Inspire, not require

We haven't done any nature study for a while, and its a new term, so once again an opportunity for a fresh start.

At the moment I have yellow 'post-it' notes stuck above my desk with the following quotes:
"Inspire not require"
"Seek first to understand before being understood"
"Understanding heart" - this is what I aspire to.
"Things do not change, we change" Henry David Thoreau

As I look at them - all quotes that have spoken deeply to me about how I want to relate to my children and to others, I realise that Nature Study came to a grinding halt because I didn't follow them - I wasn't true to my values. What happened is that a few consecutive times of Nature Study ended with Matthias having an emotional meltdown and me fed-up and frustrated because he keeps sabotaging his nature journal pages. It's not that he doesn't want to do them, it;s just that he's never happy with the picture and wants to destroy it.

In thinking about this, I realise that currently he only draws one thing at a time - at the moment it's dinosaurs, previously it was cars - pages and pages of them. But for each completed dinosaur or car pic, there are many wasted pages that end up in the recycling. Now I'm expecting him to be satisfied with a single attempt at drawing a tree or spider...

So, I resolve that: no output is needed for a successful nature study! From now on, nature journal pages are optional extras, particularly for Matthias. We will just get out there and look. Watch this space :)