Outdoor Preschools

I haven't looked into it enough to know how "out there" this idea is, but I think I've read that there seems to be a correlation between lack of UV exposure and myopia.

Glass blocks UV. Which means people are getting next to zero UV exposure indoors, even if the room is brightly lit.

The past few years, we've been keeping out windows open basically from the time it's warm enough in the spring to when it starts getting too cold in the fall. We ran our AC for maybe a week total this summer.

Anyway, where I'm getting at with this is since our windows are open, we should be getting significantly more UV exposure, even when indoors. I wonder if the rise of air conditioning did a double hit to people's eyesight by both 1. Keeping them inside more often and 2. Leading to people closing their windows, which blocks UV exposure.

Anyway, a though I had the other day.

Your experiment has #samples = 1 and no external variables control, yet I absolutely believe the reported outcome.

Do you happen to know what the licensing problems are? My family is in exactly the same boat; I'd love to be able to complain constructively to DYCF about which of their rules is responsible for preventing us from using a program like Fiddleheads.

> sunlight

Skin cancer, much?

Maybe in Norway this makes sense.

For fair skinned people in lower latitudes, maybe not.

I thought nordic kids especially napped outdoors: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21537988

Maybe you live in more upscale cities than me but that all looks like commonly discarded stuff that some kids walking home from school would play with if they came across it.

>> I just wonder about rain/snow

Sounds like more worthwhile learning opportunities to me! I really dig this idea

There is a lot of gear involved... our son wears long underwear, wool socks, proper rain jacket / pants...and we're in a relatively mild climate. I think that's one of the benefits though - it teaches kids that crap weather doesn't mean you can't go outside and play, you just need to be prepared.

As far as naps - our kiddo doesn't take a nap anymore, so it isn't an issue. Younger classes typically get out earlier, so you could do a nap then. I'm not sure there are any all day outdoor preschools....

I remember when I was a kid we were spending 6-7 hours playing in the snow. In the evening we'd come home and there was ice on our clothes, shoes and socks. Wasn't a problem. We'd jump off the clothes and take a hot shower or drink some hot tea. Good times. Kids are very resilient. While it was really cold outside the energy generated from our play would warm us up all-right.

That seems like a good question. From the article:

> There, with temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, Rose and her 13 classmates are huddled together under a tarp hung among trees, learning to make cedar tea.

Yeah, that's hypothermia weather. Get a bit wet in that and you're going to be really, really miserable.

I love being outdoors, but 5C and rain is the worst. I much prefer snow and a bit of sunshine.

It's pretty common in Northern European countries too - even in winter. On a sunny winters day when it's -20C it's perfectly comfortable with the right clothing and footwear (which isn't expensive).

I hear this sentiment a lot, but as someone living the "one breadwinner, wife and three kids" life, it seems completely doable on tech job wages.

You just have to adjust your lifestyle somewhat. People talk about how you used to be able to live on much less money, but they forget all the added conveniences people have.

For example, my Grandma stayed home with my Dad and his seven siblings. But they also had an outhouse until he was in junior high. They also had a garden and lots of DIY improvisation knowledge.

The way I like to think of my current family situation is that instead of calling my wife a "homemaker" or something traditional like that, I say she's "financially independent". We have enough money that she doesn't have to work. So she doesn't. So what if I have to work. We're halfway to freedom.

When women entered the workforce en masse you had say 60% more workers, but still the same number of jobs. * That's around when wage stagnation started and seems to explain a lot of it. The answer should have been a shorter work week, more maternity/paternity leave, etc.

* Of course some other jobs were created in the process, like more caretaker jobs, and other stuff happened like more automation.

Kansas has outdoors. Might not have forests, but there is still benefit from being outside. I think they are called Forest Schools because they started in Europe / Scandinavia, which are forested places. Doesn't seem like there is any reason the concept couldn't be adapted to other climates.

Most towns have woodlands of some sort, don't they? I mean, globally. Sure there are desserts ...