Happy Birthday Anna Comstock!
Along with Charlotte Mason, Anna Comstock is one of the most meaningful person behind the Nature Study movement! We owe her SO much!
Early life
Born in New York State on September 1st, 1854, Anna grew up on a farm. Her mother spent time exploring the country with her only daughter, discussing and studying birds, flowers and trees. Anna inherited her mother’s love of nature as they explored the nearby woods, streams and fields.
Cornell University
Soon after her arrival at Cornell University in 1874, Anna met the man she would marry: Harry Comstock, who was also an avid naturalist. Together they created several books about insects: Harry wrote and Anna drew.
Nature Study
While visiting New York classrooms Anna discovered that no time was given to the study of nature. It was not deemed an important subject. Anna started talking to teachers, none of them knew anything about nature. Anna undertook the nature education of the teachers, igniting a whole new education movement: Nature Study!
In schools
Soon the New York schools added Nature Study as an important subject. But lectures were not going to cut it for Anna! She wanted the students to experience nature first hand. So she went back to work on educating the teachers on how to take their pupils outside and into nature. This was a revolutionary way of thinking for the times.
I know many of you are thinking of Miss Stacy in Anne of Green Gables right now, lol! And that’s because that was just around the time Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote her novels that all this happened.
The impact
Anna’s impact has been felt throughout American education since, and throughout the world! In 1911, Anna published her famed Handbook of Nature Study. It has been reprinted many times since. The probably most recognizable edition being the 1986 edition with its black background, it does look a little intimidating…
New Edition
It has been republished in 2020 as smaller books and in color. Less intimidating and more inviting, I would like to encourage you to pick up any of the titles, you do not have to start in order. Pick from the Introduction, Wildflowers, Weeds and Cultivated Crops, Earth and Sky, Insects, Mammals and Flowerless Plants, Trees and Garden Flowers, Fish Reptiles, Amphibians, Invertebrates, or Birds. Pick what interests you and your family, follow your fancy!
How to
Read the lessons, go outside, enjoy the process and then nature journal your finds!
But most importantly GO OUTSIDE. No I’m not shouting, I am just making a point. Truly you cannot study nature from your couch, trust me, I have tried…
Schedule your nature study day at least once a week, bare minimum. Ideally it would be a whole day dedicated to being outside, but realistically just a half an hour spent outdoors, paying attention to the world around you will bring a tremendous change.
Get outside!
A nature walk does not have to be anything fancy, it does not have to be long, it just has to happen. Go to the local park, go in your backyard, or on your balcony. But go outside. Pay attention, look at the trees, the clouds, the birds, yes these same old robins you see all the time. Instead of just seeing them, start observing them. What are they doing? Why are they doing it? How are they doing it?
Nature journaling
This deserves a post all to itself, but in short, keep it simple.
If you do not have a sketchbook, grab a piece of printing paper, a notebook page, anything and start. Start writing down your observations, your thoughts, your questions. It does NOT have to be pretty, you do not have to draw, you can take a picture, you can just write. Spend some time observing and questioning and enjoying being in nature.
Anna’s legacy
Anna has given us many resources and many more have sprouted from her dedication to the study of nature. Just to name a few of my favorite resources: Hearth Room Press, John Muir Laws, 1,000 Hours Outside and Wild + Free have really impacted my family.
Nature in my life
I did not grow up knowing the importance of being outside, it was just a way of life. I grew up in the French countryside, in a tiny hamlet in which my sisters and I could roam at will. We were also blessed with a grandmother who loved being out of doors and taught us many wild crafts! Outside was where we spent a goodly amount of time. Probably not 1,000 hours a year, but I think we were close, school was definitely a hindrance to that.
Growing up
As a teen I joined the FNE (in France, still) and was able to deep dive in all the wild crafts my grandmother had started to teach me. I loved it!
When I met my husband, being outside took a great part in our dating. We went for hikes, explored water holes, and enjoyed the outdoors together. We even hiked part of the Colorado Trail for our honeymoon.
Nature with my children
As a young mom I lived in an apartment complex, far from any nature resources in a creepy part of town. Thankfully my parents lived within walking distance to a park with a lake. I loved going over to their house, it was the only way I could go for a walk with my new little one. Soon we moved to an area with multiple parks within walking distance, but these first walks around the lake still have a special place in my heart…
As they grew
As my little pickles grew every day, except in snowstorms and crazy temperatures, we went outside. Having had 4 babies in 4.5 years, being outside for an hour or more daily was my lifeline. It was such a wonderful time of discovery, running, shouting, dancing and just enjoying being together. Wonder and excitement were really present in our lives during that time.
Today
Today, we study nature during Morning Time and then we all roam our ranch at different times, together or alone, but again, daily we make sure to go for a walk and to spend time in nature. This is our best place. Every evening I go on a walk with my husband, and every evening I feel so very blessed by the gift the Lord has given me: nature! Right there in my own backyard, nature, plentiful, beautiful, sometimes boring, but always there. And always surprising.
Mama, go outside, take your kiddos with you and go. The laundry can wait, I promise.
Love,
Mattie
