People familiar with the format of my monthly Children in Nature column know that I try to give an overview of some of the natural events, rhythms and material conditions of that month (for New England), and how I, as a teacher, try to facilitate memorable educational experiences for the children I work with, based on those events, rhythms, conditions and the children themselves. But the peculiar role that June plays in the standardized school calendar as the “last month” of the school year forces me to address the arbitrariness of school curricula everywhere. SO, without indulging in an extended polemic against the idiocy of most standardized curriculums, I just want point out that while schools, administrators and teachers are basically “closing up shop,” conducting summative exams, handing out grades, having “field days” and “movie days,” and maybe trying to finish the last chapter of their workbooks and textbooks, the natural world is a blooming, buzzing, polyphony of engagements, encounters and possibilities.
This sort of false “systemization” manifests itself in all sorts of bizarre situations whereby all kids of a certain age are supposed to study an arbitrary content area for an arbitrary length of time. “Who decided that Egypt is just right for 7th graders? Who decided that DNA must be something that all kids answer questions about? Who decided that California Indians must enter the world of fourth grade kids, or that South America must be “learned” by sixth graders?” ( James Herndon) Why do kids encounter the same hodgepodge of science concepts from Kindergarten to Eighth Grade? Why do teachers get inundated with new sets of “standards” every couple of years that are linked to school accreditation. Even preschool teachers have to wade through arbitrarily constructed content areas and pseudo-scientistic developmental standards. “Nobody, it seems, made any of these decisions. Noman did it. Noman is responsible.” (James Herndon). Who’s gonna take the weight? Let’s change this! All these arbitrary schedules, routines, activities, content areas, and classroom and playground architecture detract from a fully engaging, outdoor, nature study curriculum. I am not saying don’t have end of the year parties and recognition events, or that scope and sequence curriculum guides don’t have their place in planning coherent curricula. I am saying that it is crucial as progressive/radical educators to resist the obstinate stupidity of bureaucratic bubble world curriculums and mechanical schedules, routines and habits that cut us off from the “green fuse”(Dylan Thomas) of the organic world.
So, let’s get outside in the month of June. Many common frogs like green frogs and gray tree frogs are breeding and laying eggs. Wood frog eggs have “hatched” and are now tadpoles. It is a great project to keep eggs or tadpoles and watch them metamorphosis into mature adults but make sure you do some research so that you maximize your chances of success, and release the young adults in the same place you found the eggs. Milk Snakes, the Eastern Hog-Nosed Snake and Snapping Turtles are laying eggs. Encountering a snapping turtle in the wild is akin to meeting up with a dinosaur. As tempting as it may be to hold a snapping turtle by the tail to stay away from its massive jaws this can hurt the turtle and is not recommended. Rather hold even large snappers firmly by the carapace (the top shell), one hand in the front with your knuckles pressing down on the snapper’s neck and the other on the back of the carapace. Many birds are nesting, incubating eggs, the baby birds are hatching and are now “fledglings,” trying to leave the nest, learning to fly and gaining more independence even as their parents continue to feed them. I saw a fledgling bluejay the other day and it is so tempting to try to “save” it. The young bird seemed so clumsy and helpless. But while some will certainly will not make it, many will make the difficult transition to adulthood. If you have put up some birdhouses around your school or house you may well be rewarded with an up close and personal view on this remarkable process. Of all the mammals that are out and about in the month of June, chipmunks are among the most accessible and are endlessly fascinating. “Chipmunks have specially adapted internal cheek pouches that allow them to carry large amounts of food at one time.” Largely solitary creatures, except when a mother has a brood, they make elaborate subterranean tunnel homes and seem to spend their days surfing and skittering along fallen trees and through leaf litter, finding nuts and berries. And while not as ubiquitous as squirrels, they are very common and are good quarry for young children to develop their skills at observing animals in the “wild.”
Reminder to self and other nature and outdoor educators: teachers, parents and children are all over the map in their abilities and comfort levels in handling and being near different animals and plants, and being outside and in natural environments in general. Once I was reading comments that had been left in a ranger box at the end of a beautiful trail in the Oakland Hills and a person had written, “lovely scenery but could you do something about the bugs.” In working with teachers, parents and children, I never want to make someone feel frightened or unnecessarily uncomfortable, but many teachers need gentle encouragement to spend more time outside and to step outside their comfort zone in the classroom. Some children dive right into handling worms and revel in the fact that worm poop, or castings, makes good, fertile soil, while others keep a safe distance or will only put their hand under mine while I hold the worm. Some teachers are phobic of certain creatures ( spiders or dogs) and you have to figure out ways to accommodate their fears while at the same time not spreading that blanket of fear over the children you take care off. There is also a time and place for direct instruction where you show people how to handle a creature, climb a steep hill, or approach a place quietly. And you have to have certain non-negotiables if you are going to create a thoroughgoing outdoor, nature study program/culture at your school: things like spending big blocks of time outside, a willingness to get dirty and let kids get dirty, learning about the basic events, rhythms and processes that shape the natural world, and ceding a certain amount of control necessary to take advantage of spacious, variegated, open-ended learning environments.
