Comments on: Are children getting enough direct experience with natural materials?

By: Ruby @ Animal Camp

Ruby @ Animal Camp — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:37:51 +0000

I will have to agree. Our schools focuses more on the books and theories without really considering the application part. I believe kids should be exposed more on the outside world. I’m pretty sure it will be so much more fun and efficient for the kid’s education.

By: Never Be Within Doors… | Purple For Parenting

Never Be Within Doors… | Purple For Parenting — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:40:12 +0000

[...] stress reduction, attention restoration, and healthy development.” More anecdotally, science teachers are increasingly questioning the impact of students’ lack of basic experience with the natural world on their ability to [...]

By: Marie Faust Evitt

Marie Faust Evitt — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:01:46 +0000

I haven’t thought about grasshopper “tobacco juice” since my childhood! That’s what we called it, too. This lack of outdoor exposure is rampant nationwide, I fear. Author Richard Louv calls children’s lack of nature experiences Nature Deficit Disorder in his book, “Last Child in the Woods.” Louv quotes a fifth grader in San Diego who said, “I like to play indoors better ’cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are.” We early childhood teachers can make an important contribution by making nature approachable AND weaving in math, literacy and language. In my preschool class, for example, we’ve been learning about spiders because children are fascinated by the giant spider web and spider decorations for Halloween. When children find a spider outside at school they often want to kill it (as they’ve seen their parents do). So, we read lots of non-fiction and fiction books to learn how spiders are really useful creatures who eat pesky flies and mosquitoes. We go on a spider hunt to see where we might find spiders. The dynamics of the hunt change children’s perceptions dramatically. Instead of being frightened because a spider has surprised them, they are excited when they find one. They are more in control. (Of course we have to be familiar with the few spiders who bite people and advise children to look with their eyes and not put their hand into an area they cannot see.) Then we can create a graph of where children find spiders and webs. We also work in literacy and language by making up new verses to “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” such as “The great big tarantula” and the “Teeny tiny spiderling.” And the children love acting out Little Miss Muffet, especially when it’s their turn to be the spider. I’m glad you brought up this topic, Peggy.

By: Peggy Ashbrook

Peggy Ashbrook — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:01:01 +0000

Alexis, I agree that science may be neglected. By reading aloud to my preschoolers, and having them include some writing (their name or first letter, some nonalphabetaic or “scribble-scrabble” writing) when they do a drawing during a science activity, I hope to let students, teachers,and parents know that writing and science go together.

By: Alexis

Alexis — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:20 +0000

It almost makes you wonder if too much emphasis is being put on reading, writing and math to pass the tests that now science and other subjects are being neglected…