CM 2 Episode #8 Ginny Yurich 1000 Hours Outside

CM 2 Episode #8 Ginny Yurich 1000 Hours Outside

Links and Resources:

Show Notes:

Description: The average American child spends only 4-7 MINUTES outside every day in unstructured play. Charlotte Mason recommends 4 HOURS in outside activities daily. How can we bridge this gap? Ginny Yurich of 1000 Hours Outside offers practical wisdom and inspiration to help you make outside time a priority in your homeschool.

Meet Ginny Yurich :

Ginny is a Michigan homeschooling mother of five and the founder of 1000 Hours Outside. She is a thought-leader in the world of nature-based play and its benefits for children. One of her top priorities is to inspire parents to invest in spending time in nature with their children. Her 1000 Hours Outside Challenge spans the globe and many people from all walks of life look to her for inspiration as well as practical tips on how to put down the screens and get outside. Ginny has a BS in Mathematics and a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Michigan and is also a children's book author and illustrator. Her book, The Little Farmhouse in West Virginia was published in February, 2019.

Resources:

1000 Hours Outside

Instagram- @1000hoursoutside

Book: How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love With Nature

Quote:

A great deal has been said lately about the danger of overpressure, of requiring too much mental work from a child of tender years. The danger exists; but lies, not in giving the child too much, but in giving him the wrong thing to do, the sort of work for which the present state of his mental development does not fit him. Who expects a boy in petticoats to lift half a hundredweight? But give the child work that Nature intended for him, and the quantity he can get through with ease is practically unlimited. Whoever saw a child tired of seeing, of examining in his own way, unfamiliar things? This is the sort of mental nourishment for which he has an unbounded appetite because it is that food of the mind on which, for the present, he is meant to grow. vol 1 pg 67

Verse:

Job 12:7-10 ESV

“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind

Show Transcript:

Julie -

Welcome to the Charlotte Mason Show. A podcast dedicated to discussing Ms. Mason's philosophy, principles, and methods. It is our hope that each episode will leave you inspired and offer practical wisdom on how to provide this rich living education in your modern homeschool. So pull up a chair, we're glad you're here.

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Hello everyone. Welcome to the Charlotte Mason Show. Before we get started today, I wanted to give a listener-shoutout to Jay Pertite who left this review on iTunes. She wrote I love hearing Julie Ross when she does her membership calls for A Gentle Feast customers. So I'm looking forward to this podcast. She's very knowledgeable about Charlotte Mason, but also very realistic about the challenges a busy Mama faces. So thank you so much for taking the time to leave that review. I really appreciate it. I know we're all just so busy but if you could take a second to write the podcast on iTunes or leave a review, it really does help get the word out and iTunes will show it to more people.

On today's podcast, I'm going to be interviewing Ginny Yurich from A Thousand Hours Outside. According to Google, the average American child spends only four to seven minutes...minutes, y'all...outside every day in unstructured play. Four to seven minutes. That's like how long it takes to check the mail. But they spend four to seven hours in front of a screen, and so, Ginny and I just had a great conversation about the importance of outside and some just really practical ideas to make that a priority in your family's life, and to make it habit.

Ginny Yurich, of A Thousand Hours Outside, is a Michigan homeschooling mom of five. She's a thought leader in the world of nature-based play and its benefits for children. One of her top priorities is to inspire parents to invest in spending time in nature with their children. Her 1000 hours outside challenge spans the globe, and many people from all walks of life look to her for inspiration as well as practical tips on how to put down screens and get outside.

Ginny has a BS in mathematics and a master's degree in education from the University of Michigan and is also a children's book author and illustrator. Her book, The Little Farmhouse in West Virginia, was published in February of 2019. So, let's get started on our conversation with Ginny.

Hi, hello everyone. Welcome to the Charlotte Mason Show. I'm your host, Julie Ross, and I am here today with Ginny Yurich of A Thousand Hours Outside. And, I'm very excited for this. I think with summer and kind of everyone having these freer schedules these days, because of COVID, this is just a very opportune conversation, so. I know it's gonna really bless everyone, so, welcome Ginny.

Ginny -

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Julie -

And, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself and your family, so we can get started?

Ginny -

Sure. We are a Michigan based homeschooling family with five kids. Boy, girl, boy, girl, girl. We ??? girl at the end there. How 'bout you?

Julie -

Yep. I'm four girls, one boy.

Ginny -

Okay. So, we got a girl at the end, and they're ages eleven down to three. We actually exactly a year ago moved to a little farm, but we lived kinda all over the place in Michigan here with our growing family, so. You know, our kids...we have kind of a lot of them, and the first three are really close in age. So they're less than three years apart. The first three, you know, they were like, two, one, and a baby. And it was kind of drowning as a mom. A really down and sort of underwater all the time. I couldn't really wrap my mind around all the needs and so, a long time ago, back in 2011 in the fall, a friend of mine from church, from MOPS, who was a year, had kids a year older than mine, was starting to look into homeschooling. And she tells me, she says, Charlotte Mason, who I'd never heard of, Charlotte Mason says that kids should spend four to six hours outside a day in any reasonable tolerable weather, I think, is the wording. And I thought that was just absurd. Nobody does this, you know?

