It’s time to learn outside.
If including nature in the daily school experience enhances health, the learning environment, and test scores, then why not find ways to do it?- Richard Louv
Best-selling author Richard Louv wants us all to get outside more—much more. Louv, the recipient of numerous recognitions and awards, including the 2008 Audubon Medal, chairs the Children & Nature Network, which has identified and supported "more than 80 city, state, provincial, and regional campaigns focused on getting children and you out into nature" (Charles, Louv, & St. Antoine, 2010, p. 8). In his book Last Child in the Woods, Louv (2008) discusses the phenomenon of nature-deficit disorder, which he defines as a "growing gap between human beings and nature, with implications for health and well-being" (p. 26).
Read more ... http://edge.ascd.org/_Its-time-to-learn-outside/blog/5834803/127586.html
And, see related remarks by NYT online commentator Timothy Egan at http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/nature-deficit-disorder/