Essays

Wild On The Prairie: Learning

Philosophy of teaching
May 7, 2000

When the world was smaller, a child spent much of his or her time playing outside. Children roamed the outskirts of town, exploring the natural world. Here in West Texas, a child went to one of the rainwater playas to catch toads after a rain, or dug a fort into the side of an old sanddune, or built roads for toy trucks among the mesquite. Sometimes a girl or boy hiked and hiked for miles, catching horny toads, lizards, tarantulas, and finding old bones of rabbits, cows, and horses.

Television and the Internet can be wonderful tools for connecting a person to the world of humans. By their power we can know what is happening anywhere in the world at any time. Both media can serve as an introduction to the natural world, as well. There is, however, one way to learn about the non-human world, that is unsurpassed by any other: to experience it directly.

Children should know the smell of chocolate daisies and the taste of pepperweed. They should feel the wind on their faces, awe at the soaring of a hawk, the quivering timidity of a cottontail rabbit, and admiration for the impeccable grace of a snake slithering through the grass. By exploring the natural world around us, a sense of home and belonging is developed. A child becomes a citizen of their homeland by knowing the rhythms of the land upon which they live.

It may seem simplistic or old-fashioned, but we believe a sense of belonging to the natural world should be instilled in our youth. In the natural world, one learns of wonders and powers far greater than that of humans and feelings of isolation and alienation are thereby diminished. Everyone should be able to sing songs of praise about their homeland. We should know the stories of the land around us.

For thousands of years, storytelling was the primary pedagogical technique. People remember stories through the mnemonical devices employed. Many cultures had cycles of stories that took six months of nightly telling to complete, since the stories encapsulated all of the ethical and social mores of that particular culture.

At Sibley we try to find all that is scientifically known about the flora and fauna of the Llano Estacado. We gather every folktale we can find about the natural world of our homeland. Then we tell stories.

One story that we hope each visiting child will hear is about box turtles. The story grows with each report we receive from you, and with the reactions of every child that hears it. We love box turtles!