I've been a father for 3 years and 9 months. I've got two of them, my oldest, a girl, and my son who is just about to turn one. Before my son Daniel was born, I managed to take my daughter Sofia out to the dessert only a handful of times. I've had her sleep in a tent once at a family reunion. I just don't have the opportunity to get out side that often. To be honest, I blame my wife for it, but it's mostly my own fault. Now since my son was born, we rarely go anywhere. I would have just carried my daughter in a backpack carrier, but my son weighs about 26 pounds, and he's HUGE for his age. He started walking about a month ago. This means that very soon, (as soon as he learns what no means, and no to put EVERYTHING in his mouth) we will start going back out into nature again.
What do I want my kids to learn? Well first off, I want to teach them about the world around them. I want to teach them respect and appreciation for nature. There's a TON of stuff to know. It's really quite amazing what is out there. That's what I want them to know. Secondly, I want to teach them how to use their environment to not only survive, but thrive. I want to teach them the same skills I learned in Boy Scouts, the military, and ever since I got out. I want them to be the experts. I want them to kick ass. However, there's one thing that makes it really hard: a kid's attention span. They might think what you're doing is cool, but they won't stick around long enough (usually) to see how it's done unless they think it's fun. The third thing I want to teach them is how to protect themselves. That means everything from sun screen and snake boots to brick walls and guns. I've already begun teaching my daughter how to shoot a bow and arrow. She's pretty darn good if you ask me. At the Renaissance Festival, she was out-shooting most of the adults. ( ;') so proud)
They need to learn where thier food comes from. That means teaching them to plant seeds and water them, and shoot/trap and clean animals. My daughter isn't shocked or scared when she sees me shoot a rabbit and skin the thing. She knows it's part of life.
They also need to learn science, math, reading, etc. It's easy to get caught up in the basics of primitive survival, but if it comes to the point of long-term off the grid living, You're going to want a constant supply of water, power, and food. Science comes in handy.
To be honest, I don't want my kids to be nomads and survive in nature. I want it to be one of their hobbies, a pass time, fun. What I want for them is to be serious competitors in modern society doing whatever they decide they love to do. I want them to be business people, or lawyers, or doctors, or scientists, and I want them to make enough money to make their dreams come true. But I can only teach them so much to get on the way to that point. After that, it takes discipline and motivation, two attributes they value highly in the military. It also takes ambition.
How can I instill in them these traits? I think the first step is to have these traits myself. Children learn first and foremost by example. How can I tell them to put their shoes in the closet and to wear their seat belts if I refuse to do it? How can I keep them from smoking if I'm a smoker? Truth is, you can't. You can only guarantee they will do the right thing if you show them. But not only that, they also have to respect you, and want to be like you. BE that person you want them to become.
One of the most influential books I've ever read, the book that has pretty much defined who I want to be as a parent, is 'To Kill a Mocking Bird'. I read the book as a teen, and I loved the Atticus character so much, I vowed to mimic his parenting style. He was kind and courageous, understanding, loving, and intelligent. As I read the book, some of the things Scout did would have gotten me in major trouble, and I was expecting Atticus to react the way my parents would have, but he didn't. His approach was much more kind, and as a result, I wanted to obey him too.
Over the next few months, I want to do a series of 12 blogs not including this one, that will explain activities I'm going to do with my daughter to teach her about nature. I'm going to start out with archery because it's one she's already familiar with, and I think it might be pretty easy to write about as well. Perhaps I'll even include some pictures.
Some of the things I want to touch on with her:
- archery
- trapping/hunting
- fire starting/cooking
- lashing/knots/simple structures
- building simple machines and devices.
- fishing/boating
- orienteering
- finding water and making it drinkable
- building Shelter
- windmills
- astronomy/night navigation
- gardening
- water safety/swimming
