We’ve turned our focus on nature study into the backyard as we stay home and safe. Our cherry tomatoes self seeded themselves for the third year from fruit we allowed to fall last year and it’s been a bumper crop which has recieved very little effort on our part. We didn’t even stake them. Instead, we allowed them to flow over our planter boxes.
We were not the only ones enjoying delicious tomatoes, it seems we’ve had local visitors drop in for a taste. Our guess is that we’ve been sharing them with Noisy miners who frequent the backyard in search of spiders that have flourished in many nooks and crannies around the yard.
We went away for two weeks on a camping trip and when we arrived home the tomato bushes were laden with produce. We shared our crop with others but there were still a few bowls of tomatoes which were over ripe and juicy.
I decided to make a power packed tomato soup guaranteed to keep our family’s immune systems strong. It was a comforting meal enjoyed with a dollop of Greek yogurt on an autumn day which was quiet fresh.
I’ve begun a backyard nature journal featuring the veggies I grow, the plants that bloom and the insects who call our space home. After all, the love and appreciation we have for nature should spill out of our daily routines effortlessly. I think I may just add that tomato recipe to the diary too.
I included a list of pollinators who are currently buzzing about the tomato flowers slurping up nectar and distributing pollen.
To observe and journal nature is to take care of you. It’s a time for mother to reflect on and appreciate the little things in life which refresh the soul and mind.
Stepping outdoors, even if it’s just into the backyard to enjoy the sunshine or rain, allows mother to leave the pressures of home behind and take care of her mental health while watching the children play and learn as they encounter nature’s secrets. Mother can certainly join the children in their backyard adventures as they too, go out to play.
“If mothers could learn to do for themselves what they do for their children when these are overdone, we should have happier households. Let the mother go out to play! If she would only have courage to let everything go when life becomes too tense, and just take a day, or half a day, out in the fields, or with a favourite book, or in a picture gallery looking long and well at just two or three pictures, or in bed, without the children, life would go on far more happily.”
Charlotte Mason.
I’ve learned over recent years that children learn best, and are happier, when mother walks beside them and learns along with them. We never arrive at a state of knowing it all. There’s always something new to discover as nature continues to surprise us. Our continuing education is just as important as our children’s, so don’t let ‘not knowing’ stop you from steeping outdoors to explore with the children.
I touch on mothers inspiring children to love nature and jouranl in the Australian Homeschool Summit 2020 in May. I hope you will join the conversation as we discuss embracing nature study effortlessly as it flows out of our daily lives, not as a science subject, but as a lifestyle.
Then step away from our discussion with 8 simple activities to immerse yourself in the outdoors along with a workbook full of nature study ideas and quotes to inspire and motivate your nature explorations.
I’m looking forward to ‘meeting’ you as we curl up on our couches, safe at home for this online homeschool conference which offers a connection with other home ed families in a private setting. Don’t forget your cuppa and snack. Mine will be coffee and chocolate of course.
If you’d like to know what other nature study topics will be covered in the workshop, then pop over here for more insight. See you soon!
