Once again it is that time to leave New Hampshire and working with children doing outdoor environmental education. I really do love working with children in nature, it reminds me of why I'm an environmentalist in the first place. To inspire wonder about the natural world in my students is my main goal while working here. For others it might be team building and anti-bullying, but for me it's getting kids excited about nature. Which is no easy task. It takes time to develop a relationship with anything, be it caves or computers. Children are more and more being encouraged by their parents to stay inside. Many reasons are valid, if you are in an urban area perhaps children running around in the streets isn't the best choice. But if you are in an area of the world which has forests and green spaces many children don't have access to those without their parents.
This is why the program I work at is important. It gives children access to nature and time to develop a connection. Children need nature, it's been scientifically proven that children with learning disabilities such as ADD, ADHD and social issues are more at home in nature. Often times teachers point out children who have disabilities as being challenges in their classroom only to be the best children in my field group. If a teacher hadn't said anything to me I would have never known that this child was having problems in school.
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