Still Life, Active Learning

This time of year, when apples and nuts are dropping to the ground and roadsides are lush with asters and goldenrod, brings back some of my fonder memories of teaching such as picking bouquets for the classroom. 

One of the things I felt was most important was creating a learning environment that felt connected to nature. I didn't want to just live inside a single little box of artificially lit walls all day any more than my students did. Anything to bring in a sense of connection to a wider landscape seemed to make it easier to breath. 

In the one room school house there were geraniums all along the windows in the bright cozy Reading Corner. Students' collections of sea shells, rocks, sea glass, bones, drift wood, and other natural treasures accumulated in their desks and on the Science Table. In the Waldorf classroom there was always a nature table, which changed with the seasons. We went outside for nature walks and recess at least twice a day.

One of the things I love most about homeschooling is the daily opportunity to go outdoors whenever we want to––not having to wait until lunch-recess, nor waiting for a class-full of parents to sign permission slips, nor asking the principal several days in advance. I love the excuse homeschooling gives me to be humanly aware of, and responsive to, changes in the weather, season, temperature, and daylight. We can sit on the side of the house that is in the sun while doing multiplication flashcards, and switch to the other side as the afternoon wears on, doing workbooks and reading in the sunny garden. 

Juicing apples, discovering a wild turkey feather, and collecting brilliant fall leaves can lead to "teachable moments" worthy of academic credit, but they are all worthwhile for their own sake. This day-by-day appreciation and savoring of the natural world, the little things, the simple things, like the slant of the sunlight, the colors of the leaves, and what wild flowers are in season, is one of the most important life-lessons children can learn. That these things matter. When the world around you matters to you, you want to take care of it.