I believe children learn best by LIVING, by taking an ACTIVE part in life, being able to DO as much as they can, as safety allows. Children are very capable beings, and are often under-estimated by adults.
Spending the days at A NEST IN NATURE and living and learning with nature, farm and animal life, includes caring for the animals, gardening, cooking and baking, and the daily responsibilities that come with our daily living (sweeping the floor, setting the table, etc) as well as Play, and other enriching activities ( literature, art, music, drama)
The more a child can do herself, the more she has a sense of self , becoming confident and knowing who he/she is.
We follow the seasons as Nature does, and we become more in tune with the natural world around us. We explore and observe and discover.
We plant and tend organic gardens. We explore the woodlands, ridge, meadow, and pond every day and in all seasons. We have an ongoing nature cabinet, nature table and we create nature journals to record our finds.
We play in the teepee and make fairy houses and forts. We observe pond life with buckets and magnifying glasses, we go birding with binoculars, we fish at the pond and we make nature crafts and more.
We learn what it is like to be responsible for other living beings, by caring for our animals on a day to day basis: Horses, Rabbits, Ducks, Chickens, and Dogs.
We learn what each animal needs, and when, and how to do it. We are constantly improving their living conditions as we live and learn.
It's that *animal connection* that touches our hearts, knowing we are giving our animals the best of us, giving them a healthy and safe envirornment, one filled with love:
It's hearing the neighing welcome we get from the horses as they see us approaching and snuggling against their soft muzzles.
It's picking clover and dandelion greens in the meadow and feeding them to the rabbits , and plucking their soft, silky angora fur to save when we learn how to spin it into yarn.
It's raking out the duck pen and filling their pools each morning as the ducks look on, anxiously awaiting their swim time, and perhaps being chased by the drakes IF they are in fiesty mood :)
It's collecting eggs from the chicken coop and comparing them in color and size to the duck eggs, and baking with them.
It's walking the two bulldogs down the grassy drive and playing with them in the yard and in the house. . . and much much more :)
We have a daily Circle Gathering Time, a time when we talk and share, listen to stories and poetry, and play games and fingerplays.
We have a planned activity each day of the week, such as Lego Club, Cooking, Animals, Science Experiments, Scrapbooking, Cake Decorating, Nature Journaling, etc.
We have focus books of the week (although we read many books!) and we often do activities and crafts related to the book. And each child makes a scrapbook of their year.
Children are given the FREEDOM to make CHOICES, as often as possible, in all aspects of their day, for making choices is how they learn to make decisions as they grow. Ones that are the best for THEM.
We have a QUIET TIME each afternoon, to recharge and reflect.
We play outside each day, often a couple times a day, depending on weather conditions and other interests. There is something to discover each and every day.
