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Full-Text Articles in Outdoor Education
Children And Nature Forum Update, Charles Yaple
Children And Nature Forum Update, Charles Yaple
Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education
Approximately five years have lapsed since Richard Louv launched an unanticipated national children and nature movement with publication of his book. Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nat tire Deficit Disorder. Just as Gifford Pinchot informed and inflamed (with Theodore Roosevelt's help) public consciousness by coining the term "Conservation" in the early 1900's; Louv's "Nature Deficit Disorder" (NDD) resonated with the suspicions of outdoor professionals in 2005. Seemingly almost everywhere, children were experiencing the outdoors less and less and they, and society, were paying a heavy price because of it!
From The Editor, Charles Yaple
From The Editor, Charles Yaple
Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education
Having the opportunity, or taking it, to research and write about outdoor education. pioneers is similar to harvesting a garden without having had to plant, nurture and tend it. The pioneers (Anna Botsford Comstock, William Gould Vinal, and Julian W Smith) studied in this issue of Taproot have already done the hard work of tilling, planting seeds, nurturing and tending their chosen work. Although they departed for other worlds long ago, we continue to reap the benefits of their passion for outdoor education.
Pleasurable Cures For Nature Deficit Disorder, Martin Ogle
Pleasurable Cures For Nature Deficit Disorder, Martin Ogle
Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education
Let's back up and define "Nature Deficit Disorder" a bit. The one sentence description of this disorder most often posited goes something like this: "Kids don't spend as much time outside as they used to, and this is compromising the health. and well-being of kids, the adults they become, and society." There is a lot of truth in this, and efforts to simply get kids outside more are needed and powerful in their own right. But the problem goes deep~r than that. Increasingly, the word "unstructured" is being added to the basic sentence, above: "Kids don't spend as much unstructured …
Update On The Children And Nature Movement, Coalition For Education In The Outdoors
Update On The Children And Nature Movement, Coalition For Education In The Outdoors
Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education
The National Forum on Children and Nature, sponsored by The Conservation Fund, Louv and others, also continues to progress towards its goal of sponsoring national projects which will serve to reconnect kids with nature. Calls for project proposals went out last fall and Forum Advisory Panels are now considering some 500 applications anticipating awarding funding to thirty or so finalists later in 2008. Reviewing those applications is, in itself, cause to celebrate somewhat. It is very encouraging to see the diversity of environmental, outdoor, and recreation education programs that already exist in the USA The Children and Nature movement is …
Review Of Merle's Door, Charles Yaple
Review Of Merle's Door, Charles Yaple
Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education
If you love dogs, don't miss reading this true story. Be sure to keep a box of tissues nearby. The book will pluck at your heart-strings. And, for your intellectual side, it also has some very pertinent messages related to this Taproot's theme of "nature and character development."
From The Editor, Charles Yaple
From The Editor, Charles Yaple
Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education
"In wildness lies the preservation of the world" - profound words of environmentalist and author Henry David Thoreau spoken more than 150 years ago. Concerned about more than biophysical health, Thoreau argued that civilizations breakdown when humans forget their origins and source of spiritual, mental and physical sustenance. He believed wild places were a source of inspiration containing the "raw material of life" that instilled a sense of wonder, spiritual truths and the basis of sound intellect for those frequenting such haunts. Considering Thoreau's wisdom and present concerns about such things as "nature deficit disorder," this issue of Taproot explores …
Curing Nature Deficit Disorder, Josh Bochniak
Curing Nature Deficit Disorder, Josh Bochniak
Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education
TI1e ideas behind Richard Louv's "nature deficit disorder" (NDD) are all too familiar to outdoor and environmental educators. Many quietly asserted that the children and nature interaction needed attention years before Last Child in the Woods came off the presses. The virtue of Louv's work is not in its novelty, but in its ability to communicate and attract attention from a wider audience. And this increased attention has provided an important moment for outdoor educators. At the New York State Outdoor Education Association' s (NYSOEA) annual conference in October 2006, a large group of practitioners sat to discuss nature deficit …
National Dialogue On Children And Nature, Charles Yaple
National Dialogue On Children And Nature, Charles Yaple
Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education
Seldom does one book launch a new movement; however that may be exactly what Richard Louv accomplished in 2005, by writing Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Using recent research findings, Louv has moved national leaders to address the link between disturbing increases in childhood maladies (obesity, diabetes and attention deficit disorders) and too much indoor living. Louv's treatise demonstrates that children simply spend too much time indoors playing passive games, eating poorly, and not exercising. "For eons, human beings spent most of their formative years in nature, but within the space of a …
Practitioner's Corner: Cinncinnatus Environmental Studies, Kurt Schmidt
Practitioner's Corner: Cinncinnatus Environmental Studies, Kurt Schmidt
Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education
I was recently asked to express my opinion on the concept of Nature Deficit Disorder for a graduate class, from a classroom teacher's perspective. I was thrilled at the prospect since, in my roles as father, husband, and teacher, people rarely want my opinion on anything. As I thought about it, however, I realized just how important the integration of nature into education is for my students and me. I teach at a small, rural high school in central New York called Cincinnatus Central School. We have UPK-12 in one building with a population of about 700 students. The school …
From The Editor, Charles Yaple
From The Editor, Charles Yaple
Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education
These thoughts, and examination of Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, have caused your Taproot editors to wonder how children in urban areas ever experience wild places. Are children in urban areas a forgotten population that rarely benefit from experiencing wild places? In pursuit of insights related to our question, this issue of Taproot leads off with an article by University of Cincinnati educators Linda Plevyak and Amy Mayfield. Like us, Plevyak and Mayfield are concerned that urban children do not get enough time to play and learn outdoors. Their solution – …
Thoreau’S Legacy Revisited, Charles Yaple
Thoreau’S Legacy Revisited, Charles Yaple
Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education
It appears we humans are slow to learn some lessons. Recent, and greatly deserved, attention given to Richard Louv’s new book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature- Deficit Disorder (see book review, p. 19) prompts one to recall prophetic words penned by Henry David Thoreau more than 140 years ago. He had much to say concerning what happens when a culture divorces itself from nature. The summer, 1995 issue of Taproot featured an article, Thoreau’s Legacy, that examined the 19th century philosopher’s thoughts regarding healthy human relationship with the natural world. That article is presented here …