DECEMBER NATURE NOTES

I hope that this Nature Note finds you well! 

Many of you are new to Exploring Nature with Children, and are joining us for the first time this month. Please jump right in, it’s a lovely time to get started with the habit of nature study and journaling.

If you began back in September, my hope is that you and your child are enjoying your studies, and learning about the natural world around you.

“Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.”

Miss Charlotte Mason

It can be a challenge to get out of doors in the colder months, so take every small moment as a victory; those moments certainly add up over the years! Look at this quote as an encouragement, rather than as words to beat yourself up with.

For those of you who are using Exploring Nature With Children, the weeks fall as follows:

2nd ~ 8th Week 1: Christmas Plants Week

9th ~ 15th Week 2: Bird Study Week  

16th ~ 22nd Week 3 Winter Solstice Week (The Solstice falls on the 22nd)

23rd ~ 29th Week 4: The Twelve Days of Christmas

The following week will be a break week.

There’s a free calendar for the year to download here.

As always, please work the weeks to suit your own circumstances best; these are just my own suggestions!

If you’re over on Instagram, do pop over and say hello! The Instagram page is very much about community; think of it as your virtual home school co op! Our community uses the #exploringnaturewithchildren hashtag, & also specific weekly hashtags to enable you to connect with other families working through ENWC this year

Seasonal notes:

Are you following the annual Raising Little Shoots nature themed Advent Calendar this year? Beginning on December 1st, through to December 24th, I will be sharing daily Advent posts: an unfolding of the Christmas Story in scripture, and an activity for the day. The activities will be mostly nature-based, with a few special, festive activities here and there, to add a little Christmas magic.

We also have the Winter Solstice to look forward to this month. The arc of the Sun is at the minimum point for the northern hemisphere at this time of year, the Sun being at its lowest in the sky. After the ‘shortest day’ of the Winter Solstice, the days will begin to grow longer again, and we are on our way back to summer time! 

And then we are upon Christmastide! A lovely Christmas carol that you may wish to share with your family is The Friendly Beasts, in which the story of the nativity is told to us by the animals who were present. I believe it it is of French origin (please do let me know if you know different!)

Here’s to a happy December. Happy exploring!