This is part of a series of gear reviews that originally appeared in Montana Parent magazine last June. The gear was free (I had to try it out to write about it), but I don't get anything if you buy it. And I'm only posting things I really like and use.

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Don't forget, you have until Friday night to enter the drawing for the Kids in the Garden book.

There's a blog carnival going on over at Backyard Mama and I couldn't resist pulling out my bearded lady suit to join.

This is mostly from the "about" page, but I don't know if anyone reads that, so I am posting it here.

For me nature has always been a place to get to, not a hideout. It's a place to explore, relax, learn and better understand myself. I am more me when I am outside. There was one place that was a hideout, however, and even though I haven't been there in 28 years, I remember it clearly.

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A while back I wrote this article for Montana Parent magazine. It's a general piece about homeschooling. Like many of my articles, I wrote it because I was interested in finding out more on the subject. I'm considering homeschooling my kids and the main reason is that I want to have nature play and nature study fill most of their days. I know it isn't for everyone, but for our family, being able to travel and be outside is pretty crucial.

Before anyone gets too excited, it's just something we are thinking about and I think school is great for many kids--just not everyone. I love the idea of learning math and science, literature and writing, from nature. Many of the activities I write about here would fit right into a homeschool curriculum.

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Do you know about WildObs? You probably do, I’m often late to the game. It stands for Wildlife Observations.

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I was reading the Grass Stain Guru the other day, as I am wont to do, and I saw this great video.

It's kind of a mockumentary about finding the last kids in the woods (they were spotted in the Netherlands, by the way). Surely, you are familiar with Richard Louv's book Last Child in the Woods by now... He writes about the importance of getting kids unplugged and outside. It's become a whole movement.

The video is a little shaky, but fun to watch.

Thanks for posting, Bethe!

I haven't had a chance to check these out, yet, but they all look pretty interesting. If you get to any of them before me, let me know what you think.

Children & Nature Network has published five new resources for leaders, organizers, and participants at the local, national, and international levels. All are available for download free of charge.

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It's that time of year again when thousands of bloggers post about the same subject on the same day - today, October 15 - and bring gobs of attention to the issue. First they addressed the environment, then poverty, and for 2009 the subject is climate change.

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