Category Archives: Uncategorized

In Support of Writing Your Own Spelling Words

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 “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” 

Spanish poet Juan Ramon Jimenez 1881-1958

Our institutions of learning are more rife with rules than with inspiring knowledge. The photograph below, (an actual teacher’s note found stuffed into the bottom of a Spiderman backpack along with a collection of old potato chips and small rocks) is an example of independent inventiveness in handling a homework assignment. The world needs more Charlies. Those who ask Why. Those who try it a different way. Perhaps, in the eyes of authority, it is not a better way, but how can you ever know if you are afraid to try? 

Schools have become brightly colored factories of fear rather than places of trust. Fear of bad grades, of tests, of not being smart enough, good enough, cool enough…not to mention the very real fear that many children suffer of being bullied. It is time to allow for all students of all kinds to grow in whatever rambling ways they will inside the halls of learning. Time to encourage the true seeds of knowledge – wonder, curiosity and the freedom to explore. Schools should not exist to clip wings, but to encourage flight. So, go ahead, make up your own words. And may they be wild and free enough to address an unknowable future.

Earth Day

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“I think birds turn into owls at night.” Shane, age 4

Children remind us, everyday, to look at the world anew. Do we really see, and feel, and know the wonder as we once did? Can we fight with all of our heart and soul to protect something that we don’t love? Can adults learn to love again? The sun rises on the regal trees, the elephant, the ant, the ocean and it’s joyful tears of salt, on the moon above, that gives silver light to our dreams. Silently, nature watches over us, and most of us ignore her, too busy with immediate “matters of concern”.

The reminder of Earth Day, is that we are not to take for granted our beautiful blue planet. We are here for such a short time, it is our sacred duty to revere, respect , honor and protect her. The planet belongs to our children. We can begin to acknowledge this profound truth by making sure that our children grow in the wisdom that they, in turn, will become caretakers. Get their little toes in the streams, their fingers on the wildflowers. Show them the stars, the clouds and the birds, teach them to listen to the rain, the crickets, and the waves. Read to them about tadpoles, tigers, tornadoes…answer their questions with the dignity they deserve, for curiosity is the soul of science. Do this, talk to them about how precious the earth is and what you are doing to keep it so, and you will begin to fall in love again. And, when you love, you will protect.

The Importance of Reading Stories to Your Child During the Pandemic

Children, Early Development, Education, Empathy, Learning, Literacy, Uncategorized, , ,

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Reading, thoughtful reading, is more important than ever for children during this time of social distancing and on-line learning.

Deep reading is the giving up of oneself to a story, falling into the character’s lives, sharing their hopes, fears, successes, and failures. Whether the characters are wizards, orphans, bullies, hedgehogs, or heroes, we experience their trials as universal.

Early childhood experts and social scientists agree that reading fiction (from picture books to classic novels) helps build Theory of Mind. TOM is the ability to understand the desires, intents, and beliefs of another. To be able to identify with another is a key cognitive skill that begins developing early in life.

Humans, as the current state of distancing has brought into sharp focus, are social beings. Social beings who, for the sake of themselves and others, are living now in a state of modified distancing for the near distant future. But just because we are physically in a bubble, our minds, hearts, and souls do not have to be.

As the brain reads it becomes very active. It literally sparks! Neurobiologists have discovered that the same regions of the brain are stimulated by reading about something as they are by experiencing it.  While reading, hundreds of neural connections are made that include recognition, understanding, awareness, and acceptance of different points of view. New thoughts and feelings arise, as we read, that nurture our ability to feel empathy.

Reading, because it has the power to shift perspective and encourage one to think outside normal bounds, has the power to change society. In this binary time, when there is a tendency to believe that one is on one side or another, reading opens minds and develops the art of listening.

As we are well aware, most of the healing needed in our society will not be solved by a new vaccine. By reading often to our children and, as they grow, encouraging them to read, we can, in our own homes, be part of a process of building the necessary compassion for all people that is vital to our future.

