Conversations with Richard Louv

Last night I was lucky enough to hear Richard Louv speak at the Queensland State Library. I was excited to hear him talk along with guest speaker Cate McQuillen the creator of Dirtgirlworld. I have read Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle and both books I refer to quite a lot.

Richard spoke about the boundaries and obstacles to children spending time in nature. Some of these boundaries included the culture of fear we live which is media amplified, the absence of nature in our cities and access to nature and the increasing level of technology in our children's lives which is decreasing the amount of free time they have to play. There was an underlying current of deep concern for the worlds environmental issues but also hope that the answers may be within our children.

For many years we have hit children with the facts of the worlds environmental issues and as a high school student in the 1990's I remember this well. However Louv advocates for a different approach and I agree with him. Instead of overwhelming our children and having them grow up believing it's all too late, what if they develop a deep love and connection to the natural world first? What about an approach that sees the natural world as a place of mystery and discovery? A place for quiet contemplation, reflection and experience.

Many of the questions raised were about how as educators we can cut the red tape and let the children play. Rather than learning about the environment in a class room, how about we encourage children to use all their senses and experience it up close and personal. Like any system change can be slow and there will be plenty of red tape. I feel that as a parent I can do so much and so much rests in my own hands. I don't have red tape to cut, I can take my children into the bush and they can play without anyone else telling me they are too high or they shouldn't throw rocks. I can make nature a priority in our lives and create the time we need to spend it freely there.

This morning I packed our backpack with food, water and first aid kit like I do every week. We sometimes play in the bush close to the house or the local creek, sometimes we drive further afield to enjoy a bush trail or river. Just as I was about to step out the door, my daughter asked if she could do something on her own. "Like what?" I asked her. She came up with a few suggestions such as riding her bike down our road. I wasn't comfortable with several suggestions until she mentioned our Sit Spot. For those of you who read my blog you know it is a place we frequent a lot. For the past two years I have participated in a Sit Spot challenge where I go to the one spot and spend time there everyday for a month. My children have always come with me to this spot and it is close to our house but surrounded by bush. I had a brief moment of fear and I question that fear and thought about Louv's talk regarding boundaries. My daughter knows this place, she knows the trail and she would still be within my sight. So I said yes and she was excited to go.

Off she went down to the Sit Spot, then after a few minutes she called out asking if she could go further. I hesitated briefly and then said yes. She beamed at me and ran off down the back of our property. I could just see her with my camera to take this photo. She stopped to build up the shelter we always make together.

Then off she went until I could no longer see her. It was the first time I've knowingly let her go. It was the first time she has asked to go alone. She wasn't gone long but when she came back she decided she needed to be better prepared. She took some food and a drink and off she went again. Filled with excitement she ventured down into our bush with confidence. This time she was gone for 20 mins. I knew she was safe, she has walked this trail many times and she is on our property. I was given this freedom as a child and so was my husband, I wanted her to have it as well. Her need to go it alone in the bush seemed to intersect with my renewed knowledge of boundaries and fear.

When she got back she had stories to tell. We heard all about the Orb spider whose web she had to go around to avoid, the incomplete nest she found on the ground, the sticks she dragged over to continue building the shelter and the tree she decided to climb. She created her own adventure and came home with increased confidence and ability.

After hearing Louv speak last night I had come away with a mix of despair and hope. Then today I woke up to watch my daughter take a big step beyond where I had led her. It felt really good to me but she owned this adventure and I know it made her feel even better.

Nature is one of the best antidotes to fear.

— Richard Louv

Last Child in the Woods

What does Environmental Education look like?

When I think of environmental education, it looks like this...

What it doesn't look like...

It makes a nice brochure right?

From Childhood and Nature by David Sobel,

"Knowledge without love will not stick. But if love comes first, knowledge is sure to follow." Too often in schools, we're trying to inject knowledge without providing the experiences that allow love to slowly take root and then flourish.

One transcendent experience in nature is worth a thousand nature facts.

A Morning in the Bush

We have been so busy enjoying nature the past few months. I have many posts in my mind. Today I thought I would write about a simple short trip to the creek we enjoyed this past week. Each week I try to plan a relaxed morning down by the creek or on a bush trail. We take a packed lunch and just go looking and discovering. This week we have been making origami boats and so we took several down to the creek to float.

 

The boats are not only lovely to watch but it gets the kids down low to the water, sometimes into the water and discovering other things along the way. My daughter noticed several water plants while she was floating her boat and she got into the shallow water to feel them and retrieve some for our tank at home. The children also pointed out half a dozen water invertebrates and are keen to return next week to catch some for identification. The boats are a nice way for children to ease into the water environment, especially if they are reluctant or not used to being in a natural environment (without play equipment etc). It gives then a reason to go and a reason to get down and close to the aquatic environment.

