Some thoughts on children, nature and self confidence

Yesterday, I posted a link to an article on children and the outdoors to my LiveJournal. Today, I will give some more thoughts on this. While I don’t have children, I have friends who do. I have some friends who have kids in Cub Scouts. What I here about Cub Scouts today makes my sad. The soul and the mystery of the outdoors experience has been sucked the organization. Also, they have withdrawn the consequences of failure. They to have fallen to the belief that everyone must succeed every time (even if they really didn’t). This has resulted in many of the outdoor skills being lost from the program or watered down. There are important life lessons to be learned from failure and success. If a kid learns that he can succeed without adult interference, the child will gain more self confidence. Learning how to properly shoot a bow teaches concentration, patience and self discipline. The same goes for many other outdoor skills. Plus, these skills also teach the kids how to handle real life situations.

• Learning how to read maps and navigate in the woods can teach children how to find their way safely home if they wander away and get lost. It will also help them from panicking if they do get lost.
• Learning shooting skills (including safety) will teach them to respect projectile weapons (bows, air guns and firearms) and what to do if they (or one of their friends) find one.

In general, learning outdoor skills teaches your children about nature. It teaches your children about nature better than any book or video ever will.

For my friends who have children, if you want help teaching your kids outdoor skills talk to me. I will be more than happy to help or offer advice.