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The Palace of Discovery

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IMG_6968Days of Discovery – Monterey Bay Aquarium

“The Palace of Knowledge is different than the Palace of Discovery.” Mary Oliver

As students go back to school, and even at very young ages experience the mounting pressure of being judged on their “knowledge” it is important for both parents and teachers to think about what knowledge truly is, and whether or not it can be tested, bell curved, and graded. Is knowledge acquiring a perfect score of 100%? If one’s intellect can be confirmed as superior by A grades, by being able to re-state exactly what has been told to us, students might as well be on a conveyor belt that boxes up perfectly educated children and spits out discards, those who just won’t fit in that box, misfits whose report cards generally fall into the standard deviant, below average range.

I recently had the experience of watching a dedicated team of staff divers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Days of Discovery spend hours in the water with several groups of children… Children whose disabilities and special needs ranged in varying degrees of severity, those with cognitive impairments such as Down Syndrome and autism, others with physical restraints, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, cerebral palsy…
These children, some of whom are paralyzed and others whose own minds keep them bound, were, for a short time released… floating freely in the bounty of the Aquarium’s Tide Pool, discovering the startling cool water, the clamminess of kelp, and the delicate whorl of the tidal snail.

Watching their alert faces and expressions of joy there is no doubt that they were learning, but were we to test them on their experience how would they fare? Can a child’s mind be evaluated on the intricate neural connections that are made by the scent of the sea, the spikiness of a sea star, or the ability to trust a smiling stranger in a scuba mask? Can what the heart discovers be graded? I would not want to be the one who has to decide such a complex and intimate attainment.
Regardless of age and regardless of subject, the more that we can impart the glory and the wonder of the world to students, the more they will learn. Learning is not static. Information continuously flows from one synapse to another creating patterns of recognition and understanding that build knowledge. It cannot be forced or coerced into being. It cannot be accurately labeled as above or below average.

What can educators learn from the children that participated in the Days of Discovery program? That all children have special needs, wants that are so well hidden we often can’t recognize them. Champion the child that doesn’t fit into a standardized mold. Trust that knowledge is being imparted in different ways to each child and, knowing this, to offer a variety of ways to learn.

Brilliance is often overlooked because it is defined by creativity which cannot truly be measured. Be wary of putting to much emphasis on testing, for children will universally shut down if they are shamed by poor grades. I witnessed a child at my local library the week that school began put her head down and cry twice within a half hour over homework, her mother becoming increasingly impatient and irritated with her as she erased her answers again and again. Ask yourself what will be learned from this experience.

There has to be a better way to teach in which students are seen as explorers, encouraged to float freely in this odd and beautiful world – where knowledge is not judged by quarterly report cards, but in the soul, a sacred and individual palace of discovery.

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young scientistMichael Esgro 1991 – Volunteer D.O.D. Scuba Diver – Lifetime Explorer

 

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The Way of the Reader

Children, Early Development, Education, Empathy, Learning, Literacy, Reading, Uncategorized, ,

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“The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention.”
Thich Nhat Hanh

 

We live in a distracting world, but we fool ourselves when we think that, by doing more than one thing at a time we are being efficient. To be mindful, fully present in the moments of our lives, sounds deceptively simple, but, especially in this electronic age, is a decided discipline.

Reading, because it slows one down and encourages uses of imagination and focus, can be a gentle bridge to serenity.

As more and more children abandon reading for electronics, neuroimaging research shows that excessive screen time damages the developing brain by creating structural and functional changes in the regions that control emotional processing and cognitive control.

Of particular concern are findings that show damage to areas of the brain that equate physical attributes, such as facial expressions and body language, with emotion. This kind of damage, combined with the rapidly growing trend to spend more time socializing online than face to face, are a cocktail that severely impacts healthy social emotional development.