And so, you know, but you know, you wanna have friends and you wanna build relationships when your kids are that little and so, she asked us to try that out with her. We have been doing like library programs and we knew we were gonna homeschool eventually but hadn't researched anything. And we were doing library programs and swim programs and MOPS and all these things that are, you know, 45 minutes long, or 30 minutes, and that's a lot of work for mom. You know, to pack all your kids up, to have everything that they need, the diapers, and the snacks. And so, I would find that I was just exhausted, you know. By 11 am, we did the library thing. It was awful. You know? And you know, I think well I've got like seven more hours till my husband comes home. Just it's really struggling, you know? And you know, you always, you wanna enjoy those years. Everyone says they fly by.

So my friend says, like, we're gonna meet at the park. Not even a playground. Just its like, flat, grass, there's a little creek bed that ran through and a bridge. We're gonna meet at the park from nine to one. Pack a lunch. And I just, I mean, I can't even tell you how much my mind was blown. I thought this is an awful idea. You know, what is she thinking? So, I'll try it. I'll come along. So, we met...I'll never forget the day, because we met at nine, we spread out our picnic blankets, and the kids just played. And my mind was blown. We had a baby, a babe in our arms, that sat on the blanket and nursed and, you know, played with maybe a little toy or something, and the...she had two olders and I had two older ones, and they just ran around. And they were chasing squirrels, and jumping off stumps, and it was a, just a monumental day for me because I realized that, like I could make it through. And in time, in a very short period of time actually. Like, within weeks, we started doing this more often. Like, my kids are thriving. No, they're not getting sick. They're always and extremely coordinated. You know, they're learning how to do these different things. They're being different things. They're being really social. I mean, it's...it was really noticeable, within a couple weeks, that they were thriving.

And so, here's this thing that, you know, all I've gotta do is pack some food and we all thrive. They're thriving, I'm thriving. It was like a game-changer. And so, you know we had a small group of moms. Nothing, like, super organized. That, we did this like three days a week, you know? We did the nine to one, we went to different little parks. We did some hikes. Well, the zoo sometimes. Just some outside type things, and it really got me through those early childhood years. Well then, you know, eventually, I came across, you know, the research. There's so much research backing Charlotte Mason's idea. You know? Here, she knew! ???

Julie -

Oh yeah. I have a Pinterest board called Charlotte Mason was right. And so every time I find articles like, about everything, she was amazingly ahead of her time. Yes.

Ginny -

She was ahead of her time. And so, I don't know, a couple years in, we'd never run into other kids. And when I say never, I mean it. Never. You know? At a playground, maybe for a little bit. But never at the parks. Never on the hiking trails. No kids. Like, where is everyone? You know? This is so life-changing for us, and, so I kinda added up the hours. You know, we were outside about eighteen to twenty hours a week. You know, cause we were doing those, like, Charlotte Mason days. Not every day. But three or four times, and then sometime on the weekends. And it added up to be 1200 hours a year, and what was surprising is that that's exactly the average amount of American kids screen time. Which was 1200 hours a year? And I was blown away, not by this, oh, people are watching too much tv. But I'm more like, what are we missing? You know?

Because I would look back at a year's worth of time and have these, this depth of experience with my kids. And I thought, well, what if we didn't have that? And so, decided to sort of spread the message of that one thousand hours outside, cause it's a little catchier. You know? And just having this sort of goal and having this awareness about how nature time helps all of us thrive. And what else is there that does that? There's not much. You know? Like the things that my kids like to do, the games, when they're four and five, I'll do them and I'll happily do them, or happily read them the stories that they love. But, you know, this is something, you know, their movies...it's not...the interest is different. But when you go in nature, it hits everyone. It hits multi-age, you know. It hits, you know, you can go with kids of any age.

So, that's kind of our story. So, we're hanging out in Michigan. It gets really cold here.

Julie -

Yeah, I was about to ask you that. This thousand hours outside...

Ginny -

Yeah. Yeah, so we are... we have a year-long goal, I think, because of that, and I think life is really tricky. You know, I don't...I'm not here at all with a message of guilt. You know? Or...but really it's a message of freedom, which is like, you know, if we build this into our lives, however we can, depending on where we live, and however our schedules are. If we build in nature time, that will change childhood. You know? It will change our relationships with our kids. And so, in Michigan, we are...you know, we're heavily building our time in spring, summer, and fall. But in the winter, we get out. You know, we try...but it's less. And Charlotte Mason covered that. She said, on tolerable days. And some of the days aren't that tolerable. You know?

