Some kids don't want to be organized all the time. They want to let their imaginations run; they want to see where a stream of water takes them. Richard Louv More Quotes by Richard Louv More Quotes From Richard Louv Natural playgrounds may decrease bullying. Richard Louv bullyingnaturalmay Nature is often overlooked as a healing balm for the emotional hardships in a child's life. You'll likely never see a slick commercial for nature therapy, as you do for the latest antidepressant pharmaceuticals. But parents, educators, and health workers need to know what a useful antidote to emotional and physical stress nature can be. Especially now. Richard Louv stresshealingchildren From 1997 to 2003, there was a decline of 50 percent in the proportion of children nine to twelve who spent time in such outside activities as hiking, walking, fishing, beach play, and gardening, according to a study by Sandra Hofferth at the University of Maryland. Richard Louv fishingbeachchildren A widening circle of researchers believes that the loss of natural habitat, or the disconnection from nature even when it is available, has enormous implications for human health and child development. They say the quality of exposure to nature affects our health at an almost cellular level. Richard Louv lossbelievechildren The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that the number of overweight adult Americans increased over 60 percent between 1991 and 2000. According to CDC data, the U.S. population of overweight children between ages two and five increased by almost 36 percent from 1989 to 1999. Richard Louv datatwochildren Now, my tree-climbing days long behind me, I often think about the lasting value of those early, deliciously idle days. I have come to appreciate the long view afforded by those treetops. The woods were my Ritalin. Nature calmed me, focused me, and yet excited my senses. Richard Louv climbingviewsthinking We do not raise our children alone.... Our children are also raised by every peer, institution, and family with which they come in contact. Yet parents today expect to be blamed for whatever results occur with their children, and they expect to do their parenting alone. Richard Louv peersparentchildren As the young spend less of their lives in natural surroundings, their senses narrow, physiologically and psychologically and this reduces the richness of human experience we need contact with nature. Richard Louv surroundingsnaturalneeds Nature-deficit disorder describes the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses. The disorder can be detected in individuals, families, and communities. Richard Louv emotionalcommunityattention Nature has been taken over by thugs who care absolutely nothing about it. We need to take nature back. Richard Louv thugwho-carestaken Environment-based education produces student gains in social studies, science, language arts, and math; improves standardized test scores and grade-point averages; and develops skills in problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision-making. Richard Louv naturemathart In every bio-region, one of the most urgent tasks is to rebuild the community of naturalists - so radically depleted in recent years, as young people have spent less time in nature, and higher education has placed less value on such disciplines as zoology……The times are right for the return of the amateur, twenty-first-century, citizen naturalist. To be a citizen naturalist is to take personal action, to both protect and participate in nature. Richard Louv disciplinepeopleyears Nature introduces children to the idea—to the knowing—that they are not alone in this world, and that realities and dimensions exist alongside their own. Richard Louv childrenrealityideas This seems clear enough: When truly present in nature, we do use all our senses at the same time, which is the optimum state of learning. Richard Louv statesuseenough One of my students told me that every time she learns the name of a plant, she feels as if she is meeting someone new. Giving a name to something is a way of knowing it. Richard Louv knowingnamesgiving Passion is lifted from the earth itself by the muddy hands of the young; it travels along grass-stained sleeves to the heart. If we are going to save environmentalism and the environment, we must also save an endangered indicator species: the child in nature. Richard Louv passionnaturechildren Research suggests that exposure to the natural world - including nearby nature in cities - helps improve human health, well-being, and intellectual capacity in ways that science is only recently beginning to understand. Richard Louv natureintellectualcities Increasingly the evidence suggests that people benefit so much from contact with nature that land conservation can now be viewed as a public health strategy. Richard Louv naturelandpeople Use all of your senses. Richard Louv sensesnatureuse Progress does not have to be patented to be worthwhile. Progress can also be measured by our interactions with nature and its preservation. Can we teach children to look at a flower and see all the things it represents: beauty, the health of an ecosystem, and the potential for healing? Richard Louv natureflowerchildren
