Order and Wonder: A Case Study

The idea and interplay of "order and wonder" was hit home to me today by a little incident with the kids. Last night on the way home from the beach, I gave Arden the map so she could track along with our route. Then she had the idea for a "craft" for school - she wanted me to print off a map so she could glue it on to a piece of cardboard and colour in the roads. Of course, I thought that was a great idea, and even though it was Saturday today, we set about to make her own little map. (This is part of wonder - of being receptive to the world and ways to learn from it every day.) 

Well, we had a glitch with the printer and I couldn't print off what I wanted to. But as she looked at the screen over my shoulder, she noticed for the first time that PEI was "completely surrounded by water!" (Yes, I'm sure I'd mentioned that before when we talked about what an island was, but today she discovered it for herself!) I then proceeded to get out the atlas to show the kids the map of Canada and where PEI was in the ocean. They were excited about this, but even more excited when I reminded them about the big puzzle of Canada that we had that we hadn't done in a long time. Filled with excitement and ready to explore some geography, we all traipsed merrily into the living room to get the puzzle when we were met with . . . a complete disaster. The room was a mess. And so was the music room/library beside it. 

To be fair, we'd been on vacation this past week, with family visiting from another province, plus the kids were sick a few of those days, so it wasn't difficult to understand why these rooms were such a mess of toys and activities. We were out of routine. We hadn't done our chores. And that meant there was literally no room anywhere to put together the puzzle. I tried to clear a path with my feet to the least messy spot. There was a game with its many parts spread all across the floor. I told the kids they needed to clean up that game before we could get out  the puzzle. Perfectly reasonable, right? 

Well, not reasonable to tired, out of routine children. What followed was an extended period of crying, complaining and general unhappiness. By the end of it all, the baby was hungry and crying, and the kids didn't even really want to do the puzzle any more. The moment was lost. 

Now, all of this is, as I said before, perfectly understandable given the circumstances. But it illustrated to me the importance of "order and wonder" when it comes to education. We had a moment of discovery and wonder - we are surrounded by water! This opened an opportunity for further exploration. I had the materials I needed. But, on this particular day, we were lacking in order. Our space was a mess. And because of that, we couldn't pursue the idea at the opportune time. It is just one example of how order actually opens the space for wonder. Order brings freedom to explore. Order brings peace. 

Later on we did end up working on the puzzle. The teachable moment is not lost forever. But order is so key to making the most of those moments when they happen. This is a good reminder for me. 

~lg