While helping children become more "environmentally conscious" is a worthwhile goal, the benefits of reconnecting to nature go much deeper. Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, points out that "An expanding body of scientific evidence suggests that nature-deficit disorder contributes to a diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, conditions of obesity, and higher rates of emotional and physical illnesses." The obsession of public education with "academic achievement" continues to focus on our "literate" body at the expense of our "non-literate body"--the 54 senses that are attuned to nature. http://teachinginmind.com/p...
ORIGINAL COMMENT
While helping children become more "environmentally conscious" is a worthwhile goal, the benefits of reconnecting to nature go much deeper. Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, points out that "An expanding body of scientific evidence suggests that nature-deficit disorder contributes to a diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, conditions of obesity, and higher rates of emotional and physical illnesses." The obsession of public education with "academic achievement" continues to focus on our "literate" body at the expense of our "non-literate body"--the 54 senses that are attuned to nature. http://teachinginmind.com/p...