Wild + Free Resources

Old-school homeschooling - including the stigma of socially awkward kids, conservative clothes, and a classroom setting replicated in the home - is gone among today's generation of homeschool mamas. The Wild + Free movement is an example of the current homeschool movement with an educational model focused on a love of nature, reading great books, pursuing interests and hobbies, making the entire world a classroom, and prolonging the wonder of childhood.

The Call of the Wild and Free offers advice, information, and positive encouragement for parents considering homeschooling, those currently in the trenches looking for inspiration, and those who are looking for supplementary resources to enhance their kids' traditional educations.

Written by the founder of the Wild+Free homeschool community, this book encourages a quality education at home by challenging students' intellectual abilities and nurturing their sense of curiosity, joy, and awe--the essence of a positive childhood.

Wild + Free Handcrafts from Ainsley Arment is a collection of 36 hands-on crafts and activities featuring the gorgeous photography of the Wild+Free Instagram account. Featuring step-by-step photography that shows how to do the craft plus essays on the usefulness of handcrafts in sparking curiosity and wonder, this book will inspire parents and kids to start crafting!

Traditional "handcrafts" engage one's hands, requires a level of learned skill, encourage folks to do their best work, and produce an end product that is useful. It has been used in homeschool settings for decades as one way to encourage children to work with their hands and discover a skillful craft they love to practice! It's also perfect for any child who is home on break, home for the summer, or with their families on the weekends.

This book feature crafts such as

• Felted acorns

• Paper beads
• Nature wreaths
• Cocoa mint lip balm
• Woven willow hearts
• Finger knit bracelets
• Eco-dyed kitchen towels
• Fairy tale treehouse
• Flower crowns
• Bug hotel

128 pages, paperback.

The companion to The Call of the Wild + Free: styled in the lush aesthetic of the Wild + Free brand, a four-color book offering outdoor activities and essays, that parents, educators, and caregivers can use to inspire their children.

Wild and Free Nature is a beautiful, four-color resource book for parents, educators, and caregivers to enjoy doing hands-on activities outside with kids. One of the core philosophies behind Wild + Free is the belief that nature is the best classroom we could ever hope for. It unlocks the imagination and inspires creativity in ways that a schoolroom never could.

Being out in nature has a number of benefits. Studies show that children are more likely to interact with kids of different ages and learn to problem solve in natural settings. Being in natural settings stimulates the brain and restores cognitive function. Children who spend time in natural settings also interact better with kids of all ages and learn to solve problems more easily. They build muscle and coordination and fend off obesity. It cultivates a sense of responsibility for caring for the earth, not to mention, encourages imaginative play, curiosity, and other qualities necessary to spark a love for investigation and learning.

This resource book will help equip parents and adults who work with children to get them outdoors with activities such as:

• Build a treehouse in the woods.
• Cultivate a garden plot.
• Make land art and nature crafts.
• Create a mud kitchen in the backyard.
• Go for a nature walk each morning.
• Find a secret swimming hole.
• Go to the creek to learn about the water cycle.
• Plant a garden to see what will grow in your backyard.
• Raise monarch caterpillars and feed them milkweed until they transform into butterflies.
• Set up a birdwatching station in your front window equipped with binoculars, notebooks, and bird guides.
• Make a wilderness fort with the fallen branches from trees.

With the same lush photography as The Call of the Wild + Free, this book includes step-by-step pictures that show parents how to do the activity, and essays on the importance of nature in a child's life.