Everywhere, everywhere mindfulness, meditation, relaxation, forest bathing, sophrology–the solutions to the cultural tidal wave of anxiety, depression and less-than-ideal mental health are explained to adults and kids. Everyone from Buddhist teachers to Oprah and mainstream media have told us WHY we should make it a part of our day. But change requires a catalyst, a reason, an inspiring moment that sparks the beginning; the energy and motivation to move…
What does nature study have to do with Giving Tuesday??
After all the shopping and eating over Thanksgiving weekend, the energy shifts from Black Friday and Cyber Monday to Giving Tuesday. I’m not a big shopper (unless it’s a bookstore!) so we usually avoid most of the hubbub. But I love Giving Tuesday! This year my kiddo is old enough I’m incorporating our chosen charity into our homeschool topics for the month, covering citizenship, botany, geography, ecology and language arts…
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The Songs of Trees: 7 ways to use this AMAZING living book in homeschool
The Songs of Trees: non-fiction prose that reads like poetry at times. I’m normally a pretty fast reader, and this book made me slow down and enjoy how he uses language, as well as the message he expresses. For budding botanists and tree-loving kids, here’s a description of a maple tree. “Lime yellow flowers dust the maple tree’s canopy. Peppercorn-size bells hang from filaments at the tip of almost every…
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Nature study as a mindful activity, part 2
I love nature study, and I love mindfulness, and I love living books. Here’s a quick review of a book that will incorporate all three! It’s called The Global Forest. It’s format is in shorter chapters, so you can pick and choose easily what you might read aloud to the kiddos. A living book, beautifully written, the author Diana Beresford-Kroeger is not only a botanist and medical biochemist, she has…
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Slow and steady wins the race: Mindful Movements
“My kids sit for too much of the day already…now I’m asking them to sit more to meditate?” “I’m scared to even try to get my kid to sit down…they have so much energy. How can I introduce mindfulness to them?” “Isn’t meditation a lot of sitting?” Lots of parents and homeschoolers have questions like these. Is the answer yes? Not necessarily! Here are a few books about incorporating mindfulness…
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