Michigan Camp Meeting 2016: The Harvest is Great

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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

God's First Book, Our First Classroom

Angela Boothby Frauenfelder

1. The Outdoors-An Integral Part of Abundant Life

Our Father in Heaven, we're so thankful that You have given us the Book of Nature, and now You have also given us Angela, these last days of Earth's history.

And I pray that You will continue to put Your hand upon her as she instructs this week, and be with all of those who attend, that we'll have a closer walk with Jesus Christ.

I grew up in a small town called Goebbels, Michigan.

Kind of the ideal childhood in the fact that I grew up on a farm here and my uncle and aunt were on a farm here and my grandparents were on a farm here.

And my grandparents have 300 acres, we have almost 100, and my uncle rents.

So it was pretty awesome childhood growing up, and so I think that's where the love of nature definitely started.

I went to Adventist education all the way from grades, well I was homeschooled in kindergarten and first grade.

My mom is the elementary school teacher at Goebbels Junior Academy.

And then I went to Goebbels from second grade to tenth grade and then I came here to GLA for eleventh and twelfth grade.

I went to Andrews University my freshman year.

I went to Newbold College in England my second year.

My mom is from Australia and she had gone to Newbold and my granddad had gone to Newbold so I wanted to go to Newbold.

And then I went down to Southwestern Adventist University down in Texas And that is where I graduated with a BS in elementary education and a double minor in religion and psychology.

And then I've been teaching in Holland for 3 years.

And during the summers, I worked on my master's.

And I have an incredible master's in outdoor education.

And I was really shocked by the response I would get from people when they would be, oh you're getting a master's, what are you getting a master's in?

Like I mean it was like awkward, they were not impressed at all with the fact that I had a master's in outdoor education.

And they'd be like, oh, that's nice, honey.

And I was like, has no 1 read the book Adventist Education?

Because we should all be getting master's degrees in outdoor education.

And so for 3 summers, I went down to Southern Adventist University.

Southern Advent is the 1 that offers 2 master's degrees, outdoor leadership and outdoor education.

And because I'm a school teacher, I did the outdoor education 1.

And it honestly completely changed my worldview.

And it changed the way I've had a deeper commitment with the Lord, and it changed the way I taught in my classroom.

Every year I feel like I became a better teacher because of my master's degree.

And so honestly what this is, is this is a newbie teacher with a passion for outdoor education and with a passion for connecting our children deeper with their Creator, but a newbie.

So I pray that the Lord blesses you guys, and I am in no means an expert, but I am learning just like you.

So let's start with prayer, and we will begin.

Dear Lord, I praise you so much for the incredible ways that you work through us.

And I thank you so much for Adventist education.

I thank you for the way it has guided me to this point and it continues to guide me.

And I thank you for everyone that is interested in learning about you through nature.

And I ask that you open up our hearts and our minds to what you want us to learn today.

So linking children with nature, this is a vital connection.

I will start with a quote from the book Education, page 20.

The system of education instituted at the beginning of the world was to be a model for man throughout all after time.

As an illustration of its principles, A model school was established in Eden, the home of our first parents.

The Garden of Eden was the schoolroom, nature was the lesson book, the creator himself was the instructor, and the parents of the human family were the students.

Now I had to read the book, Education in College, and I don't know how I missed these pages or how I missed all these different excerpts about the fact that we were supposed to be engaging our children in nature and not just leaving them in the regular classroom with 4 walls behind a desk.

I am not blaming the Adventist education system.

But somehow I think in general we are missing the boat.

Our students need to be in the Garden of Eden.

Yes, it's marred by sin, but that's also what we need to be teaching them, is the fact that we live in a fallen world and that we are created and we have something bigger to live for.

And So I don't know how I missed it, and I pray that as a group, we will start a movement that will get Adventist education back on track.

So let me start really quick so I can understand my audience.

Pathfinders, anybody think Pathfinders too?

