The “Wow” Factor
An Outdoor Experience Your Child Will Never Forget
by Mac Duffy
Teach Children To Love The Earth Before We Ask Them To Save It
Richard Louv, in his book, “Last Child in the Woods, Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder" (Algonquin Books), stated, "Our society is teaching young people to avoid direct experience in nature" by reducing open space, physical education, and field trips and allowing electronic media to consume an increasing portion of children's lives. "Healing the broken bond between our young and nature” he writes, “is in our self-interest, not only because aesthetics or justice demand it, but also because our mental, physical, and spiritual health depend upon it."
Its not hard to see that, in our society today, most kids, particularly inner city kids, are disconnected from nature. They may know about it from TV, but they don’t have a personal experience, and without that personal experience, kids won’t have the necessary understanding and emotional stake to even consider the state of the environment, let alone do something about making necessary changes.
Simple connections are the key. When a child takes pleasure in the world around them and sees the how their actions directly affect their world, both positively and negatively, most will really respond to that. Those simple connections will inspire them to make changes in their own behavior and, hopefully, inspire others to do the same.
Our schools can take our children a long way down the road of book knowledge, but it’s up to outdoor education programs to bring that knowledge into each child’s personal reality as they help students make crucial initial connections with the natural world.
The “Wow” Factor for Teachers
According to Dave Work of the Catalina Island Marine Institute (CIMI), “Teachers that are in the classroom introducing science, marine science, and oceanography bring their students out here because we make the classroom teaching come alive…Let’s say you’re on a sports team and you’re practicing every day,” Dave continues. “At some point you’re going to want to play the game.”
Mark Waddington, of CIMI Tall Ship Expeditions, agrees, stating, “Schools in general are important for their economy of time, effort and money and their ability to teach large numbers of people, but they are simulations of the real world…At all moments, we should be taking our students into the real world and showing them practical applications of those simulations.”
“At these programs, they get a “wow” factor,” says Mike Dobson, Director of Astro Camp (a camp dedicated to giving children a chance to train like NASA astronauts, learn about Space, and much more). “The kids become the scientist, the person proving that knowledge, which appeals to a child’s sense of adventure. This stuff is just exciting.”
Deborah Twemlow, Principal of Outdoor Education at Pali Institute in Lake Arrowhead, CA, adds, “(Outdoor education provides) a classroom that breaks the boundaries of walls and lets the children have freedom to explore learning in the outdoors. It’s so much more empowering when kids see directly where specimens come from, where they live and breath.””
Outdoor educational programs provide experiments and other activities that schools either don’t have the resources to get or the environment to implement. The goal isn’t to cram knowledge into their heads. Kids connect to having fun. “Imagine being in school and learning about marine mammals,” suggests Mark. “You go home and maybe remember it, maybe you don’t. Now imagine coming out on a ship and being able to see that marine mammal. Now you have this lesson you just learned and suddenly you have an imprint of an experience that links to that lesson. That, in itself, increases retention 100 fold.”
The “Wow” Factor for Parents
All parents appreciate experiences that their children “will remember for the rest of their lives,” says Mike, experiences they “would not otherwise get by staying at school everyday or by staying at home during the summer”. At the right outdoor education program, parents are able to spark their child’s interest in a way that’s fun, energetic and, most importantly, safe, a primary goal for each of the programs referenced in this article.
“Besides”, asks Deborah, “what parent wouldn’t want their child to leave a classroom for a week and learn at a rate that excites them to go back to their classroom and connect with more info on the birds that they saw, the insects they may have dug up and the soil and water samples they may have examined?”
“(Outdoor education also) gives you the ability to introduce new things not covered in a classroom,” says Mark. “For example, building character. On one of our ships you need to learn to work together to get the sails up, bring the sailboat out, which fosters cooperation and confidence. It’s just an amazing experience.”
Dave agrees. “There are social skills the children can learn when they come here. For example, we eat family style, sitting around a table. We encourage good hygiene, all things very important to the home.”
Outdoor Education Teaches Children How They Can Make a Difference
“Outdoor education is a great way to show cause and effect,” says Mark. “There are threads through all of our activities,” shares Dave, “that we can connect to daily existence. For example, plankton are connected to a significant part of our planet. They are the bottom of the food chain. They create a large part of the oxygen we breathe. When we are (studying) plankton, we can connect the thread of how our actions can impact, positively or negatively, something as simple as (this).”
Deborah concurs, adding that “by giving them the opportunity to have a guided exploration through different types of environments in a contained outdoor school setting, (children) can see the connection between different organisms that make up the whole. From the trees to the plants to the soil to the water to the compost they understand the full circle of life and how, when one part is affected, the whole is affected.”
Once children learn about how everything is connected, then they can learn about the effects our everyday life incurs. “For instance,” offers Mark, “cigarette butts are the most common thing found in the gyres (circular currents)* of the ocean. All the slow currents in the middle of the gyre are where a lot of floating garbage collects (and stays). Albatross feed in that area and bring this “food” back to their young who starve to death. When they are examined, we find that they are filled with the plastic you find in cigarette butts.”
