Pre-school on the Wild Side

Welcome to my new blog, Kids of the Wild! It’s been a long time coming..

This is the story of how I truly became an outdoor parent and a home educator.  I always loved planning little family adventures when Caroline was a baby and toddler and enjoyed outdoor activities as a family from the day she was born

However, thwarted by extreme parental fatigue and the devil of self-doubt (is my writing good enough? will anyone read it etc), procrastination got the better of me for years and the writing didn’t happen even though we were loving our outdoor lifestyle the whole time.

Until recently that is, on a walk in the Northumberland hills when someone didn’t turn up because of the weather; it was raining!

That’s when I realised that my normal, my ‘out and about, whatever the weather, immersed-in-nature’ philosophy is not everyone’s normal.

And that nature connection is vital not just to children’s mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing, I believe it is fundamental to ALL human wellbeing from the day we are born.

Kids Need Nature Connection

Being in nature needs to be vital, for the sake of our children, for their future and that of our planet and for our children’s children.

Almost everything we need to know can be found in nature, in the great wide open outdoors.

And you don’t need to be stay-at-home parents to get your family outdoors either. Just a few outdoor minutes every day makes a massive difference.

Skin is waterproof for goodness sake; we’re made to spend more time outdoors!

A bit of blogging

Time to write a blog then? Just a little about the influence of nature on all families and kids, in the hope of inspiring even one person to embrace wild nature in a way they haven’t considered before.

So, here goes.

“Where it Began…

……I can’t begin to know it…. ♪♪ ” but when our own Sweet Caroline was three years old, in June 2013, there was a day that changed everything.

The previous three years had been spent as a stay at home Mum, revelling, genuinely, in the joys and pains of being fully present in Caroline’s life as each stage of her development unfolded. It was a sheer and utter pleasure, though often very difficult and permanently tiring as any new parent will agree!

Kids of the Wild

Having grown up in a suburban neighbourhood with three siblings, we were always playing in the garden or with friends ‘on the front.’ It was second nature (pardon the pun!) to be outside and engrossed, however unknowingly, in nature: tree-climbing, den-making, adventure games, leaf-wading in the Autumn, sledging down the railway embankment in Winter. We were all kids of the wild!

Searching Nature

When still toddling I apparently spotted a birdwatcher in our local park and asked my Mum if he was ‘searching nature’ – what a perfectly childlike expression of understanding. And you know what, if we do search nature, she often has all the answers we need!

Naturally (sorry) I wanted these same childhood experiences for Caroline, so we’ve always walked our dogs regardless of the weather, fed ducks, rescued snails from the footpath, explored woods, climbed cliffs and, from very early on, returned home armed with all manner of natural treasures.

Free Childcare No-Brainer?

Then a disturbance in the force rocked our haven of tranquillity. There was an opportunity for 15 hours free childcare per week which the UK government offers when children reach age three. Surely a no-brainer for a desperately exhausted Mummy! But then…….
..How many treasured moments might be missed during those 15 hours? What if a carer handled things with a different philosophy to mine? What if Caroline and I missed each other, heaven forbid?! And why was it called pre-school – surely she was too young to start preparations for going to school? And a myriad other questions.

Canine Counsel

So we walked the dog while Wild Daddy was at work. What better mentor than a faithful She-Wolf exuding wild wisdom in every padded stride?

Nature’s Pre-School

Caroline and I held hands. We skipped, we jumped and we ran, we crossed bridges, threw Pooh sticks, threw dog sticks, laughed at the ducks, listened to birds and finally collapsed in a sunny heap by the lake. There were flowers to pick, pond dipping to consider, wide open space to leap in.

Caroline even threw her knickers into a tree (watch this space in case I inadvertently recorded a seminal moment in the creation of some obscure brand of knicker-throwing feminism!!)

Nature-inspired Learning

A swan family paddled by, which is when Caroline first used a camera.

I was quietly euphoric, immersed in nature, warmed by the sun and feeling complete peace as I watched my little girl running wild, delighting in the freedom to just be and with a thousand things to explore and discover.

That day is etched in my soul forever, though Caroline may have forgotten it. Widgie barked in approval at the whole performance and I recorded every second in my heart, and quite a few of them on film!

Pre-school Nature’s Way

I realised that pre-school was not on our path. Well, not the way most children experience it. We chose pre-school our way, guided by our feelings, a desire for Caroline to learn through play and in nature, so we could notice and adapt our activities to Caroline’s developmental needs at each stage of her growth, and with a firm belief that children should be children as long as they possibly can with as much access to wild nature and the outdoors as possible.

Parental Wellbeing

The only thing to consider now was how to maintain some personal rest and sanity without any regular ‘me-time’ in the future. Read some ideas on parental wellbeing in my post, Oxygen Time

All that said, please don’t think that you need to live in a rural idyll to experience nature and the outdoors in your life. My photos show us in the heart of the countryside surrounded by wildlife with not another soul in sight. Pure, Enid Blyton-esque childhood Utopia. Right? Oh, how the camera lies!

The Camera Does Lie

The spot by the lake in all these pictures is actually 400m from where we had parked the car on a housing estate, albeit in a large village, and 5m behind us is an 8’ tall razor-wire topped fence surrounding a military base, proving that it takes little effort to get our children outdoors and into the wild. Whether you live in the middle of the country, in town or the inner city there is nature wherever you look and plenty of ways to bring the wild into your life. Once you get started, you won’t want to stop!

Call of the Wild

I am lucky that our family finances are viable on my husband’s single income (although  it was always my intention to be a stay at home Mum regardless of any financial sacrifices and lifestyle changes it entailed – haven’t tested Wild Daddy’s commitment to this yet!!)

Everyone must follow their heart regarding parenting. If nature is in your heart I don’t think you can go far wrong. For me Motherhood, parenthood, is a joy and a privilege; a gift of nature, and there is no better job than to prepare and nurture the next generation for their future life. Mother Nature might be the only guide we need.

Follow Kids of the Wild

Hopefully this blog will provide some inspiration and ideas for bringing a little nature connection and outdoor learning into your life, whether in the tiniest of ways at home, on giant wild adventures around the world or as you navigate the big wild world of home education. There’s something here for everyone.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up to the website to receive the latest posts to your inbox.

Wild kids rock!!

How To Get Outdoors More

Here are some posts that may help: –

Reasons to Get Outdoors – Wild Kids Rock – 11 Reasons to Get into The Wild NOW

Things to Do At Home – Go Wild Inside

Ideas for Your Own Back Garden – Go Wild in the Garden

Get Outside – Go Wild Outside – 30 Super Cool Ideas for Outdoor Family Fun

Early Years Outdoors – Forest School for Wild Kids

Maintain Energy for Parenting – Oxygen Time – Energy for Parenting, Energy for Life

Create a capsule of toddler memories – How to make a Time Capsule

Resources

For more inspiration and ideas click the images for best prices at Amazon

Why love matters early years psychology book

Forest school skills at home

Nature connection activities

Forest School & Nature Pedagogy book

Kids photography book

Kids polaroid camera

Bird ID book

Kids Bird ID book

Schleich Swan