Last edited Tue Jun 23, 2020, 05:45 AM - Edit history (2)
successful outdoor classes and schools. So can DC, which is north of San Francisco. Many interesting parks, waterways and other places ideal for outdoor learning exist in the national capital area. School administrators make adjustments for harsh weather, serious student health problems and other adverse factors.
For thousands of years humans have survived in and around nature, including animals, without modern conveniences. My grandfather at age 16 was a schoolteacher in a semi- rural one room school- no A/C, maybe a woodstove and students truly did walk for miles to attend in order to get an education.
Societies need to understand the resilience and intellectually curious nature of kids when exposed to new learning environments. Many adults in advanced societies work all day in sedentary, stressful and stifling office positions in settings remote from nature (like I did) with dependence on computer screens, steady air conditioning and heat, hardly seeing the light of day. But more and more detrimental office work environments are being recognized and things are slowly changing, faster in some areas and professions than others.
~ In Norway and Scandi after work some people go walking, skiing and partake in other outdoor activities- creating a healthy lifestyle balance.
There are plenty of occupations in D.C. like other urban areas where people work outdoors a good deal and in all seasons- Park Service staff, transit workers, law enforcement, workers in maintenance and grounds upkeep, infrastructure, etc. - it isn't Moscow or Dubai.
At a Montessori school in DC, my teacher sister had a director (NY-DC raised) who liked to sit, was physically inactive, overweight and thought it 'too much trouble' for kids to go out for recess. On chilly days God forbid they should have to put on coats and hats. My sister went ahead with 'rugged outdoor adventure' on the playground, just like she did later as director of another Montessori school in NYC. Experts know that by far kids are better behaved and more focused on learning after a break, expending energy, running around and playing games in nature and outside the traditional classroom setting.
Spending time outdoors, being physically and intellectually active is well known to be vital for good physical and mental health. For children, exposure to nature has also been long recognized as beneficial, since the early 'kindergarten' movement at least. It improves their attention level, learning ability and even immune systems. Reports also suggest that children's (rising) obesity and allergy problems are lessened when regularly engaged in healthy and outdoor pursuits.
In the DMV area, I organized and worked at many educational events and programs for kids and adults that were held outside in summer and fall; I gave outdoor winter tours as well. Natural for me, it was hard to understand a few younger, healthy colleagues who dreaded the activities. ~ I was fortunate to have some childhood summers spent swimming in rivers, ponds, the ocean & pools; on boats, gathering seashells, hunting for Indian arrowheads on riverbanks, watching fireflies & frogs, reading on languid summer days. Seasons included exploring woods & water areas, learning about wildlife, rocks, wildflowers, brilliant autumn foliage & snow's winter beauty. I appreciate now how these early opportunities were one of the best educations I ever had. ~
- Forest Schools (learning style) started in Scandinavia and spread to UK, Europe, Canada, US, more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_school_(learning_style)
The Benefits of Digging in the Dirt
- Nature schools are helping make outdoor play a priority for a generation of kids suffering from nature-deficit disorder, https://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/01/05/benefits-digging-dirt
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