Waldkindergarten

I first read about Waldkindergarten http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_kindergarten in Mothering magazine a few months ago. The idea intrigued me, both because our kinder love being outdoors, and also because it appeals to the hippy heart of me. I love the lack of structure and serendipity of being outside, whether it's at the beach, in a meadow, or in a forest. Obviously, as we are forest dwellers, most of our outside time is spent in, or very near to, the forest. The research is impressive: children who spend large blocks of time outdoors tend to have lower stress hormones, less illness, and fewer accidents. After reading about these forest kindergartens, I determined to spend much more time outside with the littles, no matter what the weather. To that end, after fortifying ourselves with a breakfast of a scary number of eggs (I fixed 6 eggs for myself and two toddlers the other night because there was nothing else in the house to eat because they're so good for little brains, and I definitely got the short end of THAT deal), zucchini chocolate pecan coconut (you get the idea) muffins, fresh milk right from the cow, and fresh-picked blueberries, we embarked on a day of play. We first spent some time in our very own woods and playing on the swings, and in the sand and water table.

After naps, we headed to the state park that's, thankfully, only 10 minutes from our house. Our plan was to swim at the lake, but there were rumbles of thunder. Though it never did rain, the lifegaurds make everyone get out of the water for 15 minutes after hearing thunder, and that's not fun, so we decided on a hike instead. Both of our kids have impressive balance, and it's fun to watch them charging through the woods. The start of our hike was rewarded with a doe and fawn standing a few feet from the truck and watching us. In the full 5 minutes they stood there, I couldn't get the stupid camera to work. Grrr. That's on our list of things to buy this summer. Anyway. We saw several other deer, and Mercy kept demanding "More deers!" She found some water to play in though, and forgot about the "deers."

Inspecting a piece of bark Benj pulled off a shedding tree to show them.

Judah climbing a root ball from a blown-down tree.

Mercy inspecting an acorn.

Judah actually threw himself down while pitching a fit (mean mommy wouldn't let him climb over a rock outcropping without holding his hand) and decided to take a rest. He was inspecting a little branch and leaves.

After our hike, we headed into town and got organic ice cream sandwiches for everyone (except Judah...one more month till your birthday, Buddy). We plan to start hiking more seriously, not just because we want the children to be exposed to nature and survival skills, but because Benj and I truly enjoy it. I've begun the search for toddler hiking gear...obviously they need something a little better than crocs for trolling the woods...and I think we'll be all set before the weather gets cold.

On the subject of educational philosophies, we're looking seriously into a curriculum for Mercy. I can't believe we're already thinking about this as she's not even two and a half yet, but she has known her letter sounds since 21 months, and can now recognize all the letters and say their sounds. I think she'll soon be ready to read, and though I don't want to push her, I want to take advantage of her eagerness to learn, her love for books, and her quick memory for words (I introduced the word "habitat" the other night when were doing a sticker book page with animals in their environments, and she used it appropriately shortly after that). We've settled on Veritas Press http://www.veritaspress.com/ , which is a Christian based classical education. I always thought I would use A Beka, the same thing that I used, as that served me well in training me for college. But as soon as I began reading about the advantages of a classical education, I was hooked. I just got my hands on Veritas' Phonics Museum. I'm so excited! It combines fine art and italic writing with language and phonics. This method also takes advantage of young children's sponge-like memory by using CD's with a number of subjects set to music. We plan to start Mercy on the Westminster Shorter Catechism set to music in the coming weeks. Veritas also takes advantage of young children's ability with languages, and they start on Latin in the second grade.

It seems that a classical education is diametrically opposed to the Waldkindergarten, as it is quite structured, but I think I can resolve the two ideas. Like the Renaissance man/woman, I want my children to have extensive book knowledge and acuity in math, logic, and language, but I also want them to have practical, or common sense knowledge that comes from observing nature, work in the kitchen, building things in the woodshop, etc. Lofty ambitions. I hope I can accomplish half of my goals.