In one of my roles, I work at an elementary
school and so my days are filled with questions, laughter and imaginative
minds. I have the pleasure of starting my mornings surrounded by kids who adore
sharing their ideas, thoughts and explanations for why things occur. I always
love when these explanations are in reference to animal behaviour and/or
ecological processes. There are two examples that have stayed with me that
reveal the loveliness of how children associate their experiences in how they
relate them to themselves. The first occurred on a chilly morning a few months
back as the sun slowly started to heat the playground creating the dewdrops to
evaporate into the air from every surface. I heard a little boy call out “the
tree is breathing!” and a group started to circle around the base of the large
trunk to watch as the sun warmed its bark turning the morning droplets into little
misty clouds similar to when one exhales… In the past weeks, I have had the
company of a little girl who tells me about the chickens she has at home. There
are over 40, but she has told me that she does know a few of them quite well, one
in particular by the name of Henrietta. As it were, Henrietta had fled their
place a while back. I listened to her story of how Henrietta had disappeared
and return one day with a crowd of little chicks following closely behind her.
I loved the explanation that this little girl gave me which was that Henrietta
had left because she wanted to have a family. As they collect the eggs
Henrietta would not have been able to have her chicks had she stayed. And so,
as she stated this was the only way that Henrietta could be the mother she had
dreamed of being… I am always fascinated by the logic that kids come up with to
explain behaviour, understanding or function. They are often inspired by the
understanding they have of themselves but more importantly they express a
genuine empathy toward the beings that they encounter.