Conversely, reading develops brain connectivity, particularly in the left temporal cortex, the area of the brain associated with language and in the the sensorimotor region, the region of the brain responsible for something called embodied cognition, the ability to empathize.

Studies show that daily reading also increases connections between the brain’s hemispheres.  These neural pathways aide in the growth of a multitude of complex cognitive functions.

Undoubtedly, reading makes you smart. But does it also make you wise?

When we read to our children we encourage them to be still in body and mind, to listen attentively, and to focus intently. We offer a refuge from the jangle of the modern world and give them our full attention in a joyful and quiet way.

Reading develops Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to understand that others have needs, desires, thoughts, and feelings that may be different than one’s own. These early stirrings of compassion are the foundation on which tolerance is built.
Reading, by its very nature, takes us outside ourselves. We become emotionally and intellectually sympathetic to characters who often are quite unlike us. This creates, in the child, an attitude of acceptance in which he or she is not threatened by foreign ideas…the seeds of a peaceful world.

Like a spiritual practice, reading offers a time to reflect, to ask questions and to examine one’s own life. It helps to foster what Albert Einstein called “holy curiosity.”
It makes us receptive, open to new concepts that inspire wonder, creativity and clarity…Deep reading allows us a singular meditation even in the midst of chaos and confusion.

In an often dark world, books illuminate.
Statistics show that, after their schooling is completed, almost half of the population of the United States never reads a book again.

So, if you ever find your children reading under the covers with a flashlight, quietly close the door and let them stay up late, their growing minds and hearts filled with vivid imagery and emotion as they follow their own singular bumpy twisty  roads to enlightenment.

 

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Dr. Seuss – Zen Master

Children, Education, Empathy, Learning, Literacy, Poetry, Reading, Teaching, Uncategorized, , ,

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“So please, when you step, step with care and great tact.

And Remember that Life’s a great balancing act.”

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!  –  Dr. Seuss

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Read across American month began this week with celebrations all over the world of Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Dr. Seuss would be delightful to read even if his books were just pure fun. But, there is more than silliness under that tall striped hat.

In The Uses of Imagination, Bruno Bettelheim states that “The child intuitively comprehends that although fairy tales are unreal, they are not untrue.”

This is the nexus of the genius of Dr. Seuss – His ability to create whimsical characters with wild hair, gangly bodies, and furry feet that touch our heart with their humanity.

Dr. Seuss, born Theodore Seuss Geisel (1904), was an artist, an intellectual and a seeker of knowledge. His very first children’s book  And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street (rejected twenty seven times by publishers) encourages using one’s imagination as a way to see the world in many different ways. He poses the question: What is reality?

But Mulberry Street didn’t sell well and his career as a children’s author seemed doomed when Life Magazine published an article in 1954 that exposed America’s children’s poor reading abilities. John Hersey (author of A Separate Peace) was quoted in the article as saying that children were illiterate because the primers in school were so boring and that authors like Dr. Seuss should be writing them.

Shortly after, Theo was approached by a major publishing house and asked to create a primer using 220 vocabulary words. The result , The Cat in the Hat, made him a household name. Fame brought lucrative offers by corporations eager to exploit his popularity. The ever unconventional Geisel turned down every proposal. Even when he was wooed with an unprecedented amount of money just to use a short unpublished verse on a Christmas billboard, Theo, showing unusual moral fortitude, refused, stating that he did not want to be associated with products for sale.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store

What if Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!

 

And what happened then? Well…in Whoville they say,

That the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day!

How The Grinch Stole Christmas – Dr. Seuss

Throughout his career as a children’s author, Dr. Seuss emphasized the importance of integrity, caring, tenderness, courage, and the interconnectivity of all creatures.

He held his head high and he threw out his chest

And he looked at the hunters as much as to say

“Shoot if you must but I won’t run away.”

I meant what I said and I said what I meant…

An elephant’s faithful One Hundred percent!

