Stories From The Season – September

This week I posted the September letters and I can imagine them reaching little hands across the country to be read by children and their parents alike. The sunbird featured in the September letter is a little guy who really did find his way into our balcony, I’m certain it’s for all the hanging spider webs my kids will never let me clear out. I’ve even caught it pull out a couple of threads from my cotton towel. The industry with which it moves and the ingenuity of how it manages to get what it wants makes up for the … Continue reading Stories From The Season – September

The Best Resources for Nature Study in India

Getting anywhere with our kids in tow is a slow, long winded affair, especially if we are walking, like we do 80% of the time. They stop at every leaf and every stick to ‘explore’ and that’s what kids do. They are present in the now, extraordinarily so, that means they observe, recognise and understand most, the things in their immediate environment.  Initially my kids would be running outside and come up to me and say, ‘Amma where are the acorns? Can we pick come pine cones?’ this was based on books they read or shows they watched in which … Continue reading The Best Resources for Nature Study in India

Nature Study – Watch the seasons unfold with your kids – Making of a Phenology wheel

As a family we spend a lot of time outdoors, observing the open spaces around us. Trees, animals, birds, insects what stood out for us as we watched the same space day after day for almost a year was that it was never the same. There was always something new – a flower, a pod, leaves turning yellow, different butterflies, moths one season, katydids / grasshoppers the next. This led me to look for ways in which we could track and plot these findings to look back on while also being able to compare each season and each year. It … Continue reading Nature Study – Watch the seasons unfold with your kids – Making of a Phenology wheel