Mom Is Teaching

I mentioned on Monday that I was joining (late) the Green Hour Challenge. They are technically on week 5 right now, but I’m starting at the beginning instead. The first assignment was to read pages 1-8 of the Handbook of Nature Study, which you can buy in most online book stores or download the (huge) pdf version for free. I found a lot of great quotes in those first few pages. Though the book was written for public school teachers it is a great resource for anyone. I was a bit shocked that a few of the complaints in this book, first written in 1911, are still relevant today.

The second part of the study was to spend 10-15 minutes outside, to let the kids find something that catches their eye and have a discussion and investigation about it. This part was easy enough as the warm weather has us outside every day, and I’m always asked to identify and explain every little bug, flower, and rock they see. Having a good book to refer to is certainly a life saver. For our first week’s post here are a few pictures and some of the quotes that struck me the most.

Therefore, the object of the nature-study teacher should be to cultivate in the children powers of accurate observation and to build up within them understanding.

This sentence form the first page struck me immediately. Yes teaching a love of nature is extremely important, and talked about in these first few pages as well, but teaching kids to observe helps them to see all the parts of nature they previously missed. I think seeing for the first time what was hidden right in front of their eyes certainly fosters a love of nature in kids.

But, more than all, nature-study gives the child a sense of companionship with life out-of-doors and an abiding love of nature. Let this latter be the teacher’s criterion for judging his or her work. If nature-study as taught does not make the child love nature and the out-of-doors, then it should cease.

No tests, no marks, no grades, no scores. Just the child’s love of nature to tell you if you’re teaching it right. Sounds perfect to me.

I have had conversations with hundreds of teachers in the public schools of New York State concerning the introduction of nature-study into the curriculum, and most of them declared,
” Oh, we have not time for it. Every moment is full now! “

This remark really made me stop for a moment. Think about when this book was written. What some would consider “a simpler time”, one without all the hustle of today’s modern schools. If back then they had no time to teach students about nature, imagine how little time there is today.

Much of the naughtiness in school is a result of the child’s lack of interest in his work, augmented by the physical inaction that results from an attempt to sit quietly. The best teachers try to obviate both of these causes of misbehaviour rather than to punish the naughtiness that results from them. Nature-study is an aid in both respects, since it keeps the child interested and also gives him something to do.

I absolutely agree! I’ve written before that being in nature can help kids with socialization and that letting kids move and do something helps them tune in, stay healthy, and keeps their brains working.

If we are teaching the science of ornithology, we take first the Archaeopteryx, then the swimming and scratching birds, and finally reach the song birds, studying each as a part of the whole. Nature-study begins with the robin because the child sees it and is interested in it, and notes the things about the habits and appearance of the robin that may be perceived by intimate observation

How very unschooling this idea is really made me smile. Of course some parents have a hard time just sitting back and waiting for something to strike their child’s fancy. For you I would suggest some strategic strewing of ideas for your child to leap upon. You could use some of these outdoor ideas and see where they lead you.

For our discussion and investigation this week we kept getting drawn back to the bright yellow flowers blooming everywhere. Nearly everyone’s yard has them, the vacant lots are covered in them, and yet ours are still mere buds with no bright blooms. So it was daffodils that we decided to explore.

We hunted them all over town, taking plenty of time to stop and smell them all. We collected a nice bunch and brought them home to decorate the kitchen with, and we asked lots of questions about them. Since our own flowers are not yet blooming we hunted for a nice bud and took it apart to see what there was inside. It was really fun to try and see if we could notice all the bright yellow blooms, and see if we could spot the ones not yet open. After the first day of really investigating every single one we passed by was being pointed out to me, repeatedly. Still it was fun to learn more about them.

nature, flowers, daffodils, Handbook of Nature Study, homeschooling