WHAT IF WE SEEN THINGS DIFFERENTLY?

An alchemy of foundational knowledge to help us understand why the child, nature, sensitivity and free and wild movement are interrelated and part of the solution.

There is an astonishing and shocking parallel to be drawn which is this: For the first time in all of human history, children and nature are sounding the alarm at the same time.  Anxiety, stress, time spent on screens and in a chair, developmental, learning and behavioral disorders increase at the same time as climate, air, water and disappearance of species. What if we put the two together? And if we brought nature back to the child and the child back to nature, what would happen and what impact would it have on the child and his planet?

The child is a small terrestrial animal. Like birds or bees, it depends on nature to fully develop and discover its unique gifts and strengths. In this sense, we wish  re-enchant the  look at neurological and developmental diversity because it is essential for the ecosystem of humanity. 

The differences of each like the herbs in the garden should  be treated as opportunities and not as troubles.  They should be integrated rather than set aside.  They should inspire to try to understand rather than to judge.  The Western education system should take inspiration from what is done elsewhere with the greatest awareness rather than attempting to standardize children with a monoculture that exhausts both children and the very foundations of life in the soil. .

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Worry  the future of the Earth, its inhabitants and that of our children, I have developed over the past 30 years  a  approach  at the forefront of current knowledge.

I propose  for the first time in the history of  education pooling the golden pathways of neuroscience  brain with science  of nature and  ecology  for a  neural connection and to nature  deep,  responsible and sustainable. I think the link  Who  is  missing in our society is sensitivity and I consider this one  essential to reconcile the links and relations of the body to the brain then of the heart to others and to this magnificent Mother Nature. What can we really change without real sensitivity? What can we support or heal if we can't even be sensitive to each other, adults to adults, people to people, humans to nature, teachers to differences and if we keep comparing everything , separate, evaluate, label?   

The new Eco-educational Approach  Sensitive that I created can, I am convinced,  enable us as a society to take a giant leap forward. The challenges and difficulties demonstrated by our children but also our ecosystems and all the social crises  ask us to react urgently and to get into action. Sets.

How could it be otherwise?

Everything is interconnected.  In any living system, everything has its importance and participates in the synergy of the whole, in its essence and in its movement. Remove the child from nature, distort him by forcing him to remain seated and  to follow directions throughout the day does not make sense. Like all other animals, the child needs fresh air, nature, movement, running, touching the elements, exploring the world around him, getting to know it. He needs to learn to build shelters, to hunt, to gather edible plants, to take care of others, to protect himself. It is not made to stay in sensory isolation boxes, the ones we call houses. It is made for natural spaces. For life in a clan, in community, in the perpetual relations of the movement of humanity.  

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What neuroscience brings us is extremely precious: it is this supreme validation: therefore, the child in his great need of nature in fact expresses something very scientific. His brain depends on sensory stimulation from the natural world to develop optimally. Without it, he is under-stimulated. If it is under-stimulated, it develops fewer neural connections. And it is the latter that allow him to develop his full physical and motor, emotional and cognitive potential. All the same. Enter the faculties of the brain such things as attention, concentration, control of impulsivity, coordination, gestures, reasoning, learning of all kinds, emotions, language and communication ... to name just a few. Well...

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It is obvious that nothing can replace the infinite palettes of colors, smells, winds, sensations, tastes, textures, emotions, noises that nature offers us every day, hardly let's put our feet outside. Even in town. And that is precisely what our brain depends on. Abundant, rich, sensory experiences of contrasts and risk-taking that adapts to the experience. This is what allows it, squarely, to develop. 

By putting together the child, sensitivity, wild movement and nature, what will be the result?

And what will be the impact for the child in difficulty?

It is admittedly impossible to predict exactly what effects these approaches will have on each of the children. Much remains to be explored in the world of disorders and much more scientific research is needed.  

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But we know  a thing. The suffering of children and Mother Earth are  very real and must  be addressed.

This is why I believe that we have a responsibility to act to find leads that will not only act on the symptoms. We need to think about how we are raising children in this world, on this Earth. All generations before us knew: children need the great outdoors, to play outside, to be children, to feel useful, to feel loved and in interaction with their clan. This is now confirmed by neuroscience, but also by common sense!

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And if child care settings were transformed to include this fundamental knowledge, what would happen? What if families and schools stop believing that in the absence of authority and control children will do anything, stop learning or  of  to develop, what would happen? 

What if we just tried to see it differently?

What if we changed the paradigm?

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