Gettin' Out There

 Dear Miss Mason.We read her, narrate her in our journals, discuss her, blog her, and study her. We come to love her like a wise, old friend sent to help us along in our journey as educating mothers. Sometimes, though, we have to shake our heads. Sometimes it seems she simply asks too much of us. We are all familiar with the following passage:

"And long hours they should be; not two, but four, five, or six hours they should have on every tolerably fine day, from April till October. Impossible! Says an overwrought mother who sees her way to no more for her children than a daily hour or so on the pavements of the neighboring London squares. Let me repeat, that I venture to suggest, not what is practicable in any household, but what seems to me absolutely best for the children; and that, in the faith that mothers work wonders once they are convinced that wonders are demanded of them. A journey of twenty minutes by rail or omnibus, and a luncheon basket, will make a day in the country possible to most town dwellers; and if one day, why not many, even every suitable day?"

Here is the part where all of us sigh. Then we ask, "Really? Six hours?" Finally, we decide that's just too much.

I  first read Volume One only last fall. At the time, I was the mother Charlotte mentions as being quite proud of making a point to send her children out for two hours a day. Two hours a day seemed like a lot of time... until I read dear Charlotte. In the year that has followed that first reading, my husband and I have considered and reconsidered the value of time out of doors for our family. We have weighed the things on my mental "to do" list and we have weighed the words in the quotation above. A particular phrase has stayed with me more than any other from that first volume. "Mothers work wonders once they are convinced that wonders are demanded of them". Hmmm. What if? What if, for just a little while, we really tried to get outside for four to six hours on every suitable day? I couldn't just sit around wondering. I had to try it and find out for myself. We did it - and Miss Mason's right. It can be done! It gets easier the longer you do it, too. For us, every suitable day, has been about four to five days a week during the favorable months - 2 of those days being "park days".

You should know that we live in the middle of a newly built subdivision on a quarter of an acre. Our tallest tree is maybe 15 feet high (maybe) and four years ago we didn't even have grass. Although I have been able to invite an impressive amount of wildlife (birds and insects, but mostly insects) to our yard with some landscaping and garden plants, a quarter acre does eventually feel rather cramped. So, I decided to take Miss Mason's advice and leave home several days a week. You should also know that I have four children - and my oldest is six. When we really started living the out of doors life regularly, I was quite pregnant. There will be hurdles. BUT, there will be rewards. There needs to be a little bit of planning ahead to say the least, though. Here's a little I have learned so far about long days out of doors...

1) We don't have to fit in all six hours in a row. I had this epiphany when I read Miss Mason's recommendation to try for three hours outdoors in the winter months. She goes on to say that these three hours can be achieved by going out for 90 minutes in the morning and another 90 minutes in the afternoon. I apply the same principle year round and find that four to six hours split up between a midday and evening time outside works well for our family. Even if Miss Mason really, truly wanted all six hours to be always consecutive, I'm closer to the mark with three hours at a time twice a day than I would be by throwing up my hands and never trying, right? The second block of time is nearly always at home.

2) April through October are not the best months for our climate. Here, I believe, we have to look at the principle Miss Mason was putting forth. She wanted us to make use of the best months available, not just arbitrary months she picked willy nilly. In England, April through October are likely the best of the year, but here July and August are nasty months to be out in for six hours. The humidity can even make the morning exhaustingly hot. We have chosen to "drop" July and August out of the six-hour-a-day category and add in March and November. We still get the same number of months... although, not every climate can do even that. During the other months, we try for three hours or so a day. The idea is to use the beautiful months to the fullest! :)

 3) I keep the following things in the van at all times: a stroller, a baby sling, a training potty, a roll of toilet paper, a camera, bottles of water, sunscreen, a supply of diapers, jackets, and a large quilt I bought for next to nothing. These things have been absolutely key to successful days outdoors with so many small children. We are often out mid-morning when Little Dude needs his nap. He's out like a light in the sling and I can trek all around with the girls at the same time. Punkin's little bladder doesn't care too much how far we might have gone from a bathroom, so the potty in the van has saved us more than once. (Teaching them early on how to go in the grass is handy, too. Charlotte never mentions this problem). I only took the red chair in the photo along with us once - it was a pain. The quilt works fine for nursing :) After SweetP fell in a pond this week, I would also consider adding a change of clothes.

