Explorers of The Wild
Kairo and I love to explore. It’s our favorite thing to do. I believe nature is our greatest teacher. We’ve been continuing our daily walks and I’ve noticed that being outside so much has been a great learning environment for both of us. Obviously, what and how we’re learning differs, but nonetheless, we’re both learning. Last week on the blog I talked about how the leaves have been teaching me how to let go and trust God’s plan for my life. I continue to learn from the trees and their relationship with the leaves. Kairo has been learning from the same leaves, except his lessons are more so about the changing of seasons, cause and effect, and differences vs. similarities. We’re looking at the same exact leaves and learning completely different things. There is so much to be learned in nature.
My love for nature grew as I got older. I wasn’t always an outdoorsy type of girl. I played outdoor sports but being in the woods with bugs and animals was never my thing. My appreciation and admiration of nature didn’t grow until I deepened into my spiritual practices. I learned to find God in nature where it’s nearly impossible to miss His work. Just look at how the plants are always provided for. How the birds sing their songs of worship. How peaceful stillness can be. How abundantly water flows. God is there.
Kairo’s excitement about finding new things in nature has made being outside even more fun for me. I can’t even tell you how big our rock collection has gotten. He loves findings rocks of all sizes, putting them in the stroller, and taking them home with us. Finding rocks invites teaching moments around “which one is bigger? What color is that one? Which is the heaviest?”. He also enjoys finding sticks. Not just any stick though. Only the biggest and thickest ones will do. I love watching him and Ziggy fight over who gets the stick. They’re both having fun…..for FREE! With the change of seasons, we’ve been able to collect new things like leaves and acorns which is working on math skills like counting and addition/subtraction. Do you see what I’m saying? Nature supplies everything I need which makes my job so much easier.
I think there are many ways for children to learn, but nature is one of the most effective and least expensive. Kairo is learning about all subjects just by being outside. I don’t even try to make these moments about teaching, he’s just naturally learning through his environment and the conversations we have about it.
This past weekend we went to a local lake for a family trip. This gave us an opportunity to explore new aspects of nature. We were able to do things like watch water falls, skip rocks, and look for fish. We were still in nature, but there was so much more to learn. We received different lessons because we were in a different environment. Nature is abundant in the things that it can teach us. Whether you’re a child or an adult, I encourage you to get out more and open yourself up to what’s being taught.
Until next time,
Stay ViKtorious, Mama!
