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Outdoor Hour Challenge #2 – using your words

Above is a maple tree in various stages of  being girdled by honeysuckle vine.  Honeysuckle is so brittle, I am surprised that it could make this kind of impact on the maple.

One word for something we heard: chirping.

Two words for something we saw:  blowing trees.

Three words for something we felt: cold smooth rock.

We walked about with the Winter Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt/Senses Check List, a free download  from Hearts and Trees.  The kids love these lists.

From the Handbook of Nature Study, I noted the following:

The direct questioning method, if not employed with discretion, becomes tiresome to both pupil and teacher.   If the questions do not inspire the child to investigate, they are useless.

Oh, truer words were never written!  Abandoning the line of questioning is so  hard to do!  How will my children learn biology and love nature if they do not listen to my instructions and observe X bird and Y seed pod right now, today, on this walk??!!??

There is a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. (and this is my nod to the approach of MLK Day as well) that I butcher on a fairly regular basis.  It is something like this:  If you would have faith, take the first step, even though you cannot see the entire staircase.  Or the short version, in my mind, is Step out in faith.

The thing is, I do believe that learning is an exchange between the child, my children and indeed all human beings, no matter the age, and the world.  I need to not get in the way.  I want to be with them as it is happening.  Joyfully, they want me to be there.  So my goal is to share, share the outdoor experience, share information, share discovery.

Observations in nature happen over time, a long time.  Seeing “winter” takes several winters, they have only had a few.