We've been preparing for Sit Spot for a while. We observed worms and created scientific illustrations. We did the same for mealworms, observing their life cycle. To sharpen our Fox Walk and Deer Ears skills, we've been playing Fire Keeper--in the classroom and outside. We played Birds and Worms to learn about camouflage and model predators and prey. Each week in our class meetings, we share Nature Gratitude, appreciation for something we noticed in nature during the week. Slowly but surely, we've been building up to Sit Spot.
I explained that we would release our worms into their natural habitat, do a short Fox Walk, and then each child would choose a Sit Spot.
Once you've found your spot (away from other humans), you just sit and observe. It's a little like a nature version of Montessori's silence games. You open your wide Owl Eyes, perk your big Deer Ears, turn up your sensitive Dog Nose, and you notice stuff. If you notice something, you should not get up or try to attract anyone else's attention. If you notice something during a Sit Spot, it is a gift just for you. Take a picture of it in your mind, notice the details, and wonder about it. Later, you can tell your friends or you can use a field guide to identify it. We took along our journals and pencils because sometimes, if you're young and you want so much to share, it's hard to be quiet and keep inside all the gifts that nature brings your way. You might need a place to record them--to sketch and describe what you're noticing.
Sit Spot worked its magic. We started out small, with a ten-minute Sit, but the children were quiet and still and calm throughout. Many of our typically fidgety children were engrossed in watching and recording what they saw. 
When I stood and pointed to my watch to indicate our time was up for today, each child gathered his/her things, quietly rose, and peacefully walked back toward our classroom. No one ran. No one shouted. Just being outside and opening ourselves to nature had soothed the spirits and calmed the bodies. As we neared our classroom door, there was a quiet buzz as children began to share what they had seen. Some were still hurrying to write, journals propped on bent knees as they paused on the sidewalk!Story of the Day, another Core Routine of nature connection, is an important follow-up to Sit Spot. The children need an opportunity to share with one another their experiences in nature. "Sharing stories with others builds a collective knowledge much greater than the isolated experience of one person. We can gain a storehouse of information from others’ stories: one saw frogs by the pond with bright red legs; one made rope out of old dead cedar bark; one snuck up on coyotes and aplodontias living in the woods near the pond. . . . Curiosity, our greatest resource for learning, becomes contagious. If you listen to someone tell about catching the frog by 'the most beautiful pond just down the street,' you just might want to go there soon. Or maybe you wonder, now that we’ve mentioned it, who ever heard of an 'aplodontia?' . . . Sit Spot and Story of the Day, feed each other constantly, like a call and response" (Coyote's Guide).
Next on my list:
Child-friendly binoculars and some method for learning to identify a few bird calls. Suggestions welcome!
There's a Book for That!
Crinkleroot's Guide to Walking in Wild Places by Jim Arnosky
The Other Way to Listen by Byrd Baylor
Try it out at home! Right now Wilderness Awareness School has a 30-Day Sit Spot Challenge! Go to the same spot in nature every day for 20 minutes. Will you accept the challenge?
"Keep close to Nature's heart...and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." ~John Muir
I think we all need a Sit Spot, especially when the days get a little warmer.
ReplyDeleteI got a great kid-friendly pair of binoculars at Whole Earth Provisions for my class...thanks for reminding me to introduce them to students again!
ReplyDeleteMarie