Project Wild Thing
Reconnecting Kids with Nature by Lorena Hodgson
Project Wild Thing has the above title, ‘Reconnecting Kids with Nature’, as its heading. It’s what David Bond, the Director of this new film is very keen to do. He’s not the only one. I have read many pieces about this phenomenon (I list some further reading links at the end of this article.) As you can read on Project Wild Thing’s website, many organisations are saying that childhood is not what it was; there is less freedom and too many children stay indoors watching a screen (be it TV or computer). This film is a culmination of meetings between organisations such as the National Trust, Wildlife Trusts and the Eden Project. I’d also recommend reading Tim Gill’s website, rethinkingchildhood.com, to find out more about how our children’s childhood is different to ours and to our parents’ and grandparents’ childhoods. Tim Gill wrote “No Fear: growing up in a risk-averse society”, about the changing nature of childhood, children’s play and how they spend their free time. He is well respected, giving talks around the world. He recommends the Project Wild Thing film as: “engaging, moving, thoughtful, and refreshingly irreverent”. He has a short excerpt on his site (click here), as do Project Wild Thing themselves. It would be interesting to find out what other home educators think about this project, and projects like it. As an “unschooling/child-led” home educating family, we think our children have this freedom already; we are lucky to live in a rural area, with space around us, and we perhaps have more time than schooling families, so all in all I think we already do what these people are advocating, and so I find it sad that such projects have to exist. I believe they are doing the right thing, that nature is a great teacher, and we can all benefit from fresh air, exercise and the “living in the moment” that being outside makes us do. I wonder if this idea comes naturally to home educators, or if it’s just me?! Of course there are schooling families who use the outdoors when they can, but this is a magazine for those outside the education system, and I wondered if it were more prevalent amongst those families, and if so, why? 24
www.educationoutsideschool.co.uk