Abstracting
Adventure strolls
Log hops,
pond stops
Pause
Listen
Shadows cast,
thoughts react--
even the sun is a painter.
Log hops,
pond stops
Pause
Listen
Shadows cast,
thoughts react--
even the sun is a painter.
The cognitive tool of abstraction, as I understand it, is the process of breaking something down into metaphorical or literal comparisons.
My featured abstraction is of a nature walk. Nature walks can be a cornerstone to outdoor education, and a vehicle through which many organic lessons may be learned. I chose this subtopic to abstract, as just this past weekend I experienced two (quite different, and equally magical) nature walks with children under the age of 6. The first was at a nature center in Mystic, Connecticut, where I had the great pleasure of shadowing a waldkindergarten-inspired preschool (link). This shadowing experience was eye-opening, in the sense that they made nature the vehicle through which all matter of subjects were articulated and expanded upon. In this way, nature was broken down into tangible, accessible aspects that explained specific goals. An example: Miss Davnet, the incredible director of the program, played a song on the guitar and sang about a red squirrel. The children sang too, during the second go-around. This song was not only engaging, but also informative: it spoke to the squirrel's bushy tail and how it shakes. This simple articulation allows the children an opportunity to connect what they have seen outside to a reflection indoors, encouraged by music.
Abstracting a nature walk allows for a certain amount of rhythm, the movement of feet shuffling through leaves or little legs hopping over logs. I tried to capture that sense of rhythm in the poem above. This abstraction was inspired by a walk I went on with one of my former kindergarten students (now a first grader). The experience of going on a nature walk (with the self-proclaimed "Buttercup Adventure Girls") was one filled with observation. The leader of this stroll often stopped to take attendance (present!) and also pause to take in the sounds and sights of the walk. This inspired me to think more seriously about how aspects of nature, ones that children naturally have an inclination to stop and ponder, can be brought into the classroom as an effective and connective way of teaching.
In abstracting a nature walk, there is this overarching idea of nature being the ultimate source of discovery. In Sparks of Genuis, it's stated on page 155, "There was poetry in the way she saw the world... By the time I was 5, our small yard encompassed a parallel universe." Through abstracting a nature walk, I aim to articulate this sense of a parallel universe--one where nature communicates lessons, sights, and sounds to us through ways we can only be attune to if we really take the time to notice.
My featured abstraction is of a nature walk. Nature walks can be a cornerstone to outdoor education, and a vehicle through which many organic lessons may be learned. I chose this subtopic to abstract, as just this past weekend I experienced two (quite different, and equally magical) nature walks with children under the age of 6. The first was at a nature center in Mystic, Connecticut, where I had the great pleasure of shadowing a waldkindergarten-inspired preschool (link). This shadowing experience was eye-opening, in the sense that they made nature the vehicle through which all matter of subjects were articulated and expanded upon. In this way, nature was broken down into tangible, accessible aspects that explained specific goals. An example: Miss Davnet, the incredible director of the program, played a song on the guitar and sang about a red squirrel. The children sang too, during the second go-around. This song was not only engaging, but also informative: it spoke to the squirrel's bushy tail and how it shakes. This simple articulation allows the children an opportunity to connect what they have seen outside to a reflection indoors, encouraged by music.
Abstracting a nature walk allows for a certain amount of rhythm, the movement of feet shuffling through leaves or little legs hopping over logs. I tried to capture that sense of rhythm in the poem above. This abstraction was inspired by a walk I went on with one of my former kindergarten students (now a first grader). The experience of going on a nature walk (with the self-proclaimed "Buttercup Adventure Girls") was one filled with observation. The leader of this stroll often stopped to take attendance (present!) and also pause to take in the sounds and sights of the walk. This inspired me to think more seriously about how aspects of nature, ones that children naturally have an inclination to stop and ponder, can be brought into the classroom as an effective and connective way of teaching.
In abstracting a nature walk, there is this overarching idea of nature being the ultimate source of discovery. In Sparks of Genuis, it's stated on page 155, "There was poetry in the way she saw the world... By the time I was 5, our small yard encompassed a parallel universe." Through abstracting a nature walk, I aim to articulate this sense of a parallel universe--one where nature communicates lessons, sights, and sounds to us through ways we can only be attune to if we really take the time to notice.