Preface

Explorations in Ecology for Children and Their Adults: Transformative Adventures for All of Us

Note: This blog is a serialization of a book titled Explorations in Ecology for Children and Their Adults: Transformative Adventures for All of Us. This is the first installment. It will probably end up as the preface in the book.

Dear Adults Caring for School-age Children,

When I was a child, I spent much of my time and close to all of my happy time outside, often in the company of my older cousins, Mitch and Sally. We’d climb trees, climb big rocks, and look under smaller ones. Spring was a time for patrolling the edge of a small pond looking for frogs. We'd side down our hill on sleds in the winter and cardboard in the summer. I developed my love of ecosystems through climbing, crawling, and otherwise playing around in it.

Kids these days have much fewer opportunities to fall in love with ecosystems. This is unfortunate as the planet needs humans who love their ecosystems, now more than ever. The ecophobic culture of the Global North and its drive to dominate has pushed our ecosystems, social systems, and climate out of balance with dire consequences, including extreme weather, soil depletion, supply chain issues, mass extinctions, and tears in our social fabric. The best thing we can do to prepare our children for an uncertain future, emotionally and practically, is to help them develop ecophilia, a love of ecosystems, and to help them be ecological. Being ecological includes: 

1. Being aware of our interdependence with our fellow travelers and our shared home.

2. Understanding the traditional and modern views of how ecological, technological, and social systems function.

3. Knowing the contributors and relationships within our local eco-, social, and technological systems.

4. Acting ecologically by forming caring mutually beneficial relationships with ourselves, others, and Mother Earth, including minimizing harm and contributing to and obtaining value from our human communities and ecosystem at home and in the wilderness.

I originally wrote these adventures for adults who care for children (including their inner child). We now believe they may be useful for any adult who wants to learn how to better care for themselves, others, and our shared ecosystems.

The central idea here is that we all create this dance of life together as contributors to Earth. The adventures in this book are designed to help us care more for ourselves, each other, and the rest of the natural world. These adventures are for all of us because we’re all in this together. I’ve selected and written these adventures to help children and their adults increase our own, our communities, and the well-being of our planet. This kind of mutual care is what I mean by being ecological. If you are interested in deepening your children’s and your relationship with the Earth while engaging in projects that will increase the well-being of your outdoor spaces and improve your personal, community, and planetary well-being, this book is for you.

While some learning sequences make more sense than others, there are usually many paths to the same destination. Most natural processes also do some wandering, and learning is no exception. My favorite adventures with children include wandering through actual forests and a forest of ideas, making sense of what we’re experiencing. I’m always ready to modify or postpone a plan and go with what emerges from the intersection of children’s needs, wants, and interests; big ideas I want them to understand; and what is happening in the outside world. Guiding and nurturing children should never feel like pulling teeth (or weeds). So, I recommend you use the order of the adventures in this book as a guide, and feel free to read and do them with your children in any way that suits you! 

Much Love,

Peter Kindfield, Ph.D.