There are moments in every mother’s life when the rush of the world feels far too loud. We find ourselves longing for something quieter, something more rooted. A way of living with our family that feels whole, unhurried, and rich with meaning.

It is not nostalgia. It is not a romantic filter. It is a deep knowing. Childhood is sacred, fleeting, and deserving of care.

The Lost Art of Slow Childhood

In generations past, children grew up with seasons as their teachers. Spring lambing, summer fields, autumn harvests, winter hearth fires. The rhythm of the natural year shaped their souls as much as their bodies.

Today, childhood is often hurried, fragmented, and distracted. Our culture prizes busyness, achievement, and screens, sadly leaving little space for wonder.

But here is the truth: children still long for slowness. They still hunger for the chance to dig their hands into the soil, to watch the clouds, to hear Scripture not as a lecture, but as a song, woven throughout their days.

Why Nature Matters for the Soul

When a child kneels in the grass to watch an ant carry its burden, or listens to the blackbird’s evening hymn, something holy is happening. Creation is one of the first books God gave to us.

Nature study is not a fluffy extra. It is a doorway into reverence. It slows a child’s steps. It opens their eyes. It teaches them to notice God’s fingerprints scattered lavishly across the earth.

Paired with prayer and scripture, nature becomes a living devotional.

Creating a Sanctuary

So what does this look like in practice?

• It looks like gathering your children for a short reading of Scripture before a walk.
• It looks like naming the wildflowers you pass, then pausing to give thanks for the One who clothed them in splendour.
• It looks like sitting under a tree with your child, sketchbook in hand, listening to the wind and to God’s still, small voice.

This is sanctuary: not escape from the world, but instead anchoring your child’s heart in truth and beauty within it.

A Companion for your Journey

Eight years ago, this was the vision that planted the seed for my newest resource: The Sanctuary of Childhood. And finally, it is here.

It is not busy work. It is not a checklist.
It is a companion for your child’s days.  Rooted in Scripture, shaped by the natural year, and written to be lived with.

Simple. Usable. A true accompaniment for those fleeting years when your child is still at your side.

Childhood passes quickly. But when it is filled with prayer, nature, and wonder, it becomes not only a memory, but a sanctuary that stays within your child for life.

The Sanctuary of Childhood is now available in my shop. I would love for it to become part of your own family’s rhythm.

P.S. The Summer Sale ends on Sunday!

There is something about autumn that draws us inward.
The air turns crisp, the light softens, and suddenly home feels like the place we want to be. The kitchen grows warm with baking, the garden fades into rest, and evenings become a time to gather close.

In the busyness of everyday life, it’s easy to miss these small shifts. We rush through the season, only half-noticing the miracle of change happening outside our windows, and sometimes, inside our souls. How do we truly make our homes into places of peace in a season that can just as easily bring hurry, noise, and overwhelm?

The answer lies in intentionally weaving together faith, gratitude, and the simple rhythms of daily life. This autumn, I’d love to invite you into a new resource that does exactly that: The Sanctuary of Home ~ Autumn Edition, a gentle guide through September, October, and November.

Why “Sanctuary of Home”?

The word sanctuary means more than a safe place. It means a holy space; a dwelling filled with presence. And isn’t that what we long for our homes to be? Not perfect, not necessarily Pinterest-worthy, but rooted in peace, and filled with God’s love.

This resource was born from my own longing to bring more gratitude, rhythm, and blessing into the everyday life of home. Autumn, with its gathering of harvest and gathering of loved ones, seemed the perfect place to begin.

What’s Inside?

Each month (September, October, November) is anchored around Scripture, prayer, and seasonal reflection. The verses and prayer are carried with you through the month, by the kettle, at the table, or tucked inside your Bible, until they truly take root in your heart. Alongside them, a gentle seasonal reflection  encourages you to notice God’s presence in the shifting rhythms of nature and the turning of the year.

Here’s what you’ll find inside:

Monthly Anchors – scripture, prayer, and a reflection on the season
Seasonal Planning Pages – space for foods, traditions, homemaking, and people to bless
Gentle Homemaking Rituals – one per week to root peace and gratitude into the home
Weekly Scripture Focus – with “head, heart, hands” reflections to make God’s Word practical
Sharing the Season – invitations for simple connection with family, friends, or community
Nature Prompts & Focus – helping you notice the light, scents, and sounds of autumn
Daily Spark – a 3-step rhythm (Pause & Notice, Pray & Invite, Give Thanks)

This isn’t a list of tasks, or a planner that will weigh you down. It’s a guide and companion, a gentle voice reminding you to look up, breathe deeply, and gather what matters most this autumn.

