For two nights so far, me and my friend and fellow witch Karin, have had what we call Nature School with our daughters. We want to pass on the knowledge we have about things in Nature and give them a good relationship to it. We want them to experience and learn about all the wonders of Nature, The World, The Universe, and so on.

I feel I miss having learned from my grandparents, as most of them died before I was mature enough to want to learn. I was lucky enough to learn some from my parents, and Karin too. Plus she learned a lot from her paternal Grandfather.

We also want to provide a counterweight to the religious information spread by someone at daycare. Religious teaching isn’t allowed in public daycare in Norway, so we get a bit annoyed when it happens anyway, and ‘off-season’, i.e. not in connection with any of the major Christian holidays.

The first night, two weeks ago, we talked about the Moon and explained how it rotates around the Earth. On Monday, we talked about the Sun, how the Earth rotates around it. What makes night and day, and why we have seasons. How the Sun gives power and life to all living things, how it makes the rain and the rainbow. We also talked about the Full Moon, its effects on water and on us, and diskussed the herbs in my herb bed.

The way we do this is to ask them what they already know about the subject and build on that. These Nature School sessions are more a conversation around a subject than pure teaching. There are limits to what you can get a four to five-year-old to sit through. We also have something good to eat each time. The first night it was biscuits and cinnamon roll, this time I had made a fruit salad which we had with custard.

Next time, which will be after we return from our trip to Sweden, we’re going to this giant Pine tree nearby. We thought we might go a bit earlier in the day, so they’ll have more time together, and to explore the area. We haven’t decided the subject yet, but trees will be involved. I want Lilith to feel what it’s like to sit with her back up against a really big tree.

Karin is my friend and a fellow wise woman (for want of a better word) here in the village. The village has under 500 people and mostly follow Christian traditions, so I was surprised to find another wise woman here. She actually found me first and got in touch. She’s a very good Tarot reader if you need one.

How are you teaching, or planning to teach, your children?

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This post is part of the Pagan Blog Project, created by Rowan Pendragon.

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