Now you may think that this is something that is obvious and you might be confused as to why this is even a named skill. But let me tell you – as a former fifth-grade public school teacher, I can tell you that an extensive amount of time was spent each year teaching 10 and 11-year-olds exactly what it means to have a text-to-self or text-to-world connection and helping them come up with examples of these connections. Simply having this old shell on hand helped Charlie make this connection in a meaningful way, early on in life.
…what this seemingly worthless crab shell did in this moment was give Charlie a tangible object that he could feel and see and hold, to bring the memory of that adventure back to life in a very vivid way.
The other incredible thing that happened in this moment is that Charlie had a tangible reminder of a memory. You see, young children have incredibly short attention spans and are very quickly moving from one moment to the next and one emotion to the another. Because of this fluid movement of our thoughts as young children, we have few memories that we carry from our early childhood for the rest of our lives. However, what this seemingly worthless crab shell did in this moment was give Charlie a tangible object that he could feel and see and hold, to bring the memory of that adventure back to life in a very vivid way.
So when your child sticks a pebble in their pocket, or picks up a flower petal, or asks to bring home an oddly-shaped pine cone, remember that your child is creating and holding on to these precious childhood memories.
As adults, we can learn a lot from our children’s attention to detail and ability to slow down and see the beauty in the small things.
And maybe, just maybe, by encouraging and appreciating the simple childhood moments and collections, we won’t have to later teach our 10-year-olds that they are indeed connected to stories, to others, to the world, and most importantly, to themselves.
Leah McDermott, M.Ed. is an Educator turned Mother of two and advocate for the encouragement and development of natural, child-led learning. Since 2009, she has helped families and educators provide their children with meaningful learning experiences through her one-of-a-kind curriculum and community, Your Natural Learner. When she’s not teaching and sharing in her Your Natural Learner Facebook Group, she can be found enjoying the great outdoors with her family in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest. Follow along with her on Facebook and Instagram.