So a lot of my information, I don't know, have any of you guys heard of Richard Louv?

Awesome, okay, this will change your life.

For my master's program, we had to do research, naturally, right?

And the 2 books that we did quite a bit of study in is written by Richard Lube, and Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle.

Last Child in the Woods and the Nature Principle.

If you're intimidated by big reads, because I know this looks quite thick, and some of it is a little bit tough, but honestly it's really an easier read.

And you can, a friend of mine does it with book on tape and while he drives, he listens to it.

So these days you can download audio just as easily as you can buy a book.

Satan's a little bit attacking me, But I had my books all highlighted from my master's program, and I couldn't find them anywhere.

I was like, Lord, how do I re-remember everything?

So I just bought them off Amazon, so I now know the price.

2. Teaching Science & Math in the Outdoors

Dear Lord, I praise you so much for this day.

I thank you that it's not boiling hot and that we have a nice cool breeze and cloud coverage.

Lord, there is just so much to be thankful for.

I love how you show us things in nature that remind us that you care about us.

And right now you're keeping us cool at camp meetings, so we appreciate that.

And we love you, and we just surrender this time to you.

Open up our hearts and minds to what you want us to take away in your name, amen.

All right, I'm going to start with a quote from the book Education, page 13.

Our ideas of education take too narrow and too lower range.

There is a need of a broader scope, a higher aim.

True education means more than the pursual of a certain course of study, which you'll see as you go along why I'm highlighting that.

It means more than a preparation for the life that now is, it has to do with the whole being and with the whole period of existence possible to man.

It's the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers.

It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come.

All right, so here we go, the nitty gritty of how to teach.

Joseph Cornell is the 1 who came up with this.

You'll want to, when you're thinking how to develop outdoor education, you'll want to keep it along this train of thought.

And it may look overwhelming to those of you who are not teachers, but I think you'll find that things and outdoors just naturally fit this progression and are pretty easy and natural to include.

This is Sharing Nature with Children, Part 2.

I wouldn't suggest this 1, I don't like this 1 as much as I like Sharing Nature with Children, the 20th Anniversary Edition.

So it's the 20th Anniversary Edition, Sharing Nature with Children.

So Sharing Nature with Children, Joseph Cornell, the 20th Anniversary Edition.

And you can get them for a penny, but then shipping and handling.

You're always like, yes, a penny, And then it's like plus $4.

And so the book all of a sudden becomes $4.01.

Joseph Cornell, Sharing Nature with Children, the 20th Anniversary Edition.

And that just has really awesome ideas in it.

I ordered it, but it didn't come when I needed it.

And remember that pile of books that disappeared?

I tend to do that, and I just don't know who I lent them to or where it went.

All right, so let's go over the flow learning chart.

Stage 1, you'll want to awaken enthusiasm.

Do you think that's going to be hard to do outdoors?

Builds on children's love of play, creates an atmosphere of enthusiasm.

A dynamic beginning gets everyone saying yes.

Do you think that you can get everyone to say yes with handwriting?

All right, so develops full alertness, overcomes passivity.

How many times when you're like, all right, let's pull up that science book and bring it up to the desk and let's talk about it, what do they do?

We want to avoid that And you'll find that outdoor education pretty easily does that.

Believe it or not, 1 of the biggest fears with outdoor education is I'll lose classroom management, I'll lose control of the kids.

As soon as I take them outdoors, I won't have any control anymore.

You'll find that if you set your stage right, they'll be engaged and ready to follow whatever you have to teach them because they're excited.

Creates good group dynamics, provides direction and structure, and prepares for later, more sensitive activities.

So that's the first thing you do when you want to start your outdoor ed lesson.

You want to think, OK, how can I awaken enthusiasm?

Simply saying, we're going to go outside, usually awakens enthusiasm quite quickly.

The next thing you want to do is focus that attention because often outside they're like, play ball, run, you know, like my little example of timing.

