NATURE / HEALTH LITERATURE
&
B-P QUOTES
Nature and Health Literature
Cornell. Sharing Nature with Children: The Classic Parents' & Teachers' Nature Awareness Guidebook. Dawn Publications, 1998
"When Joseph Cornell's classic book reached its 20th anniversary, Cornell drew upon a wealth of experience in nature education to significantly revise and expand his book. New nature games--favorites from the field--and Cornell's typically insightful commentary make the second edition of this special classic even more valuable to nature lovers world-wide. The Sharing Nature movement that Cornell pioneered has now expanded to countries all over the globe. Recommended by Boy Scouts of America, American Camping Association, National Audubon Society and many others."
Louv, "Leave No Child Inside: The movement to get kids outside is forging new relationships between educators, conservationists, even real estate developers." Orion Magazine
https://orionmagazine.org/article/leave-no-child-inside/ ,website accessed 2015
Louv. Last child in the woods : saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Chapel Hill, NC : Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2005.
"In this influential work about the staggering divide between children and the outdoors, child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation—he calls it nature-deficit—to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as the rises in obesity, attention disorders, and depression." http://richardlouv.com/books/last-child/ ,website accessed 2015
Mooney, "New research suggests nature walks are good for your brain" Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/06/29/fixating-or-brooding-on-things-take-a-walk-in-the-woods-for-real/?postshare=221435691833147 ,website accessed 2015
Hanscom, "THE UNSAFE CHILD: Less Outdoor Play is Causing More Harm than Good" Children and Nature
"The author is a pediatric occupational therapist and the founder of TimberNook, which focuses on nature-centered developmental programming in New England." http://www.childrenandnature.org/2015/05/06/the-unsafe-child-less-outdoor-play-is-causing-more-harm-than-good/ ,website accessed 2015
Rosin, "The Overprotected Kid: A preoccupation with safety has stripped childhood of independence, risk taking, and discovery—without making it safer. A new kind of playground points to a better solution." The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/03/hey-parents-leave-those-kids-alone/358631/ ,website accessed 2015
Steele, "Study: Hiking Makes You Happier"
"Research shows outdoor walks improve mental health" http://www.outsideonline.com/1805496/study-hiking-makes-you-happier ,website accessed 2015
Uutiset, "Even a Short Walk in the Woods is Good for You, Researchers Claim" Children and Nature
"Just a daily 20-minute trip into the wild can boost mental and physical health, and make children less susceptible to allergies, according to a new report by a team of Finnish forestry researchers. " https://www.childrenandnature.org/2015/01/19/even-a-short-walk-in-the-woods-is-good-for-you-researchers-claim/ ,website accessed 2015
Williams, "This Is Your Brain On Nature" National Geographic
"When we get closer to nature - be it untouched wilderness or a back yard tree - we do our over stressed brains a favor." http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/call-to-wild-text , website assessed January 2016
"When Joseph Cornell's classic book reached its 20th anniversary, Cornell drew upon a wealth of experience in nature education to significantly revise and expand his book. New nature games--favorites from the field--and Cornell's typically insightful commentary make the second edition of this special classic even more valuable to nature lovers world-wide. The Sharing Nature movement that Cornell pioneered has now expanded to countries all over the globe. Recommended by Boy Scouts of America, American Camping Association, National Audubon Society and many others."
Louv, "Leave No Child Inside: The movement to get kids outside is forging new relationships between educators, conservationists, even real estate developers." Orion Magazine
https://orionmagazine.org/article/leave-no-child-inside/ ,website accessed 2015
Louv. Last child in the woods : saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Chapel Hill, NC : Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2005.
