Summer is here and with it the end of another school year.
With the change comes the daily ritual of scheduling that will now occupy
the minds of parents of young children, everywhere. Let the outdoors be your
guiding light. Shut off the computer, the incredible monster that can devour our
time, talents and maybe our health, to allow for a different kind of learning to
occur. The computer is a learning tool that expedites the tasks of daily living
and learning. It is a part of the world in which we live, not the center of it!
Challenging the body, as well as the
mind, is the order of the day.
Mother Nature is one of the greatest equalizers of all. Her world
allows for exploration and simple enjoyment of her vast, complex community of
plants, animals, everything contingent upon, however, the weather, man’s master
manipulator. Mother nature, being our
greatest teacher, invites us all to question her, time and time again and learn
from her. We are now in the grandest season of all- life giving summer - that
our children can perhaps begin to lay down the foundation to a future of mind
and body health.
The great outdoors beckons us to visit and stay awhile... Shut
off the indoor ‘learning’ machine, momentarily, and take your cues from mother nature.
She is so wise. A simple walk opens up the
vistas of a world of ‘awesomeness’ to a child. “How did the trees get that big?"
"Why are there so many leaves on the tree?" "Why do they fall off when the seasons
change?" "What are clouds?" "What are seasons?" "Why do they change colour?" I
do not know the answers to these questions but to hear your child give you an
answer is a lesson in science or science fiction... It’s the beginning of
thought... The mind of the young child is a formidable, malleable thinking
machine that demands to be challenged as it ponders the unknown. The child arrives
at solutions in a flash, in newly acquired language and then wonders whether the
answers make sense... Our job is easy. We simply need to listen and assist in
his self-discovery.
A caterpillar appeared one day and caught the attention of our then 8 year old son.. Everything about caterpillars was now important to him.
We talked about the metamorphosis that takes place in the life of such a small
creature, that they form something called a cocoon then emerge from this homemade
blanket as a butterfly. Though the
chronology of events may be wrong-I am
not a biologist, anthropologist or scientist- a discussion about caterpillars
and their place in the world piqued our son’s interest. The world, as seen
through the lens of a child, is like that of a scientist using a microscope, helping to magnify what the naked eye cannot
see. Our son was both microscope and scientist. I was simply the foil, the
catalyst for dialogue. In an attempt to
care for the caterpillar, our son decided to bring it into the house in a
basket filled with grass and leaves. His hope was to protect the caterpillar from
the danger that lurked outside but realized very quickly that he did not possess the power to intervene. ... An indoor life in a basket was not an option. Weeks later, in a bizarre moment to this day, a
butterfly appeared in the area previously
inhabited by the caterpillar. The butterfly, a Monarch
butterfly, with its distinct markings, landed on our son’s arm and seemed to
stay for a long time, to visit, perhaps. Was this our son’s little friend? Had
he remembered the meeting with our son and sensed the concern over his wellbeing?
This event engendered more and more questions with no answers. Mother nature had
come to call in a very personal way and the consequences of that meeting,
decades ago, would never have happened indoors. The computer is no match for Mother
Nature.
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