How can it be the middle of November already? Our seasonal calendar says we are almost at the end of our 2015 journey. I love the calendar. The kids love it too. I think we love it for different reasons, but the one thing we have in common is looking forward to new activities and events, and sometimes birthdays.
This time of year in Calgary is the best time, in my opinion.
It is a time of crisp windy days, clusters of fallen leaves
in yellows, browns and reds,, and even snow. Being here in our space, and
being able to use the beautiful backdrop as our playground and playschool
is the best thing ever.
Thankfully, allowing the children to be at one with the
elements - to commune with nature is not work at all, it's is second nature-
like breathing. So when we do get outside - when we celebrate the seasons with
friends and small critters too, we are celebrating change in every form. And
when the days begin to spiral out of control...yes, this does happen even to
the best of us, we seek out the solace of the great outdoors.
Of course, in autumn (here), this is no small feat. It
involves layers of clothes and covering almost every part of their small
bodies. It involves loud sighs, and groans of frustration from the bigger
children, who feel they should be able to do up zippers or put on mitts, but
find it tedious and well- difficult. It takes real work...a lot of work.
When we finally do get out- when we take learning outside,
it is great fun. And we learn so much whilst outside, like math (count
pine-cones and rocks, or whatever we find). We practice our French by looking
at all the little things around us, and naming them. We gather and label, and
hold dear pieces of nature that are quite ordinary, but sooo necessary -
after-all, you can NEVER have too many pine-cones. At home, adorning our
nature table with our collection of treasures is also a great reward.
In the next week we hope to play in the leaves once again - just jump in and roll around. We also hope to collect bits and pieces of nature - pine-cones, leaves, twigs - whatever we can find.
*Did you notice that the children have adorned our calendar
with a piece of nature from each season...winter finds are next on our list :)
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“A hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in the bank…but the world may be a better place because I made a difference in the life of a child.”
~ Forest Witcraft