From the ocean to the outdoors: why I believe in hands-on learning

We've had a growing number of homeschooling families join Nature Club, looking for fresh ideas, materials, and inspiration. This lights me up!

We spent quite a lot of time sailing when I was growing up. Mum and Dad would yank us out of school for 3-6 month blocks and we'd sail away to Fiji, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Rarotonga, Australia…it was epic.

At the time, I was less than thrilled to be taken away from my class and my friends - but once we cast of the lines and were off, it was the start of another big adventure. From a schooling perspective - we had work given to us by our teachers and we'd do that in the mornings for a period of time - normally done by lunch! For the rest of the day, it could be anything. Going ashore, swimming along next to Dad while he spearfished, hiking whatever mountains we could see from the boat or hanging out onboard. Screens didn't really exist then and the learning opportunities were everywhere, whether we realised it or not!

We were taught to read and draw weather maps, steer to a compass and keep journals. Dad would get us to draw and identify the fish we caught in a notebook so we could share this experience with our class when we got back. I fondly remember sitting on woven mats on the ground, learning to weave baskets from women in a small village in Fiji. I find myself drawing from these adventures quite a lot - perhaps it was the seed planted to start Nature Club in the first place?

Living, exploring and relying on the outdoors taught me so much about sourcing food (we did get fish poisoning a few times…) and adapting to new environments. I feel so lucky to have had these experiences and can't wait to one day get our boys out on the ocean to experience it. The epic stars at night, flying fish, phosphorescence in the wake of the boat…

Now in the parenting role, we are trying to instil a similar curiosity for the environment around us. Growing food with the seasons, tinkering with building projects, drawing flowers that we can pick and bring inside to study - nature offers so much inspiration!