The wonderful world of insects

Our preschool catches the rainwater from our roof and stores it in a small watertank. This water is used by the children for gardening. There is a bucket underneath the tap, usually filled with water.


One morning we discover several bugs floating in the water. Closer examination reveals that they are still alive. Without any hesitation, one of our children starts fishing the little bugs out of the water. Soon he has several of them crawling over his hand and arm. He places them in the garden under the bushes. Next, of course, we want to know what they are. We know they are beetles, but we are not sure what kind of beetle, so out comes the book. It isn't hard for the children as they are becoming more skilled in looking up birds and insects in our reference books. In this case we use the book "Which New Zealand Insect?" by Andrew Crowe, and the children identify the beetle as the "grass grub beetle" which emerges from the ground during this time of the year.

Every child is born with a natural curiosity for animals and many children are fascinated with our tiny crawlers - the insects. They have an eye for little creatures, flying or going from flower to flower, crawling on leaves and sometimes even in our food as well. Unfortunately, along the way to adulthood, this curiosity and admiration often extinguishes. Not so, if the child has an adult who appreciates and encourages their interest in insects. At our preschool, there isn't a day passing by or we haven't stopped and admired an insect or anthropod (spider) that crosses our path, like the two bumble bees carrying a wasp.

The wasp must have been a bit heavy for the bees as they "stumbled" through the air and landed on a stump. They then flew of, leaving a dead wasp behind. I still wonder what the bumble bees were up to.

Learning about insects is a wonderful way to teach children about nature. Entomology, or the study of insects, is a very interesting subject to teach. You absolutely do not have to be an avid bug enthusiast or entomologist yourself, just have a genuine appreciation for insects, shouldn't we all have that?

Did you know? Some 350,000 beetle species have been named worldwide, making them the largest group of insects. About half of the world’s 160 or so beetle families occur in New Zealand. Until the 1990s it was thought that New Zealand beetles were an ancient lineage, and had become isolated when New Zealand split and drifted away from the Gondwana supercontinent, around 85 million years ago. Others had arrived by dispersing across the ocean, or had been introduced through human activities. But research now suggests that New Zealand was largely submerged around 35 million years ago, and many plants and animals have arrived since then. Source: Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand

We're going on a bear hunt

Our garden is growing fast, especially the grass at the back, which hasn't been mowed all year. It is tall and wavy and reminds me of the classic children's story "We're going on a bear hunt" by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury.

Remember the swishy swashy, long wavy grass? For those who don't know the story, it is about a family who goes on a bear hunt. They set off, with confidence, "We're not scared". The hunt takes them through tall grass, a deep river, a dark forest, a snowstorm and thick mud, into a cave where they meet the bear and, of course, they are as scared as anything and retrace their steps. Watch this YouTube video with Michael Rosen performing the story.

This week we went on "a bear hunt". With gumboots on our feet and sunhats on our head we head out into the garden. As I read page by page we make our way through the long wavy grass, a deep cold river, thick oozy mud, a big dark forest and a swirling whirling snowstorm. "We can't go over it. We can't go under it. Oh-no! We've got to go through it!" What a fun way to "read" a story.

"Long wavy grass"

"Thick oozy mud"

"A big dark forest"

"Back through the grass! Swishy swashy! Swishy swashy!"

Anybody surprised the children asked to go on "a bear hunt" again the following day?

Exploring in the dark

After a busy day I get ready for an evening walk. Esmee is quick in volunteering to join me, knowing that the alternative will be a "bedtime call". Camiel joins too and the three of us "hit the road". At the end of our quiet cul-de-sac is the start of a walkway which meanders through a bush reserve that is spread throughout our small suburb.

As soon as we enter the walkway the darkness of the night hits us. The few lights that line the walkway aren't working and the area is pitch black. Esmee carries a small maglite and runs ahead of us into the darkness, showing no fear. Camiel catches up with her and the two bounce ahead of me, trying to outrun each other and making scary noises, leaving me behind in total darkness. I know this walkway inside out, so do the children, and I hope there are no branches on the ground that may trip me in the dark.

The children stop when they hear a screeching sound in the bushes. We shine our torch, but don't see anything. It could have been a possum, or a bird. I was hoping to hear a morepork tonight, as we often do from our porch. I like the morepork, or ruru, as it reminds me of my early years growing up in Holland when I would watch the Fabeltjeskrant before bedtime. This was in the late sixties, when tv was a luxury and there where only a few programmes on at night. The Fabeltjeskrant was one of the very few children's programmes and it was screened every day for 5 minutes before the evening news. You can watch the original begin tune below or watch an English version here.



