Empathy for Nature

07/10/2017

I have reached a point in my life where I understand the pain and the challenges; and my attitude is one of standing up with open arms to meet them all.
Myrlie Evers-Williams, American civil rights activist and journalist

"I noticed Kathy at the drinking fountain, holding an uprooted plant in her hand. I asked her what she was doing and Kathy innocently answered, 'I'm watering the plant,'" wrote Shannon Walsh, Preschool Teacher at Child Educational Center, La Canada, CA in the book, Growing with Nature: Supporting Whole Child Learning in Outdoor Classrooms.

The author goes on to explain how she celebrated the child’s empathy for nature while also helping her learn more about processes in the natural world: "I grinned and explained that the plant needed to stay in the ground but suggested that we could use a watering can to bring the water to the plant. We walked to the garden and found where Kathy had taken the plant out of the soil. Together we put the plant back in the ground and gently patted the earth around it. I then asked Kathy to touch the soil and tell me if it felt wet or dry. Kathy told me it felt wet, so we decided this plant didn’t need more water right now. We went in search of a garden bed that felt dry and needed water. Together we filled the watering can and Kathy watered that bed."

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