There is an article in the most recent issue of Outside magazine about a school in North Carolina for kids with ADHD. The curriculum covers the standard academics but takes place completely outside and integrates traditional school learning with outdoor skills, adventures, and sports. It is an experimental program but the early results are more than encouraging. Kids who struggle with - and downright hate - traditional school are thriving in the outdoors. As the article puts it,
“The fact is, all human children learn by exploration, and we are tying their shoelaces together - not just with medication, but through over-structured, over-managed classrooms and sports teams, less freedom to roam, and ever more dazzling indoor seductions. Modern life has made all of us distractible and overwhelmed.”
When kids are given the freedom and space to wander they end up focused, concentrated, and - most important - happy and successful.
I don’t think Harry has ADHD (I think it is over-diagnosed these days and I don’t really care if he has it or not). But he definitely has some of the symptoms, though I think a lot of us do. He can get very irritable, easily frustrated, restless, and anxious when he spends long periods of time indoors. And our early attempts at formal school study have been miserable for everyone. He’s still very young and we’re not worried. But all his issues - whether it’s normal 4-year old behavior or unique to him - disappear when he’s outside. Whether it’s yard work, hiking, helping Grandpa build something, treasure hunting (geocaching), going to the beach, or other adventure and exploration, he locks in with a focus that his grandparents have said is very unusual for someone his age. He comes alive and fills with joy. If he gets hurt he doesn’t cry, if he gets tired he doesn’t complain, if he gets hungry he doesn’t whine, if something bothers him he doesn’t get mad, if he can’t do something the way he wants to he doesn’t get frustrated, and if the activity goes on for hours he doesn’t get bored.
I took him down to the lake today. I didn’t bring my watch or phone, but we left in the early afternoon and came home when the sun was almost down. He spent the whole time exploring the driftwood, building a driftwood building, finding driftwood swords, climbing rocks and logs, finding and hiding treasure, and enjoying being an adventurous boy. At one point he slipped on a log and hit his face pretty hard. It looked like it hurt. He almost cried but then remembered he was trying to walk across a 40-foot log without touching the ground and so dusted himself off and carried on. We had a wonderful time and I had to bribe him to leave.
When we had been home for a little while he became irritable and bored. He got a tiny cut on his toe from stubbing it on a chair and he went bananas - milking the cry for all it was worth and using the cut as leverage to try to get extra snacks. I think it was normal end-of-the-day toddler behavior but the contrast was amazing.
I don’t know that he’ll ever need to be in a special school, but I think some after-hours tutoring from Mother Nature will be a must.
