Why don't we learn this anymore?

[sweatyshower]

I was chatting with my grandad and he said when he was a child he'd try to find the full set of birds eggs. He said that they learnt about native/ lical birds and their eggs at school.
how lovely! I wish I had learnt that. the little I know if from him And my nan teaching us but I didn't think they'd learn about birds at school.

He said him and his mates would break into the old disused mill and look at all the birds eggs. Some were green / blue / spotted. He knew the names of all the birds and what their eggs looked like.

I really think that would be really nice to know. bring it back!

Isn't it lovely to learn thing like that from older generations. If we were to put every suggestion on the curriculum people would be in school 24/7 until they are 30 🙄

There is a huge difference between learning about the natural world around us (which could be done in school before the National Curriculum) and disturbing birds' nests to collect eggs as mentioned in the OP.

Completely disagree. Climate change and saving the environment is shoved down our throats all the time, learning about our local wild species is just as important.
Ive got such fond memories of learning about birds with my grandparents. I saw a barn owl today and it made me so happy

In today's society, children need to learn the skills that will equip them for modern life and get them jobs. In the OP's grandfather's time life was much simpler - no internet mainly, and so there was time to learn about nature.
Since schools don't have the time, it should be down to the parents if they want their children to learn about nature.

How many nests were abandoned because of his hobby? You have a very rose-tinted view of this.

Schools generally don't have time but there's nothing to stop you getting some bird feeders and a bird table.

Hang birdfood out where you can see it from your breakfast table and your dcs will soon know a good mix of garden birds. Keep an rspb book to hand, to refer to.

And what has learning about local birds done to improve your knowledge of climate change, helped you get a job or contribute better to society?

Because children taking eggs from the nests of birds is rightly discouraged. 🙄

I remember this in school in the 70s. We had a nature table where the eggs and whole nests that were 'found' were put on display. I'm so glad it isn't done anymore.

Great idea. We can all reenact Coot Club 😂

I'm not sure why it should be taught in schools - if you want your kids to be interested in birds and birdwatching, there's nothing stopping you heading out to RSPB reserves where they do lots of community engagement type activities for kids.

Egg collecting or interfering with nests, not so much...

If you don’t understand the importance of the local biodiversity in relation to the global environment then you’re obviously not very bright.

Because collecting or disturbing birds eggs is a crime

My son learnt about all the different types of British birds at one of his clubs. But the eggs though but he can recognise and name the birds themselves.

Most people understand the importance of local biodiversity without having to go and stare at bird eggs.

If you need to do that to ‘get it’ then I’d argue you’re not very bright

This.

You do know you could teach that to your kids

I'm encouraging my Cub Pack to take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch at the end of the month. They don't need to know all about the eggs, just be able to spot the difference between a robin, sparrow, blackbird and pigeon etc. Seems like that's not a bad start.

Because we live in a world where time is better used educating children on skills that will serve them in later life

This. These days we focus less on knowledge/simple facts and more on skills that can be applied in my situations - analysis, interpretation, inference in text, problem solving.

The reason being that rote learning a load of facts is not very valuable any more. A child can use a Google image search to identify a birds egg.

In a similar vein, we drive past fields of 'stuff' growing, and I wonder what it is.
I wish Id been taught what different crops look like and when you would expect them to be harvested etc....

DD learns about nature, particularly local nature at school. They learn to identify birds, animals and their tracks, trees, plants, and mushrooms (with mushrooms learning which ones are poisonous and which ones are edible, and included a foraging trip). She can identify them all by silhouette drawings (that's the exam) and characteristics. Its part of the Finnish curriculum. No collecting eggs though, as obviously that's frowned upon nowadays, but every year they do a bird "bongaus" where they have to note down what birds they have spotted, or get a list of birds to look for and cross off the ones they've seen.

When my mum was at school they had to do a summer project filling a book with pressed flowers and plants that they pick and write the names (Finnish and Latin) beneath them.

In the past knowlege of local flora and fauna could have had real value for agriculture, understanding seasons & weather, food foraging etc. It simply isn't as valuable a use of our time nowadays so we don't spend so much on it.

I was chatting with my grandad and he said when he was a child he'd try to find the full set of birds eggs.

Why don't we learn this anymore?

Because these days you go to prison for 6 months for doing that.

Learning about nature should be included in the curriculum. I say that, but I could do better as a parent too

This.
I am not sure why anyone would be looking back to days when this was okay.

anyway he did say that you'd be hard pushed to get a book when he was a child. Nan said they didn't even have enough cups for everyone never mind luxuries like books.
They were war babies though.

Of course you wouldn't be hard pushed to get access to a book during the 50s (his childhood years if he was a war baby). I've just googled for accuracy. My local, free library opened in 1914. Both my parents were very rural (wouldn't be able to get to a library) but both were able to read books - borrowed from school, others in their community, asked for as present, and some awarded as prizes from Sunday school.

What an odd thing to say. I don't know if your Nan is mis-remembering but it would be a minority who didn't have enough cups.

people used to collect birds eggs which is why boys used to have a keen interest in them, rare eggs were quite valuable so it paid to know your eggs!