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1 NURTURING CHILDREN’S BIOPHILIA: DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
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BibTeX
@MISC{White_1nurturing,
author = {Y White and Vicki L. Stoecklin and White Hutchinson Leisure and Learning Group},
title = {1 NURTURING CHILDREN’S BIOPHILIA: DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FOR YOUNG CHILDREN},
year = {}
}
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Abstract
Extensive research in children’s development and experience in early childhood education has shown that young children: • Have unique learning styles that match their stages of development, which occur in an orderly sequence during their lives. All domains of development—physical, emotional, social, language and cognitive—change in a predictable way. • Form their values in their earliest years. The way children learn is completely different than adults. To be effective, children’s environmental education needs to be designed to match children’s developmental needs, interests, abilities and learning styles. Young children are active learners. Their best learning occurs with hands-on, interactive play and discovery rather than on trying to impart knowledge. Young children have a natural curiosity that requires direct sensory experience rather than conceptual generalization. To be effective and engage children based upon their developmental abilities and ways of learning, their hands-on sensory experiences need to be immersive and open-ended rather than structured and scripted. When it comes to environmental education, the best learning environments are informal and naturalistic outdoor nature-scapes where children have unmediated opportunities for adventure and self-initiated play, exploration and discovery. “Childhood has its own way of seeing, thinking and feeling and nothing is more foolish than to try to substitute ours for theirs.”
Keyphrases
nurturing child biophilia young child direct sensory experience hands-on sensory experience cognitive change way child self-initiated play environmental education need developmental ability conceptual generalization extensive research natural curiosity active learner environmental education early childhood education predictable way naturalistic outdoor nature-scapes interactive play orderly sequence unique learning style child developmental need learning environment
