I have had a fortunate life, and I talk a lot
about my childhood and my adulthood.
People often ask me, “But I live in the city—
there are dangerous people there. What
about my child’s safety?” The safety and
well-being of his or her child is, of course,
every adult’s concern. To this, I answer: We
can let our fears and our prejudices control
and rule us, or we can trust in our own
judgment and, thus, build trust in our children.
How is a child to learn independence
if we never allow her to do anything for herself?
How is a child to learn whom to trust
and whom to be aware of if we do not allow
him to explore humanity?
A fall for a 1-year-old is a normal part
of daily life, while a fall for a 35-year-old
could mean serious injuries, and a fall for a
90-year-old can be fatal. Our children need
to fall, they need to climb, and they need to
get dirty. They need to experiment and to
stretch their limits. If we, as adults, force
them to wait until they are 18 to fall and get
dirty, the consequences will be devastating.
Let us not allow our gated communities
and our restrictive subdivision associations
limit our children’s ability to experience life
for themselves. Allow them the freedom to
explore, allow them to discover the world
that will one day be theirs. My parents gave
me a gift and it was the gift of Nature as a
prepared environment, a place to play freely.
Let us give every child the same gift.
References
Louv, R. (2008). Last child in the woods: Saving
our children from nature-deficit disorder. Chapel
Hill, NC: Algonquin Capital Books.
Wallace, I. (1946). Pookie. London: Harper Collins
Publishers.
Geoffrey Bishop hails from the bush in North West NSW, Australia. After his
childhood, spent on a sheep station, he went to an agricultural boarding school for
five years and then to University in both Sydney and Melbourne, where he studied
horticulture and landscape architecture.
For the next ten years, he traveled the world, visiting over 100 countries, where he spent most of
his time trekking in rural areas, learning about cultures, and understanding his place in the world.
In 1996, Geoffrey started Nature’s Classroom Institute of WI. Inc. NCI is a residential environmental
education program serving schools throughout the American Midwest. The Nature’s Classroom
Institute program helps students understand the natural environment, participate in ecosystem
exploration and study, and work together with their peers and teachers as a community. The
program includes activities, such as: confidence-building; group challenges; historical simulations;
scientific explorations; and many more hands-on academic lessons. In 2010, Nature’s Classroom
Institute expanded with two programs in Texas, one in upstate New York, California, and Florida.
After developing a strong academic and environmental outdoor-based curriculum, Geoffrey
founded Nature’s Classroom Montessori School that models the core philosophy of Montessori
with a marriage to his environmental principles.
Geoffrey’s focus over the past years has been on organics and sustainability
in schools and promoting getting children back outdoors and helping adults
understand the importance of instinctive play in the nature world.
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