Sunday, February 8, 2015

Nurturing Young Minds





Little Miss Four loves to water her vegetable plants.  She takes it very seriously.  A little too seriously sometimes and the plants are awash with water, overflowing onto the warm concrete around her feet.  She talks to the plants.  Exclaims in pure delight when a ripe tomato is spotted.  Shrieks in horror when the Miss Two picks something she isn't supposed to.  Very serious business indeed, this gardening thing.

The love of nature, of nurturing things is inherent in our children.  They are born with the desire to look after things - babies, small animals, plants.  Their not-so-gentle hands not yet mirroring the gentleness of their hearts.

As educators it is our passion to nurture the minds of the next generation of learners.  Nurture them in ways that are not only the requisite Reading, Writing and Mathematics.  We need to grow them as well-rounded individuals meeting their need to be the caretakers of their environment, instilling in them a life-long love of creativity, of individuality, of giving.  A passion to make a difference in their world.  The belief that they are capable of making that difference.

Environmental Education has long been a passion of mine and I love to watch those children with a particular love for their environment really spark and ignite when they are given the freedom to garden, to get their hands dirty, pull weeds and pluck ripe fruit from the vine.  It is priceless.  The look of pure enjoyment by simply being surrounded by nature, being allowed to breathe in the fresh air, soak in the grassy scents and weave magic with their green fingers.  Our children need to experience this on a regular basis.

Children are born with nurturing young minds.  Let us as educators continue to nurture their young minds holistically and help this beautiful world of ours have passionate caretakers in this, and in the following, generations to come.


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