No, not Ely. The ice-clad cliffs and hemlock ravines of the Hocking Hills.
Yesterday I walked through the woods in Ohio where I grew up, holding my 8-year-old's hand. These are the same paths where my father used to hike with us, always stooping to point out Dutchman's breeches in the spring, cut leaf toothwort or bloodroot. Ever the teacher, he was always teaching the names of things: paw paw, shagbark hickory, sugar maple.
I admit I mostly glazed over. At that age, I didn't have a head for species names and I didn't care about compound or serrated leaves. But I did love the hikes, my dad's company, and the sense of wonder he conveyed. After years of teaching me the species names, I still didn't know which was which, but I knew he loved them. And I did, too.
For he didn't just lecture. We examined enormous osage orange seed balls that looked like alien tennis balls, we squeezed the swollen seedpods of the ballistic touch-me-not plant. We swung on grapevines and giggled. The names he taught me became a litany in my mind: Dutchman'sbreeches-shagbarkhickory-cutleaftoothwort-sugarmaple.
Much of the woods where my father and I had walked has been torn down, converted into a freeway. This happened when I was 12. Partly spurred by that, I took some jobs doing environmental education in the my twenties. One job was up in Ely, Minnesota in January. With the zeal of the young, I was bent on saving the world. I intended to drum in every environmental fact I could think of so these 7th and 8th graders would see logic and save the world before it was too late.
Instead, the director of the program told us this: the most important thing is for these kids is to experience having fun in the woods. Simply that. Have fun.
He encouraged us to slide down steep snowy slopes on our bottoms (doing the "otter slide") and play as many games as possible. I was aghast. How could we save the world if we were just playing? If we weren't serious? But now, of course, I see he was right. Our job was to make these kids CARE. We care when we have a stock of good memories. We fight to save what we care about.
Recently I've been thinking about this as I watch my 3rd grader's school go about teaching kids to write. They focus on style and technique and study non-fiction writing heavily for three years; there's very little fiction writing. My son rebels and frets. He loves to write, but not this kind of writing. "It's important for them to learn technique," I hear people say.
I wonder about this. Yes, technique. But the love has to come first. The love and motivation.
At the same age, I was always writing in school, but I don't remember any lessons in technique. I was writing stories. Stories about castles and lions and princesses with tall spiky hats and lizards who read newspapers in the desert. My spelling was atrocious. My stories were frequently confusing. When I look at them now I can see they were truly awful. But these were my own stories - expressing whatever I wanted. I cared about my writing. Just as we filled those middle school kids in Ely with a love of nature, I'd been allowed to fill my head with a love of words and writing.
What's more important in the early years? Names, facts and technique? Or uncovering passion? To teach it or love it? Sure, they're not mutually exclusive, but...
If we don't care, we don't save. If we don't care we don't strive. What do you think?
The strange adventures of Freddy the Octopus.
I agree with you, Heather. Love the subject first. The learning will come easier and faster after that. Aren't we told as adults, "Do what you love, and the money will follow?"
My family was big on camping vacations both to MN state parks and places like the BWCAW in northern MN, and trips to all parts of the country, but mainly I remember the Rocky Mts. I go to the BWCAW and the mountains often, but I can't name more than a few species of flora, and am not sure what rock the mountains are made of. Granite? Quartz? Sandstone? Doesn't matter because the sense of peace and grandeur I get from those places gives me so much more than knowing facts.
Ah, yes, the Boundary Waters are a wonderful place to fall in love with. Whatever the season! Glad you fell in love with the lakes (and mountains) early on.
I couldn't agree more. Caring certainly comes first. We learn without even realizing it when we are passionate about something. (Also —your mention of the osage balls reminded me of our years in Pittsburgh when we lived on an "Osage Lane!")
I think you would really like this article, Heather, called "How Do Kids Really Learn to Write"
http://patriciazaballos.com/2012/05/31/how-do-kids-really-learn-to-write-2-0/
Yes, it makes me want to take my daughter out of school, but for now I'm trying to wrk with the best of school and the best of home. . .
Wow - the BEST article I've seen about teaching kids to write in a LONG time. Thanks for sharing, Zane!
That's exactly how I was taught to write - in a school setting no less - our elementary school let us write or dictate any story and didn't care about spelling. Our thoughts were important and our passion to write. If you care about kids and writing, spread this article around as much as you possibly can.
Heather - I am so on board with your thinking here! When the love comes first, the rest will fall into place.
Thanks, Laurie! Glad you agree.
The Ad Council has a great series of public advertising about 'getting out in the forest' to promote this basic idea. Love of nature, true empathy and commitment, can't be fostered by books, videos and mediated 'experiences'.
Another side of the story regarding the importance of direct experience of nature: there's a great volunteer organization called "Project Lighthawk" which takes public officials and legislators on aerial flyovers above our national forests and wilderness areas to see the devastation of clear cutting and mining in a way that forest service reports can't do justice. Seeing it with their own eyes helps them care.
Here in Ohio, the Buckeye Forest Council has taken legislators on hikes through clearcuts in the Wayne National Forest (near Hocking where you were hiking)... to experience the despair one can only feel walking through such a damaged area of a forest. Its not coincidental that most of these areas are just beyond sight from the roads usually. Turns out there's nothing like sitting a politician down on a big stump in a clearcut, and leaving them there to think on things for a while, to further a discussion of forest health for our physical and spiritual wellbeing.
Wonderful examples, Brian. And besides politicians, I know most donors to environmental nonprofits give generously because they carry a special place inside their hearts - a certain woods or ravine or river they explored as a child. What will happen when kids grow up without any direct connection to nature? When they have no special place in their hearts? I fear donations will dry up because there is no emotional connection.
As a Head Start teacher I find it a constant struggle to share with my colleagues the importance of developing interest and caring before imposing facts and curriculum. It's been a hard fight for the past few years to encourage elements of this philosophy in our center. I would loving nothing more than to head for the woods with the amazing 3, 4 and 5 year-old people I spend my days with. Their reaction to this world is astounding. And who can blame them? We really live on a miracle called Earth.
It reminds me of a person first witnessing a magic trick. The magician doesn't have to explain his trick. But the first question often asked? "How did you do that?!" A smile spreads across their face.
When you live life as a starlighter, you love life - and it makes you want to know more. In the end, I'm really just sharing that path with my preschoolers, their families and the community.
Thank you Heather for another great post, you inspire me.
Thanks for sharing! Sounds as if those kids are lucky to share the world with you. Yes, it is all amazing, and the more we can be amazed and care, the more we will want to learn and save it. So glad you're finding inspiration here.
Encouraging curiosity and loving life is essential. And we know life has a lot of lessons to teach us but certainly these lessons are rarely presented in a prescriptive orderly manner required by out of the box curriculum. We need to help children enjoy play, introduce them to healthy living patterns and teach self-soothing skills- and these things are taught by living well in their own bodies and in the physical world. Head Start has so many rules that make this hard to do... Keep up the work in your center. There are people who "know" and "get it"... and your students will (and do) benefit. Rock the boat and enjoy the ride-