

Louv shows us an alternative future, one in which parents help their kids experience the natural world more deeplyâand find the joy of family connectedness in the process.Ī Field Guide with 100 Practical Actions We Can Takeâĭiscussion Points for Book Groups, Classrooms, and Communitiesâ In Last Child in the Woods, Louv talks with parents, children, teachers, scientists, religious leaders, child-development researchers, and environmentalists who recognize the threat and offer solutions. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that childhood experiences in nature stimulate creativity.

Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade-point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Local governments, neighborhood associations, and even organizations devoted to the outdoors are placing legal and regulatory constraints on many wild spaces, sometimes making natural play a crime.Īs childrenâs connections to nature diminish and the social, psychological, and spiritual implications become apparent, new research shows that nature can offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attention deficit disorder. Itâs also their parentsâ fears of traffic, strangers, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus their schoolsâ emphasis on more and more homework their structured schedules and their lack of access to natural areas. But itâs not only computers, television, and video games that are keeping kids inside. ÂI like to play indoors better âcause thatâs where all the electrical outlets are,â reports a fourth grader. ÂIt rivals Rachel Carsonâs Silent Spring.â â The Cincinnati Enquirer

Itâs  The Book That Launched an International Movement

ÂIt rivals Rachel Carsonâs Silent Spring.â â The Cincinnati Enquirer ÂAn absolute must-read for parents.â â The Boston Globe The Book That Launched an International Movement
