Here’s the dirt on dirt. Children love it, and parents are always cleaning it. Does that sum it up? Actually no. The days of playing in the dirt without an agenda or plan until the dinner bell rang are fading away and quickly being replaced with structured activities or limited free play in perfectly groomed and manicured parks and playgrounds. Even worse, time spent outside is being replaced with technology laden time indoors. Independent hands on discovery and exploration of the world is being limited by clean, sanitary, and safe adult approved activities. Creativity, curiosity, and flexible thinking, are decreasing while sensory issues, difficulties in problem solving, immune diseases, and allergies are on the rise. I’m not saying that dirt is the answer to all of our children’s problems, but a little more dirt in our children’s lives wouldn’t be so bad.

You may or may not know that my family moved from an apartment into a brand new home with a huge yard – correction – dirt pad back in January. Everything in our house was new and clean, free from scratches, fingerprints…and dirt. If you know me well, you know that I’m a tidy girl, and I like things clean and orderly. The very fact that this brand new clean home sits in the middle of this huge lot of dirt is very juxtaposed. In fact it is nearly impossible to go outside our house and back in without bringing in some of the dirt.

After being cooped up in our apartment for so long all my children want to do is go outside and roam. Actually, it’s not because they were cooped up in an apartment, it’s because they are children. Since our move they have discovered a new freedom, one where they just open the doors and go in and out of the house on their own. None of this new freedom is lost on them, or me. Our time in the apartment made it very clear to me that cleaning up dirt is really a privilege. How lucky are we that we have space to roam and explore?

They are learning what the Earth feels like, and smells like, and maybe even tastes like. They are getting uncomfortable and learning how to tolerate uncomfortable for just a little while. They are experiencing things that a playground and a living room don’t and can’t offer.

And what’s better than dirt? Dirt with water! What does it make? Mud. Awesome sticky mud that feels slimy, and heavy, and moves slowly – a splendid sensory experience.

In our yard, water runs as rivers in the dirt and makes canyons ( a perfect lesson opportunity for land and water forms) and ideal little roads for little cars. It makes batter for cakes and mud pies.

There is a lot of research out there that suggests we actually need to increase our children’s exposure to dirt. You may or may not be familiar with the “hygiene hypothesis” which states that lack of exposure to dirt, specifically the microbes found in dirt leads to an increased risk of auto-immune diseases and allergies. Basically, our children are suffering because we are simply too clean. As parents we work hard to ensure that our children are developing normally, we expose them to new environments that challenge their brain, and help them learn social skills – yet are we doing the same for their immune system? Thorn McDade, PhD associate professor and director of the Laboratory for Human Biology research at Northwestern University says, “Just as the brain needs stimulation, and input, and interaction to develop normally, the young immune system is strengthened by exposure to everyday germs so that it can learn to adapt and regulate itself.” (1) Perhaps even more interesting is the research that suggests dirt is good for the brain! “Playing in dirt increases happiness, and enhances learning.” (2) A 2010 study done by Sage Colleges in Tory, New York, found that a bacterium naturally found in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, can accelerate learning and brighten moods by stimulating neuron growth and raising serotonin levels. It seems then that we should only be increasing our children’s opportunities to be outdoors and in the dirt instead of minimizing them.

So go ahead, play in the dirt, let your shoes get muddy – because afterwards you can show them how to scrub those shoes clean, and they will love that just as much!

A very special thank you to P.Donohue Shortridge for her research. 

References:

1.  “Is Dirt Good for Kids? Are parents keeping things too clean for their kids’ good?”  Webmd  http://www.webmd.com/parenting/d2n-stopping-germs-12/kids-and-dirt-germs

2. “5 Reasons to Let Your Kids Play in the Dirt”  Takepart.com  http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/03/26/5-reasons-let-your-kids-play-dirt

3. “The Dirt on Dirt”  National Wildlife Federation  https://www.nwf.org/pdf/Be%20Out%20There/Dirt_Report_2012.pdf

Here’s the scene:

It’s 4:00pm we just got home from school, and daycare. We have an hour before dad gets home and from then 30 minutes until we eat dinner, then it’s off to the bedtime races with an attempted lights out at 7:00pm sharp. It’s like clockwork every single day. The dinner plan? Not quite sure yet. Maybe chicken and some form of vegetable like every other night.

Within minutes of walking in the door, my youngest is pining for me, my oldest is nagging me with a script she needs to me say for yet another pretend princess game, and my middle is already in tears because he can’t find his red car. I scoop up the littlest one and haul him around on my hip, say the lines my oldest feeds me for our pretend game as I walk into the playroom to help the middle guy. I remember (who knows how) that I saw the red car in the laundry room wrapped up in a rag (he was sleeping) and so I decide to be the hero and go and get it.