"In this influential work about the staggering divide between children and the outdoors, child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation—he calls it nature-deficit—to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as the rises in obesity, attention disorders, and depression." http://richardlouv.com/books/last-child/ ,website accessed 2015
Mooney, "New research suggests nature walks are good for your brain" Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/06/29/fixating-or-brooding-on-things-take-a-walk-in-the-woods-for-real/?postshare=221435691833147 ,website accessed 2015
Hanscom, "THE UNSAFE CHILD: Less Outdoor Play is Causing More Harm than Good" Children and Nature
"The author is a pediatric occupational therapist and the founder of TimberNook, which focuses on nature-centered developmental programming in New England." http://www.childrenandnature.org/2015/05/06/the-unsafe-child-less-outdoor-play-is-causing-more-harm-than-good/ ,website accessed 2015
Rosin, "The Overprotected Kid: A preoccupation with safety has stripped childhood of independence, risk taking, and discovery—without making it safer. A new kind of playground points to a better solution." The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/03/hey-parents-leave-those-kids-alone/358631/ ,website accessed 2015
Steele, "Study: Hiking Makes You Happier"
"Research shows outdoor walks improve mental health" http://www.outsideonline.com/1805496/study-hiking-makes-you-happier ,website accessed 2015
Uutiset, "Even a Short Walk in the Woods is Good for You, Researchers Claim" Children and Nature
"Just a daily 20-minute trip into the wild can boost mental and physical health, and make children less susceptible to allergies, according to a new report by a team of Finnish forestry researchers. " https://www.childrenandnature.org/2015/01/19/even-a-short-walk-in-the-woods-is-good-for-you-researchers-claim/ ,website accessed 2015
Williams, "This Is Your Brain On Nature" National Geographic
"When we get closer to nature - be it untouched wilderness or a back yard tree - we do our over stressed brains a favor." http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/call-to-wild-text , website assessed January 2016
OBJECT OF CAMPING
The object of a camp is (a) to meet the boy’s desire for the open-air life of the Scout, and (b) … individual training in character and initiative and in physical and moral development.
These objects are to a great extent lost if the camp be a big one. The only discipline that can there be earned out is the collective military form of discipline, which tends to destroy individuality and initiative instead of developing them, …
So it results that camps should be small – not more than one Troop camped together; and even then each Patrol should have its own separate tent at some distance (at least 100 yards) from the others. This latter is with a view to developing the responsibility of the Patrol Leader for his distinct unit.
October, 1909
The object of a camp is (a) to meet the boy’s desire for the open-air life of the Scout, and (b) … individual training in character and initiative and in physical and moral development.
These objects are to a great extent lost if the camp be a big one. The only discipline that can there be earned out is the collective military form of discipline, which tends to destroy individuality and initiative instead of developing them, …
So it results that camps should be small – not more than one Troop camped together; and even then each Patrol should have its own separate tent at some distance (at least 100 yards) from the others. This latter is with a view to developing the responsibility of the Patrol Leader for his distinct unit.
October, 1909
SHORTS [ADVENTURE AND SCOUT SPIRIT]
It would be an interesting study to find out why each boy who is a Scout first joined the Scouts. It would also be equally interesting to ascertain why each ex-Scout left the Scouts.
So far as I have gone in such investigation on my own account the conclusion that suggests itself is briefly this: Wan of adventure brought the boy in -- lack of adventure took him out.
By "lack of adventure" I mean too much drill or too much school method and too little scoutcraft, backwoodsmanship and camping, with a consequent absence of the Scout spirit.
June 1917
It would be an interesting study to find out why each boy who is a Scout first joined the Scouts. It would also be equally interesting to ascertain why each ex-Scout left the Scouts.
So far as I have gone in such investigation on my own account the conclusion that suggests itself is briefly this: Wan of adventure brought the boy in -- lack of adventure took him out.
By "lack of adventure" I mean too much drill or too much school method and too little scoutcraft, backwoodsmanship and camping, with a consequent absence of the Scout spirit.
June 1917
CALM AND CHEERY
THE calmness and the cheerfulness of trained Scouts when doing their work has often been commented upon. It is what results from giving them aims and ambitions which they can carry out for themselves, and from which they CM gain personal satisfaction. The secret of the Montessori system is that the teacher merely organises the work, suggests the ambition, and the child has full liberty in accomplishing the object aimed for. Freedom without organised aim would be chaos. It is for this reason, without doubt, that Scouting has been defined as the continuation of the Montessori system with boys. The Scoutmaster initiates the ambition in the boy, leaving him free to gain his objective in his own way -- he does not instruct, he leads the boy on to learn for himself.