How You Might Use It

• Keep it by your Bible for morning quiet time.
• Print it and place it in a folder, adding your own notes and reflections as you go.
• Use it with your children or family at the table , lighting a candle, reading the month’s prayer, or sharing the week’s Scripture.
• Bring it into your homemaking rhythms — whether baking, cleaning, or setting the table.
• Take it outside — carry a page into the garden or park as you notice the shift of the seasons.

Think of it as a way of weaving faith into the everyday fabric of home life.

Why It Matters

We live in noisy, hurried times.
But autumn has always been a season of gathering in, of bringing the harvest home, drawing loved ones close, and offering our hearts in stillness before God.

This resource is a practice of learning to see ; the gifts, the beauty, the provision, and the peace God offers us in every small corner of our lives.

Special Launch Price

The Sanctuary of Home – Autumn Edition: Gathering & Gratitude will be available for $12.

But during the Summer Sale, you can get your copy for just $9.60.

 Click here to purchase your copy now

A Final Word

As an older woman, I have learned over the years that our home doesn’t have to be perfect to be a sanctuary. It doesn’t have to be silent or spotless. It only needs to be rooted in peace and filled with gratitude.

This autumn, let’s turn our homes into places where faith meets rhythm, where gratitude takes root, and where peace becomes the hearth-fire at the centre of our days.

Let’s gather this season well and shape our life and home in lasting ways, with gratitude, peace, and joy.

Warmly,

On the old, walnut wood Welsh dresser this morning lies a small paper towel scattered with nature’s treasures; acorns in their jaunty caps, dried poppy seed heads that rattle softly when shaken, the delicate ghost-bell forms of dried bluebells, and a handful of thistledown flowers, still holding their deep purple glow.

I’ve been gathering these over the past couple of weeks on early morning moments spent barefoot in my garden. The sun, warm on my shoulders but the air whispering change. They are destined for our homemade Christmas wreath, a simple family tradition that begins not in December, but here, in late summer, when hedgerows are full and the meadows are ready for harvest.

I find something deeply grounding about preparing for the winter celebrations now, while the earth is still offering its abundance. It turns Christmas into a season-long story, beginning with summer rambles and autumn harvests, and ending with candles lighting the dark. My children have grown up knowing that preparing is a huge part of the joy; it slows the pace, lets anticipation ripen, and ties us gently to the turning year.

The Gift of Gentle Anticipation

In our home, the lead-up to Christmas is never hurried. I want my children to know that waiting is beautiful; that there is joy in watching something unfold slowly. One of my favourite ways to do this is with our Nature Advent Calendar, which blends seasonal nature prompts with meaningful family traditions, creating a December rhythm that’s thoughtful rather than rushed.

We begin collecting things like acorns, pinecones, and seed heads now, knowing that when Advent arrives, these treasures will find their place in garlands, table displays, or a nature tray by the window. The calendar prompts often inspire the simplest of delights: walking to see winter trees, baking something fragrant, lighting a candle and reading together.

If you’re looking for a way to bring this kind of gentle anticipation into your December, my Celebrating the Seasons with Children: A Nature Advent Calendar is designed exactly for that; to guide your own family through the weeks before Christmas with beauty, nature, and connection at its heart.

A Little Nudge

Right now, it’s part of my Summer Sale, so it’s discounted along with everything else in my shop. This is the perfect moment to tuck it away ready for December; a small gift to your future self when the season turns busy.

So perhaps on your next walk, you might pocket an acorn or two, or slip a seed head into your bag. Lay them in an old shoe box, knowing they’ll weave their way into your winter celebrations. Let the preparations begin quietly now, so that by the time Christmas comes, your home will be filled with the story of the seasons, from sunlit August to candlelit December.

You can find the Nature Advent Calendar here.

The middle of summer can feel like a blur.
One moment, the days stretch long and bright, and the next, they’re already beginning to shorten. The rasp of grasshoppers in the fields, the heavy scent of roses, the warmth that lingers into evening , all of it is precious, but so easy to miss when life moves too fast.

