This week at Nature School we had an interesting encounter at a place we call ‘Muddy Hill’, so-named by the children in our first year for the steep, slippery mud track that leads walkers to a bench at the top of the rise.   We have come to know  this place as a site for…Continue reading →

What a spectacular week it has been! Children settling into routine, smiling and enjoying being in a group setting. Enjoy a few photos from last week and many from this week! In gratitude, Emily

Supporting and providing a creative, intellectually challenging and artistically provoking program does not come easy. It takes work and commitment from everyone to continue to develop and grow in this area. It is vital to look for ways to spark creativity, to make sure it moves forward and has an active life of its own….Continue reading →

I equate the new school year to most people’s New Year, being January 1st; I think most teachers would agree. We ask ourselves deep questions and make new resolutions about how we want to move ahead. It is always a time for reflection and excitement as we imagine our year to come.  Interestingly, despite so…Continue reading →

It’s been a joyful whirlwind!  The past few weeks of school were packed with exciting activities for both the Eagles and the Owls. As the year end approaches, it is tempting to just ‘power’ through, but our team was determined to enjoy our time together with the children, and to find stillness even in the…Continue reading →

We have had a busy couple of weeks in both the Owls and Eagles classes!  Our last visits of the year with our buddy classes from Thompson and Quilchena Elementary schools are always bittersweet, as we realize just how much the buddies have grown together and formed caring relationships with one another!  Some relationships are…Continue reading →

This week has been filled with a little of this, a little of that- no real common thread wove through this week; perhaps it was the mid-week event but each day came and went, always happily and with learning opportunities but without a force tying it all together. Some weeks are just like that! Enjoy…Continue reading →

‘Growing up green’ was the first song we taught to our very first group of nature school students.  We used it as our opening welcome song, until we finally mastered so many verses that we had to open with a more concise ditty!  With the sun finally emerging, evidence of ‘growing and green’ seem to…Continue reading →

It’s true, I do LOVE this place. One early mooring this week, I was leaving the Buemann House office when I bumped into (literally), Kristyan, a farmer with the Sharing Farm. We had a quick hello and comment on the weather and the crop fields. Then I ran into Leslie, the beekeeper for the Sharing Farm….Continue reading →

We love our volunteers year round, but as April 23-29 is National Volunteer Week, we want to give them some extra special recognition! Did you know that we have 8 volunteers who help us out at Terra Nova Nature School every week, and that together they contribute over 30 hours per week to our programs!…Continue reading →

One day, while the Cottage was being restored, we had the unexpected privilege of meeting ‘Aunt Sue’, a beautiful woman of 92 years of age, who lived in the Edwardian Cottage as a young child, along with her mother and eight siblings!  For several years she had been coming from Ontario, accompanied by family members, including…Continue reading →

I suppose this is why we have spring break- to refresh, rejuvenate, restore. Ahhhh,  we are feeling ready to enjoy the last few months of this school year! Over the break, Kate and I spent some time working on an online outdoor school training course (which has many more modules to complete-yikes!). The course content…Continue reading →

When I was in Singapore in December, I marvelled at how lovely it was that everyone was outside, even late at night, during week nights. All over the city you could see people sitting on benches talking, eating together, strolling down promenades, sitting out and overlooking beautiful Marina Bay or having a refreshing drink outside. I saw…Continue reading →

A shorter blog for a shorter week, but a big main idea: thanks to the Family Day weekend, and, hot on it’s heels, Valentines Day, I have been thinking a lot about authenticity. I have fond childhood memories of celebrating Valentines Day at school: certainly there was the chore of printing out classmates names, but…Continue reading →

It Sifts from Leaden Sieves, a poem about snow by Emily Dickinson. It sifts from leaden sieves, It powders all the wood, It fills with alabaster wool The wrinkles of the road. It makes an even face Of mountain and of plain, — Unbroken forehead from the east Unto the east again. It reaches to…Continue reading →