Daniel makes stuff, and, in his spare time, writes about things like movies, kid culture, and geek stuff.
Are The Boy Scouts Still Relevant?

As the Boy Scouts of America celebrate their centennial of Scouting, Dave Banks of GeekDad asks the question: Is Scouting increasingly an irrelevant thing for today’s youth?

With rapidly decreasing membership numbers in the Boy Scouts of America, the question bears some consideration. Banks gives it a thorough, at-length look – weighing the arguments for and against Scouting in general and the BSA in particular, and ending with his own family’s scouting experiences.

It’s certainly a complex issue I think: for instance, many in the comments to the piece proclaim their love of the ‘Scouting’ concept, but cite how the BSA’s position on the ‘Three Gs’ – Gays, Girls & God – has alienated them from the organisation itself. There’s a lot we can learn about ourselves as a society, though, when we examine our own attitudes toward Scouting and the BSA (which, for the record, I consider separately).

To that end, I’m curious to hear your thoughts about it. If you’re so inclined, please email me at daniel@danielbigler.com with what you have to say – and I’ll feature the comments in an upcoming post.

Feb 08, 2010 :: Tagged under: , , :: #

Kindergarten Outdoors, Rain or Shine

Stories like this, of an outdoor kindergarten near Saratoga Springs, N.Y., always make me smile:

Fat, cold droplets splashed from the sky as the students struggled into their uniforms: rain pants, boots, mittens and hats. Once buttoned and bundled, they scattered toward favorite spaces: a crab apple tree made for climbing, a cluster of bushes forming a secret nook under a willow tree, a sandbox growing muddier by the minute.

They planted garlic bulbs, discovered a worm. The rain continued to fall. It was 8:30 a.m. on a recent Wednesday, and the Waldorf School’s “forest kindergarten” was officially in session.

Forest kindergartens, outdoor nurseries, nature schools… whatever you call them, they’ve been around a long time, and they’re really quite common in much of the world. In fact, Kindergarten itself has its roots in Friedrich Fröbel’s original kindergarten – or “children’s garden” – which was conducted outdoors, amongst nature.

As Richard Louv’s message of “nature deficit” childhoods becomes a more engrained part of our cultural knowledge, and as we begin to see the effects of the over-standardization of education, I think (and hope) we’ll see many more programs like this take root.

Nov 30, 2009 :: Tagged under: , , , , :: #

How to Lick a Slug

New York Times columnist Nick Kristof, about a recent backpacking trip he took with his young daughter to Mount Hood, Oregon:

We debated whether to put up our light tarp to protect us from rain. “No need,” I advised my daughter patronizingly. “There’s zero chance it’ll rain. And it’ll be more fun to be able to look up at shooting stars.”

It was, until we awoke at 4 a.m. to a freezing drizzle.

The rain not only punctured the doctrine of Paternal Infallibility but also offered one of nature’s dazzlingly important lessons in perspective, reminding us that we’re just tenants — and ones without much sway.

We’re just tenants.

We need to remember that. We need to give our kids the opportunities to be outside – by sharing with them our own joys of being outside, and by giving them permission to roam freely – so that they remember that, too.

Kristof echos the sentiments Richard Louv expressed in his book, “Last Child in the Woods”, and ends with a poignant message: “Let’s protect nature, yes, but let’s also maintain trails, restore the Forest Service and support programs that get young people rained on in the woods. Let’s acknowledge that getting kids awed by nature is as important as getting them reading.”

Not only do our forests and societies depend on it, but our kids’ lives do too. If nothing else, how would they ever know how to lick a banana slug?

(Via Free Range Kids.)

Aug 02, 2009 :: Tagged under: , , , :: #

Creating a 21st Century Youth Conservation Corps

Barack Obama’s 2010 federal budget includes an additional fifty million dollars – seventy million in total – for strengthening and creating ways to engage youth in nature.

The future success of resource conservation efforts and effective stewardship of public lands and resources is reliant on an engaged public that values nature. Informed citizens and stewards are developed and nurtured over time. According to Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, “Studies have shown that most conservation leaders credit their commitment to the environment to two sources: many hours spent outdoors, when they were children… and an adult who taught respect for nature.” The initial childhood wonder about the natural world can be sustained through hands-on experiences during the school-age years and enriched through long-term engagement and involvement in natural resource programs.

Stuff like this makes me so happy to pay taxes. There’s some great programs in there.

May 28, 2009 :: Tagged under: , , :: #