The Foundations of Nature-Based Learning at Earthschooling Nature-based learning is an educational approach that emphasizes outdoor, experiential, and hands-on learning. Unlike traditional classroom education, which often relies on structured lessons and standardized testing, nature-based learning encourages children to explore, observe, and interact with the natural world. This method is rooted in the belief that children […]
Field Trips
Keeping Your Kids Interested in the Outdoors While Keeping Them Safe
By Anya Willis It’s never too early to get in touch with nature. Encouraging your kids to explore the outdoors is a great way to keep them active and connected to the environment. But you may be wondering how you can keep them engaged and keep them safe while they’re outside. Here are six tips […]
Transforming Free Public Worksheets into Waldorf Inspired Lessons
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”, […]
How to Plan an Earthschooling Educational Excursion
Part One: Choosing a Location All Photos Copyright Kristie Burns When we first started Earthschooling we chose the name “Earthschooling” because we wanted to emphasize that education does not just happen at home. In fact, one of our favorite ways to learn has always been to be outdoors or to take what I call “Earthschooling […]
Connecting with Children Through Literature
Seeing Lois Lowry speak last night with my two daughters was an experience I will never forget. But it wasn’t simply because she is a famous author and writes award-winning books. The experience was special to me because Lois Lowry was my first introduction to modern teenage fiction and represents a special bond I continue […]
What Broadway Shows Can Teach You About Life
Preface: Our local Civic Center, The Des Moines Performing Arts Center, brings many shows to Des Moines every year. They not only bring amazing Broadway performances, professional dancers & touring shows to our local stage but they give homeschoolers and public school students wonderful chances to see performing art shows & interact with the cast and crew […]
Clothing Unit for Third Grade and Under
Cabin Fever Cures
The kids and I have been getting a bit of “Cabin Fever” with all this miserable weather we’ve had in Iowa.** Nature walks have become shorter and we miss the sunshine and greenery and we needed a change! Sofi came up with the perfect solution! She decided that now was the perfect time to study Botany […]
Out of the Classroom
I love Earthschooling because we spend so much time out of the “traditional classroom”. I adore books and have shelves filled with them. However, what always amazes me is how easily and effortlessly we learn outside of the traditional “textbook and classroom” methods. Today was a perfect example of getting outdoors for education and combining […]
Why Waldorf-inspired Education Creates Great Scientists
One of the many reasons we decided to base Earthschooling on Waldorf-inspired principles was because of the strong science base Waldorf-inspired education provides. When I share this thought with parents and teachers the first questions they ask is (something like), “How can Waldorf-inspired education create great scientists? And what do you mean – strong science […]
Visit to a Hindu Temple in Iowa
Sofi and I are studying the Fifth Grade Ancient Cultures block. In the first part of the block we talked about Ancient India. Since this block included information on Hinduism and Buddhism we decided to visit a temple last week. I was amazed that this even exists in Iowa and I never would have known […]
Earthschooling – an Award Winning Curriculum