That’s why I created Keeping a Seasonal Diary: A Practice of Sacred Noticing.
It’s a gentle, practical guide that will help you slow down, notice the beauty right where you are, and capture those moments before they slip away.

This isn’t about “dear diary” entries or long, pressured pages.
It’s about learning to see your ordinary days through fresh eyes, weaving together:

• The weather and light that frame your day
• The small events and emotions that make it unique
• A sense of God’s quiet presence in the midst of it all
• Gratitude for the gifts, large and small, that each day brings

In just seven days, you’ll discover a new way to write , one that connects your inner life to the gentle rhythm of the seasons, creating a living record of God’s faithfulness.

Once you begin, you’ll find that the words come easily. You’ll begin to notice more, to savour more, to live more fully in the moment.

Why Start Now?

Summer offers a wealth of detail for your diary: the hum of bees, the laughter of children playing outside, the way evening light turns everything to gold. Starting now means you’ll have these memories preserved to revisit in the colder months ahead.

Summer Sale – Limited Time

Right now, Keeping a Seasonal Diary is part of my Summer Sale, running until the 24th August 2025. It’s the perfect time to give yourself (or a friend) a resource that will nourish your soul for years to come.

 Find out more and purchase your copy here.

Your life, just as it is right now, is worth noticing.
Keeping a Seasonal Diary will help you to see it, to honour it, and to treasure it.

I’m so pleased to share something I’ve been quietly working on; a brand new free guide to help you begin (or begin again!) your journey with Exploring Nature With Children.

A Gentle Start to Nature Study: Getting Started with Exploring Nature With Children is filled with practical, encouraging advice to help you step into nature study with confidence, without feeling overwhelmed.

Inside you’ll find:

• A clear overview of what ENWC is and who it’s for
• Step-by-step instructions to start right away
• Tried-and-true tips for a smooth, joyful year
• Ideas for using ENWC in a group or co-op
• A printable “Today in Nature” journaling page for your children

Whether you’re brand new to Exploring Nature With Children, or simply looking for a fresh start, this guide will help you create a gentle rhythm of seasonal learning and wonder in your home.

Download your free guide here

And… the Summer Sale Has Already Begun!

The Raising Little Shoots Summer Sale is now on and runs until 24th August 2025.
It’s the perfect time to pick up Exploring Nature With Children or any of my other resources at a special price. No code is needed , just add your chosen resources to your basket and the discount will be applied automatically.

Browse the sale here

Make a cup of tea, download your free guide, and take a look at the beautiful resources now available at special summer prices. Here’s to a year ahead filled with seasonal learning, wonder, and connection!

Happy exploring!

It’s that time of year again, the Raising Little Shoots Summer Sale has begun! (And did you know, it’s ENWC’s 10th birthday?)
From now until 24th August 2025, you can enjoy special sale prices on all of my nature study resources, just in time to prepare for a new homeschool year.

No code is needed, simply add your chosen resources to your basket and the sale price will be applied automatically.

What’s Included in the Sale?

Whether you are just beginning your nature study journey or are ready to add something new to your rhythm, you’ll find resources to inspire you and your children:

• 🌿 Exploring Nature With Children – a complete, year-long, Charlotte Mason–inspired nature study curriculum
• 📝 Guided Journal – a beautiful companion for your child’s nature work
• 📚 A Nature Study Primer – 21 days to the habit of nature study
• 🌸 Exploring Nature Around the Year – daily nature journaling prompts for 365 days
• ✨ Nature-Inspired Devotionals for Grown Ups – seasonal reflections and practices for you
• 🎉 Celebrating the Seasons with Children – gentle ways to mark the natural and liturgical year

New Free Resource – Getting Started with Exploring Nature With Children

I’m also thrilled to share a brand new free guide to help you begin your ENWC journey with confidence.

A Gentle Start to Nature Study: Getting Started with Exploring Nature With Children includes:

• A clear overview of what ENWC is and who it’s for
• Step-by-step instructions to begin right away
• Tried-and-true tips for a smooth, joyful year
• Ideas for using ENWC in a group or co-op
• A printable “Today in Nature” journaling page for your children

Whether you’re new to ENWC or starting again after a break, this guide will help you step into the new year with simplicity and confidence.

You can download here.