The story, inspired by the famous Fables of Jean de la Fontaine, was about a group of animals in the woods, and an old wise owl. It has been awarded as the best national children's programme ever. As a young child, whenever I was in the woods, I would look for the animals of the Fabeltjeskrant, Jacob the owl, the sister ants, and Zoef the hare, to name a few. I sadly wonder what today's children look for, Pokemons and Transformers?

We continue our walk. The darkness has given this familiar walk a new dimension. We stop to look at some flowers which have "gone to sleep". The children are surprised to see the buds closed with the petals folded up. When we arrive back at the top of the walkway and we enter our street again the children want more and take an extra detour. In the silence of the night, a familiar walk has turned into an adventure of its own. They listen to noises they usually don't hear or notice, and at the same time they "hear" the silence that is not there during the day.

Back home, Esmee disappears with the torch into the back garden. She spots two garden snails on the path, making their way across. Carefully she picks them up and gives them a helping hand as she doesn't want anybody to step on them in the dark. I don't question who that anybody might be at this time of the night!

While Esmee is exploring the darkness of the back garden I make my way into the spa pool. She and Camiel soon join me and together we soak up the warmth of the pool water and the coolness of the night air, listening to the insects chirping in the garden. We often end our days like this, gazing at the night sky, spotting satellites and shooting stars, making wishes, talking about the day gone and pondering about the day coming. Tonight the sky is overcast, we can not see any stars, and soon it will start raining. But tonight's joyful walk in the dark has lit another star inside us, making up for a late bedtime.

What is in a pine cone?

At the end of our cul-de-sac stands a lone big pine tree, many, many years old. The tree is a favourite climbing tree with the neighborhood children and they call the place “Pinecone Island”. Over the years, the children have collected many pine cones, which have all been stored in the “clubhouse” at the back of our garden. It is time for a new life for these cones and what better place then in our garden at preschool.

I spread them out in a patch at the back of our garden. They will not remain there for long. Soon they will be dispatched throughout the garden as the children carry them around during their explorations. Another batch gets added to the collection a few days later as I find a whole lot of pine cones on the ground during one of my walks with my family. These cones are very different as they are from a different pine specie. There are pine branches scattered around on the ground too, as some trees have been cut down, and I bring some along for more exploration.

It is amazing how a simple thing, like a pine cone and some branches, can create many learning experiences. While the children are carrying and turning the pine cones they notice that there is more to a pine cone then meets the eye. There are mature and not mature pine cones, there are the females and the males. They discover the different textures and shapes they feel in their hand as they hold the different cones. They discover, crunch, crunch, that walking over the patch of pine cones is rather wobbly on their feet.

The female pine cones have the seeds inside, which are very tricky to get out, depending on their maturity. Tweezers might help. A close up look shows that the scales overlap each other like fish scales and are arranged in Fibonacci number ratios. The children might not know about Fibonacci numbers, but they certainly notice the pattern. And when they take the time to examine a mature pine cone a bit further they discover there are all sorts of creatures hiding inside a pine cone and a magnifying glass reveals some interesting little bugs.

Closer examination also reveals that some pine cones are disintegrated, some are decomposing, while some still look intact. Could they have been dinner for the rabbits, or mice, or maybe possums?

The pine branches are met with curiosity, as their prickly needles give an interesting touch. We talk about those needles, which are the "leaves" of the tree. A magnifying glass provides interesting discoveries as the children look at the male pine cones or pollen cones as they are sometimes called.

Over the days, the children use the pine cones to make patterns, to line them up, to position them in a circle or make a square. They look for the largest, when you are four years old, finding the biggest anything always seems like the ultimate victory. They are having a great time sharing and judging their discoveries with each other, "this one is larger then that one".

If you are two years old and you want to carry more then two of these big pine cones to the table, you literally have a challenging task on hand. Pick up two, drop three, pick up another one, drop two.

Pine cones are hidden treasures that are easy to find. The next time you go for a walk, see if you can find a pine cone. When you pick it up, share it with your child, you may be looking at someone’s home .

A garden walk, feeding mind, heart and body

We have had some glorious days this week. Although officially still spring, the last couple of days have been like summer, hot and sunny. Our garden is calling out to us and on these hot days we move our mats and pillows to the peace pole deck.

The peace pole deck is mostly shaded from the hot sun and a nice place to come together. We listen to a story, "What colour is love?", by Linda Strachan and David Wojtowycz.

"What colour is love?" is a beautiful story exploring the different colours, finishing with the conclusion that the colour of love is every colour, everything, everywhere, all around, "because nothing else matters when it's love that you've found". A wonderful book to share with young children. It sets the tone for the rest of our afternoon.

