A child asks interesting questions. Our twin daughters, B +ve and O +ve, are no different. They are inquisitive and curious to know about whatever they observe, feel, hear, smell and eat. This involves a lot of questions about nature.
Unlike a child, I, as an adult, take it for granted about the nature that surrounds me. However, for my children, everything is worth exploring, knowing and befriending.
I have to admit that I have no answers for their questions related to nature. I know zilch. My educational qualification says that I have completed 18 years of formal education. However, when it comes to identifying a tree, a flower, an insect, a stone, a leaf, a seed, whatever my daughters bring/show me – I am clueless to the core.
Leave aside appreciation of nature or knowing about it. I realize that I am unaware of the existence of nature herself.
The girls are just five years old. Their questions are no rocket science. They just want to know the basics of things around and I have no answers for them. I do take help of Google but the pace at which I am thrown the questions, I cannot match it. At times, I cannot even figure out how to phrase the question.
Come to think of it, unless for the questions of my children, I would not have even realized what I am missing out on and what I do not know. I see all these around me daily, I breathe around them, they breathe around me and I do not know anything about them.
I have realized that it is not just about answering the questions, my inadequacy goes even further. The girls collect a lot of stuff – fallen leaves and flowers, fallen buds and petals, feathers, stones, twigs, seedpods, dead insects; what all and whatnot, and I have no idea what to do with them. I know that each one of them can serve an educational purpose. Leave aside education; we can have lots of fun with them. I do not know that also.
I am trying to change and learn about my surroundings. However, I am not able to find any reference material. Whatever I find, limits itself to identification, that too is not at all user-friendly. Also, help for the identification of trees, insects, seeds and rudimentary details about them are very hard to come by.
I do not know how and why all the teaching material of children talks about maths, language and some weird thing called the environment. This environment has information on names of animals and birds, vegetables and fruits, vehicles and service providers. However, this environment is completely silent about what surrounds us – nature. There is no mention of what children encounter and experience around them for every second of their living.
I know where all the above is leading my children to. They are destined to become like their father – oblivious to their surroundings and ungrateful for the rewards of nature.
What would be your inputs on and about nature for my children and me?
Google search has been my best friend since many years now. I just now google searched – ‘how to upload a pic of a plant on google search to know its identity’ and many simple options came up. There are also youtube videos, and also free apps on a smart phone to identify plants, flowers, insects, animals, art works …….
I also asked my daughter (my personal wikihow) and she suggested this: If you go to google images, in the search bar there will be a camera option to upload your image. You will need a smart phone or be able to upload photos from your regular camera on to the computer for this.
There would also be adult groups of nature lovers in Hyderabad (I know one person who is passionate about trees from what I remember conducts tree walks, and and her husband is deeply interested in birds) Joining these groups might open up new avenues for you and the children. As the saying goes, “It takes a village to raise the child”
Best wishes always 🙂
Thank you for your suggestions. Will surely try them out. Please do share the name of the person who conducts tree walks.