 



Another reason I love play in natural environments is because it tests their skill and judgment. Children need to negotiate the narrow creek bed, jump the rocks, balance on the fallen trees, dodge the spider webs and listen to the sounds of the bush. My children have excellent balance and I have no doubt it is because of all the fallen tree balancing they do. There are also enough sticks and rocks for everyone and plenty of water to play in.

Then there are the discoveries. There are new things to discover all the time in nature which provoke questions and wonder. I don't always provide the children with answers. If questions come up, I ask more questions and keep the discovery alive and exciting. Then later in the week (and perhaps after a visit to the library) I might pop an open book about cicadas on the table for them to come across and the conversation will come up again. Sometimes it's enough just to hold a new insect or touch a fungi or wear a cicada shell in her hair for a while and no conversation is necessary. Some days 20 mins along the trail is enough and other days we are there still after 2 hrs. Some days it is a planned trip and other days our time absorbing nature is very impromptu.

Sometimes my children learn about nature in a less than ideal way, when we see animals that have been hit on the road. I always pull over and get the animal off the road, I also remove animals which are alive and have the potential to be hit. Recently I removed a Cockatoo which had been hit. It might seem strange to some people but I think it gives my children an opportunity not only to see an animal that they may not otherwise see up close but I am showing them, I care enough to stop and put the animal to rest in a safe place off the road and perhaps back in the bush. We collected up the Cockatoo and took it home with us. After some thinking and talking about it, my daughter and I decided we would preserve the Cockatoos wing. We asked and took it in honour by clipping it off and preserving it in salt. Then we buried the cockatoo. We are looking forward to revealing the wing in a few weeks time and having it as a keep sake.

This morning on our way to a play date with friends I noticed a bandicoot had been hit on the road. I stopped the car and got both children out to have a look. It was a female with a baby in its pouch that had sadly died as well. Connection to nature is so important for the future stewardship of our planet. The way we treat an animal shows our children that connection. If I drive past I have no connection, no care. If I pick it up and put it safety to rest, I hold a connection that my children will see and learn from too.

Mistletoe in Eucalyptus tereticornis

The Sit Spot

"The best teacher is one place." Jon Young

Since living in Brisbane I have studied Ecology, worked in the environmental field and had a sign on my front fence to say it was Land for Wildlife. Though while my 'resume' looked like I knew about nature, I didn't. If I walked though my backyard, I could tell you only a few of the native trees, endemic to my area. Love for nature has always been innate in me but my life had become busy since moving to Brisbane. I was studying, working and now raising children. Sure we camped each season, visited National Parks and I often flipped through ID books but I still felt like a stranger in my own backyard.

I believe humans have a natural affinity with nature, which is genetically encoded in us. However our lives have mostly turned indoors. As my children grew, I knew I wanted to help foster nature connection in them but first I had to work on my own connection. I had to walk the talk and reinvigorate my passion for the natural world and my work as a naturalist.

So while I was reading one day, I came across information about The Sit Spot routine. I was planning to do the Kamana Naturalist Training and the Sit Spot is an integral part. The Sit Spot is one location you choose to go to regularly. It needs to be easily accessible from your home and a place you feel safe at. It can be as simple as a seat on your back veranda overlooking your garden. I live on 2 acres and it is mostly bushland, so my Sit Spot is down below the house.

Now I needed to make this do-able and finding time alone without children was near impossible. So rather than just not do it, I took them with me to begin with. We packed a small bag with drink bottles and apples and we went to our Sit Spot everyday for a whole month. We visited our spot in rain, hail or shine and at all times of the day. We sat on the little wooden seat for long enough to eat an apple and point out things of interest. We stayed as long as I could keep the children in one place. Some days just long enough to eat an apple, other days much longer. As the children became used to our daily routine, my daughter began asking to go. Being young and curious, they pointed to things I may have overlooked, asked questions I wouldn't have thought to ask and their zest for adventure was contagious. After leaving our Sit Spot, we would do a short bush walk through our property, down along the creek line and back up the other side of the gully. As I wrote about in Want to know Gum Trees, I paid close attention to the trees. I didn't try to identify any, just became familiar with my one place really well. By the end of the month, I knew my property so well.

After completing the Sit Spot practice last year, I had built a connection to Brisbane that I hadn't had up until that point in time. I wrote about my experience here. http://www.reconnectmagazine.com.au/index.php/8-rmipswich/73-children-in-nature

I was reinvigorated in my love of nature and by having my children along for the journey, I also reinvigorated my love of environmental education. Bush Kindy was born out of the Sit Spot practice and I hope to write a few posts in the future about Bush Kindy.