Don’t Miss Out

The Summer Sale ends Saturday 24th August 2025. It’s the perfect time to gather your resources, plan your first walks, and look forward to a year of seasonal learning and wonder.

Browse the sale here
Download the free Getting Started with ENWC guide here.

Let’s step into the new school year together — gently, and in tune with the seasons.

Happy exploring!

As another school year rapidly approaches, many of us have turned our attention to planning, hoping to bring a little more order to our days, a little more rhythm to our weeks, a little more peace to our homes.

And yet, for many home-educating parents, planning can feel overwhelming. The blank pages. The wide possibilities. The weight of doing it correctly.

But planning your year, the Charlotte Mason way, doesn’t need to be heavy or rigid. It can be a joy, a form of prayerful preparation for the feast you are laying before your child.

Planning as a Spiritual Discipline

Charlotte Mason reminds us that “education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.” And it is with this in mind that we begin to shape our year, not just by selecting books or writing timetables, but by asking:

• What kind of atmosphere will our home embody this year?
• What habits of heart and home will we gently cultivate?
• What kind of life, of living ideas, will we share together?

In this light, planning becomes less about doing and more about becoming. It’s not about crafting a perfect schedule, it’s about preparing the soil so something living and beautiful can grow.

A Gentle Framework for the Year Ahead

Here are some simple steps I encourage you to take as you begin to shape your upcoming home education year:

1. Begin with prayer and purpose.
   Set aside time to reflect on why you are home educating. What matters most to your family this year? What are your hopes for each child—not just academically, but spiritually and emotionally?
2. Choose your guiding anchors.
   Consider choosing a Bible verse, a hymn, or even a word for the year that can serve as a quiet foundation for your learning.
3. Plan the big picture before the daily details.
   Start with seasons, holidays, and family rhythms. Then consider nature study themes, term divisions, and your book selections. Build outward from what is real and what is valuable.
4. Leave space for life.
   Remember Charlotte Mason’s emphasis on short lessons and leaving time for afternoon pursuits, nature walks, and free exploration. Your plans should work for your life, not the other way around.

A Planner Created for the Way You Actually Live

I created the Charlotte Mason Home Education Planner to offer a gentle, clear framework that supports your family’s own unique rhythm.

It’s not about perfection or productivity, it’s about peace and purpose. About building habits, capturing the seasons, and shaping days that reflect the sacredness of home education.

The 2025–2026 edition includes:

• Big Picture, Seasonal, Monthly & Weekly Planning Pages
• Exploring Nature With Children (ENWC) themes pre-filled
• Reading lists, subject notes, trackers, and special day reminders
• Moon phases & liturgical dates to gently guide your year
• New Charlotte Mason inspired journaling pages for your reflections

Everything is printable and simple to use, helping you to  begin well, and return to your intentions throughout the year.

As a huge thank you for your patience during its delayed release this year (due to ongoing health challenges), the planner is now available at 20% off for a limited time:
Download your planner here

Don’t Forget Your Free ENWC Calendar!

If you’re using Exploring Nature With Children, I’ve also created a free downloadable calendar that maps out the seasonal themes across the year. It’s perfect for printing and keeping somewhere visible to help guide your weekly rhythm of nature study.

Download your free calendar here

A Final Encouragement

Whether you’re beginning your first year of home education or your tenth, I want to remind you:

• You do not need to do everything.
• You do not need to be perfect.
• You only need to be faithful to the work set before you, and to do it in love.

As Charlotte Mason so beautifully reminds us, “Method and order are of great importance…” , but so too are delight, wonder, and the living presence of God in our homes.

I pray this planner, and the quiet work of preparing your year, will bless you deeply, and support you as you begin again.

Happy planning!

After many delays due to ongoing health issues, I am thrilled to finally share that this year’s Charlotte Mason Home Education Planner is now available.

I know that many of you have been waiting patiently for its release and I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your kindness and understanding. To express my gratitude, I’m offering this year’s edition at an introductory price of 20% off.

Click here to download the planner

This planner is created especially for you, for those walking the gentle and intentional path of Charlotte Mason-inspired home education. Whether you’re brand new to this method or have been walking in it for years, the planner is designed to help you hold the living rhythm of your days with beauty, order, and peace.

What’s Inside the Planner?

