Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder is a book that will change the way you think about the relationship between education and nature. In it, Richard Louv talks about how direct exposure to the natural environment is necessary for healthy development in children and for the physical and emotional health of both children and adults.
At In a Child’s Path, we fully embrace the philosophy that healthy kids learn outside. At our farm preschool, children interact with animals, play in the fields, plant gardens, and taste the food they grow.
In our forest school, children really embrace the outdoors by tromping through the woods and interacting with the naturally occurring flora and fauna. We build forest out of the sticks we find on the ground. We catch frogs in our pond and watch the development of frog eggs in the streams. We jump in the rain puddles and thoroughly enjoy every inch of our forested campus.
If you’d like to learn more about how our children need nature to grow, grab a copy of The Last Child in the Woods.