I love having my boys home for the summer! I don't know if it's the teacher in me or what, but I love to teach my boys new things all summer long. This year I'm introducing them to bird watching. Bird watching? I know it might sound odd, but I took an appreciation of nature class in college and the entire focus was on birds. We had to identify a zillion birds in the wild in order to get a decent grade. At first I thought it was a ridiculous way to teach nature appreciation, but by the end I noticed I had developed the habit of watching for birds wherever I went. I have a fascination with these creatures because I had to be on the look-out for them. I realized that developing appreciation for something isn't necessarily curriculum related. It's learning to be watchful and aware.
Children are naturals at this. Whether they are looking up for birds, crouching down with the bugs, or feeling the breeze on their cheeks, they are so naturally aware of their surroundings.
In attempt to harvest this natural curiosity, I put together a bird bag with a field guide, some binoculars, a note book and some pencils so that we can become expert birders. We took our first field trip to the BYU botony pond in hopes of finding some interesting specimens. We enjoyed using our field guide and binoculars, and we wrote down our findings in our handy note book. I was proud of my boys for learning some new skills. As I watched them, though, they reminded me that being aware isn't necessarily subject related either. They enjoyed the birds, but they also enjoyed the mud, the water, the reeds, the bugs, the sounds, and each other.
As you can see, I didn't capture the boys faces on film, they were way to busy being aware to notice me- and that's just what I hoped for!
Have a watchful and wonderful Summer!
