Natural Nests

10/13/2026

📚 Back-to-school stress isn't a necessary part of life with kids. And you know what's way less stressful as a ? Having...

✖️ No checklists or back-to-school shopping
✖️ No alarm clocks
✖️ No rushed mornings
✖️ No pick up or drop off lines
✖️ No school violence
✖️ No traumatic active shooter drills
✖️ No bullying
✖️ No predators or pedophiles
✖️ No over testing or standardized testing
✖️ No factually incorrect lessons
✖️ No politically motivated lessons

And saying yes to...

✔️ Family bonding
✔️ One on one child-led learning in less time than it takes to pick up kids from school these days (in it's been taking kids 1-3 hours to get to/from school every day!)
✔️ No standardized testing
✔️ No pricey before or after care
✔️ Getting to truly know your kids - you know the people you created
✔️ Getting to stay in house clothes or jammies whenever you want
✔️ Empty parks and playgrounds
✔️ Homeschool field trips and travel
✔️ More outdoor time
✔️ More free time
✔️ Home cooked meals that nourish and save money
✔️ Letting kids be kids

Homeschooling can look as liberating as this. This footage is from our day with fellow homeschoolers with - a homeschool umbrella and online private school (highly recommended btw). We hung out at the National Arboretum with local families, shared food, played games, chatted, and explored the grounds. We learned about plants from around the world, tasted some fruit we found on trees, collected seeds, learned about the history of the Capitol Columns, and evidently my son examined the functionality of a fountain which he explained in detail at dinner.

On top of NOT ✖️ having any of the stress from the list above, you also can say goodbye to other common difficulties the homeschool community popularizes such as agonizing over what curriculum to use, creating Pinterest worthy back-to-school baskets, or planning out your school year week by week. I don't do that stuff and I probably never will. We don't use curriculums or busywork. So just forget all the Internet hype, homeschool your kids, and enjoy life with the kids you created.

09/27/2026

🍂 Fall '26 registration is OPEN! 🍂

Backyard Classroom offers Nature & Science Classes for kids 2–10 in the Fort Washington, MD area, and this season there are TWO weekly programs:

🧡 Backyard Classroom — Mondays, 11 AM–1:30 PM (starts Oct 5)
💚 Nature Classroom — Fridays, 11 AM–1:30 PM (starts Oct 9)

Pick one day or join us for both and get a discount!

Every class is 100% outdoors. Every week features a theme and we learn through engaging lessons, arts & crafts, games, movement, and storytime. Expect muddy boots, leaf piles, and a whole lot of curious questions 🌿🌞🐞

🍁 25% off each sibling, and siblings under 2 are FREE
🍁 Refer a friend & save $10
🍁 Not sure yet? Try a $25 drop-in class

Learn more & sign up 👉 bit.ly/bcfall26

Questions? Comment below or send me a message! I'd love to have your family join us this fall in the great outdoors!

— Ms. Pari'

09/26/2026

🔊 Sound on to learn more! From learning about the fall equinox and making a sun out of yellow leaves to an alien world with food, ships, and more - that's child-led nature and play based learning for ya! The mixed ages are a plus because the little kids gain confidence and ideas from the older kids while the older kids learn how to be kind and work/play alongside the littles. If you've never experienced this type of atmosphere before, I encourage you to!

My program, Backyard Classroom, accepts kids ages 2-10 and is based in 15 min from National Harbor, Accokeek, Clinton and SE DC. I cater to preschoolers and homeschoolers/unschoolers. Shoot me a DM if you have any questions!

09/16/2026

Did you know September is month? Get out there and forage if you're in the Eastern US with the help of my newest printable on PAWPAWS! The description features ways to use this sheet as a springboard for lessons on geography 🌎, U.S. History 🇺🇸, responsible foraging 🍽, and more!

However, these resources are FREE for Backyard Classroom Crew members and we do the activities together as a group so if you're in the DMV/southern MD area, join us! We found two containers full of pawpaws at a little neighborhood park and all members of the families got to try a new food!

🌳 TPT SHOP: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/naturalnests

🌳 BACKYARD CLASSROOM SIGN UP: https://backyardclassroom.netlify.app

09/14/2026

New resources are up on my Teachers Pay Teachers shop! My newest printable is all about COYOTES and includes supplementary lesson and activity ideas to help reinforce the facts and concepts in the printable/handout. However, these resources are FREE for Backyard Classroom Crew members and we do the activities together as a group so if you're in the DMV/southern MD area, join us! The kids had a blast in their coyote competition: long jump, triple jump, foot race, and shuttle runs all while wearing their coyote drawings they made earlier.

TPT SHOP: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/naturalnests

BACKYARD CLASSROOM SIGN UP: https://backyardclassroom.netlify.app

09/12/2026

The Fall 2026 Season 🍂 is about to launch but I need YOUR HELP first! Please take this 1 minute survey and help out your local homeschool community and this mompreneur ➡️➡️➡️ https://backyardclassroom.netlify.app/fall-survey

And spread the word with any families that are interested in the fall '26 season. If they end up signing up for the season, you'll get $10 off!

