Learning Story – Signs of Spring
The Week of April 9 2024
What Happened?
Signs of spring are everywhere. When we arrived at the site, we set up our main invitation to play: dry scraping the moose hide. Once again, we encouraged each Bushkid to join in the scraping of the hide some time during the day on their terms. Throughout the day, each Bushkid did come to the hide to use a variety of tools and to sit with Larry Jones to learn the process of dry scraping. Some dove right in, some were invited later, some watched and then joined when they were ready.
We had the pleasure of welcoming Lila Fraser Erasmus for the day. She and Larry led our morning circle. Several Bushkids had mentioned the solar eclipse upon their arrival, and so Lila spoke of how an eclipse is a beautiful meeting of the Grandfather Sun, Grandmother Moon and Mother Earth. There will not be another solar eclipse for another 20 years, which feels like a long time for us, but for them this is not much time at all before they will realign and greet each other again.
Larry spoke about how the Land gives people instructions on how to live and how to be. These instructions are unique to place, peoples and cultures. It also helps to determine a person’s spirituality. Larry taught us how important it is to make an effort to learn and respect the “instructions” that guide the peoples whose Land we live on or where we visit. This way of understanding can guide us to respect the knowledge and spiritual beliefs of others who might be different from our own. We closed the day once again talking about the seasons and how what we eat changes as the seasons change.
Why is it Important?
We all move through the world and process experiences differently. One of our values is to create a lot of space so that the Bushkids can be self directed and intrinsically motivated to participate in their surroundings. The Bushkids know that we respect the hide by the way that we interact with it and care for it. They listen and know that the educators are learning and invite them to learn alongside them. We are being taught that the hide is very special and spiritual because it sat in the eclipse. “This hide has very positive energy” is what Larry taught us. We are so gifted.
Guests at Bushkids share many thoughts and stories throughout the day. We appreciate how they find ways to discuss what the Bushkids are interested in. The seasons bring about many changes, including what we eat. As springtime comes, birds return and become a part of our diet. Lila taught us that it is a time to eat fish and birds because we eat more meat in the winter. The fish and birds cleanse us from the heavy meat.
What Does This Mean For Next Time?
Lila will be back again next week! As the snow continues to melt we will be able to have access to parts of the Land that have been hidden for the last several months. This is the perfect opportunity to take a walk to notice and identify the different plants and berry bushes we see. Lila is going to teach us how to make salve as well.We will also clean and cook some birds to enjoy during lunch time to help celebrate the arrival of spring!