Green Options » No Child Left Inside http://greenoptions.com/tag/no-child-left-inside Posts tagged 'No Child Left Inside' Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:00:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Combat Nature Deficit Disorder with Last Child in the Woods http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/02/03/combat-nature-deficit-disorder-with-last-child-in-the-woods/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/02/03/combat-nature-deficit-disorder-with-last-child-in-the-woods/#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:00:29 +0000 Jamie Ervin http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/02/03/combat-nature-deficit-disorder-with-last-child-in-the-woods/ Fellow Earth Mama and good friend, Meg sent me Last Child in the Woods as a birthday gift. I’m left to ponder, “has there ever been a better gift?”.

I believe in limiting my children’s access to technology, in turning the television off (and I say THE because we have only one tv in our house), in putting on the wellies and getting outside. Unfortunately many children spend far to much time indoors. Schools are limiting P.E. and recess. Kids wile away the afternoons playing video games and hanging out in virtual rooms online. We are seeing rising rates of childhood obesity, diabetes, ADD & ADHD, lethargy and depression. That’s not the future I want for my children.

Looking back on my childhood, we were seldom inside. We spent hour upon hour outside making dirt tracks under the big oak tree, riding bicycles, playing red rover, gardening and making many a mud pie. Heck, I remember dissecting dragonflies, slicing a worm between its hearts to make several worms and allowing potato bugs to crawl on my hands.

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]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/02/03/combat-nature-deficit-disorder-with-last-child-in-the-woods/feed/ Mean Joe Green Cartoon: Get Those Kids Outside! http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/10/08/mean-joe-green-cartoon-get-those-kids-outside/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/10/08/mean-joe-green-cartoon-get-those-kids-outside/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:06:58 +0000 Joe Mohr http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/10/08/mean-joe-green-cartoon-get-those-kids-outside/ Kids are fatter than ever, watch more TV than ever before, and play and use their imagination increasingly less.

This does not bode well for them or our planet.

As Senegalese poet and naturalist Baba Dioum said,

We will protect only what we love, we will love only what we understand, we will understand only what we are taught.

If today’s children do not get outside to play in nature, with nature, they will have little reason or desire to protect the environment when they are adults.

Parents have the power to change this! Inspire play. Make active choices. Make TV the dessert of your child’s at home time, not the main dish.

Children will fight this (especially if they are use to spending the majority of the day in front of the TV).

Fight back!

Fight with patience. Fight with opportunity. Fight with love, knowing that what you are doing is for the good of your child and the planet.

TURN OFF THE TV!

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]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/10/08/mean-joe-green-cartoon-get-those-kids-outside/feed/ Last Chance For No Child Left Inside http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/09/10/last-chance-for-no-child-left-inside/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/09/10/last-chance-for-no-child-left-inside/#comments Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:39:42 +0000 mcmilker http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/09/10/last-chance-for-no-child-left-inside/

As The US House of Representatives votes on No Child Left Inside this week, this is your last chance to let your legislator know you want MORE funding for training teachers in outdoor education, MORE funding to expand environmental education programs and MORE programs to ensure that US graduates are environmentally literate.

You can write your representative directly and/or find out how she our he stands at the No Child Left Inside home page. With school budgets cut and the increased emphasis on teaching to the test, not much needed recess, this effort is needed now more than ever.

Jennifer Lance wrote about this effort back in May, but it bears repeating especially as the bill comes up for vote.

While Congress waits to vote, there’s an effort afoot to pass around this video to bring awareness to the issue, by adding this video to your blog. You can get the link on Youtube here.

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

Related Posts:

Can You Imagine Your Kids Going to School 4 Days a Week?

No Child Left Inside Video

Uniting Schools at Green California Schools Summit


]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/09/10/last-chance-for-no-child-left-inside/feed/ No Child Left Inside Video http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/05/24/no-child-left-inside-video/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/05/24/no-child-left-inside-video/#comments Sat, 24 May 2008 16:53:59 +0000 Jennifer Lance http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/05/24/no-child-left-inside-video/ This story contains additional media. Click here to view the media.
According to No Child Left Inside, “A study found that young people could identify 1000 corporate logos but fewer that 10 plants or animals native to their backyards.”

]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/05/24/no-child-left-inside-video/feed/ Congressman Sarbanes Introduces “No Child Left Inside” http://kellibestoliver.greenoptions.com/2007/07/24/congressman-sarbanes-introduces-no-child-left-inside/ http://kellibestoliver.greenoptions.com/2007/07/24/congressman-sarbanes-introduces-no-child-left-inside/#comments Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:19:27 +0000 Kelli Best-Oliver http://kellibestoliver.greenoptions.com/2007/07/24/congressman-sarbanes-introduces-no-child-left-inside/ Ask most educators about No Child Left Behind, the current administration’s education initiative, and a constant complaint would be the de-emphasis on those subjects deemed non-essential: art, music, physical education, etc. Environmental education, outside of the traditional science class, fits into the category of subjects that aren’t assessed by standardized tests and, therefore, not prioritized in many U.S. schools. Fortunately, potential legislation might change that. No Child Left Behind expires this year, and Congress must reauthorize it, allowing room for changes.

On July 12th, Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) introduced the No Child Left Inside Act of 2007. The measure, HR 3606, provides incentives for state educational agencies to create a state environmental literacy plan that will integrate environmental education across disciplines in K-12 curriculum while building an infrastructure for environmental education. It will also provide funding to help states, districts, and non-governmental organizations to implement this plan. The bill is supported by the No Child Left Inside Coalition, which includes the Sierra Club, the National Wildlife Federation, the National Audubon Society, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Where would the money come from? The bill would include environmental education as a authorized areas for use of The Fund for the Improvement of Education, where many states and districts obtain special funding. The bill also calls for grants that could be used to train teachers as specialists in environmental education.

To ask your representative to co-sponsor the bill, click here.

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