(A Friday feature that chronicles our nature study adventures.) We kicked off this week by heading over to one of our favourite trails, one that winds through the wetlands. It was late afternoon and the marsh quivered with life. The sun was bright and the air was warm. A tall, white egret fished in the … Continue reading This Week in the Woods (and why I’m sort of quitting science class)
A Friday feature that chronicles our nature study adventures. The setting sun filters through tall trees. Only patches of its light reach the forest floor. My friend and I are softly walking through the forest, scanning the canopy, searching but seeing nothing. A great horned owl lives here. I saw it last week. But this … Continue reading This Week in the Woods: The Search for the Great Horned Owl
I often get asked how we do nature study. In my previous post, I shared three simple steps to incorporate nature study into your homeschool day. Because there will always be gaps in a child's education, teaching them how to learn is so much more important than what they learn. Research skills are vital for success, and … Continue reading 50 Amazing Nature Study Resources
We wandered down the gravel road, past the fields that were so familiar to my dirt-stained hands. Past the first irrigation pond, then more crops, then a small forest. At the back pond, we stopped and watched the tadpoles resting quietly beneath the surface of the water. This—all of it—was why we had come … Continue reading How to Easily Add Nature Study to your Homeschool Day
Midnight had come and gone. We stumbled through the darkness, our flashlights barely illuminating the trail through the woods. The cold seeped through my winter coat and into my bones. Ahead of us, a long net stretched down the path and into the blackness. “We got one!” someone cried. Carefully, he untangled the little bird … Continue reading The Importance of Nature Study
There are fingerprints on the television. And on the walls. And on the windows. Tiny little fingerprints made by tiny little hands. And there are crayons buried in the couch and storybooks tucked behind the cushions. I’m going to miss this someday—the messes, the spills, the child-marks left everywhere. Yesterday, I held the littlest one … Continue reading My Beautiful Mess
The sun is just starting to push its way above the horizon, and last year’s fallen leaves are etched in frost. The woods quiver with birdsong, a crescendo that rises as the light becomes more brilliant. We wander slowly down the dirt trail, my friend, my daughter and I. Listening. Absorbing. We met at a … Continue reading The Promise of Life
It’s almost autumn. The mid-afternoon sun is hot, and in the orchard, sleepy cows rest in the shade of an apple tree. Although the tree is old and gnarled, its leaves are still green and plump fruit hangs red. Near the fence, thistles are bursting with wisps of seed waiting to be caught in the … Continue reading (Almost) Autumn Hikes and Room to Breathe
The breeze is tinged with the perfume of blossoms—white blossoms brushed with the lightest blush of pink. In the thick of the apple branches, there is a flash of flame-orange, and the unmistakable song of an oriole rings through the air. Down below, a profusion of forget-me-nots is on full display in the garden. Spring … Continue reading Out on a Limb
The nest is tiny and delicately woven. The materials are simple and humble—field grass. It sits on the nature shelf in our dining room, a perfect little cup that once held the cream-and-speckled promise of life. Even now, it holds a promise. “Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where … Continue reading The Sparrow’s Home
The Grace-Filled Life 