Growing up I spent a lot of time outdoors. We lived on a dead end street that opened up into a large wooded area. A creek ran through the middle and behind the houses. The neighborhood kids and I would climb trees, build forts, jump the small creek and walk along its edge. I got scrapes and bruises and head lice twice but I didn’t care; the next day we’d be right back out there. The woods represented a freedom to me. Although I was minutes from home, it felt like the minute we passed that “Dead End” sign, a whole world opened up.
Our own little Narnia.
I was about the same age as my boys when I started playing in the woods, exploring on my own, finding solitude and excitement all in one afternoon.
I can’t imagine my own kids doing the same.
Today it somehow feels unsafe. We won’t let them ride their bikes around the block alone yet. Even on family walks, I catch my husband and I yelling after them every block, “don’t forget to stop at the corner!”
And yet there is something so pure – so alive, so…necessary – about the type of childhood I had. To explore. Connect. Be one with God out in the vast unknown (okay, so that’s how it feels to a ten-year-old). I believe it’s a crucial part of growing up to have that love for nature. As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aptly put it,
“God communicates to us through each other and through organized religion, thorough wise people and the great books, through music and art, [but nowhere] with such texture and forcefulness in detail and grace and joy, as through creation.”
The Great Outdoors
As you saw with Nature Study, Charlotte Mason felt pretty strongly about being outdoors, to say the least. She had much to say about this as an informal, regular activity for children and parents alike.
The Great Outdoors can take many different forms depending on where you live. Rivers or canyons, fields or streams, deserts or waterfalls – even your own backyard – are just a few of the scenes that apply to Miss Mason’s thoughts on being out-of-doors.
“A mother brags that her children are outside for a walk at least one hour a day. Perhaps that’s better than nothing. A little girl uses her lunch money to buy aniseed candy drops; we might say that’s better than nothing, too. But children can’t thrive on candy and they can’t thrive on just an hour outside every day. The human animal wasn’t meant to survive in an artificial environment of walls any more than plants were designed to live in glass houses. Countries such as France, Germany, Italy have an advantage in that their people practically live out-of-doors and are happier, simpler and healthier for it.”
– Charlotte Mason
What Should We Do Outside?
Our post-modern culture is obsessed with productivity – all efforts should accomplish something. But Miss Mason warned against getting in the way of what nature, itself, is already accomplishing. Being out-of-doors is about tasting freedom and experiencing release. This is not the best time for a lesson but if you absolutely feel like you must be doing something other than playing, running, relaxing and breathing fresh air, consider pointing your children toward observation or seeing closely what is around them. Encourage them to paint a picture in their mind of the landscape.
“Once the mother and children have arrived in a pleasant, breezy area, it is not the mother’s duty to entertain the children. No reading aloud or storytelling–in fact, there should be as little talking from her as possible, and what little there is should have a definite purpose. After all, who worries about entertaining children with story books during a puppet show, or at the circus?? And the great outdoors has lots more to offer than either of those. A wise mother, upon arriving at their spot, first sends the children off to run wild and play and make as much noise as they want.”
– Charlotte Mason
Benefits of Being in the Great Outdoors
Attention to Detail
The Great Outdoors is full of tiny details. The petals of a flower, the spots on a ladybug’s back, and the intricacies of a snowflake on your fingertip all give your child (and you!) the opportunity to observe something carefully.
“The mother looks herself at what she’s sent them to look at while they’re gone. When the children come back, they will excitedly tell what they saw: ‘There’s a beehive.’ ‘Lots of bees were going in it.’ ‘There’s a long garden.’ ‘It had sunflowers.’ ‘And daisies and pansies.’ ‘There were lots of pretty blue flowers with rough leaves; what do think those were, Mom?’ ‘Probably borage, it’s an herb that attracts bees.’ ‘Oh, and there were apple trees and pear trees on one side, and a path in the middle.’ ‘Which side were the trees on?’ ‘The right. No, the left, wait, which hand do I write with? Yes, the right.’ ‘The apple tree had a million apples on it!’ ‘A million??’ ‘Well, maybe not a million, but a whole lot!’ And so on, so that the mother gets the complete details little by little.”
– Charlotte Mason
Solace and Refreshment
Being outdoors can give us solace and refreshment immediately, but it can also provide us with a storehouse of memories that can bring us peace while trapped indoors.