After listening to the story we seem to all have this need to spend more time in our peaceful garden. We decide to take a walk, through our own garden. We discover there are lots of things to explore and investigate. What is hiding under the rocks? What we can find when we move the logs? Is there anything living under the tussock grass bushes? How many weta are visiting the weta hotel? What is the name of this clingy weed? How does this acorn seedling get here? There is so much to see, feel, smell, hear and even taste, although we don't pursue the latter.

We see "enormous" worms and"hundreds" of slaters. We identify buttercups and bedstraw and even find some bulbs (yes, people used to eat those during the winter of 1945 in Word War II, that started a discussion in itself). We blow the white stars of a dandelion and make a wish.

We count two weta in the hotel. We look at the different pine cones, their shape, size and texture. We find acorns, some have sprouted. We see a spider carrying its eggs, and we find a spider nest in the bushes. We stroll through the kneehigh grass, hmm, that would be a fun place for playing hide and seek.

As we maneuver our way through our wild garden, we have to balance over logs, climb over rocks and walk over unleveled varied surface, unlike a smooth concrete patch. The physical challenge to keep our balance requires gross motorskills, while handling magnifying glasses to inspect spider eggs and using tweezers to dislodge seeds from the pinecones requires fine hand/eye coordination.

It is hot and we sit down for a rest. Roger, our rabbit, joins us and we pat his soft fur. Some of us lay down and watch the clouds.

Young children create their own perceptions of the world and think in concrete terms, with their body, their mind and their heart. They learn about everything, all the time, and they do it full steam ahead. For them to learn effectively and joyfully, they must be engaged. During their first few years, they absorb with their senses. For knowledge and skills to really stick in their brain, it must go through their body and their heart. Their social and emotional life is filled with constant challenges as they are navigating their way through social relationships and its rules. They are learning to recognise, accept and express their own feelings as well as the feelings of others. They need time and space to do so.

Our nature walk, through our own garden, brings us together as a group, sharing our curiosity, enthusiasm and excitement. It is a wonderful way to foster relationships with each other and the creatures we share this planet with and to nurture self-motivation, self-discipline and not to forget curiosity, something that so many children lose along the way to adulthood.

Biophilia - a priceless moment

What is more priceless then a grin on the face and a twinkle in the eye of a child who is sharing with you the excitement of "a stick insect crawling all over me"? Those are the words of one of our children arriving at our preschool today as she is telling me about her walk with her family in the bush. They found a stick insect and she was letting it crawl over her arms, her shoulders and her back, to the amazement of her parents.

Children who are close to nature tend to relate to it as a source of wonder, joy, and awe. By giving them frequent positive experiences they will develop a sense of connectedness with the natural world. Children need to develop their biophilia, their love for life, for living systems, the Earth at a young age. Biophilia is the deep need people have to experience natural habitats and species, a love of nature. Edward O. Wilson describes biophilia as the "innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes". Preschooler's needs for concrete, hands-on experiences to explore and enjoy the world of nature will nurture their emotional and affective values of nature. If children do not have time to explore and fully understand nature, they are at danger for developing what is known as biophobia, an aversion to nature. They have little to no understanding of the natural world, and feel a discomfort in nature. Some authorities believe that if children don't develop a sense of respect and caring for the natural environment during their first few years, they are at risk for never developing such attitudes.

At our preschool we expose our children to nature as a friendly place of adventure and excitement. We have formed a community of respect and stewardship where both the children and teachers fully engage with each other to share the miracles of nature. Spiders, slaters, butterflies, dragonflies, they are all crawlies, but not creepy. We foster a deep reverence for life. When our young children have daily opportunities to care for our garden and pets, to observe the insects and birds and to watch seedlings sprout and flowers bloom, they practice nurturing and positive behaviours towards the natural world. Not only do children benefit profoundly from regular interactions with nature, it also creates lifeshaping childhood memories. As for the little girl and her parents, the joy, and the excitement of the stick insect encounter was priceless.

Most children have a bug period, and I never grew out of mine.
- Edward O. Wilson, Naturalist


Links

• "The Wonders of Nature: Honoring Children's Ways of Knowing" by Ruth Wilson
• David Orr on Biophilia (video)

Yes, we can

We have all seen, heard or read that Obama won the US elections. A historical moment. While Obama will have to prove his political skills over the next four years, he has already proven his exceptional strong orator skills. Obama gave a memorable victory speech. A remarkable speech that brought out emotion, brought people together and brought empowerment and transformation to the audience, as only great speeches can do. If you haven't already seen it you can watch the entire speech below.



