The Firefly Nature School Story
I am a dreamer. I always have been and hope to always be. Following my Firefly dream invigorates my soul and fills me with happiness. Firefly is meant to be a place for parents and teachers to build a community, learn from and teach each other, and discover new ways to foster relationships between children and the natural world. Let’s face it. We are busy, our kids are busy, and our interactions with nature reflect that. The lessons I share through Firefly are straightforward and simple, but they have the potential to be powerful.
Firefly Nature School sits peacefully on 20 acres of green rolling hills and dense forests that make up the Missouri Ozarks.
As my husband says…I have spent my life training for this moment. And he is right. My love for nature sprouted as a young child, spending lazy summer days outside, catching evening fireflies, swimming at the lake, learning to fish with a rickety cane pole, catching tiny, fearful toads and keeping pet snakes that both terrified and fascinated me. I guess it’s no surprise I studied animal ecology in college, with an emphasis in environmental education. I’ve worked in different places from a zoo to the classroom, but they all had one thing in common…my favorite part of teaching was always getting the kids outdoors and introducing them to animals and nature.
Now I have kids. Three little lovelies. Seeing the world through their eyes is what inspires me daily. Firefly is my dream, but it is also a dream I have for them. They are most alive and at peace when digging in the dirt or observing bugs that they have collected. They thrive when hiking, having a picnic outside, and catching crayfish in an Ozark stream. They learn to read, write, do arithmetic, all while investigating the world around them. Even more, they learn to focus their minds, find peace and passion, and to dream big dreams.
Firefly Nature School sits peacefully on 20 acres of green rolling hills and dense forests that make up the Missouri Ozarks. It’s a family affair, with me designing lessons, my husband shooting photos, and our kiddos testing out the lessons, making videos, and giving me more ideas than I can count.
We offer weekly nature lessons to enjoy with your children or students. Each lesson is built around a monthly theme, and includes a short background on the topic, easy-to-follow instructions, questions to reflect over the lesson, and additional activities to accompany and build on the original lesson. Lessons are not age or ability specific, so you can customize them to your family or class. Some children may require more assistance with activities than others, and that’s ok! We want everyone to be able learn with nature schooling!
Whether you use nature study as your main focus, science lessons, or enrichment, we would love for you to join our Firefly Nature School Community. Incorporating nature study into your homeschool or classes continues to gain popularity by parents and teachers. With Firefly, we aim to make it easy and fun. While visiting a park or natural area is exciting, it isn’t required. Most of our lessons can be done at home, in your own backyard.