August, 1914
THE calmness and the cheerfulness of trained Scouts when doing their work has often been commented upon. It is what results from giving them aims and ambitions which they can carry out for themselves, and from which they CM gain personal satisfaction. The secret of the Montessori system is that the teacher merely organises the work, suggests the ambition, and the child has full liberty in accomplishing the object aimed for. Freedom without organised aim would be chaos. It is for this reason, without doubt, that Scouting has been defined as the continuation of the Montessori system with boys. The Scoutmaster initiates the ambition in the boy, leaving him free to gain his objective in his own way -- he does not instruct, he leads the boy on to learn for himself.
August, 1914
SCOUTING IS A GAME, NOT A SCIENCE
Scouting, as I have said above, is not a science to be solemnly studied, nor is it a collection of doctrines and texts. Nor again is it a military code for drilling discipline into boys and repressing their individuality and initiative. No — it is a jolly game in the out of doors, where boy-men and boys can go adventuring together as older and younger brother, picking up health and happiness, handicraft and helpfulness.
Many young men are put off Scoutmastering by the fear that they have got to be Admirable Crichtons and capable of teaching their boys all the details for the different Badge tests; whereas their job is to enthuse the boys and to get experts to teach them. The collection of rules is merely to give guiding lines to help them in a difficulty; the training courses are merely to show them the more readily the best ways of applying our methods and of gaining results.
So may I urge upon Scouters that the more important quest for 1931 is to ginger up the joyous spirit of Scouting through camping and hiking, not as an occasional treat in intervals of parlour or parade Scouting, but as the habitual form of training for their boys — and incidentally for themselves.
January, 1931
Scouting, as I have said above, is not a science to be solemnly studied, nor is it a collection of doctrines and texts. Nor again is it a military code for drilling discipline into boys and repressing their individuality and initiative. No — it is a jolly game in the out of doors, where boy-men and boys can go adventuring together as older and younger brother, picking up health and happiness, handicraft and helpfulness.
Many young men are put off Scoutmastering by the fear that they have got to be Admirable Crichtons and capable of teaching their boys all the details for the different Badge tests; whereas their job is to enthuse the boys and to get experts to teach them. The collection of rules is merely to give guiding lines to help them in a difficulty; the training courses are merely to show them the more readily the best ways of applying our methods and of gaining results.
So may I urge upon Scouters that the more important quest for 1931 is to ginger up the joyous spirit of Scouting through camping and hiking, not as an occasional treat in intervals of parlour or parade Scouting, but as the habitual form of training for their boys — and incidentally for themselves.
January, 1931
SYNTHETIC SCOUTING
Personally I fear there is the danger that a kind of synthetic Scouting may creep into our training in place of the natural article described in Scouting for Boys. I would urge District Commissioners to watch out for this in the course of their inspections and correct the tendency where they spot it.
By “synthetic scouting” I mean the Scout system obscured by overclothing the natural form with rules and instructive literature, tending to make what originally was, and should be, an open -air game into a science for the Scouter and a school curriculum for the boy.
August, 1936
Personally I fear there is the danger that a kind of synthetic Scouting may creep into our training in place of the natural article described in Scouting for Boys. I would urge District Commissioners to watch out for this in the course of their inspections and correct the tendency where they spot it.
By “synthetic scouting” I mean the Scout system obscured by overclothing the natural form with rules and instructive literature, tending to make what originally was, and should be, an open -air game into a science for the Scouter and a school curriculum for the boy.
August, 1936
STANDARDIZATION OF BADGES
"We have to remember that the Scoutmasters are voluntary play leaders in the game of Scouting, and not qualified school teachers, and that to give them a hard-and-fast syllabus is to check their ardour and originality in dealing with their boys according to local conditions."
"Our standard for badge earning is not the attainment of a certain quality of work (as in school), but the amount of effort exercised by the individual candidate."
November 1921
"We have to remember that the Scoutmasters are voluntary play leaders in the game of Scouting, and not qualified school teachers, and that to give them a hard-and-fast syllabus is to check their ardour and originality in dealing with their boys according to local conditions."
