Nature Table

One of my favorite ways to waste time is blog hopping. I have a list of blogs that I visit on a regular basis and am always surfing around, trying to find new ones. I feel a connection to these bloggers, these women of simplicity, and draw strength and encouragement from them on a daily basis. That, and some of them have really cool ideas for me to steal :0)

Many of the blogs that I visit engage us with tales of homeschooling, unschooling, Steiner and Waldorf. When I started this whole blog business I didn't even know what the last three words even meant. Seriously. What's a Steiner? Slowly, curiosity got the better of me and I Googled each one. What an eye opener! I have always been a fan of the Montessori method but I think I might be developing a little crush on the Waldorf way of doing things.

Though affording to send my children to anything other than a public school is pretty much out of the question for us, I figure as their mother, it is my job to "fill in the gaps" so to speak. Not that you can't get a perfectly good education at a public school but I feel that integrating Montessori and Waldorf techniques into my children's lives will produce well rounded, caring, conscious little people. And since there is no way they'll be doing yoga after math time or celebrating Michaelmas with their classmates each fall, it is I who will have be bringing that little something extra to the table.

And speaking of tables......I believe my first foray into "alternative" education will be a nature table. Everyone is always talking about their nature tables. Blog posts titled "Make a Felt Gnome for the Nature Table!" or "Win Some Play Silks for Your Nature Table!" makes me want to have our own little place to fill with outdoor treasures. Both of my kids are notorious collectors and we can't make it in from an outdoor adventure without an assortment of  rocks, sticks, leaves, feathers and whatever else they can find. We currently have a "Nature Box" where the very best of the rocks and sticks are placed for safekeeping but I'd like there to be a designated spot for them to display their cache and to keep up with the changing seasons. By allowing them to keep their collections out on display, I hope to keep their connection with nature fresh in their little minds and hopefully, generate lots of questions!

It may not be a table per se....maybe a shelf or something.  I'm stilling mulling the idea over. Do you have a nature table/shelf/area? What's on it? How do you keep it from looking junky? Is that a terrible control freak of a mother thing to ask??

P.S. The camera battery is dead and I can't find the charger so we're going to be picture-less until I do. Hopefully, my witty writing is enough to keep you engaged :)