Beauty: A Way of Seeing

"My mother taught me how to see beauty, as her mother taught her before. It is a learned skill, a meditation, a way to meet with God, who reveals so much about Himself through His creation. Can you believe how many details there are in nature? Have you ever considered how beautiful and complicated one blade of grass is, or noticed how many blades of it there are in your yard?"                                                     Audrey Felger...potter...BackCreekPottery.com

Early this am, in our home away from home, I opened a big brown package from a dear heart friend in WA. Whispers of kindness were sprinkled throughout. Each of my kid-o's beamed over their name on treat. And I gloried in her artwork- watercolor & ink of detailed flowers like we've been examining this week & I felt near to her as I looked upon her handwriting. I marveled in the picture of pottery made by Audrey with flowers etched in the vases she made and then the above words from Audrey about her mother teaching her how to see beauty. Words to my fragil attempt this week to do the same here during our week of daily visits to the Biltmore Estate in all its intricate beauty.

As a home educator, I am growing in my understanding of education as a science of relationships as well as an atmosphere, a discipline and a life as Charlotte Mason says.  So exposing my children to beauty, seeing the world as our classroom rather than being confined to a certain room & time frame is becoming a way of life.  And I am pleased.  My students awe and wonder over God's glorious earth & all the fabulous creatures & plants He made.  I was interrupted many times this week by "shhhh, Mama, I hear sompen" three year old bug eyed below me inviting me into her discovery.  And little fingers brushing over fusia, baby blue, fierce red flower petals soaking up the glory of it all. 

And I gave them time and space to explore on their own without hovering over them with lectures.  Putting them in touch with the natural world, discovering names of plants alongside them, awing over the colors and shapes, and talking to avid plant people along the way is part of my job as Mother Hen.  And yes, in due time, a little here and a little there I am teaching them about keeping a nature journal, researching the actual name of a species be it flower, tree or bug.  I started this about a year ago as I wanted us to dive into life science.  I simply say, "What a beautiful leaf, I wonder what kind it is, lets go look it up and see if we can figure it out."  And off we go, TOGETHER, to leaf through pages and pages & Oh the JOY when we land on the exact leaf.  And do you know that this school year, my oldest is now doing this on his own.  He is becoming a self motivated learner right in front of my eyes.  On a rainy day this week we spent the morning in the indoor gardens- hot house if you will- rows and rows of plants & oldest man cub...kept stopping to do leaf rubbings so he could later go back & see if he could figure out the name.

One day, after examining & walking quite a bit we did spurge at the new Antler Hill Farm and indulge in a treat of each child's choice.  A root bear float, a muffin and an ice cream cone. 

So now, dear Mama, here is my challenge to you.  Start small.  Pencil in a time during the week for nature study with your child- whether 3months or 13 years old.  Go for a walk around a park, visit a pond, find a local hiking trail or sit on your back porch with a cold lemonade and just "listen."  Just be in nature with your child.  Don't have an agenda at first.  But be ready for that freshly blosomed flower or that grasshopper that jumps over the path!  Stop & wonder over it.  Linger if your child is interested.  Your interest & enthusiam is contagious- remember...education is r-e-l-a-t-i-o-n-a-l at its core.  Remember that excited, silly chemistry teacher you had- you didn't like chemistry but you loved the teacher & his joy over chemistry & so you learned something.  So go out, and may Father guide us together as we grow in this "learned skill, this meditation, this way to meet with God who reveals so much about Himself through His creation."