Here’s to More Outdoor Schools

You probably know how much I appreciate the Roslyn Outdoor School (now Washington Outdoor School), and the work KEEN (Kittitas Environmental Education Network) has done to bring real outdoor education to kids in the Lower Valley at Helen McCabe Park.

You certainly know how much this “kids outdoors” stuff interests me, so you can imagine my excitement when NWPR and Homey turned me on to “Into the Woods: Outdoor and Nature-based Preschools in Seattle, the Eastside and Tacoma.” This very interesting article is in the October issue of Parent Map (www.parentmap.com) – a Mercer Island-based monthly news magazine and online resource.

When I was a kid, my folks would just step to the door and hold it open whenever I got what the Old Man called “that look.” I did everything I could to get my own kids outside, and for some years I’ve been writing about Richard Louv’s world-wide Children and Nature Movement devoted to curing what he calls “Nature-Deficit Disorder.” A number of us have been working to get a Washington Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights established in the state (Senator Judy Warnick is sponsoring the bill this year). This business of getting kids seriously and joyfully outdoors is important.

You don’t have to look far or hard to find research about the highly positive health, life and general well-being impacts of outdoor time and activities for kids and adults. The Danes and Swedes started outdoor kindergartens in the 1950, with Germany not far behind. There are now hundreds of “forest kindergartens” across Europe – all devoted to building the future health of their citizens and their countries.

The education and health side of this is particularly interesting to me – especially when it comes to vision. In the early ‘70s, an ophthalmologist buddy and I were discussing what seemed like an epidemic of nearsightedness in kids across Denver. “Well,” he asked, “what do you expect? Suddenly parents think their kids will be smarter and better if they can read by the time they are four years old, so everywhere you look kids have books on their noses – and it is pushed more in kindergarten! If you want kids to have healthy and strong eyes, get them out in natural light looking at distant things – then really limit the time they are focusing up close until they are eight or nine… Sadly, in this society and this education system, I expect to see more and more young kids’ eyes. If you want it better, get your kids outside…”

It is really starting. In Paradise, we now have the Washington Outdoor School Fridays at Helen McCabe, and three mornings a week in Roslyn, with a few other outdoor classroom activities on late start days and other opportune moments. With enough support and the right outdoor-savvy teacher(s), our local outdoor school could become a daily school and even add a kindergarten.

Kudos to Sibyl Maer-Fillo for making it happen here. After 20 years of teaching and working at all levels of education, she is living her dream of getting young students immersed in the natural world – outside. Her belief that a child’s interaction with nature helps develop a sense of place, awakens curiosity, and creates healthy minds and bodies reflects the important work now spreading across the planet. This work of connecting kids with Earth helps build stronger communities and a life-long commitment to the proper functioning of our natural world. Take a look at some happy youngsters and find out more – or get involved – at www.roslynoutdoorschool.org.

And what about those Seattle-area preschools? There are now more than two dozen organized outdoor preschools in the Greater Seattle area, along with a number of private and city-sponsored outdoor play groups. Run through the names of them, and you may start wishing you were a rugrat again. Consider the possibilities with names like Wind Gatherer Nature Preschool, Cedarsong Forest Kindergarten, Tiny Treks Preschool, Playful Hearts Little Sparrows Forest School, Nurture in Nature Preschool, Fox in the Forest, Froggy Holler Outdoor School, or (my personal favorite) Nature Nuts Outdoor Preschool. Many of these are private schools, but some of the outdoor preschools, apparently, are attached to public schools. These schools make a great step into the outdoor future so many of us are working to create. Start with the online article in Parent Map magazine at www.parentmap.com/article/into-the-woods-outdoor-preschools-in-greater-seattle, then see what’s happening across the rest of the world.

So, if outdoor schools are so good for youngsters and our future – and save a significant amount of money over traditional classrooms – what will it take for our local school districts to get on board?

Hmmmm…