"Children do not need to be made to learn about the world, or shown how. They want to, and they know how." -John Holt

Saturday, September 22, 2007

York's Wild Kingdom

Friday we spent the morning at the zoo, only days before it closes for the season, they had already shipped the elephants and giraffes (and possibly the bears too, since I didn't see any) off to a warmer winter climate. The kids didn't seem to notice what was missing and happily ran from exhibit to exhibit shrieking excitedly all the while...

Possibly the most fun for everyone were the gaggle of ducks that waddle freely on the paths. The kids were so in love with them that I wished we had a pond so we could get a few. Even Gabriel was enamored with them- though more so when he could reach higher ground...

Caden was surrounded by a horde when Rich threw food at his feet. Seconds later a duck bit his finger and scared the crap out of him. (Nice honey.)


We also enjoyed the many signs reading "Feed the Animals", a nice change of pace from the usual 'don'ts'. And Bomey got in some good nose-to-nose time with one little fawn...I tried so hard to get a picture of all three together but my efforts weren't even worth posting here. So I had to do it this way instead... (Caden still remains to be my biggest challenge to shoot! Errr.)

Posted by Jessica at 3:49 PM

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"By nature people are learning animals. Birds fly; fish swim; humans think and learn. Therefore, we do not need to motivate children into learning by wheedling, bribing, or bullying. We do not need to keep picking away at their minds to make sure they are learning. What we need to do - and all we need to do - is to give children as much help and guidance as they need and ask for, listen respectfully when they feel like talking, and then get out of the way. We can trust them to do the rest."
John Holt
"In the end, the secret to learning is so simple: Think only about whatever you love. Follow it, do it, dream about it...and it will hit you: learning was there all the time, happening by itself." -Grace Llewellyn
"What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child."
George Bernard Shaw
Real, natural learning is in the living. It's in the observing, the questioning, the examining, the pondering, the analyzing, the watching, the reading, the DO-ing, the living, the breathing, the loving, the JOY. It's in the joy. ~Anne Ohman
"How could youth better learn to live than by at once trying the experiment of living?" -Henry D. Thoreau