Share the Love: Secret Homeschooling at the Chicago Botanic Garden

Several afternoons ago, the kiddos and I ventured out to the Chicago Botanic Garden to picnic, shoot some photos and do a special, surprise project.

They were so stoked about the surprise project and picnic that they didn't even know what I was doing.

But I'll tell you what I was up to: secret homeschooling.

On the weekends or even weekdays when I need to engage all four of my kiddos meaningfully without it feeling like school, I think up a secret homeschooling plan that couldn't ever be labeled as school work in their minds.

The Chicago Botanic Garden has become one of my go-to places for secret homeschooling. And you don't really actually have to be a homeschooler to do this secret homeschool project; you could just be a person who loves autumn and wants to enjoy the heck out of it with the added bonus of secretly homeschooling your kids on a weekend, nonetheless!

Here's all you need to do a round of secret homeschooling while the whole family enjoys the beauty of autumn at the garden:
-a blanket for sitting
-a plethora of coloring devices
-several large sheets of paper
-one hard surface per child
-one picturesque view beneath a tree or near a bench, like this one:

Present it like this: ok, guys, let's explore and find the most beautiful place we can. Once you agree on a place, we'll start a project! You have 20 minutes - go!

Giving a time limit makes it into a race, so my kids take off quickly and burn some energy before we sit down to recreate our favorite space on paper.

Once they find their "most beautiful place," share with them that you'll come back again to the same exact spot to draw a stunningly different picture during a different season. If your kids are anything like mine, they are motivated by finished product, too, so I offer to take all four pictures and compile them into a large frame for hanging in our home. This also helps for getting them to do their best work!

Though not all of my children love art equally, they enjoy working outside and put quite a bit of effort into their pictures. Well, the bigger three worked and put in quite a bit of effort for about 40 minutes. Our three year old worked and put in quite a bit of effort for about four minutes. She then played in the dirt, leaves and with sticks nearby, which kept her mostly happy and me mostly sane.

So what do they learn?

• they see and understand the changing landscape in a new way
• they gain a clearer understanding of what autumn looks like in our area
• they gain experience using true-to-life colors or shading in a drawing
• they gain experience on how to draw a picture from a scene (perspective) instead of from imagination
• they have a chance to articulate their pictures as they explain them to me

There's more, of course, too, that I'm sure they are gathering with all of their senses! All in all, it was a big win, and I promised the kids another round of this project on a nice winter day for a new view of the same scene.

There's still plenty of beautiful days left! Go enjoy one!

Full disclosure: Because I sincerely love the outdoors, nature and specifically the mission and efforts of the Chicago Botanic Garden, I have partnered with the garden to help spread the word about its events and features. Kindly, the garden provides me with a membership. 

Share the Love: Taking the Classroom Outside This Spring at the Chicago Botanic Garden

Last fall we decided to transition our oldest son out of traditional school and into a hands-on school setting that includes homeschooling and a Waldorf-based co-op. It's been an exciting year of learning, growth and development for him and for me!

But when we traded workbooks for real-life experiences, I began to realize that we were going to have to venture out further into the world (and outside of my poor kitchen) to keep exploring -- especially in the realms of biology and ecology. 

We've long been fans of the Chicago Botanic Garden, but this spring we have found a renewed love after taking a nature walk there as part of science "class."

The boys and their friends skipped along the paths, marveling at the different blooms popping up in the spring. 

They intently watched the carp swimming in the ponds during our expedition in the Japanese Garden.

And they excitedly monitored a family of frogs and frog babies hiding out in the grass just off the beaten path. 

What an adventure we had as they discovered spring in a very hands on way! And the conversations we have had in the aftermath have been great as well as its given way to talking about how new life blooms in the spring. 

Of course, we don't have to be homeschoolers to enjoy a nature walk with our kids! Right now the garden is in full spring bloom, and it's a great time to take a day to walk, explore and enjoy. 

Some ideas I'm considering:

• make your nature walk into a scavenger hunt
• bring pads of paper and colored pencils along for budding artists to draw what they see 
• do a gallery display of the different drawings from the garden during spring, summer and fall and invite grandma and grandpa over to hear all about it

Of course, if you prefer programs that are already put together, the garden has plenty this time of year. Here are a few favorites we want to catch!

Fruit & Vegetable Garden Family Drop-in Activities – Daily, May 30 through August 30
Enjoy free summer activities each day during family drop-in activities in the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden. Activities vary from week to week and include Plant Parts, Powerful Pollinators, Super Seeds, Rainbow Garden and Wiggling Worms. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Click here for more information.

Nature Nights – Select Saturdays, May 30 through September 5
Bring a picnic dinner and spend an evening at the Chicago Botanic Garden! Children ages 4 – 10 and their families will explore different areas of the Garden and enjoy a variety of discovery-based activities. Participants will park in lot 1 or 2 and check in at Annex 2 or the Fruit & Vegetable Garden classroom. The program facilitator will lead them to the activity site where they will eat their homemade sack dinners (not provided) and begin the exploration activity. At each Nature Nights, participants will enjoy a short tram ride, plant a take-home plant and conclude the evening by making s’mores at a fire pit. Hours are from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Cost is $26 per chregister and for additional information. The event is held regardless of weather; indoor spaces are used in case of rain.

Click HERE to see more family activities planned at the garden for this spring and summer and check back at the beginning of summer to see what else we're up to at the garden this year!

Disclosure: Because my family loves the outdoors, we are happy garden ambassadors for the Chicago Botanic Garden. We receive a membership in exchange for writing about garden happenings.