Greening Sam and Avery: a weed or a beautiful flower?

Thursday, May 13, 2010

a weed or a beautiful flower?

To a two year old.... it is a beautiful yellow flower that she loves to "hunt"!

To my husbands dismay we have dandelions in our yard, and lots of them! But it is so much fun to go dandelion hunting with Samantha in our backyard. She carries her little bucket around and picks as many as she can. She knows her color yellow now and is learning what the petals and stem of the flower are. Not to mention it is just fun to watch her run up and say "beautiful!" as she plucks off the top.

Even weeds can be a beautiful learning tool!

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About This Blog

My plan:

I am making a commitment to my daughters. A commitment to teach them, inspire them and expose them to everything I know and love about our natural world. I will find new and creative ways to do this. I will stretch my imagination, my teaching knowledge and my teaching skills to new levels to be sure that I am doing my best to “green” my daughters Samantha and Avery.

I am making a commitment to you. Other moms out there of young children. Other moms seeking to be able to inspire their children, teach their children and expose their children to the natural world. Moms that may not have the teaching background, the environmental education background or the time to do the research/creative thinking in order to come up with all kinds of activities to do with their kids. I will document my journey with my girls and share what works and what does not work with all of you out there. Hopefully this sharing of knowledge will make it very easy for other moms to have the knowledge and tools they need to “green” their children as well!

The Reasons that I want to do this (said by people much more eloquent than I am!):

"If children do not attach to the land, they will not reap the psychological and spiritual benefits they can glean from nature, not will they feel a long-term commitment to the environment, to the place. This lack of attachment will exacerbate the very conditions that created the sense of disengagement in the first place-- fueling a tragic spiral, in which our children and the natural world are increasingly detached".

- Richard Louv

“It is not half so important to know as to feel when introducing a young child to the natural world”. – Rachel Carson

“If children sense genuine adult enthusiasm, they’ll want to emulate that interest—even if, when they’re teenagers, they pretend to lose it”. – Richard Louv

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in”.

– Rachel Carson

What is “greening”?

It is certainly not a technical term. And it is not something that I am claiming to have made up. But instead of using the terms environmentalist, tree huggers or nature lover I am choosing to use the word “green”! I want my children to have a love of the natural world. I want them to care about what happens to every small part of the environment and want to learn how to take care of it. In order for my children to grow up to become environmentally responsible citizens they need to first have a passion for the natural world, a strong connection to it.

The disclaimer and invitation:

I do not claim to be the author or inventor of all or any of the ideas I will write about. Whenever possible I will refer you to the resource where I got the idea but this may not always be possible because sometimes I just don't remember.

Please feel free to share resources, thoughts, experiences and suggestions with me and the other readers in the comments. The more sharing among moms the better!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have gained a little inspiration on how easy it can be to get your kids outside and learning about the big green world around them!

Greening Sam and Avery

Thursday, May 13, 2010

a weed or a beautiful flower?

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