You can lead a child to nature....
But you can't make her think. And sometimes that's a good thing.
This thought was stuck in my mind the other day after leading my weekly group of kids into nature. I realized how different a 4th Grader is from a 2nd Grader when it comes to attention spans, the complexity of the information they can process, and general maturity levels. But when it comes down to it, my job isn't necessarily to cram their brains full of information on nature, it's to facilitate their experience in nature. I try to encourage observation, curiosity, respect, and generate enthusiasm. These are values that can lead to a deeper appreciation of nature, which in turn will hopefully lead to a strong desire to protect the environment.
I'll end this post with a quote from Michael Cohen, ecopsychologist:
"Humans have to fall in love with the planet before they can save it."
This thought was stuck in my mind the other day after leading my weekly group of kids into nature. I realized how different a 4th Grader is from a 2nd Grader when it comes to attention spans, the complexity of the information they can process, and general maturity levels. But when it comes down to it, my job isn't necessarily to cram their brains full of information on nature, it's to facilitate their experience in nature. I try to encourage observation, curiosity, respect, and generate enthusiasm. These are values that can lead to a deeper appreciation of nature, which in turn will hopefully lead to a strong desire to protect the environment.
I'll end this post with a quote from Michael Cohen, ecopsychologist:
"Humans have to fall in love with the planet before they can save it."
posted by Robin Casey at
8:32 PM
1 Comments:
I have dovoted my teaching this year to helping my students learn to go green through art-making. I teach art to about 900 students K-5. We are using primarily recycled and reclaimed materials for the artwork (which means we have a huge collection of trash in my classroom!) Also, as a theme for each unit, we are studying different aspects of nature, such as plants, animals, different types of habitats, and the weather. My hope, same as yours, is that when students study nature they will appreciate it more and become more inspired to take care of it.
This sounds like a great thesis - I look forward to reading more about it!
check out my student art blogs:
www.greenartbriargrove.blogspot.com
www.katieweymouth.blogspot.com
By
Katie Gonzalez, at 9:16 AM
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