Creation Exploration
Nature and ADHD/ADD
I have long felt that there was an answer for children, especially young children who are being diagnosed and labeled with ADHD/ADD. When did it begin? Maybe it was my training as an early childhood educator, who went from a child focused training to teaching focused classrooms. Maybe it was growing up with a curious, and active younger brother. Maybe it was my own self-diagnosis as an adult when I took a Teaching Students with ADHD course for continuing education credit. Or maybe it was the beginning of my naturalist training when I heard Jon Young founder of Wilderness Awareness School and Eigh Shields say, in his CD series, Seeing Through Native Eyes, that he'd once worked with a student who'd been diagnosed/labeled, and that student had amazing awareness skills.
Or maybe, just maybe, it was a small piece of each one of these life experiences, combined with years of working with and observing children (and adults) of all ages who were "labeled" and how they were in nature, verses how they were in confined settings with dictated, and often uninteresting, tasks before them.
One of my visions for Creation Exploration, is that we will become a refuge for these students, a place where they can come, explore, and most of all succeed. That through working with us, they will gain skills and confidence to become leaders of the future.
Below are links to some online articles that support the idea that lots of green space, lots of time outside, in nature is the best thing for these students.
If you would like more information, are interested in developing a homeschool program with nature as the spine for your student, or if you'd like to join in one of our programs, please feel free to reach out and contact me!
Raylene M. Hunt
B.S., Early Childhood Education
Kamana Naturalist, Level 2
Nature Connection Facilitator
