This Seems Clear Enough: When

Numerous Studies Document The Benefits To Students From School Grounds That Are Ecologically Diverse And Include Free Play Areas, Habitats For Wildlife, Walking Trails, And Gardens.

The Times I Spent With My Children In Nature Are Among My Most Meaningful Memories-and I Hope Theirs.

Children Who Played Outside Every Day, Regrdless Of Weather, Had Better Motor Coordination And More Ability To Concentrate.

I Do Not Mean To Imply That The Good Old Days Were Perfect. But The Institutions And Structure--the Web--of Society Needed Reform,not Demolition. To Have Cut The Institutional And Community Strands Without Replacing Them With New Ones Proved To Be A Form Of Abuse To One Generation And To The Next. For So Many Americans, The Tragedy Was Not In Dreaming That Life Could Be Better; The Tragedy Was That The Dreaming Ended.

Now, My Tree-climbing Days Long Behind Me, I Often Think About The Lasting Value Of Those Early, Deliciously Idle Days. I Have Come To Appreciate The Long View Afforded By Those Treetops. The Woods Were My Ritalin. Nature Calmed Me, Focused Me, And Yet Excited My Senses.