My Commonplace Book - Last Child of the Woods by Richard Louv

My Commonplace Book

Feb. 24, 2006

Last Child of the Woods by Richard Louv

    I just bought this book today. It is a secular book, but I thought it had some really great things to say so far. I am not really endorsing the book because I haven't read all of it yet. I have come across some "man is bad, nature is good" philosophy in it, so be warned. But here is an excerpt from the introduction that I found interesting:

       "The shift in our relationship to the natural world is startling, even in settings that one would assume are devoted to nature. Not that long ago, summer camp was a place where you camped, hiked in the woods, learned about plants and animals, or told firelight stories about ghosts or mountain lions. As likely as not today, "summer camp" is a weight-loss camp, or a computer camp. For a new generation, nature is more abstraction than reality. Increasingly, nature is something to watch, to consume, to wear -- to ignore. A recent television ad depcits a four-wheel-drive SUV racing along a breathtakingly beautiful mountain stream -- whilc in the backseat two children watch a movie on a flip-down video screen, oblivious to the landscape and water beyond the windows. . .

    "Our institutions, urban/suburban design, and cultural attitudes uncosciously associate nature with doom -- while disassociating the outdoors from joy and solitude. Well-meaning public-school systems, media, and parents are effectively scaring children straight out of the woods and fields. . .

    ". . .as the young spend less and less of their lives in natural surroundings, their senses narrow, physiologically and psychologically, and this reduces the richness of human experience.

    "Yet, at the very moment that the bond is breaking between the young and the natural world, a growing body of research links our mental, physical, and spiritual health directly to our association with nature -- in positive ways. Several of these studies suggest that thoughtful exposure of youngsters to nature can even be a powerful form of therapy for attention-deficit disorders and other maladies.   As one scientist puts it, we can now assume that just as children need good nutrition and adequate sleep, they may very well need contact with nature.

    "Reducing that deficit -- healing the broken bond between our young and nature -- is in our self-interest, not only because aesthetics or justice demands it, but also because our mental, physical, and spiritual health depends upon it. The health of the earth is at stake as well. How the young respond to nature, and how they raise their own children, will shape the configurations and conditions of our cities, homes -- our daily lives."

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Comments

Feb. 25, 2006 - Hi

Posted by carmatlock

It's me. Mom to 3 Special Needs boys. . .and two of them are twins. Just wanted to say Hi. . .one of mine is on risperdol. . .and it is NOT the twins. .. I would love hearing anything you know about all this. . .I am new to HS'ing. . .going into 2nd year. . .and I am fairly new to autism. . and such. .I am 38.

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Feb. 25, 2006 - Thanks!

Posted by friends4tea

Hi Karla!

Just wanted to say thanks for visiting my blog! I'm new to blogging but I'm having so much fun with it!

Until later....
Leah =)

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Feb. 25, 2006 - That *is* interesting!

Posted by Suzanne

Thanks for sharing that excerpt. I read secular books from time-to-time. It helps me to realize that there are some "lunies" out there, but also that there are *still* some who are not "lunies." :-) (Did that make sense?)

I'm glad you like the graphics on my blog. I've learned a lot about adding graphics and such since "joining" homeschoolbloggers... mostly by trial and error.

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Feb. 25, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by amysue

Thanks for visiting my blog! It's cool, because when I saw your profile, I realized that I've talked to you on the phone before ... about ad'ing with TOS. I think your school is such a neat idea and I wish we had something like that near me.

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Feb. 25, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by 3FoldChord

it's been awhile since I read a book, well a grown-up book....I Read "A Porcupine Named Fluffy" recently, to my 9 yr old.

thanks for the note. It seems that organizing is a constantly evolving event.

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Feb. 26, 2006 - Sounds great

Posted by hsing2busykids

Hi there ~

That books sounds like a good one. I'll have to reserve it at the Library. I definitely agree with that parts that you quoted.

I stopped by to thank you for visiting my blog. I'm glad I did, great blog! I'll be back!

Penelope

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Mar. 3, 2006 - Please pray!

Posted by Suzanne

Missey, a fellow homeschoolblogger, went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday, March 1, 2006.

Please go to http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HSBCompanyBlog/93238/ to read what the HSB Company Porch has to say about her.

(There are many other homeschoolboggers who have posted info about Missey.)

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Mar. 3, 2006 - Please pray!

Posted by Suzanne

Missey, a fellow homeschoolblogger, went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 shortly after giving birth to her daughter, Melissa Kate.

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Mar. 3, 2006 - Please pray!

Posted by Suzanne

Missey, a fellow homeschoolblogger, went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 shortly after giving birth to her daughter, Melissa Kate.

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Commonplace books are a means of coping with information overload! They help us select, organize, classify, and remember key moral precepts. "When it came time to put away childish things, the role of the copy book was assumed by its close cousin, the "commonplace book." The process of maturation required the production of more-personal collections of writings, meant to provide inspiration, direction, and moral fortitude. Reading the commonplace books of historical figures like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or any number of antebellum Southern ladies gives us an interior view of each person's self-image and the words that motivated him or her. -- Rachel Toor "Commonplaces: From Quote Books to 'Sig' Files" The Chronicle of Higher Education May 25, 2001"