Needing some nature (79 out of 365) #blogaday #sol15

SOL day 28

Today, I went to Mirror Lake with my family and had a very nice day outdoors! Since being a teacher has gone to my soul, I found myself noticing things that I would want to teach my students if they came. There are so many aspects of nature that are great for children – relating to science, awareness, ecology, preservation, and others. Nature is a very important part of early elementary grades’ environmental science because the students are learning the basics of how the world around them works (various habitats, creatures, trees, etc). I found this workbook on Amazon that I plan to use in my future classroom called The Nature Connection: An Outdoor Workbook for Kids, Families, and Classrooms by Clare Walker Leslie. It involves exercises and activities that students can do at home or at school, just by noticing things in nature. I really liked it because it had simple enough tasks so families won’t feel overwhelmed by science assignments, and the students should feel excited to observe their backyard. I want to try and incorporate some very basic science into my full-time teaching in Kindergarten next term. Once I start school again on Monday, I’ll know what the normal day’s subjects look like. From what I am thinking, Kindergarten focuses mostly on weather and maybe a bit on animals. I’m excited to find out more, and hold some fun lessons outside on insects or something like that 🙂