The Perfect Time to Begin this Healthy Practice
I was thinking about writing this near the end of August. In Oregon, we were looking forward to a pleasant fall season: warm and dry. I wanted to encourage you to add a healthy practice, a practice you could start now and continue through most of October. Take some of your education outdoors! Make it hands-on, practical, and experiential.
Then the fires came. We were away from home when they lit up nearby forests.
Returning back home the later part of September, we got busy and this post went to the back burner. The temperatures dropped, the seasonal rains returned, and here we are.
When I think about outdoor education, I associate it with The Shema, Israel’s daily prayer and daily declaration of how they were to live a life pleasing to God and raise their children.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. ~ Deuteronomy 6:4-9
From God’s perspective, education and the transmission of culture and values, is a lifestyle. It takes place anywhere and everywhere, even outside!
Are there health benefits to adding outdoor education to your mix? Are they equal to the effort required to make it happen? Here are the claims:
- Kids with ADHD can focus better after exposure to green spaces.
- Kids who frequently spend time outdoors get sick less often and show better motor skills and physical coordination.5
- Kids with exposure (even just visual) to nature have better self-discipline.6
- For kids dealing with stress at home (who isn’t?), nature can act as a buffer.7
- Kids with consistent daily sun exposure have more vitamin D, better circadian rhythms, and stronger immune systems.
- The more outdoor time a kid gets, the lower his or her risk of myopia.
Just recently I was introduced to the value of Forest Bathing. Forest bathing is a Japanese practice in which the following benefits are claimed by researchers:
- As little as 20 minutes in a park boost feelings of well-being
- Walking 15 minutes in a bamboo forest improved mood
- Cortisol levels, a marker of stress, drop.
You may be thinking outdoor education is fine in the spring, summer and fall but now it’s too cold, too wet, and requires too much work. Most kids don’t see it that way. In Norway, outdoor education is an anytime of the year opportunity, especially during their snowy winters. Watching clips of Norwegian kindergartens speaks to any excuses I might come up with to not at least give it a try.
Try it! That’s the tip of the week!
Curt Bumcrot, MRE
Testing is a year-round activity here at Basic Skills. If you’re interested in finding out how your children are progressing academically, give us a call at the office (503-650-5282) or send us an e-mail (info@basicskills.net) to schedule a private or semi-private test. We’re offering a Black Friday Special. Call or email beginning today, November 25, through Monday, November 30 and we will include a free ebook of your choice when you schedule. You may schedule your test appointment to take place even next spring!
*Included in this offer is Parent Administered Testing- you pick the week to test and do it yourself. Register no later than Monday, November 30.