"Our standard for badge earning is not the attainment of a certain quality of work (as in school), but the amount of effort exercised by the individual candidate."
November 1921
OUR AIM
This aim is to make our race a nation of energetic, capable workers, good citizens, whether for life in Britain or overseas. ...
And the Great Aim means not only the practice of give-and-take with your own officers, but also with other organizations working to the same end.
In a big movement for a big object there is no room for little personal efforts; we have to sink minor ideas and link arms in a big "combine" to deal effectively with the whole.
We in the Boy Scouts are players in the same team with the Boys' Brigade, Church Lads, Y.M.C.A., and Education Department, and OTHERS. Co-operation is the only way if we mean to win success.
May, 1910
This aim is to make our race a nation of energetic, capable workers, good citizens, whether for life in Britain or overseas. ...
And the Great Aim means not only the practice of give-and-take with your own officers, but also with other organizations working to the same end.
In a big movement for a big object there is no room for little personal efforts; we have to sink minor ideas and link arms in a big "combine" to deal effectively with the whole.
We in the Boy Scouts are players in the same team with the Boys' Brigade, Church Lads, Y.M.C.A., and Education Department, and OTHERS. Co-operation is the only way if we mean to win success.
May, 1910
THE HANG OF THE THING
A SCOUT officer came to me the other day with a scheme for organising the Movement on a better footing than heretofore. It involved a certain amount of expense in offices, whole-time secretaries, etc. But there was a plan to meet this with an adequate contribution of funds from Local Associations.
...
He was going on to describe further advantages of the scheme when I felt bound to save him the trouble, and I burst in on him with the remark, "My dear chap! ... These are some of the minor material objections. But there is another and far greater consideration that upsets the whole
caboodle. WE ARE A MOVEMENT, NOT AN ORGANISATION."
We work through "love and legislation." That is where we differ from so many other systems; it may be wrong of us, but that is our way, and, in spite of it, we have somehow managed to do something in the twelve years of our existence. I have just got back from a pretty big tour of Scouting in other parts of the world, and what I have seen there only confirms me in the conviction that in working through love for the boy, loyalty to the Movement, and comrades hip one with another -- that is, through the SPIRIT OF SCOUTING -- we are on the right line.
July 1921
A SCOUT officer came to me the other day with a scheme for organising the Movement on a better footing than heretofore. It involved a certain amount of expense in offices, whole-time secretaries, etc. But there was a plan to meet this with an adequate contribution of funds from Local Associations.
...
He was going on to describe further advantages of the scheme when I felt bound to save him the trouble, and I burst in on him with the remark, "My dear chap! ... These are some of the minor material objections. But there is another and far greater consideration that upsets the whole
caboodle. WE ARE A MOVEMENT, NOT AN ORGANISATION."
We work through "love and legislation." That is where we differ from so many other systems; it may be wrong of us, but that is our way, and, in spite of it, we have somehow managed to do something in the twelve years of our existence. I have just got back from a pretty big tour of Scouting in other parts of the world, and what I have seen there only confirms me in the conviction that in working through love for the boy, loyalty to the Movement, and comrades hip one with another -- that is, through the SPIRIT OF SCOUTING -- we are on the right line.
July 1921
CITIZENSHIP AND POLITICS
In short we do not support any current politics, but rather train the youth by allowing them to learn how to led themselves in units to be better statesmen/women for tomorrow.
The Other Fellow's Point of View
OUR attitude in the Boy Scout Movement is that we do not wish to be in conflict with any political, educational, religious, or other body, but we are very glad to have their advice or suggestions. Our aim is to be at peace with all and to do our best in our own particular line. Probably the majority of us are in sympathy with the Socialist ideal, though we may not see with the same eye the practicability of its details or its methods. We, in the Scouts, desire not so much to cure present social evils as to prevent their recurrence in the rising generation; …
Our main effort is to attract the boys and to beckon them on to the right road for success in life; we endeavor to equip them -- especially the poorest -- with "character" and with craftmanship so that each one of them may at least get a fair start.