Some people say, you know, there's that saying, like, there's no such thing as bad weather, but I don't really agree, you know? ??? So, you know, we try and embrace. We're in the season of trying to embrace the seasons. What does winter offer? Winter goes on for beautiful things. In stage, where it gets really cold, but we definitely stack our hours in the other seasons. So.

Julie -

Yeah. That's great. That's a wise way to do it. That's so neat to hear your story, and you know, that is very encouraging for people who have younger children. Now, how did you start balancing that once you started homeschooling? I think that's where it sometimes....??? difficult ???

Ginny -

Yeah, this is part of our homeschool. And when I speak at different conferences and things, you know, my main topic is how nature time hits every facet of development. You know, hits social, it hits academic, it hits emotional, it hits physical. And so, it's like you get so much bang for your buck. You know, when kids are outside, they are learning so much. In fact, it's all sort of intrinsically related. One of the coolest things I read was that...I wanna get the stat right. But it was how elderly people who dance regularly have like an 87% chance less of getting dementia. So...

Julie -

Wow. That's amazing.

Ginny -

I'll see if I can send you the study. Cause it's...I'm not finding my exact number here. But the point is that movement and our brains are really related. And then the stat is also, it's also a high number for if you play an instrument. Like, elderly people. So, you know, because they're moving, and they're doing these complex movements, it's helping their brains function better. Those are huge stats. Like, if someone were to say, you know, here's an 80% chance less, you know, take this pill. You know? ??? Everyone would take it.

So, you know, what I've learned is that this time outside, it helps our kids have quick adaptable brains. I mean, not, you know, knowledge. The knowledge base is always sort of shifting, but we don't know, you know, what types of jobs are coming for them. So, we want them to be quick and adaptable, and creative, and robust, and healthy, and all these things. So, you know, the nitty-gritty is we do a couple hours of seatwork. Not even for the full year. And then we just...our focus, a big focus is this outside time. We typically have done, like, morning school. Afternoon outside time. But I'm actually researching a lot about how morning sunlight resets our body rhythms for our health. So, we're trying to also get in a little bit of time out in the morning to get that morning sunlight. So...

Julie -

We switch it...we switch it, depending on the season. So like...

Ginny -

Yeah, and the day...

Julie -

Summers in South Carolina are ungodly hot. So, you know, we try to get out in the mornings in the summers. But then in the winter, we'll get out in the afternoons. Yeah. So it just kinda depends on the time of year too. Yeah.

Ginny -

Yeah. Absolutely. And so I think that's something that people...it's an interesting point that you bring up, Julie, because I think that's something that people don't do. In the past, people...and probably when Charlotte Mason, you know, was alive, that people revolved their lives around seasons. You know, even that. Right? Sort of the rhythm of life. And I think because, you know, we're so far removed from being outside, and people aren't outside. You spend 90% of your entire life indoors, you know, are really far removed from those seasons and those rhythms that are just really good for kids as well.

So yeah, we're similar to you. We sort of adapt with the season. In the winter, we're gonna go out in the day, cause that's when its warmest.

Julie -

Yeah. And adapting your school around that. Yeah.

Ginny -

Yeah, that...that's exactly what we do. I mean, we do...there's days where we're doing our seatwork at 7 PM, you know, cause that's when it works. Or, you know, and I think that's fine.

So, to your question, this is our school. Yes. You know, the time outside, it hits all these...the things that make our kids whole people. And it contributes to their long term development. So, that is a component of what we do.




Julie -

Today's episode is brought to you by A Gentle Feast. A Gentle Feast is a complete curriculum for grades one through twelve that is family centered, inspired by Ms. Mason's programs and philosophy, and rooted in books, beauty, and Biblical truth. You can find out how smooth and easy days are closer than you think at AGentleFeast.com.




If it's okay with you, can we break down some of those benefits in those different kind of areas that you talked about? Like either...

Ginny -

Sure.

Julie -

...your children or just in general studies, you've found out like...

Ginny -

Sure. Okay, so, academically, right? This is like the big thing for, I think, American parents for sure. The report cards. You got the report cards ??? and when people say, ??? Exactly. And when people say, you know, my heart is really for the parents that are on the fence. They really wanna homeschool, and they always say, I'm so afraid I'm going to mess my child up. That's... and so, we have this pervasive view that learning and sitting are the same thing. You know? But learning is not necessarily sitting. And it can happen when you sit. But it can also happen when you move, and as kids increase these complex movements...you know, we all think about it when they're babies. You know, they sit up, and it's so exciting. And then they crawl and then they walk and, but you know, those complex movements continue throughout childhood if we allow them the time. You know, they learn to skip. And they learn to jump rope and they learn to climb trees and they balance. And they...you know, and they...if you watch those movements, a kid that runs off the end of a dock and jumps into a lake. You know that's a lot of timed motions. And all of those things are, you know, connecting neurons and...this is what I said before, but it's building these robust brains. And also developing the senses.