It's okay, I didn't awaken enthusiasm exactly right, because it was my first time doing that with that class.

But then after I awaken that enthusiasm, I want to be able to make sure that I can focus my attention.

Like I said, having a five-year-old sit completely quiet for 5 minutes, I think is pretty cool.

Deepens awareness by focusing attention, positively channels enthusiasm, develops observational skills, calms the mind, develops receptivity for more sensitive nature experiences.

So if I teach them about plants, that's great, but if they're touching the plants, if they're picking the plants, if they're outside identifying, they're having direct experience with it.

Gives direct experiential intuitive understanding.

Develops personal commitment to ecological ideas.

And the last 1, stage 4, is shares inspiration.

And you'll see, as this week goes on, that it's really, really easy to relate things back to God when you're outdoors and nature.

Everything in nature can teach you something about God.

At Camp Asabo, I've been running the outdoor education program for fifth and sixth graders.

And in my free time, I've been writing an app for Camp Asobo.

So how many of you have seen the Audubon apps?

They're full of trees and flowers and birds.

Atkinson said, I've taken thousands of pictures.

Wouldn't it be cool if we had a Camp Asobo app?

So I have written little blips about each piece of nature that you'll come across at Camp Asobo.

And I said, maybe we'll leave that for somebody else.

Just don't ask me to leave Camp Asobo grounds.

3. Teaching Language Arts in the Outdoors

This is my special guest speaker, Melissa Harley.

She's actually the reason why I have a master's in outdoor education, because we were talking.

She teaches at Holland Seventh-day Adventist School.

So she was there when I came and we instantly became really good friends and She talked about how she had a master's in outdoor education.

That sounds awesome And she told me about the adventure She went on Like on a boat for how long?

We did a 4 day adventure based counseling trip in Tennessee where 1 day was whitewater rafting, another was backpacking, rock climbing, and caving.

And I never spent the night in a cave before.

They brought a five-gallon pail into the cave and had to take the five-gallon pail out of the cave.

So I said wow that sounds like so much fun and then I did the masters and I didn't get to do any of those things because the program has slightly changed with new leadership and they did it shorter so you now only there for 2 to 4 weeks and she was there for 9 or 10 weeks, like the whole entire summer.

So the program had slightly changed, but when she told me about all the adventures, that is why I want that master's.

And then I went down there and said, no, this master's is actually biblical, it's sound, it's what we all need to have education in.

So she's been teaching for 3 years in Tennessee.

She taught 1 year overseas as a student missionary in Pohnpei.

And you will fall in love with her and probably say she should just finish the seminar.

So please give a warm welcome to Melissa Harlan.

As Miss Boothby, as I call her, said, I teach children.

So standing up in front of a group of adults is way out of my comfort zone.

So if it's going to help me, and if you guys don't mind, I'm kind of going to talk to you and I've kind of planned activities as if you were my class, just to give you ideas of stuff that I do in my classroom.

So Miss, I don't know if I should call you Miss Boothby, that's what I'm used to calling her from school, but Angie has asked me to present some language arts ideas for nature activities.

I'm sure that you've gotten to know each other over the past 2 days, but we're gonna play a little game to get to know each other, and it's an icebreaker, and it's called Have You Ever?

And what you're gonna do is you're gonna get up out of your seat, and you're gonna walk around and ask people the question, have you ever, and there's different boxes, it's kind of like bingo, have you ever gone hiking?

I'm sure lots of people in this room, if you're here, you like nature, you've probably gone hiking.

So you can have a person, if they said yes, to have you gone hiking, have them sign their name in that box.

You can only use the same person twice, though.

So once you have the same person for 2 boxes, you need to move on and find somebody else.

Who has done, have you ever climbed a tree or built a tree fort?

Now some of these on here are really challenging, so there might only be 1 person in this room who has actually done that.

I've used it at Lyft, which is our seventh and eighth grade time up at Camp Asobel.

