I
am not particularly nature smart.
I
actually had many opportunities throughout my childhood to develop any nature
smart inclinations God gave me. For example, because my father enjoyed the
outdoors, my parents took my brother and me on several camping excursions every
summer. We also owned two dogs and dozens of cats in my youth, and I spent lots
of time out in the dogs’ pen and absolutely doted on the cats. Additionally, I
thought I wanted to own a horse, and my parents took me to riding stables
almost every time we went camping.
Thus,
at first glance, some might have considered me to be highly nature smart. But I
distinctly remember disliking the camping trips by the time I was nine because
I loathed the dirty, clammy feeling inevitable when one spends a few nights
sleeping in a tent and eating around a campfire. I loved my pets, and I even
thought I’d become a veterinarian. But I’ve since realized my attachment to my
animals was more about a need for security and that my interest in veterinary
medicine was more connected to my love for my particular pets than to a desire
to work with animals every day. And, though I always loved the idea of
horseback riding, the actual experience petrified me every time I sat in a saddle.
Does
that mean I’m somehow deprived or deficient? Not at all. I was exposed to
nature smart-related opportunities, so it’s not that I missed out on chances to
develop a natural strength. But those experiences simply didn’t “click” with me
the way they do some people. And that’s okay. I can participate in nature
smart-related activities now – I still own cats, I occasionally join my very
nature smart husband and daughters on camping trips, and I encourage my girls
in their desire to collect and categorize rocks and sticks and dolls and
stuffed animals. But there’s also nothing wrong with acknowledging that my
main, God-given interests and abilities lay elsewhere.
And
that’s something we need to acknowledge in and for our children and students.
We must strike a careful balance between exposing kids to a variety of
experiences on the one hand – so they might discover and develop their
strengths – and pushing them to be strong in them all on the other. In other
words, we must guard against the pitfall of expecting “multiple intelligences
perfectionism.” God did not design any one child to be equally strong in all
eight areas, and we actually harm our kids if we expect that of them.
Expose,
yes. Encourage, yes. Push where we don’t see interest? Heaven forbid.
*****
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