So one of the ones that we talk about is the vestibular sense. Which is one of the sense that no one knows about, you know? ??? You know, but only the five. But the other ones have really interesting names, right? You got vestibular...???

Julie -

I think that's why we don't learn those in kindergarten, cause they're hard to pronounce.

Ginny -

Because they're a lot longer, right? Like one is called proprioception. But the vestibular sense is the one that sort of...it wakes your brain up. And in order to activate it, your head has to be out of an upright position. So, that's something that kids don't get. They're sitting. They're sitting in a classroom. They're sitting at a desk. You know. They're sitting to watch shows or they're playing video games. Their heads are just in an upright position. Well, when the head gets out of an upright position, in all of these motions that kids do naturally...they cartwheel, they roll around. You know, they roughhouse. They swing. You know, and they throw their heads back. And what happens is, those, like, inner ear hairs have fluid moving all through them. And that wakes the brain up. Gets 'em going. And I think that's why kids fidget. You know, that's gonna wake up their brains. They know that...and you know, it's like we look at kids who do summersaults and all of these movements naturally, they know what their bodies need. And so, academically, we're trying to, you know, set our kids up to have these brains that function well. Because if they function well, then they're gonna be able to learn anything. And they're gonna be able to adapt to the jobs that are coming.

You know, but beyond that, you know, there's all the physical aspects of reading and writing. So, there's so many things here. One would be the eyesight. You know. We check the eyesight in terms of you know, 20/20, or with that type of thing, but there's also the component of, how well do our eyes work together. How well would they be able to track words on the page? You know, working together. And so, from infancy, you know, if you walk with your child and you put them in a little carrier, and you take 'em on hikes, that up and down motion, that little bit of motion, of that motion that happens while walking, they're constantly adjusting their eyes. You know. And their eyes are going to work together with every step. You know. These are huge things.

Or with our children and they're doing these different motions where they climb on a rock and they jump. And the climb and they jump. And they're using this eyesight to see things that are really far away and things that are really close up. And really small things. The little ants and the insects on the ground. You know, that's gonna help them be successful when they start to read. And all the fine motor and large motor things are gonna help them to sit...I mean, there's so much! For academic. Right?

You know, they're manipulating mud pies and they're grasping tree limbs and all of those things you know, builds the arm strength they need to hold a pencil the correct way. And to hold their bodies upright. And, you know, there are a lot of things that arise, complications, or...I don't know. That's probably too overdramatic of a word, but things that arise when kids don't get this time when they're young.

Julie -

Yeah, I think complications is not that overdramatic. I mean, I've been in occupational therapy and things, and talked to a lot of people of having to make up those deficits, because the kids don't have, like, the fine motor skills to do the ???

Ginny -

Academics, you know. They say that, you know, just the little things. Like, kids, they can't sit in their desks anymore. They're falling over. You know, they're banning tag, because kids, they don't know how much touch, you know, how much touch to apply. That's proprioception. That's when they are sensitive. So, you know, I think I saw from the, from early on, that all of a sudden, my kids were just quicker. You know, they're picking up on things. That's anecdotal, but you know, there's a lot of research.

And then, beyond that, the nature provides sort of this multidisciplinary curriculum. We were down in Florida, cause you know, we live in Michigan, right, so, you gotta escape. You gotta escape in February. So, we try and escape in February, we go down to Florida. It's like, what everyone does. So, we were down in Florida, and, this was sort of my biggest a-ha moment as a homeschool mom. Cause you know, you don't, you jump in, you don't really know what you're doing. You feel like that. You know you feel like it's so different from maybe how you grew up. You have those concerns about messing your child up.

So, we're down in Florida, and we waited to teach our kids to read. If they were ready, we would have done it earlier, but none of them were interested. So, our son had just learned how to read and he was 8. And he picked up on it really quickly and we were down in Florida, and we were at a nature center and the worker there, she said, you know, watch out on the side of the building because there's such and such of type of snake. And I'd never heard of that type of snake. I was like, okay. My son, he just started rattling off all these facts about that kind of snake. He knew how fast they went, he knew what they ate. He knew their habitat. And I was kinda like, whoa. You know? You know, it's like, things that I don't even know. And where did he learn it? You know, he'd just been reading books that he was interested in about nature. You know, we'd catch snakes here in Michigan and they're not, they're non-venomous snakes up here, so it's great. He's interested. He's been catching snakes since he was little and he was... that's something he was interested in.