 Horton Hatches the Egg – Dr. Seuss

 

In The Sneetches he addresses the absurdity of prejudice, and in Oh! The Places You’ll Go! he gives us, in classic Seussesque style, both warning and encouragement:

You’ll come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly there darked.

But Dr. Seuss reaches a lofty zenith in his darkly beautiful and profoundly environmentally aware treatise The Lorax, who “speaks for the trees.” The author’s brilliance lies in his ability to show us a believable glimpse of a tree’s soul – albeit one with a small orange furry body and a ridiculously large yellow moustache.

Teach your children to be on the look out for them.

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“When I let go of what I am I become what I might be. When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need.” Tao Te Ching

 

“If things start happening, don’t worry, don’t stew. Just go right along

and you’ll start happening, too.” Dr. Seuss

 

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The Goal of True Education

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“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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From the time we first encourage a toddler to share his toys we begin the process of building social emotional skills. In truth, it begins before that-with the first touch, the first eye contact, the first whispered words…building intelligence and character begins at birth and follows us to our last day on earth.

Education is not just about schooling-but as children spend most of their time at school from an early age, school is a vital part of their foundation. The task is: How do we, as educators, create schools that teach children to think intensively and critically-schools that build character?

I believe it begins with respect. When we respect the child and, at the same time, model respect for others, including the immediate and extended environment, we create an atmosphere of love and trust. We must not forget to respect ourselves, as well-use our time wisely and live healthily, both in body and mind. It follows that if adults eat junk food and watch junk television children will see this as the ideal.

A focus on testing rather than true understanding of materials is detrimental to thinking critically as it programs a child to memorize, repeat, and forget. In order to foster an ability to think intensively, subjects cannot be taught superficially. Teachers would be better served to delve deeply into less subject matter, rather than race to complete an established and expected curriculum.

I know children who have gotten A+’s on their Native American unit in fourth grade without a clue as to what the Dakota Pipeline Access is all about. We must make our teaching relevant!

As a society, it is important that we place a high value on education and strive for an elevated quality at every grade level. Our modern schools have not changed much since the Industrial Revolution, although our society is changing more and more rapidly. Our children will inhabit a world that we cannot entirely imagine. It is, therefore, of extreme urgency that we nurture creativity and innovative thinking. But creativity without compassion is a hallow achievement.

Experts in the field of human development tell us that empathy is a wired emotion, part of our instinct for societal survival. Yet why is there such an arc of empathy in any one particular classroom? Although certain emotions are part of our DNA, these emotions have a plasticity that is subject to changes that are environmentally dependent – in the same way that a child with a high IQ is not necessarily going to do well in school or beyond. Compassion, like any instinct, such as the ability to walk and talk, must be practiced, refined, and nurtured.

I liken it to a seed with the potential of becoming a tree. The seed will not reach its limbs to the sky, its roots will not dig deep into the earth, branches and bark will not become home for hundreds of creatures, the tree will never bless us with its life giving oxygen, if the rain and the sun and the fertile ground are not present. We must be all of that for our children, not just as parents and professional educators, but as a society. We must embrace all children as our own.

Let’s go back to the teacher explaining to the toddler that she should share her toys. A situation faced millions of times a day in every school throughout the world. How does the teacher communicate to the child? Does she explain that the other child is sad? Does she use a gentle and caring manner that reflects compassion for both sides of the argument? A child cannot develop empathy if the child does not have an understanding of how others feel.

I have seen, in the classroom, how compassion fosters compassion. Yet, it is not enough to teach our children to feel. Just like the toddler unselfishly handing over her toy, we all need to take action on our feelings. By taking personal responsibility we show our children that it is possible to make changes, both small and large.

When we develop a caring attitude about each other we listen, and in this listening we begin to see the world through prisms other than our own. This is the key to true understanding-the kind of understanding that grows as the child grows, developing not only deeper cognitive abilities but the kind of benevolent character traits that will be essential for the survival of our planet.