I am now a Kamana Naturalist student and hope to participate in the Sit Spot challenge every year but also aim to integrate it into my life as often as possible. You can read more about it here http://kamana.org/lessons/articles/30-day-sit-spot-challenge/ and if you want to join in, you can sign up here http://forms.aweber.com/form/13/1134286813.htm and receive daily emails of encouragement and inspiration. The challenge was meant to take place in May but has been postponed until August. So not long until I start another 30 day Sit Spot challenge and I'm really looking forward to what discoveries I make and inspirations take hold. More posts to come.

Noisy Miner nest with chicks

Last week my daughter told me three times there was a bird's nest in one of her climbing trees, before I actually stopped to look. I couldn't believe it, the nest is so close to the house. I had noticed Noisy Miners frequenting the tree but I didn't take a closer look. Life gets busy, we always have lots of things to do and even though I take time for nature, sometimes I find myself unaware. It was really great to be reminded to slow down and take some time for nature again.

The nest was of a Noisy Miner and this little honeyeater is very common throughout Brisbane. It's a native bird which has flourished in urban environments. They particularly like edge environments, where tall bushland meets suburbia. They live in territorial groups and as you have probably noticed, they are very aggressive and will mob predators in their territory.

 

The thing I like about the Noisy Miner is that they are boisterous about predators being nearby. So when I hear their 'alarm calls' I know to head outside and see what's going on. They have alerted me to cats, goannas, many different bird species and foxes.

 

The eggs in the nest have hatched now and it's been great for my children to see the birds working as a community to feed the chicks. My daughter has sat for ages just watching them. She  knows not to climb too high in the tree and disturb the nest. Pretend nest building has become a favourite play activity at the moment. We look forward to seeing the chicks grow and leave the nest.

 

You can see how close the tree (which contains the nest) is to our front door.

Sitting quietly in the tree, watching the mother and her chicks in the nest.

Gum trees at my place - Eucalyptus crebra

Eucalyptus crebra, also known as Narrow-leaved Ironbark or Red Ironbark, is a very dominant tree on our property. This Ironbark along with Spotted Gum, are the two most abundant Eucalyptus in my local area. Eucalyptus crebra really defines my area and as you pass into nearby suburbs it soon becomes less dominant or not present at all. When we first moved to Western Brisbane, Ironbark didn't rank highly in my tree appeal. Though over time I have really taken an interest in Ironbark and the many different species of Ironbark that exist. It's probably one of my favourite Eucalyptus species now but I really love them all for different reasons. Eucalyptus crebra like all Ironbarks, has deeply furrowed and dark coloured bark, so it's very easy to distinguish Ironbarks from other Eucalypts. However within the Ironbark species you need to look closer at the leaves and gum nuts to tell the species apart.

I really love that Eucalyptus crebra is covered in lichen. Ironbark doesn't shed its bark and the deep furrows provide habitat for lichen to grow, so it gains this lovely mottled appearance. No doubt this is why the Tawny Frogmouths love to roost in this tree, as they camouflage so well with it. The leaves are narrow and drooping and have a bluish grey green colour. As you can see in the photos, the canopy is fine and fairly open.

Eucalyptus crebra is the tree in the centre of the photo above. The dark coloured bark is very distinguished.

Gum trees at my place - Corymbia citriodora

Ok, so it's not a Eucalyptus but it's still a gum. Corymbia citriodora is also commonly known as Spotted Gum. It was previously classed as Eucalyptus maculata and while there is still debate surrounding the reclassification of some Eucalypts, it's now mostly known as Corymbia. I'm not going to go into depth about the difference in Eucalyptus, Angophora and Corymbia here (in this post) but if you weren't very familiar with the Spotted Gum and you came across it, you'd think it was a Eucalyptus (which it is or at least was but just not classified that way anymore).

Spotted Gum is a dominant species on my property. It's a familiar gum tree right across western Brisbane and quite easy to identify. Spotted Gum is a grey, tall and smooth barked tree. It has dimples all over its trunk, which look like someone has pressed their thumb into the trunk numerous times. It's mostly a very erect tree, with a fairly open canopy. It's present on shallow, stony soils, which makes it abundant throughout western Brisbane. The flowers and leaves are a very important food source for wildlife. It's a really beautiful gum tree and I consider the tree a major part of identifying this area as my home.

 

You can see in the photo above, this Spotted Gum is rather straight, tall and the limbs start a far way up the trunk.

 

Dimple like impressions are obvious all over the trunk. Each year, generally in Spring, it sheds its bark in patches.

 

 

 Close up view of the dimples.

 

Fairly open canopy.

 

So if you are not familiar with this gum tree, you very well might have one in your garden, street or local area, especially if you live in Western Brisbane.