And so, academically, like, I can't check that off a box. There's no click or state standard or whatever you called the different dates for them. You know, but he knows that information, but that's a part of him. And so, they're learning...you know, John Holt has a quote that says, when you're living well, you know, and when you're living energetically, kids are learning all the time, even if you don't know what it is. So there's that bit of embracing that unknown, and sort of being okay with it not being linear and check the box, and sort of growth like how things in nature grow, right? The tree growth is not linear. Those are just go everywhere, in every direction. And so that's kinda how it is with our kids. so, academically, I think that, you know, this nature time sets our kids ahead in so many ways. It's very multifaceted. So...it's like I'm talking too much.

Julie -

No, no, that's great. It's a lot, I mean, yeah...

Ginny -

It is a lot.

Julie -

Yeah, academic areas that we don't often think of in the brain development, is what is huge. And it's not something that you can just test to see it. It happens over time.

Ginny -

And you can't get it in other ways. They didn't...that play changes the neurons. It completely changes your brain structure. So, you know?

Julie -

Yeah, but we don't put value on it because it's not easy to measure.

Ginny -

It's not easy to measure. You know, and that, we're drawn to variety. Our brains, our bodies stimulate that...you know, they need that stimulation and nature provides that variety, that sensory stimulation. They say the more sense you engage, the more you're learning. So if you go outside, you're engaging all those senses. You know, from the ones we don't know about, vestibular, you know? And proprioception, you know, to all the ones we do know about. You know, inside you're only engaging a few of those, but when you go outside you engage all of them, and it changes every day, even in your yard or on your patio. You know, there's gonna be different weather and different, you know, animals, and ....

Julie -

Yeah. So, the other aspects you talked about was, like, the emotional...

Ginny -

Emotional is huge...???

Julie -

Because I think with what's going on in the world today, that's huge.

Ginny -

Yeah. Yes. Emotionally kids are overburdened. You know? They're overloaded as a general rule. I know it's not true for every family, but they say that, you now, if we're trying to get kids outside for four to six hours a day, you know, Charlotte Mason, right? That the average child only gets four to seven minutes. And there's a research study out of...Scott Samson has a book called How To Raise a Wild Child, it's in there. But, four to seven minutes a day of free play outside a day. That's the average. And so, kids are not getting this. And that's why I, you know, we started one thousand hours outside to begin with, was because we weren't seeing other kids. And, you know, so, you know, even just looking at nature is calming. The sounds of nature are calming.

And, you know, not for homeschool families, but, you know, in the school environment, there is a lot of stress. You know, there's a classroom competition. You know, there's standardized tests. There's the peer culture. Even the flashing screens, the tv, those things, evoke a stress response. I read this stat that said girl's risk for emotional problems double with each additional hour of digital media consumed. And so, you know, emotionally, this is what...this is really what we are. Certainly our children. It's respite for them. And it allows them to sort of escape. It allows them to work through their emotions, through play. And sort of try out different scenarios.

So, definitely in the time when things are uncertain, nature time provides that place of sort of rescue for all of us, and a chance to reset. And it just doesn't take, you know, it doesn't take that much. It doesn't have to be anything that we have to even plan much for.

Julie -

Yeah. Except for food.

Ginny -

Which is great.

Julie -

Gotta have the food.

Ginny -

Except for food. ??? Yeah. Totally. Yeah, so emotionally, you know, you know, they say all sorts of things like, you know, about how healing it is. And, you know, I guess, especially teen years and things, it's probably even more important.

Julie -

yeah.

Ginny -

You have to balance.

Julie -

Do you have any advice for parents who are like, okay, we have not done a good job of getting outside? We want to make this a priority in our lives. How do we get everybody to put down the screens and come on board?

Ginny -

Well, I think that's got... a sort of, you know, that was sort of the point of one thousand hours outside. Which is like, this is really just a way to do life. And it's the way that's we've done life since 2011. It's hard. And I think that's why we need it, a goal, we need accountability, or we need something measurable there to say, we're gonna do this. And if it's not a thousand hours outside, maybe it's five hundred. We're gonna start somewhere, and we're gonna say, once a week, we're gonna spend four hours outside and see what it's like. And what happens over time is that kids and adults alike, and it happens almost immediately. It happened immediately for me. The light bulb goes on. And I think, well this is a way to live. And so, you know, for us, there's just not...the time for screens just gets sucked up. We don't have time. And those are the best types of days. The best types of days are, you know, when we get home from a day at the beach, or we get home from hiking with friends, or, you know, or just even playing in the yard, or doing these simple things. And it's bedtime. And there just wasn't time for screens that day, because we were engaged in life.

And so, you know, my advice for parents would be to find a chunk of time, and big chunk of time. Like a Charlotte Mason chunk of time. Like, two, three, four hours. And do it. You just have to do it once or twice and then you build that into your life. It takes sort of taking some of the other busyness out and inserting this slowness. And trusting that, you know, that works. So, get some good picnic, getting some good picnic food on hand. You know? And, you know, most...accessibility is not typically an issue. Most places, even inner cities, they have really good park systems. The biggest issue is time.

