This post may contain affiliate links. Purchases made through these links support our family’s work in sharing the Gospel around the globe. Thank you!
“John Mark. Are you listening? John Mark?”
Suddenly, I had his attention, even if The Burgess Animal Book for Children hadn’t.
“I’m sorry, Momma. I just … can’t… take my eyes … off the lizard with the red throat.”
And like that, we were down a rabbit trail.
Instead of reading about animals, we had one in our grasp. Well, we had one under glass. What had been a planned lesson suddenly went unscripted, and a crash course in learning and how to learn —autodidacticism— was unleashed.
“Is he always green?”
“How do you know it’s a he?”
“Is it ‘anole’ or ‘an ole’?”
“Do they lay eggs?”
“What does he eat?”
“What’s that red part?”
“Why does he have nails?”
“Are you sure it’s a he?”
Books pulled from shelves. Websites visited. The Handbook of Nature Study. Encyclopedia of Animals. Peterson Field Guides. North Carolina Wildlife. Identifying reptiles versus amphibians.
Finally, we gathered our colored pencils and nature journals and tried our hands at capturing the scene for posterity’s sake.
And then, lunch.
Because learning makes one hungry … but thankfully, not for insects. Or anoles.