Looking through the photos from this past year warms my heart. I’ve learned so much from our “wildlings” and I am so thankful for the time we spent together around the fire and on the trails. It’s been a year of discovery, new faces and friendships and learning new skills!
Continue Reading…
Last week marked the first Forest Play session of the year and it felt so good to get back to “our” woods. We started with a short hike past “mud hill” to our base camp where some of the oldest wildlings got right to work on making a fire. On the way to base camp, the kids found so many frogs, toads, salamanders and a few woolly bear caterpillars. They were so excited to show me all the critters and were so gentle while handling them.
Here’s are of some of my favourite moments:
Continue Reading…
We love all things quick and easy, convenient… and the more the better! More likes, more followers, more images, more info. We don’t have time to read all the articles so we check the headlines, skim it over and consume the images. Endlessly scrolling, FB, IG, twitter. Short sound bites and visuals that try to one-up the one that came before.
I’ve noticed a shift in myself over the last few years, especially using IG. The constant curated images, all the beautiful snapshots of faraway destinations and perfectly styled homes, children and bookshelves. I love scrolling through IG. But my attention span has shortened. I reach for my phone too often, spend too much time being inundated with images and words, words that float through my mind only to be replaced by new ones before they even have a chance to settle.
I noticed this change because it wasn’t always like this. It’s uncomfortable to admit it but the experts sounding alarm bells, are quite right.
All the sharing and liking were used like a drug to get people hooked on checking Facebook non-stop. “How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible,” said Parker, referring to Facebook’s earliest mission.
-Sean Parker
Social Media is the balm that promises to soothe all boredom as if boredom is some painful condition that we must be saved from. It’s changing the way our brains work in an incredible way. The more we use it, the more we crave it and the more unbearable our smartphone-less hands feel. Continue Reading…
I love this time of year. Fresh new notebooks, sharpened pencils and the crisp fall air that seems to lift us into a spur of activity and productivity. In September my notes in school would be underlined in multiple gel colored pens, my writing was neat and I optimistically did (almost all) of my homework. I clung to those good habits as hard as the trees seemed to cling to their changing leaves and once their branches were bare it was all done. With the novelty of the new notebook having worn off 15-20 pages in and my gel pens lost in the abyss that was my backpack, I simply went through the motions for the remainder of the year. Continue Reading…
Forest School, Free Range Kids, Homeschooling, Nature Connection
Exploring Vernal Pools at “Forest Play”
May 12, 2017
Our Tuesday Forest Play sessions have been in full swing since the winter holidays with only a couple of cancellations due to extreme weather. Spring is here and we’ve been exploring some very special habitats at our favourite forest. The kids were so excited to spot water snakes, water striders, and dragonfly nymphs. This was the second time the kids were here (sadly the girls and I missed out last week) and I know there were lots of exciting discoveries made the week before. A big thank you to Andrea for taking the lead and introducing our group to vernal pools, and next week to Bird and Frog Songs!
“Vernal ponds are temporary wetlands that fill after the snowfall each spring. They become the seasonal breeding and feeding grounds for many intriguing amphibians and insects, as well as the reptiles, birds, and mammals that depend on them for food. you may have been led to this pond by the unmistakable sounds of spring peepers and wood frogs calling for a mate.
If you crouch by the water’s edge, you’ll find an entire community of creatures. you might witness the bustling activity of salamanders, frogs, toads, and newts that have come to breed, as well as all kinds of aquatic insects and their eggs that will develop over the spring months. Jellylike masses and strings of eggs will be visible in the water and on the pond vegetation, where salamanders and frogs have left them behind.
Vernal ponds are extraordinary wetlands fascinating to observe and essential to the lives of many woodland species. With the rapid population declines of so many amphibian species, it’s crucial that these often unnoticed habitats be recognized and protected.” – Vernal Ponds: Seasonal Habitats for Wildlife
Forest School, Free Range Kids, Get Outside, Homeschooling, Nature Connection
Forest Play Sessions – A Review
January 9, 2017
Inspired by the educators at Forest School Canada, authors like Peter Gray and Richard Louv, I made a commitment last fall to not only get my girls out in nature on a regular basis but the kids in our homeschool community as well. With that, Tuesday’s “Free Range Forest Play” sessions were born. I see this as my first step towards a full-fledged Forest School in the future.
