12 Attributes of Nature's Classroom

           12 Attributes of Nature's Classroom 

"Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books." -  John Lubbock.

 Abe V Rotor, PhD

Nature's Classroom in acrylic (20"x28") by the author, with RJ Ramos 

Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, October 30, 2025

Nature's classroom - free of walls and borders, sans timepiece and calendar, where land, sky and water meet and blend, over the horizon, far as the eye can see; 

Nature's classroom -  where trees are living pillars of a temple, firm and strong, against time and space, force majeure, seasoned throughout history, to ad infinitum;

Nature's classroom - seat of knowledge and wisdom, evolving into movements and schools, integral and holistic, devotional and humanitarian, with solid foundation; 

Nature's classroom -  where early scholars founded an intelligible world - Socrates'  philosophy, Plato's academy, Aristotle's natural history, Confucius' filial piety;

Nature's classroom - alma mater of naturalists Thoreau, Attenborough, Goodall, Cousteau, Quisumbing, Irwin, Darwin et al, forerunners of today's Natural Science;

Nature's classroom - seat of adventure of boys Huck and Tom in Mark Twain novels, of Tarzan, Robinson Crusoe, Heidi, of nature movies, Secret Garden, Sound of Music, etc;

Nature's classroom - concert hall of birds and insects, singers Nora. Lea, Regine; setting of Beethoven's and Abelardo's music; Amorsolo's and Luna's paintings,

Nature's classroom - where teaching resources are varied and universal, in situ and hands-on, experiential, compatible with methods of research, education and extension; 

Nature's classroom - outdoor link to cyber communication that wires the four corners of the globe into a network, reaching out homes, establishments and communities; 

Nature's classroom - a corner of lost Eden on the backyard and landscape, recreating the biblical scene, in functional beauty, through man's regard as guardian of creation; 

Nature's classroom - domicile of mankind, brief and minuscule to the vast universe, in Blake's humility, "the world a grain of sand, heaven a wild flower, eternity an hour.."

Nature's classroom - arena where man aims at the finest level of being a Homo sapiens (thinker), Homo faber (maker) Homo ludens (player), and Homo spiritus (spiritual), rolled in one. ~

  

Details of painting

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. - Albert Einstein

 

Left photo, author (with cap), poses with Ronleych Joshua Ramos (center) and his dad. 

Right photo, author wife, Mrs Cecille Rotor joins the group.

  “Children more than ever, need opportunities to be in their bodies in the world – jumping rope, bicycling, stream hopping and fort building. It’s this engagement between limbs of the body and bones of the earth where true balance and centeredness emerge.” ~ David Sobel