Learning Together in Nature

This little video says it all.. this is exactly why I love doing what I do so much.  It was taken the very last day of the Forest Preschool session and is such a beautiful memory for me to capture. 

 I love that the weather is warm and we can be outside so much again.  School is still in session until Thursday but the girls have been enjoying playing in the back woods, in the garden area and in our pool after school each day.  It makes striving for media-free more realistic in our home when the weather is nice like this.  Those very cold nasty winters are hard to handle sometimes.

  

One of the wonderful parts about running outdoor programs in town is that my own children get to come to work with me.  I take Maia and Bree to Nature Club on Saturdays with me and I love being able to share these outdoor learning moments together and still help provide for my family financially. 

 We did so many fun things together in both the forest preschool and nature club programs.  We learned about life cycles, went on fun scavenger hunts.. leaf hunts...

Played outside with new friends in the fresh air for hours...

Collected some bugs, climbed some trees... 

 Found some cool discoveries... 

Identified trees

  

by sorting and analyzing their leaves and looking up which species they came from.

It's been busy... and fun... and soon I will be starting new classes in my home such as Nature Detectives where we will make sundials, dissect owl pellets, learn about metamorphosis and create a weather watcher.  I also will be teaching a learning to crochet class and a waldorf friends class for smaller children.  

I'm excited about the great response to these programs in town and I'm also trying to keep my online writing active as well as the photo contests and newsletters for Little Acorn Learning and my e-book sales.  I've been working on my new website for over a year now but have not been able to put the hours into it that I need to launch.  It's busy but I've missed focusing on my work this way and as long as I can keep a good routine in place, I think I will be able to create some balance.

Preschool in the Woods...

I love our little nature school in the woods. I really would love to grow this program and have it be something that runs a few days per week. If you live near Brookfield, CT, please be sure to call our town's Park and Recreation to find out what programs I am running or contact me directly at info (at) littleacornlearning.com 

This time I promised the children we would spend some time at the pond. We read a sweet story about pond life and Mr. Tom braved the waters for us and took some samples that we could examine. 

We learned that algae is a very small plant that lives on the surface of the water and it is low on the food chain and very important for the environment. 

This particular algae is called "duckweed algae". I found that out after our class through a friend so I will teach that to the children the next time we meet. 

I will miss these little children. This class was not a long session. I hope they will consider enrolling in another one of my classes or programs this summer. You get pretty attached when you spend so much time with one another learning and talking.

On our way back we found a little friend... 

It always seems that right toward the end of school we find a little surprise... a nest, a lizard a toad..

I hope you are able to spend some time in nature with your children this weekend.

xoxo

Forest Preschool and An Identification Contest Win a FREE E-Book~

I'm back to doing my Forest Preschool program in town and I have come to realize that I've been focusing on some really important things lately but I have really missed working with children.

Every Thursday my friend and I do a craft, hike, scavenger hunt, lunch and activities with the children at a local park across from the library.

 We go to a different part of the park each week and the children are so sweet and have the best time.  This session only had four children enroll. We also have a Nature Club program beginning on Saturdays for older children. I hope we can attract more children in the area and grown the program.  It's so important for children to learn to appreciate the natural world and their local area.

I'm hoping that I can gather a group of parents interested in another similar program so I can tailor it to their needs.

Today we took a walk up and visited our town's community garden.  The children thought it was pretty neat that people shared a garden together.   I've never visited there before today so it was nice for me to see too. I have my own veggie garden but really love the idea of sharing a common space and any extra produce can be donated to our local food pantry.

Oh, by the way!!!!.... I AM GETTING CHICKENS!  I've wanted them for so long and I was finally able to wear my husband down enough for him to give in.  I cannot wait.  I told my little preschoolers that maybe they can help me name the chickens and come visit them.  They should hatch next Wednesday and I will have baby chicks late next week.  I'll be sure to document my adventure :)

We came across many cool discoveries today.  A beautiful flower that I believe came from one of the trees above us...

A little inchworm...

And JUST as we were leaving to meet parents we found this little guy!  In all my years working outside in this area, I've never seen anything remotely close to it.  Connecticut is not crawling with lizards and reptiles under our feet so it was a rare treat to see...

He was tiny.. maybe 2".  Can you do some research with your children and identify him?  If you homeschool or like to supplement your child's education with nature learning - use this as a fun opportunity to let your child do some research either online or at the local library.

When your child thinks he or she knows what the name of this little guy is... post it in the comments of this post along with your child's first name and location. You can also share a link if you want. Come back here on Monday, June 1st and we will randomly pick a few of the comments to WIN a free e-book of your choice from Little Acorn Learning!

Remember to let your child do the work - winners will be random and not based on the correct answer.

Best of luck!  

Nature's Sounds

This week in our Forest School we talked about the sense of hearing. We also talked a lot about the different types of birds in our area and the various sounds that they make.
My sweet Brianna is now a part of our forest program. She was suffering from such extreme anxiety in Kindergarten that she was having panic attacks at home and crying horribly each morning for almost a month. We tried so hard to make it work but it got to the point that I realized she just wasn't ready to transition yet. I knew this deep down inside but I guess I had hoped for the best.
So we are exploring learning together right now... learning in the woods here, participating in various homeschool groups. We've had such a wonderful time and Brianna has begun to make friends and go off on her own without me to play.
I'm not sure where we will end up but right now she is still very young and we are taking each day at a time. I have always been very open to homeschooling but also love the community aspect of being a part of a school for the girls. Luckily, the events that I've been attending are a wonderful way to make tons of friends for both myself and Brianna.
This week we took the children up to the field at Williams Park...
There the children found milkweed and Miss Jen talked about it some...When you break the leaves there is a 'milky' substance inside...
And we talked about how the caterpillars lay their eggs there..

Brianna found one that had obviously helped hatch a hungry caterpillar who then proceeded to EAT the leaf it was born on :)
This really is a beautiful way to learn. Who knows... maybe all of the girls will one day learn at home. I'm open to the idea.
Little Lilah and Brianna have been friends for a very long time. Lilah was in my childcare since she was almost two years old. It is so sweet that they are still so close - just like siblings.
Here Miss Jen took us to a special place in the woods where a big tree fell down after a big storm....
But look at the most amazing part...
The ROOTS all got pulled up - so huge and wonderful!

The children just LOVED this.
Autumn is truly here and there are signs of it everywhere. It is my absolute favorite time of the year.

On our way back to our picnic tables, we used our ears to listen for the animals in the forest. We heard so many beautiful bird sounds...
We then painted rocks to make our very own bird creations...


Below you see Brianna's bluebird and cardinal. :) Fun times.

xoxo

Eileen