Winter Nature Walks (a.k.a. a mother self-talks through the PNEU motto to combat her SAD and get her grumpy self outside)

It seems like such a long time ago that I first read Charlotte Mason's recommendation to spend hour upon hour outdoors with my children. It seemed like complete hogwash at the time. Eventually, though, I was won over to the idea and long park days became normal for us. Those "four to six hours" didn't seem nearly as crazed as before.

Now, the bone-chilling days of an Ohio January have arrived and (if I'm very, very honest) I'm reading a few of Miss Mason's passages with that same old incredulity that met with her out-of-doors-life-type advise years ago. That's right.

It is winter. And I don't want to go outside for long hours in winter.

Nope.

Don't wanna.

We're in the middle of a move, by the way. We've been moving for over a month and all semblance of school lessons or schedules of any sort have just gone ker-phlooey. Usually, I try to make the most of a warmish day here and there in December, but this year we've been packing, and unpacking, and painting, and trying to find someplace for everything. I'm tired and... well, a little grumpy. I can tell that my children are getting stir crazy; their little bodies want to run and jump and climb. These boxes and piles are closing in on them... and me. They don't care that the windchill is below 20 degrees. They don't mind that the sun has been blanketed by endless clouds for days. (No, weeks). They want to be outside.

I know that winter walks can be very pretty. Really, I do. I know that everything stands out more against the winter landscape. The sky is more intense. The shapes of the trees are more noticeable. A little squirrel alone can be a fascinating study. I know it would be good for all of us to get out every day. I just need to do it.

Sigh.

So, I took a look at this week's forecast. Guess what...I'm still feeling incredulous. It's going to be cold. Shock. The little "10 day at a glance thingy" looked like this: "Monday - cold, Tuesday - cold, Wednesday - still cold, Thursday - hello, this is Ohio, Friday - in January, Saturday - still cold, etc." I might as well accept it. It's going to be cold from now through the end of March - at least. I need to buck it up. I need to find a will. Find a way. Find my big wool scarf. What as that helpful motto again?

I am... a child of God. I am also a mama who needs sunshine and needs to get her kiddos outdoors.

I can... obey Him with the power of His Spirit. And I can open the door and go out for a walk because, good grief, how hard is it really?

I ought... because most of my objections are nothing but unreasonable melodrama and because I apparently have a teensy bit of Seasonal Affective Disorder already. We'd all benefit from a decent walk each day, even though (as I've already mentioned) it's cold.

I will... by God's grace ;)

Now comes my big declaration. This week we are going to make an experiment. For this week only (baby steps, right?) we - as in my little self and my four young children - are going to try to take a walk outdoors for 45 minutes every day, Monday through Friday. Since today is Saturday, that's a nice and tidy resolution. Boxes or no boxes, painting or no painting, impending deadline to put our house on the market or no - we're walking!

Okay, unless it's cold and raining - then, maybe not.

Check in on me! All of you dear readers coming through the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival, check and see if I posted on Monday at all. Did we do it? Did we go for our winter walk? Did we go for at least 45 minutes? Did I post pictures of lovely winter things? Did my serotonin levels improve from the time in the sun? Will my next post be far more positive and uplifting?

Let's hope so ;)

The Weekly Nature Walk

I know. Four to six hours a day outside sounds absolutely NUTSO to some of my dear blogging pals. That's okay :) You know what, though? I'm not going to go on and on about multiple hours outside tonight. I'm going to talk about one little half hour. Thirty minutes that comes around just once a week. A weekly nature walk. Educational. Fun. Outside.

For a weekly nature walk, you don't need an old quilt or a half dozen bottles of water. You don't need a 90 acre park nor do you need a travel potty (well, usually not). You may need a little sunscreen or herbal bug spray before you leave, but all you really cannot do without is - a slow pace and nature eyes. "Nature eyes" simply means eyes that are ready to see anything - to really observe it - and to see it with great attention.

The goal is to walk slowly around your own neighborhood for 30 minutes one day a week.

Look up and down, listen carefully. You may want to let each child take a brown paper bag along to collect natural treasures they find along the way. If your children turn out to be voracious little naturalists, you may want to buy a small plastic bin lined with a paper towel or a cardbox for them to empty their bags into after you return home. If your child picks up an acorn, take a moment and gently help him really see the acorn. Examine it. If you pop the top off, what does it look like? What part do you think a squirrel eats? What tree did it fall from? One acorn can easily lead to ten full minutes of observation and play beneath the oak tree. We learned late this summer that each type of oak produces an acorn with a characteristic shape. A red oak acorn looks differently than a burr oak acorn, for instance. SweetP has made a little game of learning to identify them. Shug and Punkin just knock them around with sticks :)

The key is to go slowly and to really exercise the skills of attention and observation.

Stop and watch the little flock of sparrows. Why do they keep flying over to that tree? Can you tell what kind of tree it is? What do they have in their mouths? There are even clouds above to watch and talk about and dandelions that your neighbor would gladly let the children pick. That's the third monarch butterfly you've seen flying in that direction. Where are they going? In what direction are they headed?

Now, if you have energetic little ones (as I have) it may be a good idea to allow an extra ten or fifteen minutes at the beginning of the walk for an all-out run. This, of course, is excellent exercise. We can count it in our school day as Phys. Ed.! :) Once they have run a bit, they'll be a little more inclined to go slowly and pay more attention. It's not something to pressure them about, only lead them gently to look more closely and for just a little longer. After a few weeks of practice, they will begin developing more of an interest in their findings and attention will naturally increase.

The point is to enjoy God Almighty and His creation - to "consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air".

Even a short walk outdoors offers countless opportunities to marvel at the awesome (in the true sense of the word) creative imagination of our God. Maybe it would be well if we asked the Lord for eyes to truly see His creation when we go out with our children. It is all around us, but we know so little about it. It's so encouraging, though, that the more we learn the more we want to learn.

Isn't that what education is all about?

Blessings,

Jacci

Check out this website dedicated to helping parents get

their children outdoors in nature for one hour a day.




AND... did you know that this week is Take A Child Outside Week?

Visit this website to learn more :)





*I feel that I should warn you of something inevitable. There is almost no getting around it. If your children have any interest at all in nature, you will have to identify at least one of the findings you bring home. Sometimes I tell the children before we even set out on a walk, "We will not be able to identify all of these leaves this afternoon, but I will be certain to set aside time next week to find out their names". I've been building up a collection of nature fieldguides to help me with our naming projects, but the internet works too :) My neighbor is constantly looking up this leaf and that bug on the internet with her daughter. There is no lack of information out there :) Happy nature walking!