There are so many cool things to see and do in June outside. Of course you have to be outside to see them, and there are no guarantees, but there is always the opportunity to see and experience something important, meaningful and memorable. Since snapping turtles are laying their eggs it is a rare opportunity to run into one of them on land instead of the mud. Seeing baby ducklings or goslings following their mother is a ready-made image for nature-nurture connections and a wonderful gateway to thinking about imprinting and Konrad Lorenz. If you look carefully at animals and stay with their behavior you will inevitably see them doing something that raises further questions. What are those ducks doing with their heads under water (dabbling-eating). What are those butterflies doing when they land on animal feces or wet ground ( puddling—picking up key nutrients like salts and amino acids). What are those two dragonflies doing when they are locked in a “wheel” (mating). Or what are those odd protuberances on various plants—galls, or the plants reaction to the eggs that various insects lay on the plants, and that become edible houses for the insect’s young (most of these examples come from Mary Holland’s comprehensive field guide to New England).
While my number one admonition to would be nature educators and nature study schools is to just get outside, the month of June is specially suitable to follow this advice. Find a place in a local park or near enough to your school where you can walk and just sit, play, wonder as you wander, ask questions, observe closely, look at things on your hands and knees, from up in a tree, looking up into the treetops, or down by the riverside. We spent a lot of the month of June down by the river, splashing and playing in a small tributary to the Mill River. We certainly made some important discoveries: a dead skunk, an osprey carrying a fish, tiny clams, what poison ivy looks like, the delicious edible shoots of the cattails; but more importantly we connected with the earth, we reveled in the water and wondered where our drinking water comes from, we crumbled rotting logs and watched dead plant matter decompose back into the earth, we got hot and sweaty and learned to appreciate a cool breeze and the shelter of the forest canopy. We began to sense in our sinews and our bones how everything is interconnected and how we are part of this wondrous natural world, not just an outsider, a trespasser, master or slave, but an integral part of the natural world. In one of our “year ending ceremonies” we finished our moon sticks making a final notch for the Flower Full Moon. While children became attached to and used their moon sticks in different ways, all the kids gained some access to a calendar and a way of keeping track of time more attune to natural rhythms and significant events in the natural world. Outdoor education and nature study hold out the possibility of an educational practice oriented around freedom and necessity rather than domination and caprice. This does not mean that symbolic (ideological) violence and historical practices of oppression and mystification at the core of traditional educational practices will be overcome just by playing outside more and appreciating the natural world, but it’s a start. childhood-culture-learning.org will continue to explore, map out, and disseminate progressive, transformative educational practices as part of a larger movement of social change toward an enlightened society. I hope, I know, that the children, I and the other teachers at Leila Day and Common Ground have worked with, have had many memorable, educative experiences that they will take with them long after they forget specific facts or the names of specific plants or animals: experiences they can use to re-read the world, rewrite culture and create fairer, happier ways of living together on this good earth.
One more thing: be sure to seek out the the Mountain Laurel that blooms in the month of June. The miraculous pink and white flowers, little umbrella cups that are irresistible to bees and other pollinators, boom bloom in bunches. “The inside of each flower resembles a ten-ribbed parasol or umbrella. Near the outside edge of each rib is a tiny pit into which is inserted a thin, straplike stamen (one of the male flower parts). The stamens all arise from the center of the flower and then bend separately like arched bows, each one sticking into its own pit. They are set to go off like triggers as soon as they are touched by insects visiting the flower to get nectar. A touch by a busy bee releases the pressure, and one or more of the stamens spring form their pits to slap pollen all over the insect’s back and head. Showered with pollen, the insect leaves the flower and visits another, thus cross-pollinating the species and ensuring the continued success of this showy and fascinating plant.” (Nature’s Events: A Notebook of the Unfolding of the Seasons, John Serrao) Everything is connected with everything else. Everything is everything.
See you outside