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06/18/2026

The Summer Season of Backyard Classroom is officially FULL! Thank you 🙏🏼 to all of my returning and new families, referrals, and anyone who shared or liked a post. This homeschooling, homemaking, mamapreneur truly appreciates it!

🌞🌳 🌻 The Backyard Classroom Summer Half Day Camp still has spots though! The info is below or comment CAMP and I'll send you the info right to your inbox.

SUMMER CAMP - Drop-off program (or stay and work remotely &/or help out), Ages 4–11
🌞 SIGN UP: https://bit.ly/BCsummer26signup
🌞 LEARN MORE: https://bit.ly/BCcamp26

Get a sneak peek by clicking on my IG highlight titled Backyard Classroom -

🎯 THE BACKYARD CLASSROOM MISSION
Backyard Classroom nurtures curiosity, creativity, and connection through outdoor learning. By looking closer and digging deeper, children discover that even ordinary places hold wonder. Through exploration, creativity, movement, and play, they build friendships, confidence, and a lifelong love of learning—finding life’s greatest lessons right where they are.

06/12/2026

I can't get this cleaned up in two days but my summer season starts regardless. I was pretty darn ready for summer ☀️ but mother nature had a different idea 😔. No gale warnings 💨 here but evidently marine warnings apply to us but we didn't get any messages about that either. I just saw that in the forecast after the fact 😩. The storm was pretty tame but it started with a HUGE gust of wind which a neighbor thought was a tornado 🌪️!

Between all of this costly damage I'm going to be fundraising and collecting donations to help keep the running smoothly. I'm going to start selling handmade goodies made by me and the kids at class, native and edible plants, sourdough, vanilla extract, herbal infused oils, natural plant medicines, whatever I can. I had some at our spring field trip and it looks like I'll be doing that for classes and camp too. Send me your ideas! If you don't have registered kids in the program but want any of these goodies comment! A full product list is coming soon but for now, just tell me what you're interested in via comment!

DONATIONS of ANY AMOUNT CAN BE SENT TO:
Cash app - user $AbigailPari
PayPal - paypal.me/AbigailPari
VenMo - AbigailPari

Every $5 truly helps!

Funds will strictly be used to replace the canopies and provide much needed shade for the summer season. Any extra funds will go to help pay for the damage from the downed tree. Thank you in advance for supporting Backyard Classroom!

Even so, it will be slow going and the summer season is TWO days away! I was going to finalize lessons and activities but now I have to fit in yard clean up and the $$$ to pay for that.

I don't even know how to clean up the canopies because they are so bent we can't collapse them. I guess we have to figure out how to transport them to the dump 🤷‍♀️. This totally stinks 👎.

P.S. We only saw the canopy damage last night after a MASSIVE gust of one - literally one - and my husband and I ran outside during the storm to take the tent portion of. Otherwise it would act like a sail and potentially damage more property. Then we ran inside to avoid being struck by branches 😨.

Send a message to learn more

05/12/2026

A snapshot at what we've been up to this spring 🌷. Homeschooling is a lot of work but a lot of people forget to mention the fun we have too!

✔️ Hikes and playground visits every 1-2 weeks
✔️ Homeschool Social Studies Showcase & our start with project based learning
✔️ Martial arts 3-4x a week
✔️ Kickball class/intro
✔️ Learning how to skate, skate meetups, skate parks
✔️ Gardening: weeding, mulching, planting, watering
✔️ Arts and crafts
✔️ Playing outside for hours nearly everyday and taking the challenge
✔️ Family dinners cooked from scratch every single night

"Children learn from anything and everything they see. They learn wherever they are, not just in special learning places."

- John Holt

If you want to see how children learn outside of the classroom, follow along on my journey homeschooling three kids all birthed within 5 years. No curriculums. No curated content or unrealistic aesthetic. Real life as a homeschooling crunchy mama who is finding a way to make it all work on a budget. And if you're in the area join us in real life! Link in bio for my locals only email list where I send out monthly homeschool focused meetups, hikes, enrichment classes, and more!

05/08/2026

The Spring Season of Backyard Classroom is officially FULL! Thank you 🙏🏼 to all of my returning and new families, referrals, and anyone who shared or liked a post. This homeschooling, homemaking, mamapreneur truly appreciates it!

🌞🌳 🌻 The Summer Season of Backyard Classroom's Classes and Day Camp still has spots though! The info is below or simply sign up for the newsletter and get it straight to your inbox along with info on our FREE meetups and hikes throughout .

SUMMER CLASSES - Caregiver attends with child, Ages 2–9
🌻SIGN UP: https://bit.ly/BCsummer26signup
🌻 LEARN MORE: https://bit.ly/BCsummer26

SUMMER CAMP - Drop-off program (or stay and work remotely &/or help out), Ages 4–11
🌞 SIGN UP: https://bit.ly/BCsummer26signup
🌞 LEARN MORE: https://bit.ly/BCcamp26

🎯 THE BACKYARD CLASSROOM MISSION 🎯
Backyard Classroom nurtures curiosity, creativity, and connection through outdoor learning. By looking closer and digging deeper, children discover that even ordinary places hold wonder. Through exploration, creativity, movement, and play, they build friendships, confidence, and a lifelong love of learning—finding life’s greatest lessons right where they are.