunities and experiments. Both levels offer poetry and art study, just at different levels. The best way to know which level is a good fit is to download both levels’ free weeks and compare.
Related Blog Posts
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Overview of Treehouse Nature Study, Primary Years
read moreRead more about my heart behind this curriculum and learn more about the essential elements included each week.
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Overview of Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years
Read moreThe author, Lisa Burns, shares her background and experience as a homeschool parent of 13 years and her inspiration behind this curriculum.
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How to Use Treehouse Nature Study with Multiple Ages
read moreThis guest post shares how one family uses Treehouse Nature Study with their children ages 4-11.
My kids love this curriculum. They love the lessons and the hands on activities. They get to pick their book of choice from the book basket to read so it’s always interesting for them.
I took the leap in ordering this bundle of Nature Studies, and have been no less than amazed at their depth and quality, while still savoring of the sweet simplicity inherent in all the Treehouse Schoolhouse products. We have used quite a few different types of Nature Study guides and even a subscription or two, but none of them came close to the ease of use, powerful beauty, and joy for the children that we've experienced time and again with Treehouse Schoolhouse. I am just a normal homeschooling Mom who was always struggling to fit in this formative and inspiring school subject, until finding these guides, and now it seems that we are actually not just 'getting it done', but thriving, and loving every minute. Thank you so much to you all!
My 2y loves the activities and the pictures are beautiful.
Treehouse Nature Study’s resources are some of the best. I have a 5 year old and nearly 2 year old, and her intermediate nature study provides the perfect mix of fun and solid in depth learning! The art is gorgeous and thrills my own heart; the poems and hands on activities are fun and perfect for kindergarten and early elementary. The books chosen are beautiful and superbly written - no fluff. For their current ages, we actually do 1 week’s worth of the study over two weeks. We have used their Easter study, Autumn, Thanksgiving and will be doing their Christmas and Winter study this upcoming winter.
Prior to using Treehouse, I was using from another similar curriculum., and I was so impressed with how much richer and yet more approachable Treehouse was. Previously, I had to do much more tweaking of the curriculum for it fit our life. In contrast, Treehouse lays out what you need to do and have on hand in such a simple way, that my prep time is nearly non-existent. The teacher’s guide enabled me to jump right in and successfully attempt things like narration and art study (things I had no exposure to previously). We plan to continue to use this for many years to come, as the material easily enables you to scale up or down for your child’s specific needs. It is well, well worth the cost.
We have been enjoying the nature study so much for our preschoolers. My kids are 4 and 2 so we implements parts of this and take about 2 weeks to do each week but i love it because we can repeat these in future years and add more as they get older. I highly reccomend!