How to Plan an Earthschooling Educational Excursion: Part Two All photos copyright Kristie Burns On our recent educational excursion (see part one here) we visited many wildlife preserves. One of the preserves, the Lee County Manatee Park, had a great website with a lot of “downloadable” educational documents. These documents were your typical “coloring sheet”, […]
Animals
Is There Something You Should Be Doing?
Is there something you feel you “should” be doing? Why do you feel that way? Recently I was reminded of how important it is to ask that question. We have always left our backyard “natural” but made sure to cultivate and mow the front yard so the neighbors would not be upset. There are regulations in […]
Nature Walks in The Upper Grades
Nature walks are a much talked about feature of early childhood programs in Waldorf inspired schools. They are also an important part of the educational day for children. However, nature walks can and should continue into the upper grades and even high school. This essay by my student Sunii, illustrates one way in which nature […]
Clothing Unit for Third Grade and Under
I love to visit local farms as part of the kids’ education. It is a wonderful way to introduce them to the area they live in, their neighbors, another kind of life, and much more. It is also a way to teach them skills I may not have or to teach them skills I have, […]
Be a Citizen Scientist
There are so many ways to be a citizen scientist in our area. As an adult I love participating as a way to be outdoors, give back to the community, further my education in the sciences, and meet other people who are interested in nature. When my children were younger they loved helping with many of […]
Easter Field Trip: Wildlife Education
One of the ways we are celebrating spring is by doing a unit study on birth and the animal kingdom in general. We visited a goat farm last weekend and learned a lot about caring for baby goats. This week we visited the Iowa Reptile Rescue and cuddled with snakes and other reptiles. It is […]
Wildlife Rescue and Education
Springtime is here and at the wildlife center we have baby opossums! They are so adorable! The even better news is that all of our baby animals come from captive breeding facilities (these facilities are set up around the country to support a diverse population of wild animals in captivity and prevent extinction of a […]
Taking Care of Baby Bear
If you are a parent or have been a parent or caregiver I am sure you can understand my excitement when I find that I can do something enriching for myself that I love that ALSO enriches my children! My ongoing work at The Red Rock Wildlife Education Center has been such a wonderful experience […]
Sweet Sue and Snuggly Thumper
A new arrival at the wildlife center left Sofi and I wondering what to do. We didn’t have any information about skunks in our Earthschooling curriculum! We had studied mammals and animals in general and we had touched on information about skunks. We had also read a number of fables and fairytales that had a […]
Integrating Volunteering with Homeschooling
There are so many organizations and people needing your help. How can you possibly fit volunteering into an already full schedule of homeschooling, running a house and perhaps even work or running a business? One effective way is to integrate it instead of “fitting” it. Volunteering can provide many educational opportunities beyond the cultural and […]
A Jellyfish Story & Lesson
In the true spirit of Earthschooling Sofi and I spontaneously decided to “hit the road” on Sunday and go to Minneapolis to visit the aquarium. We had the most amazing time! We happened to end up there at a very odd time so when they gave the “behind the scenes” tour Sofi and I were […]
Little Owl Boy Story for October
We love this October story! It is “spooky” but in a unique way and has a lesson to share as well. It also gives insight into Native American culture. LONG ago, out on the wide prairie, there was an Indian camp, and on the edge of the camp was a tepee, in which lived a […]