This is not just a calendar. It’s a thoughtfully designed tool to support your family’s very own unique home educating journey throughout the entire academic year. Inside you’ll find:

• Big Picture, Seasonal, Monthly, and Weekly Planning Pages rooted in Charlotte Mason’s philosophy
• The ENWC Nature Study themes already plugged into your calendar  to support your rhythm of seasonal observation
• Spaces for Subject Notes, Reading Lists, Habit Tracking and so much more.
• Special Days, Moon Phases, & Liturgical Reminders 
• Gentle guidance to keep your planning in alignment with Miss Mason’s principles of short lessons, living ideas, and joyful education

This year also includes some new, Charlotte Mason themed journaling pages.

Don’t Forget Your Free Calendar!

Each year, I also create a free downloadable calendar to help you plan with the Exploring Nature With Children curriculum.

This calendar gently guides you through the seasonal weeks of nature study, helping you align your learning with the natural world. Many families find it a helpful visual anchor for the rhythm of their year.

 Download your free ENWC calendar here

For Slow, Sacred Learning at Home

I created this planner many years ago when I was home educating my own (now adult) children. I understand how overwhelming planning can feel at times, especially when you’re carrying the weight of daily life, home education, family & community commitments.

This planner is a simple, structured companion that helps you to gently shape your days with intention. As Charlotte Mason reminded us:

“A careful method is the one thing needful.”

So here is your method; gentle, wise, and steeped in the belief that education is the science of relations. Instead of rigid schedules, we can create thoughtful and consistent methods that cultivate our child’s natural desire to learn.

Special Offer: 20% Off

To thank you for your incredible patience as I navigated this season of challenges, the 2025–2026 Charlotte Mason Home Education Planner is available at 20% off for a limited time.

Click here to get your copy at the introductory price

I hope this offering will bless your home and your home education, and that it brings a bit more peace, order, and joy to your days.

It’s almost Night Time Sky Week in Exploring Nature With Children! 

Here are some links to help with your nature study:

• The Milky Way: How to see it in the summer sky
• Perseid Meteors 2025
• The Moon – Bill Nye the Science Guy
• The Unexpected Maths Behind Van Gogh’s Starry Night
• Sierra Sunset John Muir Laws

Exploring Nature With Children is an open and go curriculum. To make it even easier, I have created a free calendar for you to download.

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 the ENWC curriculum. This week’s hashtag will be:#enwcnighttimeskyweek

Happy exploring!

“Let them once get in touch with nature and a habit is formed which will be a source of delight through life.”
Charlotte Mason

In our home, nature study wasn’t just a subject, it has been a way of life. The changing sky, the birds at the feeder, the skeletal beauty of bare winter branches, they aren’t just pleasant diversions. They are living lessons, invitations to slow down, pay attention, and to grow in wonder.

But I know it isn’t always easy. Perhaps you’re in a season where time is short, or your energy is low. Maybe you’ve tried nature study before and felt like you were failing because you didn’t keep it up, or it seemed like too much to plan. You are certainly not alone – that’s exactly why I created Exploring Nature Around the Year: 365 Days of Nature Journaling.

This downloadable PDF resource offers a gentle, open-ended nature journaling prompt for each day of the year. No prep required. No perfect weather necessary. Just small, manageable invitations to observe, draw, write, or wonder, wherever you are.

 It’s open-ended. Each prompt can be adapted for the thoughtful child, or even for yourself. There’s no “right” way to respond.

It fits your rhythm. Whether you follow the liturgical year, the academic calendar, or simply the seasons themselves, the prompts are arranged to follow nature’s own unfolding story within a northern hemisphere, four season climate.

It builds a habit. Just one small observation each day gradually fosters a lifelong awareness and love of the natural world, however, don’t panic if you miss a day or two, or even a week or two! This is a flexible curriculum that you can dip in and out as you please.

It’s deeply rooted in Charlotte Mason philosophy. This isn’t busywork. It’s a quiet call to attention, what Miss Mason called “the habit of observation.” And it’s one of the richest gifts we can give our children.

As one mother who wrote to me recently shared:
“This little habit has transformed our mornings. My children have begun pointing out cloud shapes and insects, and I feel like I’m seeing the world afresh too.”

You don’t need a wildflower meadow or a grand ideas to begin. Just a notebook, a pencil, and the willingness to wonder.

Come and explore with us, every season, every day.
Let Exploring Nature Around the Year be your gentle guide:
Click here to learn more & download your copy

Happy exploring!