The Importance of Nature

I don't know about my readers, by for myself, it is crucially important to me to feel connected to this world around me. I have to feel the wind, the water, and the soil on my skin. I have to touch the rough bark of the trees, and listen to the wind as it rustles their leaves. I like to smell the soil in my garden, to dig in the earth. It is part of me, and I am part of Earth.

I want my boys to have such a relationship with our home planet. We are all connected, and it is imperative that we remember that when we harm our Earth, we harm ourselves as well. So many people in cities, and suburbs, I fear, have lost touch with our Earth. It has been bred out of so many of us. Just to be satisfied with the status quo, and the mundane of every day life.

But not so for homeschoolers. My heart clings to the hope that we homeschoolers can lead our fellow man out of the darkness that has been imposed on the masses by the system. If we can help people to realize this connection between us all, we might yet have a chance to save my beloved Earth.

Homeschoolers spend time outside. They do nature studies. They realize the importance of conservation and recycling. Homeschooled children are not incarcerated all day, so they have time--and the inclination--to play outside, exploring, and discovering things about our world that you cannot learn in a book in a schoolhouse.

So many traditions from childhood have been all but lost. But homeschoolers keep them alive. Catching fire-flies. Watching turtles bask on a log in a bog. Inspecting the lichen on a tree. Building a fort in a brush pile. Attempting--and/or succeeding--in constructing a clubhouse.

The most simple--and free!--things in life are right outside our doors. The whole world is a homeschooler's playground, and it's waiting for us...

Find out more about homeschooling in nature, and encouraging your kids to get outside, at my squid-lens at: http://www.squidoo.com/naturalhomeschooling