One of the many gifts of homeschooling is the freedom that comes with it. With this freedom, our children can experience more in-depth learning. Whether it be the history of someone the biology of the human body or even just spending more time in nature. We are in our seventh year of homeschooling and for the past few years, I have implemented a nature day for all four of my children. From the oldest to the youngest. We usually set aside Monday for nature in homeschool and we do it in all the weather, unless it’s unsafe. It’s my favorite day because it’s a transition day for my students. Today I would love to share how we include nature in our homeschool.
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Spending time in nature
As I said above, Mondays are our nature day. Depending on the weather (we live in the Midwest) we will spend 1-4 hours outside on Mondays. We will go on nature walks, do an activity, have a picnic, etc. We dedicate the day to it. I chose to do this after reading The Genius of Home, Catherine Reed dedicated Mondays to nature with her daughters too, in their homeschool. I immediately loved this idea and implemented it in our homeschool too.
We do make sure to go outside every day as it is a part of our daily rhythm. It is a wonderful way for us to exhale before we start our formal education for the day. When we are outside there is nothing structured for the children to do except just be. Sometimes they play games, kick a ball around, or create an imaginative little world. Most days my youngest will ask to go on a walk around our neighborhood which I always say yes to. I do this on purpose to help their imaginations and to wake up their souls. My children are always asking to go outside on their own and I believe it’s because we spend so much time outside together. I love their love for nature.
Nature Journaling
For my older two children, I get them to nature journal throughout our school year. I do this to keep them aware of their surroundings. Observation in nature can be seen as an art. I feel it helps them see the bigger picture. My younger children like to join but I don’t push it. Nature journaling helps their creativity mold along with savoring memories. These are our favorite notebooks and pencils to use for nature journaling. I like the paper because it is sturdy and the pencils are so pigmented and they are both small enough to bring on our nature adventures
I journal for my garden and I love to look back at what was accomplished, how plants looked, and what mishaps happened. I’ll do this for my children’s nature journal too. We have journaled our Jack O’Lanterns at Halloween and spring daffodils that are starting to bud. It’s just a fun way to see how nature is always changing but teaching patience in nature as well.
Books
In our family, if I can find a book or a story about it, I will use it. This is one reason I love Waldorf education because it teaches through story. With this being said I am going to share our favorite books below that help us in our nature in homeschool
Nature is one of the most healing things we have that our society just doesn’t get enough of in my opinion. There are many times when I’m stressed I just go outside, even if it’s just sitting on my front porch. Everything in nature is perfect and that’s how we should see life. I hope this helps you with adding more nature in your homeschool.
-Micah