With the emergence of spring, now in full swing, I am witnessing teachers’ and students’ exploration of the natural world in and outside of the classroom. From deconstructing flowers and observing caterpillars in the early stages of forming their chrysalids in preschool to habitat exploration in young 5/kindergarten, gardening and soil testing in 1st/2nd grade, and finding salamanders under logs at Black Pond in 3rd/4th grade, the richness of life in all its forms – microorganisms, plants, insects, and animals – surrounds us.
At the main entrance of Summers-Knoll, atop the light fixture on the beam to the left of the door (as you enter), a mother Robin made her nest, laid her eggs, and her baby chicks have hatched. Just this morning, she was feeding her babies, their little hungry open beaks popping up, visible just over the edge of the nest. Nature is so close, all the time. Entire cycles of life are beginning and ending around us in the nooks and crannies of our everyday comings and goings, literally just outside our front door…