“The habit of storing mental images can’t be overrated. It can comfort us and refresh us. Even in our busiest times, we can stop and take a mini-vacation in our own piece of nature to be refreshed and gladdened by ‘the silence and calm of things that can’t speak or feel.'”
– Charlotte Mason
Reverence for Life
Children learn reverence and respect for creation by being out in it. The more intimately they know something, the more they can appreciate its beauty. Creation is a direct connection to God; the flowers of the field, the rain that falls from the sky, all creatures great and small, were made by the hand of the Creator.
“Should children study biology, botany and zoology by dissecting and taking things apart? Not usually; a child younger than 6 or 8 years old shouldn’t be pulling flowers apart to study them at a time when they should be learning to revere and protect life rather than destroy it (mosquitoes and other pests excepted!) An awe for the precious gift of a life that can be destroyed by a cruel child, but can never be brought back, is an important lesson for children…The child who sees his mother reverently and softly kiss a snowdrop flower is learning something that no book can teach him. When they are older, they will understand that all science is merely a study of God’s creation…”
– Charlotte Mason
Overcoming Obstacles to Getting Outdoors
Time
Even an hour outside can seem like a large amount of time in the age of technology and air conditioning. We certainly have to be intentional about being outdoors instead of in. I want us to be outdoors but let’s face it – we modern people are very much obsessed with being comfortable…something the great outdoors isn’t always known for being. There are bugs and changing temperatures to deal with and weather to dress for. But as the saying goes, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes. Being outdoors in the fresh air – whether it’s cold or hot – is just plain good for you and well worth your time.
“Country dwellers already know what wonders fresh air can do for a person. Their children practically live outside when they aren’t eating or sleeping. But even country people don’t make the most of their opportunity–when the weather is warm, why not eat breakfast and lunch outside? We are so stressed from our hectic lives, but time spent in the open air is great for the mind and body and could even prolong our lives. Those who have been sick with fever and headache and felt soothed by the deliciousness of fresh, cool air often make it a rule never to be indoors when they can be out.”
– Charlotte Mason
Could Charlotte Mason see into the future? In a day where just about everyone is too busy, it is more important than ever to heed her advice. Every mother knows that when the kids start to go wild, the best thing to do is send them outside. But why not make that a part of their every day to prevent some of that build up?
I know, I hear you…it’s so hard to get them outside. Miss Mason thought of that, too.
Priorities
“But not everyone is lucky enough to live in the country where they can eat outside. So, what about those of us who live in the city or suburbs? How much time should we dedicate to making our children stay outside? And how can we pull it off? With all the pressure to give our children a good education and adequate socialization, it’s good to remember that a mother’s first duty should be to provide a secure, quiet early childhood. For the first six years, children should have low-key schedules so they can just be and grow, and they should spend most of their waking hours outside enjoying the fresh air. This is not just good for their bodies; their heart, soul and mind are nourished with exactly what they need when we leave them alone in a stress-free environment among happy influences that give them no reason to rebel and misbehave.”
– Charlotte Mason
Weather
We just moved from Alabama to Michigan and I am fully aware that the seasons behave differently here. We will have bitterly cold days and deep snow that may be daunting to get out in. To be fair, it was just as difficult to get out in 98 degree, full humidity August days in Alabama. The time of day is your best friend when getting out in weather. In the summer, strive to do your outings in the early morning and in the winter, wait until the day heats up after lunch.
“When there’s frost or snow on the ground, children have fun sliding, throwing snowballs and building from snow. But even when the snow is slushy and dirty, or the sky is gray, they should have interesting things to do outside so that their hearts are cheerful even when the day is cold and dreary.”
– Charlotte Mason
Miss Mason encourages mothers to continue getting outdoors in the winter, for an hour or so in the morning and an hour or so in the afternoon. She recognizes that fresh air is good for the child no matter what the weather.
Bottom line?
Get outside.
Forget the structure.
Let the great outdoors be the teacher. Make it a priority to just go out and play.
That goes for you, too, mama :).
The Autism Angle
Children with autism need to be in nature just as much as typical children – if not more. Nature is calming and soothing to the soul. They are free to be themselves outdoors – to look under rocks, to move their bodies freely, to point and yell, “look at that dragonfly” without disrupting anyone. As long as you are comfortable with their self-control and keeping safe boundaries, allow your child to run free outdoors. It’s good for you both.
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