The Writer's Block

I live in a part of the world which has beaches regarded as some of the best in the world: we are an hours drive from the magnificent Great Western Woodlands to our north; the rich in biodiversity Fitzgerald biosphere lies to our west; we bathe in the cool waters of the Southern Ocean 20 minutes away to our south, and to the east of us lies the Nullarbor Plain, the vast expanse of limestone based country separating Western Australia from the other states of our vast country. So why did I feel the need to sign up to The Wildlife Trusts' 30 Day Wild?

As a homeschooling mother who sees the dangers of erosion of the connection between our children and the natural world in which they live, I saw this challenge as a way of reaffirming our place in our own surrounds. It was also just the thing I needed to remind me that as a homeschooling mother, I have the ability to tweak the rudder whenever I feel we are going off course and the digital world is starting to encroach into our lives to the detriment of our human natures. I have been noticing that even with literally thousands of acres of farmland around us, and bushland and creeks within walking distance, the smartphones, X-box, DVD player and computers have a hold on our children even though we have always encouraged a love of the outdoors.

We have homeschooled our children using a Steiner based curriculum, so nature play has always been a part of our routine, and the outside world has always been welcomed in to our home. There are strict guidelines with the use of digital stuff in our house: X-box use only on the weekends, for a limited time per day. Mobile phone use discouraged by guidelines and dodgy technology. We are doing what we feel we need to do as parents, without being totally over the top and autocratic: there is always fear of the backlash that could be provoked by total prohibition.

The 30 Days Wild has given me a reason to say no to pages and pages of maths revision for the next 30 days, "no" to tomes of historical research. Instead, we are going to walk along beaches, climb rocks, play with frogs and make beautiful art works that remind us of our connection with the outside world, the wild, and our need to look after what we have before we lose the wild places we do have to enjoy.

We have had some wet days since the challenge began, a date which coincided with the start of winter down under. We have put  our our raincoats and walked in the rain, watched the dew drops tangled on spider webs early in the morning, we have planted vegetable seeds in the garden and started work on a new treehouse.

And on the days when it was too wet, we have made a collage of trees and leaves...one of the activities suggested as part of the challenge. We are having fun...with an excuse to stray from our planned curriculum. Just what we needed: an excuse to go wild!