The garbage in the world is not limited to cigarette butts or other trash. It includes chemical and medical waste dumped in large quantities. Even with the changes that have been made in our national policy, children need to be ready to implement more. It’s not enough that children understand cause and effect when it comes to nature. They need to understand how to deal with other humans who may not agree with their newfound passion.
Deborah offers that outdoor education provides “a connection between so many classroom disciplines, stating, “Every school class has a connection to the environment. Even in a class like “Model Government” which focuses more on history and debate, you can go outdoors and debate issues that directly affect the environment such as sustainable living and solar energy…A climbing wall teaches problem solving, leadership, and team cooperation. Some schools are very adamant that every class (we teach) has to relate to a science. The ropes course allows us to teach elements of physics, communication, problem solving, math, and personal growth…We have the ability to connect them all because (children) can go on a hike and use all of their senses to learn a multitude of subjects from solar cooking to edible plants and filtering water, wilderness first aid and building shelters to learning what to do in case of an emergency.”
As mentioned earlier, the potential for personal growth at an outdoor education program is extraordinary. In addition to the schedule activities, children have the opportunity to have a certain level of autonomy and a chance to grow while they live in a cabin with their peers. For kids who don’t have experience away from home, the opportunity to live with their peers builds their self-confidence and communication skills. “Many (kids) are away from home for the first time,” says Dave. “When they get here, we stack up a lot of hurdles close together. Most haven’t snorkeled or even hiked… As long as long as they are willing to take that step, they can see that they can accomplish (what they set out to)…and the kids (leave with) a greater level of confidence.
Deborah marvels “at the change in ordinarily meek children after tackling the ropes course” and states, “90% of teachers want their kids to experience such an activity for that very reason.”
“At the very minimum we want to show them that science can be fun,” Mike reveals, “that they can reach out and grasp these kinds of things, that they are not huge concepts that are way over their heads. We’re going to give them a lot of the basics, stuff that will help them understand more further down the road. And, with that, they can understand the world a bit better, what’s hurting, what will help us more and move forward from that.
Outdoor Education Makes A Difference For Future Generations
“The mentors that work at any outdoor center have such a pride in what they do,” shares Deborah, “The kids meet people who really care about them and what they have to teach them. (It) rubs off on the kids, and we receive letters saying that they remembered to turn the water off when they brush their teeth (or practiced other conservation methods at home).”
“We’re inspiring people that want to inspire others in a way,” says Mike. “We’re gonna be able to spark some kids who’ll want to do this, teach this, and have fun doing it while giving this same experience to others. It’s self-perpetuating in a way.
“The people that work here realize that the kids are the future,” adds Deborah. “The teachers who bring their kids here realize that as well. It’s not just a field trip. It shows (the children) that they are the future leaders and, hopefully, the future leaders in conservation so that we can preserve what’s important so that their generation will have a healthy future.
As passionate as each of these outdoor education professionals are, they all know and respect the important role of the teacher in this process. “The general success of the trip rests on the teacher’s shoulders,” says Dave. “The teachers that really make this program come alive for the children make the experience come alive by building up to and following up on this experience, as opposed to just treating it like a fun outing.” I agree. Keep in mind it’s a lot of extra work for the teachers. They don’t arrange for their students to have this type of extraordinary experience simply to provide a recreational activity for the kids. Teachers do so because they know that this experience connects their students to the material they are trying to teach in an invaluable manner.
Conclusion
It’s depressing to think that in most of the country people are only seeing a small portion of our planet. By providing our children a chance to get out there and see the rest of the world, we not only provide them with an amazing learning opportunity, but we also give them a chance to get to know their home and what has happened to it.
Outdoor education brings it all together. By fostering a love for nature and nurturing the latent abilities children are just waiting to be introduced to, outdoor education gives children what they need to start to see the world differently, that it’s not just a picture in a book or on TV. It’s real. It’s important. And, hopefully, as a result, our children will have more of an inclination to want to take stewardship of the Earth and inspire their children and their children’s children to do the same.
Once a child sees the ocean and how clear the water is just twenty miles out or how beautiful and lively an uncluttered landscape can be, once that child understands how a simple, negligent act can have far reaching consequences, perhaps now, when they go home, they might stop someone who might be about to dump something like oil down in a storm drain. “Taking that home,” says Mark, “you’ll say, ‘Wait. Let’ not dump that there. Let’s find another way. You take that ownership home with you from an outdoor education experience.”
For more information on each of these programs, please visit: www.astrocamp.org www.guideddiscoveries.org www.paliinstitute.com
Mac Duffy’s recent acting credits include a national commercial, as well as several independent films. He has an extensive background in comedy and improv and over 15 years of experience working with children of all ages as Storyteller, comedian, acting teacher, director, writer, and puppeteer. For more information, please visit www.macduffy.com.
©2006 Los Angeles Family Magazine
by hanging fruits, vegetables, nuts and peanut butter on pinecones.