Nature: The school for children

Sukhomlinsky taught, “The world surrounding the child is first of all the world of nature with its unlimited wealth of phenomena and inexhaustible beauty. Here, in nature, lies the eternal source of the child’s intellect.”

I selected to include the video shown above to give a glimpse into the types of things a teacher could do with children in a natural setting. The video is a snapshot of a lesson Sukhomlinsky gave to his students. His school stood out as a model institution during the height of the U.S.S.R in Ukraine. His school had enough land that the children had green houses, ponds, orchards and forests to roam., and he went with them. They were always together. They were within walking distance of many fields of grain and the village itself. The country had just kicked out the Nazi’s not too many years earlier and everyone was traumatized by the brutality they witnessed. The tragedy’s included orphaned children and many children who lived in very difficult circumstances. He taught them to cherish their mothers first of all. To do good to them and shower them with good things. Those good things included apples from apple trees they planted around the school in their mother’s honor. They had to wait 3 years for any fruit, yet they tended them with care all through the years it took. And when they picked those first precious fruits, they brought them proudly to their mothers.

“Doesn’t knowledge of the laws of nature hinder the fairy tale? No, quite the reverse, it facilitates the telling. The children understand quite well that a chunk of earth cannot become a living creature, just as they understand that there are no Giant Blacksmiths, no Baba-Yaga, and no Deathless Dragons. But if children didn’t have all these things, if they didn’t experience the struggle between good and evil, didn’t feel that truth, honor, and beauty are reflected in fairy tales, then their world would be crowded and uncomfortable.” (To Children p. 111)

He encouraged the families of his students to create an outdoor study area for their child. He encouraged them to plant fruit trees and grapes and keep bees. He taught that a sick child can’t learn as well as the healthy and he did everything in his power to bring up the living standard of all the village but especially the families of his students.