green kids

Why I Had My Kids Write to the City Mayor

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / Leave a comment

Screenshot of a scanned in letter that says "Dear Mayor Newton, I believe we need a healthy Earth for everyone who lives on it. We need to work together to make less pollution and stop climate change. Don't value profit more than my future. We need climate justice now! The Earth is everyone's home. Draw what you want to protect from climate change." with a children's drawing of an elephant

“I’m sure the mayor will respond to you – they love getting stuff from kids,” I promised my kids, crossing my fingers. In the back of my head, I thought “Damn right, she better.”

I was trying to convince them to write letters to our local city government officials about climate change. While heavy topics like climate change can seem scary for adults to talk to kids about, finding ways to empower kids can help them be much less anxiety-inspiring. When kids know that they are not helpless – that they can make a difference and that their parents want to do it with them – they can tackle hard topics much better than we would expect.

Continue reading →

Finding Our Family’s Role in the Story of Environmental Justice

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / Leave a comment

Text: Finding Our Family's Role in the Story of Environmental Justice; Photos: Cover of the book We Are Water Protectors; photograph of a person with a Water is Life patch pinned on their sweatshirt

“But how does the story end?” my older son asked.

We had just finished reading We Are Water Protectors, a powerful picture book written from the perspective of an Anishinaabe girl. She talks about how her people regard water as life and how a “big black snake” threatens the water and therefore them. While the book never names what the “snake” is, the pictures clue the reader in – it’s an oil pipeline. Like many real-life young people like Autumn Peltier, the narrator is an Indigenous water protector committed to halting water from becoming polluted with death instead of life.

Continue reading →

Exploring Science in Your Nature Study

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / Leave a comment

Text: Exploring Science in Your Nature Study; Photo: Two young white boys climbing up rocks next to a stream

“Do you have any recommendations on how to make being in nature more sciency?” a friend texted me.

I paused, because my first thought was “Uh, not a formal curriculum or anything.” But then I realized that learning so often has nothing to do with a curriculum. In fact, we do informal learning all the time in our family, from observing how plants grow in the garden to reading a map on a hike. Similarly, when I was an outdoor educator, we had a structure to our lessons but much of the learning was unplanned.
Whether you’re a long-term homeschooler or looking to complement virtual learning with outdoors time, every family can benefit from these ways to learn in nature:

Continue reading →

When Gardens Teach Your Kids About Failure

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / Leave a comment
Text: When Gardens Teach Your Kids About Failure; Photo: White woman frowning standing next to a straggly garden
Our garden this year is a testament to my kids that even when you work really hard, you don’t always get what you want.
My cherry tomatoes are usually the pride and joy of my garden. They’re a ridiculous, messy, borderline “haunted garden” disaster area that gives the weeds a run for their money; they also produce a zillion amazing tomatoes. My late, beloved neighbor once told me that she had a bet with our other neighbor that I wouldn’t be able to grow tomatoes – and then was proud of me when she lost her bet. I’m that person who brings in cherry tomatoes to work because we can’t possibly eat all of them. My older son is constantly raiding the garden.
But not this year. And not just because I’m working from home. But because we have stumps sitting in our garden that have produced exactly zero tomatoes so far. At this point, we’ll be extremely lucky if we get any tomatoes at all this year.

Continue reading →

A Boy and His Worm

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / Leave a comment

Photo: Boy with a stuffed worm around his neck; Text: A Boy and His Worm

“We have to tell my dad he can’t buy those worms,” I told my husband, panic rising in my voice.

As we were on the way to a fishing trip, this was a major problem. New plan – obtain white bread for our hooks instead of night crawlers. No worms would be harmed in this outdoors experience.

Normally, my kids are fine with the more gruesome parts of the “circle of life.” They know where meat comes from and we’ve seen deer hit by cars and trains. Worms shouldn’t be a problem.

But this was different.

Continue reading →

How To Be A One Car Family

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / Leave a comment

How to Be A One-Car Family (Photo: One child pushing another down the sidewalk in a toy car)

“How close is this house to the bus stop?” I asked the realtor as we looked for our house. While that’s not a typical question, it was essential for us. That’s because we only have one car.

People claimed that we’d have to buy a second car once we had kids – especially living in the suburbs. But even after having a second kid, we’ve managed to get by quite happily as a one-car family. It’s even possible to be a zero-car family – one of my friends has four kids and doesn’t own a car! Even if you own a second car now, you may want to consider not buying another one when you retire it. According to AAA, the average family spends $8,500 per car each year on payments, insurance, and gas.

If you’re going to make the leap – or just use the second car less – here’s what to consider:

Continue reading →