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Lessons Learned From Nature

As a child I spent so much time in nature that I will sometimes catch myself saying that I was raised in the mountains. I have a seldom, spoken-of love and respect for nature that is on a level that only another person who holds the same reverence for nature could understand. Henry David Thorough spent two years living in the woods, which is not enough in my opinion, and wrote a book about his experiences that he titled Walden, named after the pond he lived on. I have recently read this book and it has piqued my interest enough to make me want to share some thoughts and feelings about living with nature and what there is to learn.

Henry David Thorough is most well-known for this quote,

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

This quote is well into the book and at that point I didn’t believe he had even scratched the surface of what there was to learn from the woods. He had written a lot about observing nature with meticulous detail and how to survive by barely getting by so that a person may have some leisure time. I believe that there is a lot to observe and learn from nature, but there is a spiritual level that a person must come to know that makes you feel connected to an eternal realm of beauty and wonder and testifies of our Creator.

Most of his writings were only to prove that a poor man can have time to gain knowledge and progress his intellect by living simply off the land and supporting himself. He had strong feelings that society wasted too much time and money on materialistic, superfluous traditions that were only performed because everyone does them and deems them necessary. It is ironic to me that more than a century and half later, society has fallen so much further into that foolishness that he described so long ago.

Toward the end of the book, Thorough finally taps into what I feel there really is to learn from nature. He says,

“I delight to come to my bearings--not walk in procession with pomp and parade, in a conspicuous place, but to walk even with the Builder of the universe, if I may--not to live in this restless, nervous, bustling, trivial Nineteenth Century, but stand or sit thoughtfully while it goes by. What are men celebrating? They are all on a committee of arrangements, and hourly expect a speech from somebody. God is the only president of the day. . .”

Thorough begins to see a bigger picture from having spent time in the woods, from having spent time in silence to think and ponder on our short, little lives. He begins to tell about how important it is to gain education from nature. He made me realize how much of what I know now I learned from experiencing nature in one of the deepest ways possible, by hunting. He writes,

“. . . my friends have asked me anxiously about their boys, whether they should let them hunt, I have answered, yes--remembering that it was one of the best parts of my education." "It requires so much closer attention to the habits of [nature] that no other sport can substitute."

Thorough no longer prefers to hunt with a gun and I haven’t for a while either unless my freezer is empty. I have been privileged enough to hunt most of my life that I now can go out into nature and see it on the same level. There are so many lessons to learn beyond observing the patterns of animals and the elements of weather conditions and terrain and how they all effect the cycles of life and animals. You learn so much about yourself. Patience, endurance, respect for life, strength, hunting abilities, maturity and more than I can list. Thorough goes on to say about the matter,

“We cannot but pity the boy who has never fired a gun; he is no more humane, while his education has been sadly neglected,”

“Such is oftenest the young man’s introduction to the forest, and the most original part of himself.”

We could all use some time away from society and noise. If only for a few hours to have some time alone to just think. It is amazing what can happen to a person who is left alone in nature long enough to begin to evaluate his life, his past and his future. Such a person would benefit in a most positive way. I have recently been told that nature is the best learning environment because you are surrounded only by the truest beauty in the purest and most uncorrupted form.

I’m so happy that I was fortunate enough to be raised in the mountains. To appreciate what they can hold for a person’s soul. I will most definitely pass on the learning experiences to my posterity and continue to enjoy the benefits of a heaven on earth.

Kendi's Kindergarten Curriculum

Well, this is just a start. I'm still looking for things and I'm not planning the whole year out right now. After reading through other bloggers' curriculum lists, I didn't think I had much of a curriculum collected until I wrote it all down. My main focus this year is to get Kendi reading really well. She is almost on a first grade reading level and I hope to get her reading on her own very soon. We want to do a lot of hands on and outdoor discovery instead of bookwork. I would like most of our curriculum to come from the classics. I have to keep telling myself that she is only 5 and Kindergartners don't spend a whole lot of time at school their first year. Kendi gets excited every time a package arrives and it's her homeschool supplies. I'm not sure how great any of these will work out, but we'll let you know if we really don't like them. Here is what we've put together so far. I think it's a good start.

• Scriptures - Book of Mormon and Bible. Right now we are just reading together as a family after breakfast and it is working really well. I'm keeping my eye out for some kind of activity book for kids. I'm picky about how accurate they are. Please do not suggest the Living Scriptures to me unless you want an earful.
• Science - I just ordered a science project book called, Big Book of Play and Find Out. I can see Jared getting excited about this one.
• Science - Our Father's World. A Christian book that follows the creation.
• History - I Love America, part 1
• Music and Foreign Language - LDS Primary Songbook in English and Spanish. We also like to have fun at the piano and will do that until her hands are big enough to start learning to play. Kendi loves to dance, but I'm torn about putting her in dance classes so early.
• Writing - A Reason for Handwriting. Another Christian based book. She also keeps a journal and we want to start writing letters to family and friends.
• Math - Early Bird Kindergarten Mathematics. We skipped the first one because she already knows her numbers pretty well. She also has a summer book to finish up called School Zone Big Kindergarten Workbook. I have a feeling she is going to whiz through these. I've heard good things about Saxon Math so we'll look into that next.
• Geography - We've started getting National Geographic magazine. She loves seeing the pictures and finding the countries on a map.
• Reading - We are about half way through the Family Literacy Center Readers. I'm keeping my eye out for first grade level readers for when she finishes those up. We will also be consistently reading from the TJed list of classics for children. I'm mostly read them to her right now.
• The Safety Kids series
• Standin' Tall series
• I have a Kindergarten resource book that was found at Deseret Industries. I will be using it for the activities and holidays for more fun things to do.
• The most education I ever got was in the mountains and I plan on doing the same with my kids.

We will be doing a lot more hands on stuff than bookwork and I can't even list all the things I have planned for that. We will spend a lot of time on art. Fortunately for Kendi, her dad is a professional artist and internet engineer. He will take over the art and math subjects when she gets real serious about them. He's already had her painting with real watercolors. I can't wait to get started to see how these resources work out for us. We are all excited. If there is a system on any subject that you are passionate about, please share.

Supplies We Need

Friends and family are always asking what our kids need. I'm going to make a list here of things we are looking for to use in our homeschool. I'm not necessarily asking for donations, but maybe some of you teachers or more experienced parents out there know of some good places to find these things. Also, if you have stuff kicking around that you don't mind getting rid of or selling for a discount, we love second hand items. This list will always be changing.

• Safety Kids cassettes or cds. I've found volume 2, but not volumes 1 or 3. I already have all three books.
• Standin' Tall Books. I have most of the cassettes, but no books to go with them.
• Somewhere to see a flag raising ceremony.
• Classic Books of all reading levels - A classic is any book worth reading more than once.

Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke

I've always liked the movies that have been made after this series of books by Janette Oke. From my experiences with movies made after books, the books are usually so much better. That made me interested in reading this book, hoping that it would have more to it than the movie. I was a little surprised at how different the original story was. I can't help but think that the movie improved on the original story. I like how in the movie the characters seem more intelligent. The movie also has more religious meanings throughout and more relationship development between Marty and Missie because of her being so much older in the movie. I don't buy a lot of movies, but this series would be something worth having. As for the books, I probably won't use them in my home-school.