The fact is, that justice and fair play do not always form part of our school curriculum. If out lads were trained as a regular habit to see the other fellow's point of view before passing their own judgement on a dispute, what a difference it would at once make in their manliness of character!
June , 1912
The Responsibilities of Citizenhood
This is a matter, however, that cannot be taught by class instruction in "civics." … It is statesmanship rather than party politics for which we want to prepare them. … Thus the Patrol [patrol method] becomes a practical school of self-government.
June, 1918.
A Mountain Dream [Active Citizenship]
As very many Scouters have already realised, it opens up a wonderful opportunity for each of us, according to our powers, whether we be Scouters, Rovers, or Old Scouts, to take a hand in spreading by personal example, by teaching and talks, this practical step in the so-called Moral Rearmament. One man cannot hope to do much, but tiny individual coelenterata have built coral islands by co-operation in an idea l. It needs a highly optimistic acorn to start hopefully on producing an oak tree. …
Let us therefore, in training our Scouts, keep the higher aims in the forefront, not let ourselves become too absorbed in the steps. Don't let the technical outweigh the moral. Field efficiency, backwoodsmanship, camping, hiking, good turns. Jamboree comradeships are all means, not the end. The end is CHARACTER-- character with a purpose.
March, 1939
In short we do not support any current politics, but rather train the youth by allowing them to learn how to led themselves in units to be better statesmen/women for tomorrow.
The Other Fellow's Point of View
OUR attitude in the Boy Scout Movement is that we do not wish to be in conflict with any political, educational, religious, or other body, but we are very glad to have their advice or suggestions. Our aim is to be at peace with all and to do our best in our own particular line. Probably the majority of us are in sympathy with the Socialist ideal, though we may not see with the same eye the practicability of its details or its methods. We, in the Scouts, desire not so much to cure present social evils as to prevent their recurrence in the rising generation; …
Our main effort is to attract the boys and to beckon them on to the right road for success in life; we endeavor to equip them -- especially the poorest -- with "character" and with craftmanship so that each one of them may at least get a fair start.
The fact is, that justice and fair play do not always form part of our school curriculum. If out lads were trained as a regular habit to see the other fellow's point of view before passing their own judgement on a dispute, what a difference it would at once make in their manliness of character!
June , 1912
The Responsibilities of Citizenhood
This is a matter, however, that cannot be taught by class instruction in "civics." … It is statesmanship rather than party politics for which we want to prepare them. … Thus the Patrol [patrol method] becomes a practical school of self-government.
June, 1918.
A Mountain Dream [Active Citizenship]
As very many Scouters have already realised, it opens up a wonderful opportunity for each of us, according to our powers, whether we be Scouters, Rovers, or Old Scouts, to take a hand in spreading by personal example, by teaching and talks, this practical step in the so-called Moral Rearmament. One man cannot hope to do much, but tiny individual coelenterata have built coral islands by co-operation in an idea l. It needs a highly optimistic acorn to start hopefully on producing an oak tree. …
Let us therefore, in training our Scouts, keep the higher aims in the forefront, not let ourselves become too absorbed in the steps. Don't let the technical outweigh the moral. Field efficiency, backwoodsmanship, camping, hiking, good turns. Jamboree comradeships are all means, not the end. The end is CHARACTER-- character with a purpose.
March, 1939
BP MANUALS
Building the Training Course
In conclusion, let me say the scheme which I have suggested has purposely been left sketchy in many of its details. It is merely an outline on which a Cubmaster can build his own course of Training. The essential is that the aim and spirit as here indicated should be thoroughly grasped. I do not want Cubmasters to feel themselves otherwise fettered by traditions, rules, and syllabuses.
Baden-Powell. The Wolf Cub's Handbook. 9th Edition. 1938. page 154.
In conclusion, let me say the scheme which I have suggested has purposely been left sketchy in many of its details. It is merely an outline on which a Cubmaster can build his own course of Training. The essential is that the aim and spirit as here indicated should be thoroughly grasped. I do not want Cubmasters to feel themselves otherwise fettered by traditions, rules, and syllabuses.
Baden-Powell. The Wolf Cub's Handbook. 9th Edition. 1938. page 154.