"Teaching Children about the natural world should be treated as one of the most important events in their lives."

Thomas Berry, Dream of the Earth

"What do parents owe their young that is more important than a warm and trusting connection to the Earth...?"

Theodore Roszak, The Voice of the Earth

"Children have a natural affinity towards nature. Dirt, water, plants, and small animals attract and hold children's attention for hours, days, even a lifetime-so eloquently portrayed by Robert Pyle. This conclusion, drawn from observations of children over many years, supports the "biophilia hypotheses" of biologist E. O. Wilson, which suggests that humans are genetically programmed to be drawn to nature-not surprising since we are an integral part of the natural system."

Natural Learning, Creating Environments for Rediscovering Nature's Way of Teaching, Robin C. Moore and Herb H. Wong

"What if there are stronger, more affirmative bonds, bonds of love and loyalty? What if we really are part of the natural world out of which we evolved, which mothered us into existence? Then conceivably we are bound to the natural environment in much the same way that we are bonded to the loved ones around us in a family. And that's a very strong motivation to tap if you believe it's there and if you can awaken it."

Interview with Theodore Roszak, author of Voice of the Earth

"As a child, one has that magical capacity to move among the many eras of the earth; to see the land as an animal does; to experience the sky from the perspective of a flower or a bee; to feel the earth quiver and breathe beneath us; to know a hundred different smells of mud and listen unselfconsciously to the soughing of the trees."

Valerie Andrews A Passion for this Earth

"I sincerely believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil."

Rachel Carson, A Sense of Wonder

"At age seven, children have as passionate a longing for creative interactions and learning as they earlier had for explorations of the world."

Joseph Chilton Pearce, The Magical Child

"Without continuous hands-on experience, it is impossible for children to acquire a deep intuitive understanding of the natural world that is the foundation of sustainable development. ….A critical aspect of the present-day crisis in education is that children are becoming separated from daily experience of the natural world, especially in larger cities.

Natural Learning, Creating Environments for Rediscovering Nature's Way of Teaching, Robin C. Moore and Herb H. Wong

"I have described human beings as those organisms who possess a basic set of 7, 8 or a dozen intelligences. Thanks to evolution, each of us is equipped with these intelligence potentials, which we can mobilize and connect according to our own inclinations and our culture's preferences…. My review process indicates that the naturalist's intelligence clearly merits addition to the list of the original seven intelligences."

Intelligence Reframed: Mulltiple Intelligences for the 2lst Century , Howard Gardner

"If we want children to flourish, to become truly empowered, then let us allow them to love the earth before we ask them to save it. Perhaps this is what Thoreau had in mind when he said, "the more slowly trees grow at first, the sounder they are at the core, and I think the same is true of human beings."

David Sobel, Beyond Ecophobia

"Only as a child's awareness and reverence for the wholeness of life are developed can his humanity to his own kind reach its full development."

Rachel Carson, Edge of the Sea