To the teachers and educators…
I don’t need to tell you that education has been a contentious, sometimes difficult and political issue for some time. Parents, educators and politicians debate and argue about curricula, funding levels, testing, vouchers, classroom safety and other issues.
Educating children, our children, in today’s complex, fast moving technology driven society is certainly not an easy or simple task, to say the least!
I am all for teaching science, technology, engineering and math, the so called STEM subjects, but that learning, sitting down, in a classroom or in front of a screen will only take children so far. It’s generally agreed that getting kids up and moving promotes learning, healthy development and balance, not only physically but mentally, socially and emotionally.
As teachers and educators, you have an important, no, crucial roll to play as advocates for this balanced approach to learning. Yes, children need to prepare for the 21st century job market and well paying careers, but kids also need healthy bodies, not to mention a healthy planet to sustain and support them going forward.
Few will argue about the need to get children, especially young children up and moving again, especially outside. Parents need to do their part, but so can you.
With a focus on preschool, kindergarten and elementary school properties, the Lehmann Design Group would love to support teachers and educators and others in education in developing outdoor environments that educate and get kids moving and outside, thereby promoting health, balance, and wellbeing and by getting kids excited about the natural world. Ideas abound: vegetable gardens, butterfly gardens, rain gardens, perennial borders to study and observe pollinators, interpretive walking and bike trails, bog and water gardens, sundials….and of course playgrounds of various kinds….the list is a long one. Many schools have real estate right outside the school house doors that are vastly underutilized. Projects like these could be developed for the kids or even with the kids.
Yes, money is always an issue…but aren’t the kids worth it?
As another example, I see no reason why schools, public or private, with a fairly small investment, couldn’t plant their grounds (a little or a lot) with low or virtually no maintenance North Carolina native trees, shrubs and wildflowers and label them as such. What better way to teach conservation, stewardship and respect for the natural world?
Children clearly benefit from fresh air, sunshine and outdoor play and activity, and that significantly enhances classroom learning. This has been documented scientifically.
By properly utilizing the schoolyard property you already have, you could simultaneously promote children’s health, healthy lifestyles and self esteem, active fun and play, broad based educational development and respect for the natural world and our natural heritage all at the same time.
Our children are already very aware, worried in many cases, of the dangers facing our planet.
Giving them, young children especially, exposure to the natural world as part of the larger educational classroom experience would have multiple positive outcomes: physical, social, psychological and spiritual agency—a sense that they can make a positive difference in a warming world. They would quickly gain an enhanced sense of respect, love and admiration for self, our natural world, each other and so much more
Let’s support our kids in getting up, moving and active again…right there at school.
