First, before I jump into my first “experience” listing, I have to admit that I’m not really sure what real purpose this will serve. Much like the whole premise of Facebook and Twitter, we write because?????? Do we think someone cares? Are we trying to entertain? Are there parents out there who are struggling to find images of what this sort of thing might look like on a daily basis? Do I write this like I write some of my academic stuff – like I’m some sort of expert out there to “teach” or inform according to research, etc., or do I just tell a story? I don’t have any sort of confident answer. I hope that if, in fact, anyone chooses to read it, he/she/they will respond and question, challenge, etc. in ways that will shape the nature of the blog “discourse.”
That said, it’s on with the rambling. . .
Today was the first day of real school. From 9 until 12, Audrey was in kindergarten. I picked her up (after all, Tuesday is one of “my” days) and in response to her cries of hunger, I brought her home for lunch. Habit set in. The t.v. went on. “Just a little while I fix your lunch. . . “ Immediately the thought crossed my mind, “Boy, wouldn’t it be nice to let her watch a while and I could take a quick nap. . . “ My images of what I was supposed to be doing prevailed, and after lunch we turned off the t.v. Initially I gave her choices on what to do: French on the computer, math games, reading, etc. It became very apparent that she had no interest in academics for the moment – at least not in deliberately choosing from among the things I suggested. Out of desperation, (I needed to wake up and she needed to get out of a silly spell) I suggested we first take the dogs for a walk. As we walked, Audrey noticed a few mushrooms along the way. “Aha.” I thought. We started talking about mushrooms, stopping to “observe” them as we passed. Noting the different colors, textures, etc. Granted, this was all done while attempting to walk two less-than-well- behaved dogs around the neighborhood. Finally I suggested that we drop the dogs off and do the walk again. As we returned to the house, Audrey’s “teacher side” came out. She suggested that we bring a camera and take pictures. She also suggested we record what we saw. It’s great having your “student” and your “teaching assistant “ one and the same person!
When we got back to the house, we gathered our things: the camera, a pad of paper and pencil, and baggies to collect samples. As we retraced our steps we found countless mushrooms of various sizes, shapes, and colors. We kept count with tally marks, brainstormed words to describe them, and talked about the conditions in which they were growing (damp areas, etc.). Now, to be fully transparent here a bit of a rewinding is in order. Right before the second trip out I tried to Google “Mushrooms” to have more background about mushrooms. I guess having a nuclear physicist for a father pretty much destined me to hate science when I was growing up so, this is yet another thing about which I know very little. When I showed the “facts” to Audrey, she dismissed them – not at all interested. O.K., that direct appeal to “seeking knowledge” isn’t going to work here. . .
So instead we started at her level – what she was experiencing on that walk and her own questions and observations. Well, for the most part her own – I DID direct those questions and observations at some level. In addition to tallying the number of mushrooms we found, we also wrote down observations and questions – e.g. that the brown mushrooms tended to be bigger and have more variety in their shape, that the red mushrooms seemed to be the smallest and the yellow mushrooms were more likely to have bumpy textures, etc.
Meanwhile, we also discussed line, pattern, and shade and determined that water colors would be the best art material to make pictures of mushrooms because of the way the shades of color came out on the mushrooms. We also practiced estimating when we would encounter an entire yard covered in mushrooms. When we saw a lawn with no mushrooms, we explored why that may be the case. With the freshly made “lines” in the lawn, we concluded at one point that the owners had recently mowed and so they may have mowed over any mushrooms that would be in the yard.
About half-way through the “walk,” Audrey was done. She was getting tired – after all, she is five and is just now getting used to not having naps. We still made observations and took pictures of unique mushrooms, but I tired to pick up the pace and ask fewer questions to respond to her fatigue. Audrey coped by getting silly, singing mushroom songs, and making strange noises.
A sad caveat punctuated the experience. As we were nearing our home, we had to pass the elementary school where Audrey was supposed to go – the neighborhood school five doors down from our house. The children were boarding buses. You could tell long before rounding the corner and seeing the scene just because of the noise level. Above the mangled “roar” of kids ready to go home came the screams of the bus drivers telling the kids to be quiet. “They’re loud,” was Audrey’s only commentary as we passed the row of buses. I wondered how the kindergarteners on the bus felt as their drivers (mostly large men with booming voices) screamed at them. As we passed I thought about the world of exciting learning outside the school and thought that much like the mushrooms Audrey and I were “studying” – those meaningful experiences were overlooked – sacrificed within the official curricula of the school.
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