4) I check the weekly weather on Sunday nights and plan accordingly.

5) We don't go outside until school is finished and morning chores are completed, including mine. This is motivating :) I admit I do cheat a little here on the morning lessons. I save things like brushwork, handicrafts, picture study, and literature read alouds for the afternoon when the littles are down for nap. I do use the "fresh" morning hours for work like handwriting, dictation, math, etc. I also reserve Thursday or Friday morning for cleaning the house after lessons. I prefer Friday, but if Thursday is rainy and Friday is going to be beautiful, we clean on Thursday and go out on Friday. **I have to be honest and admit that sometimes I close my eyes to the dirty dishes and just run outside right after breakfast. But, I try not to. Oh, dear. What a bad habit ;)**

 6) Miss Mason gives plenty of good ideas for using the time out of doors in Home Education. She recommends letting the children run wild when first arriving at your destination. My children picked up on this without my prompting, lol. This time can and should be purposeful.

7) I know I mentioned it already, but make sure you have water! Even in colder months, the children really work up a thirst running around yelling their heads off. Oh, and the yelling is a good reason to try to find somewhere a little remote. (Look at this picture! Is this idyllic childhood or what?! I love my parks system!!!)

8) Outside picnic lunches can be really, really simple. I have been known to grab a big handful of cheesesticks, a box of crackers, and a bag of dried apricots and stuff them in a grocery bag lickety split and call it lunch! I try to think ahead when I'm shopping to come up with lunches that don't take a lot of prep and don't need a cooler. We do sometimes take a cooler, but I prefer not to. Cooler picnics are "fancy" around here :) Another mom gave me the really cute idea of a toothpick lunch. Basically, you pack foods that have been cut up into chunks (cantaloupe, ham, apples w/ lemon juice on them, cheese) and everyone spears their lunch with their own toothpick. We've done this once or twice and the girls loved it :) Usually, though, it more like a PB sandwich, carrots sticks, and goldfish crackers in a baggie.

9) Remember that if you leave your house clean it will be clean when you get back. When we had our house on the market last year, I clued in that one way to keep it relatively neat for showings was to stay out of it. Clean it up and leave it. I'm laughing a little here, but I'm also a little serious. When you eat lunch outside at a park, there are no dishes in the sink. When the toddler plays with rocks outdoors all morning, the legos are still nicely put away. There is less housework to do when you are outside all day. We come rolling in the door usually at around 1:30pm. I lay the baby down for nap right away, read to Punkin and put her down for a nap, and have a little time for extra cleaning, reading to the older two girls, and maybe a little picture study or a cat nap.

10) Park days can be fellowship opportunities. You know that younger mom that you've been meaning to get together with lately? Or that friend whose husband is deployed in Iraq? Or that buddy you haven't been able to hang out with lately? Invite them with you for a park day!

11) Save the playground for an occasional treat. This took a little bit to break my children of the "park=playground" mindset. But, after a little while, they stopped asking all of the time. They knew we were there to run around on the trails, climb the rocks, watch the squirrels, and play in the mudpuddles. And they thought less and less about the playground. We still head over to "the toys" for the last 20 minutes or so now and then, but I want to encourage them to entertain themselves with what is available in nature. How else will they get to figure out that a stick and an acorn make a really fun game when you're on a hill?

12) Lastly, you can use the van time driving to and from the park to do school! The van is the perfect place to listen to the term's composer or pop in a foreign language tape or CD of folk songs. We keep our Lyric Language Spanish in the van for this purpose. Books on tape would be another good option. Two of our three parks are twenty minutes away from our home, so it makes good sense to try to use the driving time well.

That's it :) All I can offer for the adventuresome heart that feels a tugging to pack up and go play outside... for a looooooong time. It really does get easier the more you do it. All you need is a little planning ahead and the assurance that it can be done :) And it can.

Blessings,

Jacci

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