Quack quack!

 At the age of four, Julian saw his first family of
ducks! 

‘What is that?’ I heard a Julian squeal. As I whipped around to see what the problem was I couldn’t help but laugh. In a split second I went from shear panic thinking something was wrong to dissolving into a fit of giggles as the four year old I was in charge of pointed incredulously at a family of ducks. It was only two weeks into the summer and my job and my eyes had been pried open to the nature-deprived kids that were filling the halls of schools these days. Julian, then four, and Noah, then eighteen months, were my sole focus for the next eleven weeks and it became my mission to get them to appreciate nature.

Within just a few days of being with them I learned quickly how much they did not know about nature. As a result each day in between morning snack and lunch we took a walk through the neighborhood. The first week Julian complained and had to be bribed to get out of the house. It wasn’t fun. I had to come up with a plan and quickly to make sure this time was kept special, scared and educational. It was then that Julian noticed the trash that littered the streets and we began picking up trash each on our walks.

Julian at the age of four, learned the importance of being
a responsible citizen. This is just one day of trash off of
one street! 

Two weeks after this began Julian learned where the hands had to be on the clock so that we could go outside on that special walk. Through picking up trash he not only learned about being a responsible citizen, but he was able to witness many creatures in nature and together we were learning and exploring.

Last week as we walked the boardwalk, I was bored and flat out just didn’t want to be there and it was then I remembered sweet Julian. How his hatred for nature turned into something he delighted and took peace in. Just as he was learning his sense of place, I have to relearn my sense of place in southwest Florida.

Where we find our sense of place defines who we are. If we find it in a store our sense of place is items. If we find it in nature our sense of place is everywhere. It’s free. We are able to appreciate all of life because we find our meaning in sustains us in every way- food, materials, entertain, transportation, etc.

With this realization came the reality that children are not finding this today. If they are not connecting with nature today then where are they placing their sense of place? How are you encouraging that?