The sun was shining down on us today for our first nature school session of the year!
Many of the children who had been a Heron last year, smiled from ear-to-ear when we ventured to familiar places and you could often hear things like: “Remember last year when we made that rope swing and we swung so high we touched the leaves?” or “I can’t believe how small that tree looks - last year it seemed gigantic!!”
For the children new to the program, they were also excited to embrace all the nature Harrington has to offer. We are a group of 12 this year. New Herons to the flock are Phoebe, Naomi, Teagan, Aubrey (Wolf) and Rose (Cassidy) as well as nature mentor, Beaver (Cheryl).. Returning Herons are: Owl (Mary), Sunflower (Nieve), Hummingbird (Oakan), Firefly (Cadence), the Heron previously known as Beaver (Micah), Crow (Simon), and Daisy (Izzy). The day was made even more special as it was Crow’s 9th birthday!
Coyote (Kendra) joined us for our opening and helped us remember the unique nature calls we use at the school in order to communicate messages to each other without using any words. It might be interesting to have your child teach them to you so you can start using them at home. Can you imagine how curious your neighbours would be to hear you yipping like a coyote and cawing like a crow?
Beaver introduced some new organizational routines to help the children become even more independent about keeping track of their belongings. Ask your child about the bins and the trays. Another reason for doing this is to lighten up the backpacks during the day so that the children have only the items they need for one block at a time. Two small water bottles will help divide up this weight as well as having their morning snack in a separate container. We hope this system will also keep Harrington Hall neater for people coming to use the library.
One of our themes for the day was to learn how to read maps by using a legend of small pictures. We enjoyed matching the symbols on the map to the various buildings and features around Harrington Pond during our Map Hike. It was surprising how quickly the children were able to step into the map-reading shoes of a cartographer! An extension for home would be to have them create their own map and legend for their neighbourhood or areas in their home.
When we stopped at the Mill on our Map Hike, the children immediately noticed a change that shocked them! A few weeks ago, Harrington experienced a torrential rain and the water level in the pond rose so high that it rushed right over the dam’s bridge and eroded the land on the mill side. It has been fenced off while the authorities decide how to proceed. We will keep you posted about any updates. For now, we will spend our time exploring the different areas the east side of the pond has to offer as we wave to the trees in Cedar Hideaway to let them know we are still thinking about them.
During our community lunch, the children enjoyed sharing their adventures from the summer and we also spent some time talking about nature names. Your nature name is meant to describe who you are and it gives you a connection to the living earth. For example, Mary is known as Owl because she has a quiet demeanor and is both a great listener and observer. If your child hasn’t found a nature name yet, you might want to check out a site called ‘Ultimate Guide to Spirit Animals’ and click on ‘Animal Meanings’. It will provide you with a list of qualities of a variety of creatures and you will have a good chance of finding a suitable animal which can also be found in our area.
In the afternoon, we visited the Harrington library which is located in the basement of the hall. We learned more about the incredible books and services it has to offer. Those who already have library cards from last year should bring them next week for our first book sign-out. If your child’s card has been lost, we ask that you form a ‘search party’ before next week to see if you can find it. If it’s disappeared completely, your information will be on file and Gray Squirrel should be able to issue a second card when we visit again next week. For those children who need an Oxford County library card, you will find an application in your child’s backpack. Please take the time to fill it out and return it next week so your child can take out up to 3 books. They did some ‘book shopping’ today and are really looking forward to showing you their favourite books.
During wonder time, the Coyote kids experienced what it might be like to be a dendrologist - a person who studies trees by using their 5 senses to examine trees more closely. They had fun working in seedling-sapling pairs to complete a scavenger hunt and sharing their discoveries. They were able to find trees whose branches formed a number or letter. They used their senses to look at trees in different ways and they even identified trees that made them feel happy and peaceful as well as sad and lonely. It was interesting to listen to them explain why the trees evoked these feelings for them. Perhaps your family can explore the trees in your area too and find different ways to help you look at them and appreciate them even more!
The happiest place for both old and new children today was Mystery Forest. The seasoned Herons were thrilled to see that most of the branch structures they built last week were still there and the new Herons were excited to start working on their own! There was a lot of teamwork, consultation, and sharing of both ideas and materials. A couple of the girls even set up a nature store which featured leaf spoons, wild cucumber kebabs, beans fresh from the adjacent field. Business was booming!
At the end of the day, the children learned that their journals from last year will be expanded into nature notebooks this year - one of the most important tools a naturalist uses to collect field notes, make observations, ask questions, draw sketches, and record facts and information. They were quite excited to take their experiences in Mystery Forest and create detailed diagrams of their structures and add labels. We enjoyed a round table sharing of each of their entries and rewarded each person with a hearty round of applause.
We honestly couldn’t have asked for a better start to a new year of CNS! As Nature Mentors, we are amazed by the incredible group of children we have here. It is such a joy to witness the magic of nature at Harrington and how the children respond to it with open minds and open hearts! We also appreciate the supportive and encouraging nature of all of our parents! Together we are showing our children that “nature is not a place to visit. It is home.” (Gary Snyder) Wishing you all Happy Trails until we meet again next week, Forest Friends and families!
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