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The Adaptation of Children’s Literature

Early Development, Education, Literacy, Reading, Teaching, Uncategorized, , , ,

“Words are a net to catch beauty.”

Tennessee Williams

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Publishers who abridge, adapt, and condense children’s literature use the classics as a commodity. Although the expressed intention is to introduce these writings to a younger audience, this is not a enterprise done with love of prose in mind. These summarized novels are more like CliffNotes in terms of their inability to bring depth and understanding of the original works to children.

I was working with a fifth grader this holiday season and suggested that she read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. She pulled a paperback down from her shelf and told me, listlessly, that she had already read it.  I glanced at the book and saw that it was an abridged version.

A Christmas Carol is a novella, short in length, but opulent in sensual imagery and fervid emotions. Books, unlike films, do not need to fit into certain time frames which necessitate condensing. The only reason, then, to abridge the work is to “dumb it down” so that the young reader has less work to do to get through what often is fancifully arcane and luxurious language.

But, isn’t that one of the gifts of reading the classics? To allow words to transport us, to give us the sights, sounds, smells, textures, and tastes of exotic places and to teach us, through this process, that human needs, fears, passions, cruelties, jealousies, hypocrisies, insecurities, and reckless braveries have always and will always be a part of the elegant tapestry that makes us human.

By reading only the adapted version of A Christmas Carol, my young friend missed such stunning passages as:

“You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling, “Tell me why?”

“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.”

Instead reading:

“You are tied in chains, tell me why.” “I am a prisoner of the chain I made for myself during my life. I chose to wear it.”

I don’t blame any child for not being impressed with such insipid language. I suppose ”fettered” and “forged” are considered to be too archaic? The lyrical rhythm of the language, the repetitions that bring the readers’ attention to the importance of the ghost’s statement, have disappeared in the effort to be economical and simplistic with words.

Our children are more capable than they are often given credit for. A fifth grader should be able to read Charles Dickens without it being predigested for her.

Begin the process of introducing the sometimes odd, yet lovely language in classic children’s literature to your child when he is too young to read the originals himself. Resist the colorful Disney paperbacks of Winnie the Pooh or the Fairy Tales and instead read A.A. Milne and Hans Christian Andersen. Trust that your child will listen, and in this listening, not only become enchanted, but begin to build an understanding of the unique experience that reading can be.

A Christmas Carol was written almost 200 years ago, yet the story, because it is based on essential truths, is immortal. Don’t be a part of the wrong thinking that believes that the rewriting of the classics for easy consumption is a gentle introduction.

These works are a precious legacy from a passionate group of writers. Each carefully chosen word should be valued and respected.

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) said about his writing,

“I tried to discover, in the rumor of forests and waves, words that other men could not hear, and I pricked up my ears to listen to the revelation of their harmony.”

And Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) stated:

“Words are a net to catch beauty.”

Every word in a classic book, whether it be War and Peace or  The Little Prince, is vital. You might as well take the “excess notes” out of Mozart, Bach, or Vivaldi to make the melodies easier to follow.

We live in an age of sound bites and texts. It is healthy to balance this diet with something that demands an exacting focus. Better to read less dense classics such as as Charlotte’s Web or Charlie and The Chocolate Factory unabridged than to give your child an abridged version of Treasure Island, Peter Pan, or The Secret Garden.

Reading more difficult text builds both critical thinking (which stems from analyzing, predicting, and imagining) and self esteem (which builds as the child succeeds at tasks that at first seems arduous). When your child feels an eagerness to get back to the characters in a book and a vague sadness when the story has ended, that’s when you know that the bridge between learning to read and becoming a reader has been crossed.

If your child begins to read a classic and then discards it as being too hard, please help her manage, as you once held the back of her bicycle when she went from training wheels to two wheels. Read aloud to her. You may only need to read the first few chapters before she is pedaling on her own.

In the chaos that our modern life so often is, there is nothing more meditative than learning to turn to a book to remind you that although turmoil has always existed, so has abundant spiritual generosity and unbounded love.

