During one of the recent forest school sessions, T. found a softshell turtle in a stream. He had caught it with his bare hands and it was one of the major points of fascination and delight for many kids that session!
Google Lens informed us that it was likely to be an Asiatic Softshell Turtle. The kids fed the turtle small fishes all the way to and at the magic river, which was our destination for the day. Some of the kids got bitten cos well, they put their finger in front of its mouth, so what did they expect? 🐟😂
T. wanted to bring the turtle home and continue to care for it. This picture depicted a moment of him at the magic river, in silence and seemingly deep thought. He made a decision eventually before we left magic river, to put it back at the stream where he first found it.
Leading up to that decision, we had conversations about whether this turtle will have a better chance of living indoors or outdoors. He said he wanted to see it grow up. I asked him about his past experiences of bringing wildlife home and whether they survived. We then searched the Internet to see whether they can thrive in indoor environments. I finally landed on the statement that the best habitat for a softshell turtle is to be in “lowland streams in forested areas”, which is where we were at already. I also suggested: “why not put the turtle in the net he had made before and tie it to a part of the stream so we can come back and find it?” T made a good point – the net might be washed away, and moreover the turtle will not be able to find food.
This whole process was about holding space and information and then allowing T. to make the decision on his own, at his own time (though still within a time boundary). I finally brought up the perspective that it was really lovely that he found it at the start of the session, and thus he had a lot more time together with the turtle. Nonetheless, it was a difficult moment for T and I witnessed his sad reluctance; 不舍. The act of releasing the turtle back to the wild happened with his dad’s presence after the forest school session, and I was glad he was with him and there was no rush in getting T to put the turtle back. Looking at the scene from the sidelines, I teared up as well.
I felt very proud of T. that he made a decision to let go of something he found so precious and to navigate the emotion of sadness. It must not have felt easy – I’m sure it was not an easy decision to make.
How many of us have had to let go of something precious in our lives before, and what was our response to it?
– Reflection from Coach Hungry
Written by : Hui Ying
Edited by: Zoe Xu
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