We were on a hike at the local nature preserve, enjoying a sunny but cool day off from school and work. Going hiking is one of our favorite activities, and usually- not all the time, but most of the time, we find something really interesting. Today, it was this:
I'm not sure what it is- a bird skull, possibly. We looked it over and considered the possibilities. Small, lightweight, holes for the eyes on either side. Earlier, we'd come across part of a beaver skull jaw and that bone was dense and heavy, with some very worn teeth still in the bone. Compared to that, this skull was feather light. I picked it up and turned it over; on the top of the skull were six small holes, three on one side of a barely discernible ridge, and three on the other. I don't know if enough is left of the skull to make an ID on exactly what kind of bird it was, but it was a good speculative discussion.
Every time we go out and he sees a new animal, or a wildflower, or a a mushroom, he's learning something about the world he lives in, and he's learning about himself. He doesn't like to get his shoes dirty, and the trail today was a bit muddy from some recent rain. On the way out, I walked ahead of him and I navigated around the puddles.
On the way back, he walked ahead of me for awhile, and at one point I looked up to see him attempting to jump over a puddle. He was taking a risk. He jumped across the puddle successfully, but landed in mud. Oops, he said, I forgot it was there. But that's okay, right, Mom? Once, it would not have been okay. In a world that is not always supportive of different ways of learning, nature is our wide open classroom.
Yes, I thought. Nature is a school. You just don't realize it.
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