Nature Does Not Steal Time, It Amplifies

Unlike Television, Reading Does Not Swallow The Senses Or Dictate Thought. Reading Stimulates The Ecology Of The Imagination. Can You Remember The Wonder You Felt When First Reading The Jungle Book Or Tom Sawyer Or Huckleberry Finn? Kipling’s World Within A World; Twain’s Slow River, The Feel Of Freedom And Sand On The Secret Island, And In The Depths Of The Cave?

Rather Than Accepting The Drifting Separation Of The Generations, We Might Begin To Define A More Complex And Interesting Set Of Life Stages And Parenting Passages, Each Emphasizing The Connections To The Generations Ahead And Behind. As I Grow Older, For Example, I Might First See My Role As A Parent In Need Of Older, Mentoring Parents, And Then Become A Mentoring Parent Myself. When I Become A Grandparent, I Might Expect To Seek Out Older Mentoring Grandparents, And Then Later Become A Mentoring Grandparent.

The Dugout In The Weeds Or Leaves Beneath A Backyard Willow, The Rivulet Of A Seasonal Creek, Even The Ditch Between The Front Yard And The Road-all Of These Places Are Entire Universes To A Young Child.

A Widening Circle Of Researchers Believes That The Loss Of Natural Habitat, Or The Disconnection From Nature Even When It Is Available, Has Enormous Implications For Human Health And Child Development. They Say The Quality Of Exposure To Nature Affects Our Health At An Almost Cellular Level.

As The Nature Deficit Grows, Another Emerging Body Of Scientific Evidence Indicates That Direct Exposure To Nature Is Essential For Physical And Emotional Health. For Example, New Studies Suggest That Exposure To Nature May Reduce The Symptoms Of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (adhd), And That It Can Improve All Children's Cognitive Abilities And Resistance To Negative Stresses And Depression.