Julie -
Yes. Right. Yeah. And make them a priority. Yeah. And seeing the value of that. And when you can do that...and I think even with older children, you know, there is gonna be that push back if they haven't had this lifestyle since they were younger like your kids, right? It's...you want me to do what? Like, go and get dirty? And...

Ginny -

You know, if ??? I think, you know, I think hikes are actually a really good foray into spending time outside. Hiking is probably one of my favorite things because you have a start point and an endpoint.

Julie -

Goal. Yes.

Ginny -

Exactly. And everyone's gonna find something interesting along their hike. So, you know, if you can find a one-mile or two-mile, you know, kids put on backpacks, they love it. They're gonna find things. They just will. Because this is interesting to them and it's interesting to us. So, you know, I think, for a family that's done nothing, that would be where I would start. You know, would be some fun little hikes in my area.

Julie -
Yeah, and with all this...I don't know about you, but, in our area, there's been all kinds of websites and things now, for like, hidden trails and hikes, because the state parks were closed for a while. So, we found all kinds of new places. So, you know, just visiting what's near you, but there's...yeah, like you said, even the cities. There's always parks and places to go explore. So, yeah, that's really good advice. And I think explaining it, like if you have older children, you know, kinda getting them that buy-in of, this is why this is important, right? This isn't like some extra thing that I'm forcing you to do. Like, this really...

Ginny -

Right? You know, it's... ??? it's important because, you know, with the one thousand hours outside, and we have this little tracker sheet, it's just this, a simple piece of paper. And so, we don't have an app. People always ask for an app. But, we have this simple piece of paper. We have ours up on our fridge. And the kids color in a circle for every hour that they're outside. And, you know, it seems, sometimes, meticulous, or over the top. You know, thirty years ago, no one had any idea how much time they spent outside. ???

But the world has really changed. Four to seven minutes is not enough. And so, by having this visual, I think beyond getting the time outside, you know, we're also modeling to our kids, this is an important part of parenting.

Julie -

Yes.

Ginny -

And so, to a point, you know, as your kids, you know, as kids are twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, they need to know that when their parents, you know... and we have an even more screen pervasive system...we were at Costco yesterday, and there were like a screen on the refrigerator. It was like, playing some sort of something ???

Julie -

It's like the book, Fahrenheit 451, where there's screen all over the house. Yeah.

Ginny -

Everywhere. It's really important that we model to our kids, and that they have the experience to know, what it feels like to be outside for that amount of time. What it feels like overall to set screens aside. And those are good conversations you can have with kids. You know, they don't wanna set them aside, but how do they feel after? That was a big thing. Especially if you invite a friend along.

Julie -

Yes. I think that's super important with kids. Yeah.

Ginny -

Food, food, friends, and a first aid kit.

Julie -

Oh, I love that little...

Ginny -

There we go. That's it.

Julie -

That's a good way to remember it. See, that's important. Yeah. That was a good thing.

Ginny -

And socially, everyone's concern, if you talk about, too, you know, to parents who are nervous about homeschooling, you know, it's the two things. It's the academic and it's the social, right? You know, but there's a difference between social skills and an awkward personality, you know? It is born that way.

???

My mom said there's a lid for every pot. You know, you're gonna find someone. You're gonna find your groove. What does it matter? So, I love that little saying, but the primary predictor of success in life, which is this kind of a huge statement, but the primary predictor...you know, it's like everyone will wanna know, what is the primary predictor. You know, it's not a 4.0, you know. It is the ability to get along with others. And, you know, that sort of emotional intelligence is something that people talk about a lot. But, it can't be rushed. You know, you have to have time for it, and so, what happens during play is that kids are intrinsically motivated to keep playing, because they wanna keep playing, and so they learn to compromise and they learn to collaborate, and they build something out of nothing. Like, if you think about that skillset, you know, like sitting in a board room when they're in their, you know when they're in their twenties or thirties. And they're able to collaborate. And they're able to bring in other people's ideas and assimilate those with their own. These are the types of things they're learning when they're building with sticks with a group of kids. And multi-age, you know?

Julie -

Yes. Yes, that helps, yes. Yeah.

Ginny -

So, you know, there's a constant, if you really take a step back and look at it, when kids are playing with other kids, outdoors, in these environments, there's a constant assessment going on. They're constantly assessing, you know, am I being too overbearing? You know, how can I keep everyone playing? And so their mind is engaged the whole time. So that's a crossover, right? It's like a social, it's helping academic, it's helping their brains. You know, it's helping them emotionally. So, you know, if we're really concerned about our kid's social skills, we have to build time in for them to play and to be with other kids. And especially outside, with all those sort of loose parts and...

