Nature-deficit disorder describes the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses. The disorder can be detected in individuals, families, and communities.

Children who played outside every day, regrdless of weather, had better motor coordination and more ability to concentrate.

All spiritual life begins with a sense of wonder, and nature is a window into that wonder.

The real cultural war is between the culture of narcissism and what might be called the culture of renewal.

In a famous Middletown study of Muncie, Indiana, in 1924, mothers were asked to rank the qualities they most desire in their children. At the top of the list were conformity and strict obedience. More than fifty years later, when the Middletown survey was replicated, mothers placed autonomy and independence first. The healthiest parenting probably promotes a balance of these qualities in children.

By bringing nature into our lives, we invite humility.

There is a real world, beyond the glass, for children who look, for those whose parents encourage them to truly see.