From Cindy's Heart

Nature Study and Family Day! by Cindy Rushton

Nature Study and Family Day!

By Cindy Rushton

     One of the things that I simply took for granted was the natural, almost set in stone manner that we happened to do our monthly Nature Study “excursion.”  You see, I married a completely country “country boy.”  He hunted…fished…built things…kept bees (his dad was a beekeeper by profession)…and even gardened!  I read books. And in the city!  Ha!  Marriage has never been dull! 

     Yes, our marriage has been full of fun and adventure!  That has carried over to our Homeschool, but as we began Homeschooling, I found myself frustrated with Harold’s ideas of how the children learn best…his “help” in the Homeschool…and most of all his work schedule.  I quickly saw that he was right about how the children learn best—by learning from us!  I also quickly began to see that his role in the Homeschool was more valuable than merely teaching the tough stuff could ever be…he was able to teach about HIMSELF!  It was just that work schedule that was a problem…or was it?

     His schedule rotates days off and never guarantees a set time when he goes to work.  He works long hours, but those long hours end with nice off days right in the middle of my scheduled time for lessons!  Because of this, I have had to learn how to be flexible, while seizing every opportunity to learn.  The treat has been that we have the blessing of family days in the midst of our busy week.  We usually find ourselves doing some of the very things that I listed in the field trip section of this book.  Not because I plan to have lessons or great outings—just because this what we find ourselves doing! 

     I know that this is going to seem weird, but there was a battle in my soul for years over this very thing.  I thought of these things as fun and learning, but never equated them with enough value to consider this, our every day life, as educational.  I knew that books were educational, but what about all of those “things” we found ourselves doing on Harold’s off day…our Family Day??  In all of the “books” with field trip ideas, those things were listed, but did this really count as SCHOOL??  Oh Yes!  It did count and really was greater because it instilled a love of learning, which would last during all of our life.

     The new has worn off and usual settled in.  I now see that all of the life around me is really educational.  This is what this chapter is for.  Nature Study is all around us.  Nature Study is probably as close as your typical family day.  The natural things that are done with the family each day can become the vital, life-giving “curriculum” that breathes life into your studies.  The study of Nature Study can become easy…as we make a priority to have a set time for a “Nature Study Excursion” each month!  Well…let’s get rid of that weird word and call it “Family Day!”

Easy, Natural Lessons…

     Anna Comstock wrote in her book Handbook of Nature Study,

“Many teachers look upon the field excursion as a precarious voyage…It is a mistake to think that a half day is necessary for a field lesson, since a very efficient field trip may be made during the ten or fifteen minutes at recess.”

     This reminds me of this past week.  My husband was off for his usual off day.  Since his off days rotate every week, so we have to remain flexible in our plans.  All I wanted for his off day was to be off from my work too.  We packed up the children…our books and baskets (well, I am the one with all the baskets!)…the new laptops (my husband recently began a computer business…does this sound like a happy mama??).  We headed to a spring-fed creek with water as clear as glass.  There was a delightful shade right over Harold and me.  We sat together drinking in the beauty and enjoying the sweet child play of our little ones! 

      As I watched my children, I realized just how EASY Nature Study really is.  I did not have to prepare a lesson…God had already prepared the lessons of the day.  I did not have to know any questions or any answers to the questions that were bubbling up from deep within my children.  As they played, the lessons developed and were learned first-hand.  I just sat back and enjoyed the fresh air…the cool breeze…and the excitement of learning from curiosity!

Lessons Right Where We Go!

     Just in this one excursion, the children learned about currents, pond life (scum is what I call it!), skipping rocks, edible plants, making boats, racing boats, finding rocks, catching minnows, hunting for frog eggs…just to name  few things!  This did not take any planning by my husband or me.  These lessons developed from a mixture of the bounty before us and the curiosity God places inside each of us! 

Seizing the Lessons

     I know.  This sounds like an obvious “place” for a Nature Study, but I have been surprised at the opportunities available all around us for one-on-one observation and contact with God’s creation.  It seems that all of our Family Days have opportunities for lessons to be taught to our children.  It reminds me of the passage from Deuteronomy 6.

“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”

     As parents, we do not have to have the “knowledge” about everything as we go along the way.  We just need to seize all the natural, easy lessons before us.  We need the ability to observe and enjoy!  We can ask questions, which encourage the family to take a second look.  We can take time to notice the details.  We can share the stories from our childhoods that were taught as we went along the way.  And we can teach the most important lesson of all-to look it up!

Go Home and Look It Up!

     If there is one thing that weds Nature Study to our lessons that we teach our children in research and study, it is that we could never know all about Nature.  That is one of the most vital lessons to teach our children.  It helps to encourage them to learn because Nature is so vast that it can be discouraging to know so little unless we understand how much there is to learn.  This was one of my first lessons as an adult trying to teach my children. I was so scared that I would not have “expertise” in an area that my children needed to know about. In fact, so scared that I created a hole that could only be filled by humility and an earnest search for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.  I was thankful for the day that God gently taught me that the key to all wisdom in every area of life is to seek! 

