Archive for January 5th, 2010

One of my favorite rituals of the day is putting my son to sleep. First, we make his special night time tea- Yogi Bedtime tea, with a little honey, made in his special strawberry cup. Then, we read a couple books and finally we turn out the lights and I tell him a story.

These stories are about a little boy and his mother (guess who the characters are?) and all the adventures that they go on together. They start out, “Once upon a time there was a little boy who loved………………. (Birthday parties, snow, gardening, adventures etc.) And so his mother………….(did something to make sure the little boy got something he loved).”

The look on his face when I start the story is priceless.  The stories always finish at the end of the day when the mother gives the little boy a big hug and kiss and tells him how much she loves him. Then I say, “And that’s what I am going to do right now.” And I do.

Then, he gives me a big hug and drifts off into dream world. He’s not always the best sleeper, but these stories help him through a tough transition. I really like giving him the chance to add parts to the story. I also like that he knows I make them up right then.

The other day, he sat on the couch “reading” a book to him self. I didn’t want to interrupt, but I did ease drop a wee bit, and he was telling himself a story… and it wasn’t all that different then a story I might have made up.

This is one way children learn, through the oral tradition of stories passed down for generations.  It brings such joy to my heart, and butterflies to my belly when I think that perhaps one day, he too will do the same for one of his children.

How do your kids go to sleep at night?  What oral traditions are you handing down?

This post is part of the 30-minute blog challenge of Steady Mom. I almost skipped posting this week, but I enjoy participating so much that after putting my little one down for bed I decided to write this post. Thanks for reading!

Post start to finish: 20 minutes (ish).

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Little children are wonderful scientists. They ask “why” all the time.  They are curious about what is under every rock, why the stars are so small, where the sun is at night,  why birds like bread, etc. (I’ve been asked these questions in the last 24 hours).

This morning, when we came across some deer tracks in the snow one little girl asked me “why was the deer here and where was it going?” I said, “It might be going to find some food or get warm.” The response, “but it’s cold out here; do deer go inside?”

Mountains of snow caught our attention and the conversation was dropped. But I was so excited to be engaged in this conversation. To me, this is learning.  This is the creative process.. walk outside look around and ask questions.

Darwin, Einstein, Galileo…(to name a small few) did this too and came up with some profound answers that shape the way we see the world today.

This is why I love to take children outside and although I am so excited to share games, songs, and stories with kids to jump-start play time, I really think the best thing to do is open the door and let ‘em outside.

We are in the age of information… after I publish and tweet this post… tons of folks will have access to it. There is information flying around the airways so quickly it is unbelievable.

Well, I believe that there is innate wisdom, knowledge and information in each of us and that children are most connected to that intelligence. My work has given me the opportunity to observe children accessing this innate intelligence, and I see kids get so excited as they discover new things.  To me, as an adult, I might chalk it up to some scientifically explained whatever but to my little preschoolers it’s new knowledge and experience.

This is why I think that the outdoors is the best kind of classroom for children.  For young kids, their experiences lead to new knowledge, as they access this new knowledge from within themselves and their own observations, they become more confident to pursue new ideas.

For instance… my son went outside to build a sandcastle today… with SNOW.  Imagine if I had told him “you can’t build a sandcastle, the sand is covered with snow.” He probably would have looked at me like I was an idiot and went on about him business. Instead, he experienced some similarities in two substances that are different but have some similar properties.

Here at Backyard Mama I plan to give you more of my observations of young kids learning in nature. Why? So that nature play seems less like something we need to prepare for or think about and more like a natural occurrence in the day.

I love all the blogs I read about activities to do with kids outside; I write a fair amount about it too. Then I get all the stuff together for my “plan” and out we go to do one thing and then nature has it’s own plan: baby turtles, or icicles, snow mountains, deer tracks, crocuses blooming in the snow, a red hawk.. and I have to switch gears to go with the natural lesson.

It’s through this flexibility and spontaneity that I see children thrive and grow and become curious, confident little boys and girls.

And that’s my focus for this year. Happy New Year Friends. 

What happened to you the last time you canned a plan cause a better opportunity presented itself to you?

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