"Interest the child in Nature and you widen that child's horizons, develop his powers of observation, a love of the beautiful, and appreciation of form, texture, and sound. It gives the child a sense of companionship with the out-of-doors, and is an asset to health in keeping him there. To the teacher and to the parent, equally, this absorption in the natural world about him is a three-fold blessing. Both at school and at home it tends to do away with many problems of discipline, and at home, in particular, it often answers the perpetual question of 'What can I do?'"
I thought of these words of Mrs. Comstock, "Mother of the Nature-study Movement," when sensitive, lame Maggie met me, breathless, one school morning. "Oh, teacher, c'n you come home with me for supper tonight? It's my birthday an' we're gon to have ice cream an' cake, an' Mother said I culd ask you, an' my tree's got tulips on it!" Life had turned a new, fresh, and much happier page for little lame Maggie when she became interested in the outdoor world about her home after school. That year we had discovered an old copy Thoreau's Walden on the school library shelf, and we had decided to adopt for our school slogan one of Thoreau's passages: "I have traveled a great deal in Concord."
We, too, decided we would travel a great deal in our own district, and with field trips always popular we became familiar with all the spots of natural beauty, the little brooks and ponds, the hills, and valleys, and ravines, the woods and upland meadows, the bog and the old rock ledge, even the chain of three lakes in the next district. Sometimes we made collections of wild flowers and ferns for the school's wild flower garden and fernery. We did not pick the rare lady slippers we found in a certain woodland, nor the still rarer walking fern we found on the face of a cliff in a cool, shady, damp ravine. We knew they would not grow in our garden, so we left them there "to grow again another year in their own habitat."
The children formed an "Explorers' Club"; they were Thoreau's Young Explorers, and many were their adventures. But to return to little Maggie I went home with her that night and saw the attractive, tulip-like flowers that give the tree its name. That was the year in which the children had each chosen an individual tree-and bird-with which to "live intimately throughout the year," and about which each was to become an authority.
About this Author
David is the author of many articles including Best Friend Quotes and also the author of Best life quotes. Other articles:
Cute Best Friend
Best life quotes
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Bunch
