Teach Your Children Well
- Casey Mc
- Feb 4, 2018
- 2 min read
Let nature be your teacher. -William Wordsworth

I just returned from an annual winter camping trip to a state forest. With 58 sixth-grade students (and a handful of daring adults). For four days. As one might imagine, it was cold and tiring, but it was one of the most worthwhile things I do as an educator. To see this trip through the eyes of the children is a chance to be a part of emotions and experiences that most people will never see. Excitement, a bit of fear, teamwork, failure, compromise, friendship, strength, disappointment, respect, pride, and perspective. The week will become part of the fabric of these young people, and hopefully, it will guide them in ways that make them kinder, more resilient, and remind them that they are incredibly capable. And it could not happen without nature.
As adults, we are far less open to the unknown than our children. The amount of time and preparation that goes into a trip of this magnitude is astounding, and all of that preparation is, in part, to ease the fear that comes with the unknown. Yet, that space where the unknown lives is also where opportunity waits. This is where either imagination or fear, or both at the same time can take hold. I can see it in the children as they face each new experience during the week. What is amazing is that with just a little support from the adults, they tackle their fears and explore their imaginations on their own. Every single one of them takes a slightly different path to find their way through the challenges of the week, but every single one of them gets there.
So, how does this happen? Here is what I believe: By the time a child has been on earth for a decade or so, they have had enough experience and understanding of nature to know that it is both beautiful and fierce. Steadfast and unpredictable. Constant, yet ever-changing. It gives unselfishly all that we could ever need, but makes no apologies for what it takes. None of this needs to be explained to these young people, they get it. Because they are part of it and from it and they trust it. Its contradictions are exactly what allow people to face and accept the contradictions within themselves. That they could be both afraid and excited at the same time. That they could both hate the discomforts of winter and love the beauty of it. That they could experience failure and weakness and still find knowledge and strength in the end.
I am happy to be back, in the warmth and comfort of my home, with only some aches and dirty laundry to remind me of the trip. Like the kids I got the chance to know and respect this week, though, the adventure is part of my fabric now. It makes me a better teacher, a better parent, and a better human being. I wish that every single child could get the opportunity to have this kind of trip. It costs so little but its value is immeasurable.
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