I first heard about Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv a year or so ago. It promptly went on my wish list, but I never got around to buying it. Now I have the updated version, and I was just amazed by it.

It’s a really good read.

Of course, it may have helped that the author is from my area. One of the people he spoke with in the book grew up along Tecolote Canyon in San Diego, where I grew up. My sisters and I hiked there often.
The topic is also near and dear to my heart: encouraging children to get outside and play. Backyards are a good start, but better is if they can get time out on a hike, in the forest, along a creek and so forth.

Now, I’ve said before I think the back yard is a better “babysitter” than the television ever was. That’s just been my experience. Television teaches children that they don’t need to pay attention for long periods. Playing outside, they focus for much longer periods.

While nothing’s been proven scientifically, Last Child in the Woods notes many cases where parents report their children behave much better after playing in the natural world. Many people think it helps with symptoms of ADHD.

There are also some very good points about how much harder it’s getting to find people who really understand the basics of natural science. It’s not as popular a topic of study as other areas, such as biotech.

What I really appreciated, however, was the last part of the book. It’s called the Field Guide to the Last Child in the Woods, and it has some great suggestions. There are 100 actions you can take to get more in touch with nature, for example, such as starting a garden.

The book is well worth the read. I’m going to try to get my husband to read it too. It’s not his usual style, but given how much he loves hiking and being outdoors, I think he’ll go for it.

When I got my copy of Please Don’t Label My Child, I figured it for a fairly interesting read. While no one professional has tried to tell me either of my kids might have Attention Deficit Disorder or something like it, my inlaws have raised the possibility. I don’t consider it a possibility myself. She’s not the most focused child, but she’s also just 5. I think she just needs time to figure out how to behave at school.

But the more of it I read, the more interested I got. The author included a lot of individual examples where children who others considered to be ADHD or to have other emotional health problems were helped without medications. Should I ever face that kind of thing with my own kids, that’s exactly how I’d want to handle it too.

It’s horrifying when you read about how many kids are being given medications for various behavioral issues. This is an issue that people have been aware of for years, yet too many are willing to just follow a doctor’s advice and use the medications. It’s easier, after all, even though some medications have serious potential side effects. I found this article on it from 2004, in which the spending on behavior modifying drugs had outpaced spending on antibiotics and asthma medications.

That’s just depressing to me.

Please Don’t Label My Child gives some wonderful tips on what else can be done. Consider the circumstances, for example. Of course a child will misbehave if there are current or past problems in his or her life that are not being properly addressed.

Probably my favorite section was on bullying. My daughter had to deal with a classmate who she found rather challenging. She has an active fantasy life while he takes everything seriously and wanted her to do likewise. Just a few words from him and she’d just droop.

Not quite bullying, in my mind, or at least I don’t feel he meant it that way, but it certainly had an impact on her until she learned how to cope with it. This book did help me to think on her reactions to it and how to help her a little.

If you’re a parent, I do very much so recommend this book. You may never face the situation of having someone recommend one of these medications for your child, but why not be prepared for it, in case? You’ll find the insights in general quite interesting.