     Nature Study is just another area of life that God teaches us once we seek.  We learn that He is The Source of all true wisdom.  We also learn that we can take all of our questions to His Word and find real answers.  He also teaches us that there is a wealth of information in others that He puts into our lives through personal relationships or through relationships in print.  He amazes me as we have questions in our minds, which seem to be answered almost immediately as we begin to look it up or ask questions!  These are the lessons that stick in our minds forever! 

Memories Too!

     Of all the things that I consider as I think back over those simple lessons from our time together as a family, learning together--the greatest lesson is that our family memories are more important than sticking a bunch of dry, useless facts into the minds of our children.  Those relationships are our priority.  These days shared together are our treasures!  This cannot get lost in the pursuit of knowledge because it is the Main Thing!

     This reminds me of our adventures in camping!  Yes, you read right…No, please do not send any superwoman capes my way!  Just due prayers! Ha!

     My husband being the “true” country boy/SWAT team member felt compelled to “culture” me to the joys of camping.  My thoughts were buzzing away as I thought of this as an experience to teach great truths to my children, while learning myself.  Our first campout was just exactly like I would have imagined it to be!

     We took MORE things than we could use in a three year stay all jammed into our van…from food to books to toys to MAKEUP to the blankets from our beds to HAIRSPRAY to food, yes the fat kind and I KNOW I stressed food more than once!  Yes, we had it all even double portion of food!

     We rode up the Natchez Trace, thinking this to be an easy endeavor. J Seventy-five miles or more, but who is counting, we came to “our spot.”  Of course, I thought it could not be that bad because we set up camp only 200 yards away from the bathroom!  I could do that! 

     Most the evening was uneventful—the usual 35 times of Elisabeth going to the potty…dinner cooked out in the great outdoors, well I did consider 15 wieners burned and thrown to the woods not bad considering that we finally figured out how to cook (an investment in the future!!  Cooking class??)…minimal mosquito bites…and a cozy clean tent separate from the children (woohoo!)!! 

     As we made our beds for the night, I decided that I would sleep under the covers, whereas my darling Harold decided to sleep on top of the covers.  All worked beautifully until in the middle of the night he reached over and threw the covers off of me and onto him!  Then, he rolled on up in them…leaving me freezing and on the hard ground to boot!  HUM…a new arrangement is now a given.

     I probably would have never noticed the problem of freezing on the bed of rocks had my daughter not decided to attract a new pet!  A tiny abandoned kitten…WOE, this does not sound as dramatic as it should due to the lack of sleep I had to endure…it is definitely a mommy thing (Harold did not miss a wink of sleep…all of this was some tale in the morning to him!)!  SO, CUT!  A ferocious roar was heard in the woods as a feline critter…no, feline monster…came into the camp to scavenge for food…good thing we left all those wieners for him!  For all I knew, it could have been one of my poor children that he had on the menu…well, there WAS one I was ready to feed to a lion! 

     Elisabeth, being the true humanitarian--who would have been too busy playing with all the animals in the garden to eat an apple if she had been Eve--meowed gently and consistently to the kitten ALL night long!  The kitten was so taken by her attention that it tried to dig into her tent to get to her!  I threatened…I mean encouraged her gently to s-h-u-t-the-meowing-u-p-or-I-would-kill-her-and-tell-God-she-was-dead!!!!!!! She continued faithfully to nurture the kitten—completely assured that I would never open my tent because I hate dirt and mosquitoes more than noise!  

     The next morning was a morning of simple camping pleasures.  Waking up to smoke from the fire that the children built just outside of our tent (to surprise us that they KNEW how—haven’t I taught them two zillion times to NEVER play with fire!!!), mixed with the whispers of big brother warning little sister that that kitten would bite and probably had AIDS or some fatal disease, as the Lord called me to my quiet time…or was that my husband begging me to please take my time?

     The day was filled with simple camping pleasures like going for a real breakfast at Hardee's in town and heading back home for a nice nap in my bed!  Camping really can teach a lot! I am sure!  But, it is much more than that…it is memories!

     This is (of course) my humorous side here (or I would HAVE to kill them! J), but let’s get serious about the importance of what went on in our camping adventure!  We were learning minute-by-minute the whole time we were there.  Sure there were wonderful lessons in nature.  We even collected some nature goodies.  But the most important aspect of this time together was not the lessons, but the unspoken lesson that time together is fun.  We can giggle and enjoy the memories now and forever.  This is something that can never be taken away!  Prayerfully one day, our children will take their children camping and tell the “stories” of our memories we built—even if they are completely hilarious!

A Time To Teach Who You Are…

     You know looking back over our family times, the neatest thing about our family times has to be that Harold and I do not have to plan lessons or objectives for our “teaching” times.  We simply teach the most important lessons of all…who we are! 

      We want to teach our children to love God…to see the preciousness of others…to stay in awe of the little things to be learned…to seize each moment for all the joy and fun in it…and that a happy Christ-centered family life is the most precious gift we possess.  These lessons are easily taught during that time set aside for family.  They are a precious commodity!

     So, why not tap in to what you and your family “happen” to do naturally?  Maybe you are like I have been…frustrated with the inconvenience of the constant interruptions, which can really afford the greatest lessons?  Why not look at these interruptions from a new perspective and grasp those family days for all the fun and learning that they can bring forth?  Who knows you might write the next humor column!