Nature is my Prescription

Being an educator away from my students is heartwrenching. Having that time away being this time of year is heartbreaking, especially for a nature kindergarten classroom. This is the time of year where we'd be living outside. Planting. Birding. Playing. Living!

I am very fortunate to be able to use some of this time to spend more nature time with my own three children and I am having a blast seeing them in action but yet, a part of my yearns for my classroom and my other kids. I was happy to take my own children to our outdoor classroom and trail today and experience an array of awesome adventures. But though these filled me with joy, knowing I won't be able to share these same experiences with my class destroyed me.

Luckily, nature is my prescription to ease the symptoms of missing my students. While I wish we could be together, I can still share with them my own experiences and inspire them to create their own.

When I am not parked in front of a screen making lessons, meeting with colleagues, researching new technologies, or virtually connecting with my class, I am seizing every opportunity to get outside. My family is volunteering to monitor a local pond. We are making a fun nature show every week. We are visiting "new to us" segments of our favorite trail, the Ice Age Trail. We are creating a natural play area in our own backyard. We are doing as much as we can to fill the void left behind from our time away from school.

This is great medicine. But the bigger dose of healing I am receiving is seeing these same types of actions in others.

My kindergarten team planned a week's worth of nature activities to ease up on the screen time and offer our families a new alternative. The outcomes I have seen from my students has been amazing. Creativity. Problem-solving. Collaboration. Fun!

One of my current students and family offered to build a structure for our trail's natural play area.

A former student keeps me updated on her birding adventures. What she finds. Where she finds them. Her next goal.

My social media feed is filled with friends and family sharing outdoor adventures and resources.

I miss school. I really do. But until we all get back, at least we have nature. It teaches us so many things. It provides so much joy. And above all, it makes our world, our communities, and our physical and emotional selves more resilient and compassionate.

Enjoy today's adventure.

Nature Ninja Warrior - Embry and Oakley

 Nature Ninja Warrior  - Arden

Natural Play

 The dreaded garlic mustard

Eastern bluebirds on the way!!!

The killdeer were not happy to see us.

Until next time . . .