A disciplined speech delivered by a disciplined man who run a disciplined campaign. But is wasn't only discipline that brought him the presidency. Obama's election campaign was of a high creative and innovative caliber. Creativity and innovation are the key dispositions for the Information age we are living in today, the 21st century. In this day and age, we need innovation to drive our economy, solve world problems, find solutions to medical problems and save our planet. Our children are going to be our future innovation leaders. While creativity and innovation comes naturally to children, it is lost along the road to adulthood. Helicopter parenting style, where parents hover over their children 24/7, managing their time and rescuing them when a difficulty arises, takes away children's resilience, own initiatives and problemsolving skills. These children are growing up without leadership skills, unable to make their own decisions, cope with anxiety, or handle difficult emotions. You can listen to an audio podcast interview here with Hara Estroff Maranoor, author of the book, "A Nation Of Wimps: The High Cost Of Invasive Parenting". I have not read the actual book, which is based on American experiences, and you will have to judge the credits for yourself, but most will agree that in New Zealand too there is an increasing trend of parents who are overprogramming their preschooler and overprotecting their schoolchild and that we have to be careful we are not raising a generation of fragile and burdened children.

Who are going to be our future creative leaders and daring innovators? Our education system, outdated and based on the Industrial age undermines our children creative and innovative thinking. Sir Ken Robinson, a prominent creativity and education expert gave a very interesting TED presentation about this issue in 2006, see link below. British reporter Riz Khan put together a 20 minute interview with Sir Ken last September, you can watch part one and part two below.

part one

part two

Children are the future. As parents and teachers we can help by giving our children more opportunities to explore and cultivate their creative and innovative mind. Children benefit greatly from exploring the natural world. Interactions with nature can be a powerful influence in shaping a young life. Growing up with time for playing outdoors and a personal connection to the natural world contributes to the child's future wellbeing and the contributions they will make to the world as adults.
We can help our children by giving them time and space to wonder, to ponder, to explore, to investigate, to dream, to imagine, to just be. We can provide greenspace, rather then screenspace, we can provide soft sheltered places rather then concrete asphalt jungles. If we can share with them the mysteries of the natural world and instill a sense of wonder, and if we can create environments that nurture multiple intelligences, visual thinking and resourcefulness, then we might raise a generation of innovative and creative thinkers who can be our leaders, ready to take on the challenges of tomorrow's world. And can we? In Obama's words, YES, WE CAN.


Links
• Sir Ken's 2006 TED talk.
• A Nation Of Wimps: The High Cost Of Invasive Parenting by Hara Estroff Marano.

Not so clean and green

We could read it in the paper this week, New Zealand's ecological footprint is now the sixth largest in the world, and expanding fast. The ecological footprint measures the amount of resources humans use and the waste they generate, and New Zealand rates amongst the ten worst, per head, in the world. According to the Living Planet report, produced by WWF, more than three-quarters of the world's population take more from the planet than they put back. New Zealand has moved from requiring 5.9 "global hectares" per person in the 2006 WWF report to an average of 7.7 global hectares. A global hectare is a standardised hectare of land able to produce resources and absorb wastes at world average levels. Worldwide, the average ecological footprint jumped from 2.2 global hectares per person to 2.7 global hectares per person, but the world has only an average 2.1ha available per person. If demand keeps growing at the same rate, the equivalent of two planets will be required in the mid-2030s to sustain current lifestyles. Watch James Leape, Director General of the WWF International, talk about the Living Planet report on this YouTube video.



If we want adults to care passionately about what is happening to our planet we need to generate such emotion in childhood. Experiences during the early years shape the values and attitudes toward the world. Children carry these with them throughout their life. The more personal children experience nature, the more environmentally concerned and active they are likely to become. Our preschoolers today will be the decision makers tomorrow.

As young children spend more and more time in our early childhood settings, we, as early childhood teachers, have a very important role. We need to create environments for our children that foster in each child a strong sense of belonging to the web of life. An outdoor naturalised preschool environment, where children are given time to interact with nature and living things, an environment that nurtures their love and appreciation of nature and their surroundings. Rather then steel, concrete, plastic and rubber matting, we need to give our children access to logs, rocks and a natural environment and give them opportunities to explore the beauty and wonders of plants, bushes, trees and flowers. Children also need an adult who shares nature with them. An adult who stops, looks and marvels with them at the miracles they discover. An adult who introduces them to the values of stillness, wonder, simplicity, peace, compassion and care of the earth. An adult who introduces the children to environmental stewardship. "Humans are now exceeding the planet's regenerative capacity by about 30 percent," the Living Planet report said, putting future prosperity under threat.

At our preschool we have a strong focus on the natural world where children can experience how their actions affect the environment as well as how the environment affects them. It is important our young children are given time to interact with nature and living things, before they can understand it well enough to want to preserve it. Reconnecting children with the natural world hopefully creates a future generation that values and preserves nature.