Forest schools are based on the belief that children benefit from being in nature, where they play and engage in open-ended, child-centered social and physical activity.
What if there were a sturdier option than butterflies for learning about metamorphosis—one that children could hold? Good news! This is possible when you study mealworms.
I think about being a parent and a teacher and observing children. Even experts can forget that there is a time to model and guide, and also a time to give space for the kind of learning that happens with uninterrupted play and exploration.
If the environment is the third teacher, there is no better classroom environment than the outdoors. I use our experiences and my notes and pictures as inspiration for our curriculum.
ECSIF felt like children in a candy store—or naturalists in the woods! We had so many opportunities to learn at NSTA. Here are some of the most powerful ideas!
ECSIF felt like children in a candy store—or naturalists in the woods! We had so many opportunities to learn at NSTA. Here are some of the most powerful ideas!
One reason it is so important to introduce science to very young children: the understandings they develop—no matter how basic or partial—provide a framework for later learning.
As an outdoor educator and “nature elder,” Heather Taylor tells two stories that stretched her personal views of what it means to allow children to have the freedom to make their own choices as they study nature.
NAEYC promotes high-quality early learning for all children, birth through age 8, by connecting practice, policy, and research. We advance a diverse early childhood profession and support all who care for, educate, and work on behalf of young children.
This summer, discover learning activities for the classroom and explore resources to add to your teaching toolbox and enhance your professional development.