“Darby will you please play with Pierce for just a minute while I go get Hewitt’s car? I will be right back.”

I race upstairs and before I get to the top, Hewitt is crying again, then Piece starts in, and Darby is off wrapping up her baby bear in the other room so she can take a nap. I come downstairs thinking I saved the day, and hand Hewitt his red car. Immediately he throws it across the playroom and shouts, “No! different car!” I feel my internal temperature rise along with my rage. Take a breath, walk away. He proceeds to melt down and I ignore him as I pull the chicken out of the fridge, set it on the counter, all while baby is still on hip.

I wanted to put Hewitt on the steps and tell him he was in time out for throwing, and for yelling but I didn’t. The truth is he’s really to young to understand time out, and on top of that, realize that he’s in time out on the stairs for something he did in the playroom. Out of desperation, I took another breath, went back in the playroom and started building a ramp (a sure win in his book) out of blocks. After just a minute or two, he came and sat next to me, and we happily built together for 30 minutes. Darby eventually joined in, and Pierce was happy just to be with everyone. Dinner was a little late but my kids were happy.

Later that evening I reflected on my choice, my choice to have a time in rather than a time out.  I wondered, does time out even work?  Does it teach the lesson that needs to be taught?  Perhaps it offers the parent a little short term reprieve but in the long run is the problem really being solved?  Am I being the parent I want to be?  I googled a little and came across this article.  Positive discipline can be tricky.  Not giving attention to negative behavior can also be tricky.  Finding the patience and compassion for time in is tricky for sure, but most often what everyone needs.   Next time your kiddos need a little guidance think about how much time in they are really getting.  My guess is, less than desirable behavior is a call for some attention, for some time in.  Sadly, time in can be a very challenging thing to keep up on, but the rewards are endless.

I could feel the worry get heavier as the days went on.  My son was 16 months old and still showing no signs of talking.  No babbles, no effort to make words, nothing.  He smiled a lot, he laughed, and he cried when he was unhappy but that was all we got from him.  In the depths of my heart I knew that this was bigger than me, I knew that he needed help but I chose to hold on to the hope that every parent has at some point during a journey like mine; “He will grow out of it, he will be fine.”

It took a while, but I found it; one day I found the courage I needed to make the phone call.  I was at school, listening to two young boys share stories about weekend events and it hit me, “I wonder if Hewitt will ever share conversation with friends? How is he going to make friends without talking?  I wonder if I will ever get to hear what he has to say?  C’mon Kerry just do it, do it now.”  So I did, I called Child Find and scheduled a screening for my son.  I was terrified, and relieved all at the same time; terrified to find out that something was really wrong, but relieved to have finally stepped on to the path of help and discovery.

Hewitt was evaluated just a few weeks after the phone call, and we were told that he indeed needed some speech therapy.  It hit me like a ton of bricks –  the “T” word – therapy.  “Why didn’t I take him in sooner, he’s probably needed therapy for quite some time.  Was I not doing enough at home?  How is therapy going to fit into my busy schedule?  I don’t have time for therapy.”  Those were the thoughts that flooded my mind all at once.  “Breathe.  Breathe.  The hardest part is over” I told my self.

The truth is, the hardest part was over.  We left Child Find that day, I wept on the way home but haven’t cried a tear over it since.  Therapy, big bad ugly therapy has been such a gift for our family.  We were paired with one of the most amazing, nurturing speech therapists around.  She worked hard to connect with Hewitt as well as our entire family and she unlocked him.  She taught us how to help him and we formed deeper more meaningful connections because of all that we learned.  The weight of the worry was lifted, and my heart nearly exploded with every tiny bit of progress Hewitt made.  Therapy was wonderful and amazing.

I share my story because maybe it will give someone the nudge they need to seek help for their child.  As preschool teachers we are often the frontline for all things concerning growth and learning (differences, abilities and struggles).  So often we see children not get the help they need because parents are afraid.  I know I certainly don’t want my children to just be “fine”, I want them to be equipped for awesomeness, I want them to be amazing, and confident, and reach all their potentials.  When I listen to my son crack inside jokes with his sister, or when he tells me “I wuv you more Mama!” I melt with gratitude and love, and am so thankful the parent in me finally listened to the teacher.

We describe it as magic, because what else do you call something that seems unbelievable? 40 young children in a classroom that is all their own, happily engaged, socializing with peers, concentrating on work, making decisions, following directions, practicing, and learning. Don’t you want to come see? Beginning November 1st, we invite you to come observe. Please, slow down, carve out some time from you busy day; sit in our chair and see what we see, hear what we hear, and feel what we feel. Our guess is you’ll want to come back for more.

When you are ready, please give us a call to schedule your observation – we’ll be sure to put it in pen on our calendar.