Creating a Backyard Phenology Wheel is an effortless project that will include nature journling into our routine as we flourish at home in a time of crisis. The phenology wheel is a simple, month by month, representation of nature around you, and right now, that is in the backyard. A simple walk into the backyard to notice which plants are…
Read More
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…
Read More
Studying nature in the backyard is convenient and manageable in the busy seasons of life, and it’s the perfect place to investigate as we stay home and safe during the Covid 19 pandemeic. Charlotte Mason urged her students to discover nature in thier backyards or nieghbourhoods before venturing further afield. So, as we self isolate and get outdoors for our…
Read More
I’ve been invited by Kelly George from Fearless Homeschool to discuss the study of nature at the Australian Homeschooling Summit 2020 and even though I’m excited to talk about my favourite subject with all you Aussie Homeschool Mums, I’m petrified of stepping out of my comfort zone. (Help)!!! But I wanted to share with you that the study of nature…
Read More
Are you dreaming of wholesome, educational and enjoyable nature study activities with your children?
I popped over to Homeschool Families Network recently to discuss observational nature journaling. I enjoyed writing up this guide which includes the tools, know how, journal entries and types of nature journaling. I also talked about how nature journaling is a unique reflection of one’s personality, where tastes and preferences are expressed with individual creativity. If we all explored the same nature…
Read More
We’ve packed away the books for 2018 and are looking forward to enjoying the holidays, but first we wanted to share our finished wheels! I hope you’ll join us in 2019 creating these beautiful memories. Jo: Wife, mum and homemaker.
Jacob is an inspiring young man on a mission. He’s taken his passion for photography and created a Bird Field Guide for his local Bushland, Cussen Park. Jacob has also launched his new website, Digital Journey Photography. I hope his story inspires many young people to go out and do likewise. Here’s his story… My adventure this month is actually…
Read More
It’s been a couple of months since our last update and I thought you might like to see how the wheels are developing. We have been using our field journals to record what we discover as we go on our nature rambles. We chose our favourite entries, along with photos we have taken to decide what we want to include…
Read More
It was a cold, wet day today. Prefect for hiding inside. We lit the fires, warmed the house, then took out our paints and phenology wheels. The day was spent creating April’s entry. Before we start each section I outline where we will be working with a permanent marker. This helps the younger children know where we will be working….
Read More
Our school holiday project was to complete the next section of our wheels… The children were debating whether this was still classified as ‘school’ work, and if they were being tricked into working on their holidays! I will be honest and say that I have a terrible habit of finding educational projects and passing them off as ‘fun’ activities for…
Read More