Since Nature Girl was a wee mite she has absolutely loved the forest. She has been able to identify plants since before she could talk. At four she would lose herself completely in digging in the undergrowth exploring fungi below the surface of mushrooms.
Nature Girl is learning to read with small chunks of writing. Field Guides, both those for children and those for adults, have been a God send for her.
While we make tons of time for free exploration in the woods, I'm happy to hang back while they splash through streams and turn over logs, she is at the age now where information gathering is important too.
For this The Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens and KC Irving Environmental Science Centre is an awesome resource. Luckily for us, it's a 5 minute walk through the woods from our house. It also helps that the woman who runs programming there, Melanie Priesnitz, was unschooled throughout her childhood, so has a soft spot for homeschoolers!
One of the resources we'll be using for cross curricular activities is The Private Eye. It really is a great resource for anyone looking for inclusive multi- sensory curricula. This works for a preschooler like Wild Thing all the way to an inquisitive adult like myself. And, ahem, if you ever have to deal with a lice infestation the jewellers loupes are great!
One of the things that belongs on our wish list is a pond box and a few of these specimen boxes with magnifier lids - so they don't need to hold bugs and other crawlers to look at them.
1 comment:
Ahhh...the Irving Centre. How I know it. So glad to hear things are on track and thanks for the trip back home via this post. :) I am hoping to make it down again in June...we really should get together if only just to say hi!
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