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 […]
Science
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”, […]
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 […]
Will a Cell Phone Cook Your Brain (& Other Science Projects)
A few years ago my friend’s friend who teaches a college level science class told him about how he impressed the students with this simple experiment. This may already be “been there done that” for everyone but the idea impressed me because someone we know actually used this in their class and I didn’t just hear […]
Is the Natural Healing Revolution Over?
In an article I was reading the other day it says, “One of the driving forces that has resulted in mainstream acceptance of phytomedicine in Germany is the inclusion of phytotherapy in the medical and pharmacy school curricula. In the opinion of several medical groups, “modern phytotherapy is not perceived as alternative medicine, but as […]
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 […]
Ten Things to Do with a Rosemary Tree
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 […]
Three Apple Harvest Activities
Today* for our EarthSchooling Enrichment class we made apple-pickers, told the apple star story and made apple crisp! All the fruit on the lower branches has been snacked away by Sofi and her friends so we had to reach a little farther into the tree 🙂 Making the apple pickers and using them was everyone’s favorite! […]
Spring “Egg” Hunt
As a healer I always try to find that “perfect herb” that fits the needs of my client’s emotions, my clients physical body and my client’s spirit. As a teacher I am always trying to find that “perfect task” or “perfect lesson” that fits the needs of the day, the needs of the family and […]
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 […]
Science in Waldorf Education: Wisdom from the Iowa Academy of Science
This Tuesday I presented the new Wildlife Curriculum “Predator, Prey and People” to the Iowa Academy of Science. It was an honor to present at the conference and was inspiring to meet all the teachers, hear their stories, share ideas, answer questions and observe. It would be impossible to share everything with you so here […]
Earthschooling – an Award Winning Curriculum