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May Our New Year Shine Gloriously Bright with Hope.

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Happily Ever After – The Role of Fairy Tales in the Young Child’s Life

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IMG_7122©donnaesgro

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Unicorns do not exist

They only think they do

Unicorns do not exist

They’ve better things to do

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Watching the intensity with which children pretend to be Belle, Ariel, Elsa, Batman, or a Jedi Knight, I am struck by the vital importance of this kind of play in the child’s understanding of who he is and who he aspires to be.

When a child creates scenarios based on her belief of how a heroic character would act under certain circumstances, she engages in fundamental questions about the meaning of life. What looks like the simple wearing of a blue sparkling dress is really a ceremonial act with roots in ancient rites of storytelling and mythology.

Because a child’s thinking is animistic, he readily believes that a beast can turn into a prince, that wind can speak, or that creatures such as mermaids exist. Children see the world subjectively. Until they are able to understand the complexities of life in a more objective manner it is not only counter productive, but harmful to the psyche to point out that such things as dragons, unicorns, or fairies are not real. Fairy tales speak directly to the child’s subconscious which intuits the hidden truths inherent in the stories. Explaining that these tales are imaginary, as some well meaning adults are wont to do, only makes the child distrustful of his own inner voice that so vibrantly tells him that these lovely creatures are real. It robs the child of the solace of believing that with a valiant heart, even the very small and weak can overcome the big and powerful. Fairy tales provide a secure foundation that will only later be understood as metaphor. Dorothy melting the Witch, and Jack outwitting the Giant become over time solid beliefs that evil can be vanquished by good.

The hero in any fairy tale begins as an innocent, thrust into a position in which she must face grave dangers. With courage and honorable deeds, she wins out over all obstacles and lives happily ever after.

Fairy tales acknowledge what the child instinctively knows to be true. Bad thing exist, and sometimes he will make bad choices himself, be unkind, greedy, jealous, lazy, or go down the wrong path – the dark one, full of monsters. Fairy tales are profoundly moral stories that emphasize the power of honor, courage, humility, generosity and love. That reassure the child that mistakes and missteps will ultimately be of no consequence and happiness will prevail if the heart is pure.

A child feels empathy for the archetypal character who is at the mercy of unkind fortune, who is the youngest, the one often thought of as a simpleton, or with the least strength, because this is often how he perceives himself. The magic of the fairy tale is not in the dragons and castles, but in the idea that an ordinary boy or girl can be transformed into a hero.

In the classic fairytale being abandoned, lost, orphaned, or forced by fate to leave one’s home represent the inevitability of having to grow up. The symbolism of life’s journey resonates with the child’s realization of what her future will contain. The hero must preform a series of tasks or tests to prove herself – often with the help of seemingly ordinary creatures who bestow invincible totems as rewards for such simple gestures as kindness or politeness. The boy or girl acts solely out of sympathy and in turn is given an item that is invaluable in performing an otherwise impossible mission. This motif tells the child what she already perceives to be true – that growing up will not be easy, will not happen all at once, is full of wonder and mystery, and requires great fortitude.

Fairytales may seem outdated, irrelevant, or even too scary to a modern day parent. But it is important not to apply adult sensitivities to these stories which acknowledge, and pacify natural fears that the young child grapples with daily. If a fairytale truly alarms you, then choose another, there are hundreds of them from all over the world. But trust that these classic plots, which are repeated throughout all cultures, have very good reasons to have lasted for thousands of years.

Fairytales can be disturbing, but never in any one of them have I been so horrified as I was at this recent attempt of the NRA to use these stories to indoctrinate our youngest…

http://mobile.nytimes.com/images/100000004293807/2016/03/26/us/the-nra-reimagines-classic-fairy-tales-with-guns.html

Fairytales celebrate the true, the honest, the kind, the trustworthy, and the virtuous . They offer hope and redemption. This twisted idea from the NRA of what strength and courage is corrupts the very meaning and purpose of the fairytale.

