wild (adj): in it's natural or unadulterated state; fanciful (to create a notional world for oneself); nature's inherent wisdom
Our Philosophy
Wild World Education (WWE) was created to support and enhance the intellectual, physical, emotional, social, ethical, and spiritual wellbeing of the children, families, and educators it serves. We believe that meaningful and enduring education happens as a result of experiencing wonder, awe, and connection through learning situations that involve mind, body, and spirit. We believe children have an inherent desire to learn – a desire that is, unfortunately, very often thwarted or misunderstood in our culture. Therefore, our educators and mentors are dedicated to trusting children and providing a curriculum that honors the sacred learning of childhood.
WWE’s educational philosophies are based on the work of Richard Louv, Michael Cohen, Joe Heimlich, David Sobel, and the myriad others who believe that children learn effortlessly through what is available to them in the wild (through nature and natural, inherent processes). As recently as 50 years ago, the wild was easily available to us – to our children. Today, however, the wild isn’t always accessible, nor is it often sought in a culture that has reduced childhood learning to standardized norms and high-stakes testing.
Over the last decade, mental health professionals, childhood advocates, parents, and educators themselves, have reported a decreased satisfaction in the way we educate our children. Further, and, perhaps more importantly, our children are letting us know very loud and clear through their behaviors (childhood’s primary language) that rote, standardized, end-user academics simply isn’t the way to inspire life-long learning.
From children’s toys to academic curricula, children are given the end-product – in order to be entertained (e.g. electronic toy) or for rote memorization of a concept. We’ve become more interested in the effects of providing fixed, uni-dimensional, meaning-less experiences as we witness unprecedented rates of psychiatric childhood diagnoses; (ADHD, ODD, Low-frustration tolerance, etc.) health-related diseases (obesity, Type II diabetes, sleep disorders etc.); learning disabilities; lack of creativity, imagination, and perseverance; and overall childhood depression.
Do children want to be “hands-on” and take part in the process of creation and discovery, or do they want the “quick fix?” Are children really “playing” when they are holding an electronic toy? Are they really “learning” when they are acquiring facts for rote memorization? These are questions for adults to ponder – and, happily, many are.
WWE’s belief is that children want and need to explore, to question, to create. They want and need the space and freedom to come up with the questions, to find out the answers, and to ultimately experience that it is through this natural process of discovery that their learning has occurred. .