Julie -

Yeah. Oh yeah, where it's all the time outside. We have a lot of children on my cul-de-sacs, and they're always negotiating. Like, this kid doesn't wanna play this, and yeah, and we're gonna make a ninja camp today. And then tomorrow it's, we're making a village and...I mean, every day, it's a thing like, totally different.



Ginny -

It's genius. Isn't it? It's really brilliant. It's really brilliant. So...

Julie -

And even older kids, I think, you know, you're like, okay, well, my teenager's not gonna go out there and, you know, make a mini-city out of cardboard boxes, but, you know, if they're out there, fishing, or if they're out there hiking with their friends, like, they're still getting that social aspect of it. But in a healthy way where, you know, I've had teenagers in my house and all of them are all on their phones. I'm like, are you all even talking to each other? Like, ???

Ginny -

I think that's happening in school too. You know, so they're missing out...I think that was the biggest thing with one thousand hours outside that I learned, which was, it said at the beginning, it's not necessarily that screens are evil. You know, I think when my kids were younger, I'd have been like, oh, I don't want them exposed to such and such. But what I learned was, it's just stealing. It's stealing time. You know? It's stealing experiences and so, you know, the kids are not getting a chance to interact.

I remember, way back at the very beginning, when my kids were, you know, two, one, and a baby, and we started this. And I...we were at that park I talked about, the very beginning, with the creek bed that ran through and the kids were running around. And, you know, I, you know, you have this thought of, well, this is well and good for now, but then, we saw these teenagers...they were probably thirteen or fourteen, running through the creek bed and they had these special gloves and nets and they were catching crawfish or cray...crawdads. People say it different around... crayfish. And you know, their parents had invested whatever, to have these little nets and special gloves, and so I asked them what they were doing, and they were catching them for dinner. And they were having a blast running through the creek bed and looking under rocks, and I thought, wow, that's like a decade down the road from me. Like, this works.

And I think we have to maybe invest a little differently as kids get older. Like you said. Maybe in fishing...they...it's happening with my kids too. They start to develop specific nature interests. I have one that's really into gardening. Flower gardening. You know, she's seven. So, she makes all these bouquets and she'll...I can invest for her in space for a flower garden. You know, I have one that's really interested in farm animals, and so last year, we did a little...well, now we're on a farm. But before that, we did, we went weekly to a friend who had a farm, and did like little farm school. And, you know, one that's a writer and so, he brings his books and everything everywhere. And, you know, so, one that's really interested geology, so, you know, we can go on the shore of Lake Michigan. There's all sorts of rocks to hunt.

But, as they get older, those interests show up. Their personal interests. And we can source them. You know? However that may be, and so...

Julie -

Yeah, that's a really good point. Yeah.

Ginny -

Skateboard, or...so it involves a little bit different of an investment. But nature works. Birth to the end.

Julie -

Yeah, I like that thought of investing. Because it does, you know, camping, hiking, all that stuff, you know. It is an investment. Right? Isn't it? It's what your priorities are, of...and it doesn't have to cost anything. You can just go hiking, you know? But, when you see the benefit of it, you want to invest in it, because you...financial concept, like you return your investment. You start to see it, and then you want to invest in it more. And my teenagers...

Ginny -

...a good bike, or something. It might be a huge investment.

Julie -

That's great. Yeah, that's a really great thing. My kids are super into emailing, like, that hiking...hammocking...taking a little hammock bags everywhere... ???

Yes, and so for Christmas, we got them all...cause I'm like, yes, I will buy you a hammock. Yes, I will buy you binoculars. Yes, I will buy you a bike. Like, I guess I would buy you a fishing...the things that, that's worth investing in, for me.

Ginny -

My mom always did that. She always said, I will buy you anything that will enhance your development. You know, a pogo stick, back then. A pogo ball, or the skipping...

Julie -

Do they still sell those?

Ginny -

You know, I don't think they should.

Julie -

Yeah. I want a pogo stick.

Ginny -

Yeah. And so, you know, you see, into adulthood, that people mountain bike, you know? And, so it's almost like, you know, you see...you see adults outside all the time. You know, hiking. It's that we're missing the kids. But they're ready.

Julie-

Yeah. That's great. Now, to wrap up here, do you have a favorite outdoor memory or something that you've done that you'd like to share it with us?

Ginny -

No. I love it all. I love it all, and I just think that I mean, it's like a silly answer to the question. But, you know, I love sitting around the campfire and I love, you know, hiking with our little lanterns around our house and I, you know, it's all so rich. And so we've gone, we've traveled some. Like, we've come to, I was telling you, down to Asheville, and, you know, done the waterfalls there and ridden...there's one called slide rock. You can ride the waterfall.



Julie -

I know, it's so fun.