The idea was simple, to bring together parents and children in a beautiful natural location where the children can explore freely, play freely, build freely, take risks, solve conflicts, and ultimately exert full control over how they spend their time in nature (no adult directed agenda).
Parents were encouraged to spend time together away from the playing children in the woods. It all evolved naturally, some days we were all in the woods together, some days the parents shared, connected and commiserated at the picnic table over the joys and hardships that come with homeschooling spirited young ones. Friendships were strengthened, new skills were shared and learned and most importantly we built a community. A community that is growing and at the heart of it, is creating a much-needed safe, natural space for the children to be well, children.
There’s never a shortage of amazing places and programs to take our children to. GRCA’s nature programs are available to all and often get booked for school field trips, scout trips and of course homeschoolers. Our local group of homeschoolers is amazing and the parents are so active in the community arranging and organizing a huge variety of field trips on a regular basis. Alicia arranged this (6? or 8?) week program for us and naturally, I jumped on the opportunity to get my wildings outside some more (thanks Alicia!)
Week 1 started with a Water Study!
Heidi was the youngest of the group and the oldest I believe was 11. I love when little ones get to participate in group activities with older kids. There’s so much valuable learning happening and it benefits both the littles and the older kids in very different ways.
Forest School, Free Range Kids, Get Outside, Nature Connection
The Magic Of A “Sit Spot”
October 4, 2016
Have you heard of a Sit Spot? Or a Magic Spot? A place you go to in nature, alone, to just be and take in all that’s around you. You sit still and quiet and become invisible, a part of the landscape and all of a sudden the magic of the natural world unfolds around you. A place you go to again and again. There’s been so much written about meditation and the benefits of mindfulness and this is a way to get all those same benefits while opening the door to deep connections with the wild around you.
From Wilderness Awareness School:
A Sit Spot can become like an anchor in your life — a place to settle down, cultivate present-moment awareness and a quieter mind, and to observe the flow of reality occurring around you. It’s also a place where you can notice what the animals are up to. And they can get to know you. By visiting your Sit Spot, you may begin to discover which birds tend to sing first at sunrise, the circuit a mother raccoon follows each morning with her little ones, where the deer like to bed down, and where a robin sits fluffed over sky-blue eggs. Over time, you can notice the changes that occur with the inhabitants of your spot, how they interact, what their rhythms and routines are, and where new events come into play.
Forest School, Free Range Kids, Get Outside, Nature Connection
Nature Connection A “Need To Have” Not A “Nice To Have”
September 29, 2016
Sitting in the pews at Lakeside Hope House in Guelph, waiting to hear Richard Louv (author, journalist and co-founder of Children and Nature Network) and Jon Young (naturalist, author, and mentor) speak the excitement in the air was palpable. Last night was an evening of sharing stories, connection, and affirmation for the simple truths that resonate with all of us. It was an urging to get back to nature, to get back outside and to facilitate meaningful time in nature for all the children in our lives. There’s no longer a doubt about the profound healing effects and the absolute necessity of immersion amongst trees, meadows, and beautiful spaces the natural world has to offer.
Richard and Jon took that one step further and asserted that nature connection is as essential to our well-being, as water, food, and air. It’s essential to our children’s mental health and a birthright that needs to be honored for all. We know this. I know it, you know it, and yet a shift happened, something changed and our children are now suffering because of it. This change crept up on us and we didn’t notice at first. We’ve been so busy, working so much, life is speeding up and we can’t seem to slow down. Thankfully we have people like Richard and Jon and countless others who are so wonderfully advocating for that which we know is true. Through their work, mentorship, training and encouragement, parents and educators all over the world are turning the tide in their community. Continue Reading…
Raleigh Ritchie (Grey Worm) … talking to all the little wildlings, all around the world. It couldn’t be more perfect!
“So go and start your story, search the land and take a stand,
Cos when you hold the simple stick, there’s adventure, in your hands”.
Recent Comments