If you follow my personal Facebook or my Instagram you will know that our actual book work (minus just in general review or "life learning" ) every Friday, we try to get out in nature. I'm not sure what this will look like exactly come cold winter months, but for now, this is what we do.
I get a lot of questions about this. "What do yall study?" or "What do you do?"
The fun fact is that we really don't do anything.
(Pauses for gasp and people beliving I'm crazy.)
Nature days, in this household, are simply that. We get out in nature. I usually grab a book that either goes along with stuff we have studied that week or maybe it's simply our read aloud from this week. They always have their nature journals in their backpacks, in case we see anything they want to document. (For example- Ryker last drew piles of horse poo in his because he had in fact never seen it and thought it was interesting when we came across it on a trail.)
But really are nature days are kid led. There are some AMAZING nature-based curriculums or unit studies that I hope one day to get into- but for now, we simply just enjoy nature. Our days usually involve them seeing something they haven't before- and asking questions about it. Why are the leaves changing colors? Why is the water running across the road? Why is the chipmunk following us (more on that tale in a later post).
Part of Brian and I "want" for our children is to be children. To get off the screens, get out of the house, and just be kids. We want them to figure out certain things for themselves. They need to know why mom tells them not to run in certain spots -because they will fall. They need to realize why mama says not to climb a tree too high, These are things that no matter how much I preach to them, they are hard-headed and have to learn for themselves. Of course, I'm there making sure they don't get to wild, but for the most part they just explore and have fun. Kids are naturally curious and with the right setting, their questions are never-ending.
If I don't know an answer to a question, we google it, ya know like every modern parent haha.
But really truly, we enjoy the time. We are doing so much more than just wasting time. We are building listening skills, bonding, working on gross and fine motor skills. With the help of Wild Math (link for this is on my Instagram) we also are able to get in some ideas there as well.
Our nature days are absolutely the delight of our week.
What about your family? How often are you in nature?
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