Ann Pelo, my new-found hero of 'pedagogy meets practice'...
"There are contradictions... yes talk and be quiet. Learn the names and marvel without knowing names... there is no easy distillation of how to be in a place with a child. With Dylan at the blueberries, sometimes we discussed their sweet tang, sometimes we just savoured the fruit, sharing purple smiles. There were times through the winter and spring when I talked with Dylan about the bushes' cycle of rest and growth; sometimes those explanations sounded like foolish jibber-jabber, and sometimes I nailed the right balance of contextualising information. The only instruction for how to be in a place with a child, it seems to me, is to be wholeheartedly, attentively, genuinely present. Which means, sometimes, conversation and sometimes, quiet. sometimes naming and sometimes marvelling. Being present, together, all the time, in a generous and interested relationship with each other and with a place."
From 'The Goodness of Rain - developing an ecological identity in young children' (2013) an awesome book I will return to shortly as I explore ideas around a nature-based curriculum.
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