Ginny -

I'm like, the coolest of the things that we've done, the simplest of the things, you know, just, you know, there's little beaches by our house on little lakes and, and I like free, like, public whatever. Public places. And, you know, it's...there's not been one experience where I've thought, oh that was a waste of my time. Not one!

Julie -

Yeah. That's great.

Ginny -

The simple to the grand. You know, we've been, you know, we've seen the Grand Canyon. Or...but you know, it's like, there's so much beauty in the zinnias that I grew last year in front of our house. And like, you know, so... that's the beauty of it. Is that, you know, sort of this, we do this one thousand hours outside and people hashtag one thousand hours outside. You know, there's, you know, thousands of these hashtags and every experience is different. None of them look alike. And they all work. They're all beautiful. And so...

Julie -

That's great. And that's a great place ???

Ginny -

I evaded the question.

Julie -

No. ??? Yeah.

Ginny -

Cause it doesn't matter what you do. If you do sidewalk chalk. If you play in the sprinkler. You know, if you go to the zoo. There's magic in all of it.

Julie -

Yes. That's a good point. Yeah, and, so if people want to find you, or find out more about this, there's the hashtag on Instagram, which I do like because you get to see a variety of people.

Ginny -

Yeah. It's really neat.

Julie -

And what they're doing. Yeah. Yeah. And that's really helpful, to kind go, okay, no, I can do this where I am because this person's doing this thing too.

Ginny -

Yeah. In Alaska, and this person's in Hong Kong. It's, I mean, it's global. People are doing it everywhere. Every age. You know? I mean...so, there's no right or wrong way to go outside. And, isn't that freeing? That takes the pressure off because I think a lot of childhood is about right or wrong. You gotta do it this way, you gotta do it in this order, but you know, here's this thing where you can go anywhere to whatever location, whatever time of day. Whatever works for your schedule. And it's gonna work. So.

So we have the hashtag. I have an Instagram account. At, everything's just one thousand hours outside. It's 1-0-0-0. And we have a website and a Facebook page and Facebook groups. There's like, locations, specific Facebook groups. And there's, you know, like, sort of an overarching Facebook group. So, you know, I have a podcast with like, four episodes on it, from a couple years ago. And, you know, we have a YouTube channel with three videos. So, we've like dabbled in all of the different mediums...

Julie -

That's cause you're outside so much. You know? You have to be inside to do all that stuff.

Ginny -

I know. There's no time for it. But, anyway, so that, you know, the information I share is just sort of this gentle reminder to do it. To prioritize it. And, you know, there's a lot of people vying for our time. You know? And a lot of really good things. Like, you know, kinder music is great. And, you know, all of these opportunities are good, but we just don't have time for them all. So, you have to pick and choose what's, what you get the most out of and this is the most, you know, for development, but then it also has these, builds these pillars, like these foundational pillars of relationship. You know? Cause we're all doing it together, and we all have these experiences together. And we've, you know, done these trails together, so, I mean, you get a whole lot out of it.

Julie -

Oh, for sure. Yeah, so, I always close, I ask people for a favorite Charlotte Mason quote, one they like that pertains to what we're talking about. Do you have a quote that you could share with us?

Ginny -

I do. Okay. Ready for it? This is out of Volume One. A great deal has been said lately about the danger of overpressure, of requiring too much mental work from a child of tender years. The danger exists but lies, not in giving the child too much, but in giving him the wrong thing to do. The sort of work for which the present state of his mental development does not fit him. Who expects a boy in petticoats to lift half a hundredweight? But, give the child work that nature intended for him, and the quantity he can get through with ease is practically unlimited. Whoever saw a child tired of examining, in his own way, unfamiliar things? This is the sort of mental nourishment for which he has an unbounded appetite because it is the food of the mind on which for the present he is meant to grow.

Julie -

Mic drop.

Ginny -

That's it.

Julie -

Yes.

Ginny -

It's everything. So, she was so before her time. And, yeah, this is a gift. This time that we give our kids is a gift.

Julie -

It really is.

Ginny -

Yeah, it's a priceless one.

Julie -

Yeah, for sure. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. This was so helpful, and I know everyone will appreciate it, so thank you.

Ginny -

Yeah, thanks.




Julie -

Thank you for joining us today on the Charlotte Mason Show. I'm your host, Julie Ross, and I would love to meet you in person. All of the Great Homeschool Conventions have been rescheduled to 2021. Go to GreatHomeschoolConventions.com to find a convention near you.

But you don't have to wait until 2021 to experience the amazing speakers and vendors at the Great Homeschool Conventions. They now offer an online convention that you can find on GreatHomeschoolConventions.com.

Also, if you would like the show notes for today's episode, go to homeschooling.mom. If you would take a moment to subscribe to this podcast in iTunes and leave a review, I would greatly appreciate it. It helps get the word out about this podcast to our audience.

Thanks for joining me today. Until next time, may your home be filled with books, beauty, and Biblical truth.


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