I have been very inspired by the home schooling articles I read in the hubpages. I am from Austria. Right know I live in Northern Italy. Right now my oldest daughter is close to coming to school. My wife and I decided to home school. That is also the wish of our daughter. We are both very confident. We are running a nature school for 16 years now. I gathered a lot of information about natural learning. In the process of teaching it, I also gained a lot of experience.

By teaching nature to kids and adults I found out, that a natural way of living automatically forces a natural way of learning. That makes absolute sense. We are nature. So why should we function in a different way than the natural world does? We don`t.

I can remember my passion for everything as a kid. I have been a hard one for the domestication process in school. I never entirely gave up my wildness. But, what was so curios was, that I, and many others, got there passion for everything back, just through studying nature in a particular way. This way of studying nature is so unique, yet simple and first and foremost very powerful.

It is so easy, that probably everbody knows it. Why then we don`t use it? Maybe you are to close to see the wood. So let`s back up a little bit.

Every subject we learn, or even everything we do in life has 8 phases. These phases are natural. It is how nature changes in the yearly cycles. It is also how nature changes in the daily cycles. So if we are truly nature, than it reflects also our changes in our lifes. And it does. And it is natural and accurate. Though it is hard to detect, if you don`t pay attention. That is the key: Pay attention!

So this is now a review for you, but it is critical and worth reviewing.

Phase 1 is the spring. It is the time of year, where we are most inspired. We can`t wait going outdoors. We easily fall in love, like the whole of creation in the wilderness is doing the same thing. We are very creative. In the learning process, I call this time: Inspiration. Why? Because there needs to be a spring in your learning journey. Without it, natural learning wouldn`d be possible. Without fecundation there is no birth. I think that learning is growing. If you learn you grow. If you don`t you stagnate.

This is one of the most important things in a learning journey. I have missed it in regular school a lot. And inspiring is a vast domain. There are many techniques. And every person is different. That is the first and most important thing. For nature study there is one of the worlds most honoured Outdoorsman. It is Tom Brown, jr. He is a tracker and his inspiration is by far the most awesome I have ever experienced. He is a master teacher and a master storyteller. Check out his books and his webpage trackerschool.

Phase 2 is late spring and early summer. This is a time, where the young plants have a very hard time. They are inspired. A seed starts growing. But it has to fight against so many influences. There is wind, there is hard rain, maybe there is frost. To sum it up. There are a lot of obstacles. Not growing is always the easiest. But the plants want to grow. They want to survive. In the learning journey of a human being it is similar. They may be inspired, but there are many obstacles to actually learn and take action. For learning sports the obstacles could be the same. It could be rain, wind, cold, wet, frost and so on. But most of the time, the obstacles are within ourselves. They are in our heads. For many humans give up here, because it is easier. That shows me one thing: The inspiration and the need is not big enough. So if you have gathered a lot of inspiration in the 1. phase, you have to find a really good need in phase 2. The greater the need, the better the result. The support in this section is very important. There are some good resources out there. For both, learning about nature and about natural learning there are some good schools in the US it is wilderness awareness school.

In Europe you can visit naturagentur. Both are offering very experiential classes in natural learning and long term programms to really get involved.

Phase 3 is the summer. You reach it by overcoming phase 1 and 2. You now have inspiration and you have a need. There are no obstacles for taking on action. This is the phase you involve your body in your learning process. That`s an important one two. And no matter what you learn. You need to involve your physical body. It is important to involve all your physical senses. With learning in this way, you will never forget what you have learned. Remember how you have learned to speak. Right. You didn`t need a school. And by learning it you have been using your body. A lot of the process of learning to talk was accompanied by body English. Listening, hearing, talking itself, that is all physical. In nature, the summer is recognized as the time of growing. Everything is growing. And everything is growing fast. You know that from your lawn. You need to cut the grass every week in this time.

Phase 4 is the time between late summer an early autumn. The fast growing season is over. The plants are producing fruits. The stem of the plant is now strong enough to carry a lot of fruits. So the fruits are growing and they are seasoning. What does this mean for the learning journey? It means, that you need to internalize. The fast growing, meaning the body action is over. Now it is the time to sit down, or lay down and internalize. Let everything sink in. This pause is so critical. And You even can enhance it with some mental practices. The skiers do the same thing. First they inspect the run, then they drive it down mentally for several times. Everybody knows today, that there is no place in world league for people without mental practices. Why do so less people use it for learning? In learning your mother language it was the part where you was just absorbed in playing. But in the background the voices of the parents talking to each other penetrated your subconsciousness.

Phase 5 is the Autumn. The fruits are ripe now. Ready to harvest. The fruits of your learning journey are also ripe. Harvest them now. And what is a harvest worth without having a big feast. Give thanks to the fruits now and honor the fruits and honor yourself. This is a good time. Do not forget to give thanks. The honoring will feed you, when you start the process again. But this is only half the journey. This time is also the time of community. There are lots of events for community. There are wildernessfestivals around the world. The oldest and most famous is the rabbit stick rendevous. In Europe we have only one but big festival. It is the Hueter der Erde Festival.

Phase 6 is also very important. It is the time between autumn and winter. It is a time where the plants are bringing all their information in their roots. Everything is starting to go inside. While Phase 1 through 5 is working towards your outside growing, phase 5 to 8 is your inner growing. It is very important two. Now you take all your experience and judge it. What was good? What was not so good? Is there anything that needs to be changed? This reflection is very important. Without it, the journey is inclomplete. And there are some really good resources for already processed stuff. The primitive skills society offers a lot of wilderness stuff. On the subject of natural learning in nature there is a brandnew book from Jon Young.

It is the coyoteguide. There is also a Blog in Europe to mention. The natural learning blog has a lot of cool and deep inside into this subject. Also the Survival Blog offers a lot of stuff. There are also homestudy courses available.

Phase 7 is the winter. Everthing is going inwards. The plants have survived another year. They are a little bit wiser now. You are wiser now, too. Your reflection brought you that wisdom. Without the reflection it would have never be born. This is the key for your survival. In this case it is the key of the survival of your learning subject. If you want to get better you need to do research what you have done until now and on the outcome. Be honest and find solutions. You have now found out a law. This is your law to your own success or failure.

Phase 8 is the time between winter and spring. Now you have to decide, if you like to grow further, or not. With all the homework you have done, I guess you want to go on. It is easy to do that. Because the process makes you hungry for it. In this phase you have to decide, that you leave all your knowledge behind. You need to come in the moment, where you can start a new cycle.

And that is it. It is all so simple and so complex at the same time. But it is as effective as the growing of nature is. Have you ever watched a dandelion growing through asphalt or concrete. This very soft plants are so strong, that can even split concrete. Wow, I am blown off by that. You can get as strong in your learning and as a person, if you pay attention to the natural learning cycle.

Ok. This is what nature has to teach us concerning natural learning. I hope it makes sense for you guys. There is a lot of wisdom out there in nature. She is just waiting for you to come by and collect it. Have fun an enjoy life. Have fun with learning the natural way.