In the conference, we invite the teenage group to go up there, and that age group is kind of, it's hard to get them to interact sometimes, So having an icebreaker like this is helpful.

The first person to get all of the boxes filled is the winner.

So if you guys don't mind, just take 1 and pass it down and you can take a writing utensil.

Normally, I would have a little prize for the students, but I didn't bring prizes for you.

I had 1 candy bar at home that I thought of bringing, and then I didn't.

And then if they haven't, ask them another 1.

Robert said Trust me, trust me, I know where we're going.

I had a very interesting comment said to me, it was like, wow, I had to go back into my childhood to remember if I had done any of these things.

And she said, that's kind of sad because I should have been still doing these things.

So raise your hand if you learned something new about somebody today.

That's the point of this activity, to kind of Think about what you've done in nature and some things that you might want to do or have your kids experience that you didn't get to experience.

I have been privileged to go on a lot of adventures in nature.

Some of them were through my master's in outdoor education.

Some of them were with my lovely friend Angie and some were just on my own.

And everywhere I go, I like to keep a journal of my adventures.

So nature journaling is 1 of my favorite things to do.

You can get these at different stores or online.

This kind of is an abbreviated journal where it just has the place, the weather, the people you went with, what you enjoyed the most.

So this is a very, If you don't like to write much, this is a really easy 1 that just keeps track of places that you've been, national parks or campsites, things like that.

Here's 1 that I had students design at, I think it was Lyft or outdoor education, 1 of the 2, where you just take a piece of cardstock and fold it in half, and inside you can just put some sheets of regular paper.

We actually did the game that we just did for the first day, and then there was some scripture verses from the Bible about nature, and then I had the kids do a little journaling about that.

There's some blank paper for when we go on nature walks to just do some sketches.

There is, in the middle, a piece of watercolor paper for them to do some painting.

We usually like to go down by the stream and actually take water from the creek and find something from nature to draw and paint.

Hopefully we'll have time to do a little bit of that today.

I'm not sure, we'll have to keep an eye on the time.

But This is something that students or your children or you can create on your own.

I made this 1, and I haven't written in it much.

Yeah, this is a collage in the front and the back.

I like to collect magazines, and people give me calendars and things like that for my classroom.

Another kind of journaling that I like to do is photo journaling.

When I go places, I take pictures of the places I've been and you can do these digitally or you can print the pictures and just scrapbook them.

This is some of the pictures that I've taken of nature.

4. Take Your Family Outdoors

Dear Lord, I praise you so much for another beautiful day.

I even thank you for the humidity and the things that you can even teach us through that.

And Lord, we ask that you enter this classroom and that you enter our hearts and that you open up our hearts and our minds and our eyes to the things that you want us to learn and take away, inspire us with ideas to become stronger families and stronger members of our church.

Lord, to encourage those around us and point them to you at all times.

We love you and we surrender this time to you in your name, amen.

So I touched on this briefly, and I didn't feel like I really talked about it enough, so I wanted to go back to it really quick.

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Series

God's First Book, Our First Classroom

5. Connecting with the Creator in His Creation

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

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Recorded

Personal Encounters with Jesus

3. Seeing Is Believing: The Man Born Blind

57m

Dunamis

38m

True Education

Communion with God in Nature

1h 1m

Holy Ground

46m

Where We Are in the Stream of Time

43m

Going to Extremes

1h 10m

Talking Points 2nd Quarter 2025: Allusions, Images, Symbols: How to Study Bible Prophecy

09 In the Psalms Part 2

30m

Experiencing the Word of God: How to Turn A Bible into Your Bible

Morning Manna

47m

Breakout Session 4

The Brothel of Babylon

1h 11m

Nature and the Christian Life

37m

What is the Faith That Was Once for All Delivered to the Saints?

Saints Throughout Time & At The End Time

49m

How to Study the Bible- Part 2

50m

Sound Doctrine