Although Disney has become the modern cantadora of fairytales, don’t leave this rite of passage entirely to a giant corporation whose singular interpretation is marketed and templated. Read to your children, let their imaginations soar, and you will be holding hands across generation after generation of parents and grandparents who have participated together in this mystically beautiful and ancient tradition.

Believing in the possibility of happy ever after achieved by goodness of heart and nobility of spirit at once brings a sense of order, power over wickedness and inspiration on how to live to the child.

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I wanted Yoda to be the traditional kind of character you find in fairy tales and mythology. One of the basic motifs in fairy tales is that you find the poor and unfortunate along the side of the road, and when they beg for help, if you give it to them, you end up succeeding. If you don’t give it to them, you end up being turned into a frog or something. It’s something that’s been around for thousands of years, a concept that’s been around for thousands of years. -George Lucas

 

 

 

 

 

Where Environmentalism Begins

Children, Uncategorized, ,

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Clockwise:  Michael, Donna, and Laura Esgro                                                    ©donnaesgro

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Do we want our children to care about protecting the planet earth? Then, we must make sure that they are in awe of its myriad wonders. It can be as simple as taking your child outside to star gaze – as singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. This humble song has raised children’s awareness of the preciousness of the night sky more than all the warnings of what pollution is doing to the visibility of the heavens…because it is about love. It is about loving the stars, especially one little star among all the rest. This is how we learn compassion. Children look to us for guidance in all things, small and in this case infinite. To tell a child who has never pondered a sparkling sky that if we don’t reuse and recycle we will one day be unable to see the stars has no meaning. To tell a child who has no knowledge of sea horses, of anemones or tide pools, who has never heard the songs of dolphins and whales that we are poisoning our oceans, is an empty threat that cannot be understood with the senses and so, will have no meaning.

We can site statistics about the vital importance of preserving our forests, but can a child understand why? Not unless the joy of trees is in his consciousness-until he has climbed onto a fragrant low hanging branch, watched a bird arduously building its nest, or day dreamed in the dappled light of a leafy dome will he understand viscerally the vital link between a tree and himself. A tree might as well be playground equipment if there is no emotional or spiritual connection.

It is difficult for young children to think abstractly. This is why stories, either from books or experience, “Your grandmother was a brave gypsy who wore scarves threaded with gold…” resonate in ways that facts never can. I know that I love the ocean because my mother swam in it all the while I was in her womb.

Sometimes knowledge is first hand, tiny fingers touching a spiny sea star, but often it cannot be. This is where books can fill the gap -opening up the awareness that is necessary in order for a child to treasure his environment.

As a young girl I read The Secret Garden over and over. Oh, how I longed for a garden of my own! A place where I could grow vines of snap peas and pick flowers to wear in my hair. Books like this helped shaped my image of who I was and who I aspired to be.

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Over 100 million marine animals are killed each year due to plastic debris.

How does a child understand the dire weight of this information? Does she know about the majestic sea turtles who eat plastic bags thinking that they are jelly fish and die? To be told that it is a good idea to reuse shopping bags is one thing, but to be aware of the plight of the sea turtle is an other.

Silent Killers – YouTube

We can hear about natural disasters, floods, famines, but finally, it is the faces of the victims that make us understand the depths of their suffering. Our hearts must ache with sorrow or joy before our heads can understand. So, go outside with your child often and show reverence for all living things. Read books that celebrate the exquisite magic of our fragile planet.

“Everything you can imagine is real.” Picasso

Imagine a world that works as one to save itself, from global warming to the horrors of war. Imagine clean oceans and skies, respect for all creatures, and the power of love. Show your children the glory of this blue marble cast into the infinite that we are blessed to inhabit. Plant a sunflower, build a sand castle, listen for crickets on a summer evening, look for spider webs after a rain… Show them your joy in the bounteous gifts that surround us, and you will inspire them to care.