Module 3: Developing High Quality Early Childhood Environmental Education Programs - Fostering Learning

In the following tasks you will dig deeper into Guidelines 2, 3 and 4 which focus on effective instruction within early childhood programs.

Key Characteristic #2 - Developmentally Appropriate Practice

Overview: Effective early childhood environmental education is designed and implemented using established developmentally appropriate practice, which is defined as “matching the learning environment, the physical set up and materials, schedule, curriculum, teaching methods to the developmental levels of children” (Oltman, 2002, p.2). This includes the following Guidelines: (2.1) Based on Research and Theory, (2.2) Authentic Experiences, (2.3) Child-Directed and Inquiry-Based, (2.4) The Whole Child.

TASK 1: Read through Key Characteristic #2 (page 18-23), including Appendix D - Overview of Selected Theorists Important to Early Childhood Education (67-68).

TASK 2: Read the following story then respond to the questions below in your Course Journal.

Stephanie, Emma, and Amy Discovered Some Caterpillars in the Garden. They took turns holding them gently and then put them in a small jar. “What do they eat?” they asked a teacher. “We have a book in the classroom that will tell us. I’ll go get it,” she responded. When the teacher returned, the children had given the caterpillars a big drink—so big that they were floating and not moving. Alarmed, the children thought the caterpillars had died. The teacher helped them pour off the water and the caterpillars began to move again. The teacher explained that caterpillars only need little drinks because they are very little. Together, they looked in a field guide and found that caterpillars are vegetarians—a word the children immediately understood because one of their classmates was a vegetarian. The children gathered bits of leaves to put in the jar. The teacher in this example was responsive to children’s interests and questions, and assisted them in finding information they wanted. The teacher helped them solve their floating caterpillar problem, using it as a teachable moment.

• Have you ever encountered a similar scene when outdoors with young children? What were the children doing? What did you do? 
• How did the teacher in this story encourage the children’s learning? What else might the teacher do to encourage the children’s learning? 
• How can adults enhance children’s opportunities to discover their environment both indoors and outdoors? 
• What learning theories or approaches relate to this story? Be as specific as possible. (See Appendix D - Overview of Selected Theorists Important to Early Childhood Education on pages 67-68 for reference).

Key Characteristic #3 - Play and Exploration

Overview: Early childhood environmental education programs ensure opportunities for nature-based play and exploration, both indoors and outdoors. Play and exploration are natural, spontaneous acts in which all children engage. This includes the following Guidelines: (3.1) Use of Natural World and Natural Materials, and (3.2) Play and the Role of Adults. Read more about these on pages 25-29.

TASK 3: Play is an essential part of early childhood education. Read the box about the Benefits of Play on page 26. In your Course Journal, describe which benefits resonate the most with your program.

TASK 4: Think about how play is facilitated. As adults, what are some ways you can create opportunities for play, especially play with natural objects and play in the outdoors?

TASK 5: Exploration outdoors can be seen as messy and dirty and potentially dangerous. Imagine that some of the caregivers on your advisory board resist the idea of taking children outside to play. Make a list of the barriers they might express. Then, describe ways of reducing or eliminating those barriers or risks. How could you make connections to reduce those barriers and collaborate with other stakeholders? Be as specific as possible.

Key Characteristic #4 - Curriculum Framework for Environmental Literacy

Overview: In effective early childhood EE programs young children are provided opportunities to explore their environment and develop knowledge and skills. Through the use of an environmental learning curriculum framework, educators intentionally foster growth and development across social-emotional, cognitive, physical, and language domains. The curriculum framework should be designed and implemented to be consistent with developmentally appropriate practices (key characteristic 2). This learning will lead, as the child matures into adulthood, to environmental literacy. Guidelines for this Key Characteristic include: (4.1) Social and Emotional Growth, (4.2) Curiosity and Questioning, (4.3) Development of Environmental Understandings, (4.4) Skills for Understanding the Environment, (4.5) A Personal Sense of Responsibility and Caring and (4.6) Physical Health and Development.

TASK 6: Scroll through these slides to learn more about the Guidelines in Key Characteristic #4.

TASK 7: In your Course Journal, complete the table by reviewing each Guideline and underlying indicators (the bullet points below each Guideline) and making a list of 3-5 things that you do well and of 3-5 new things that you would like to use in your early childhood program. If you are developing a new program, focus on the strengths that you envision bringing, and 3-5 areas you would want to include but need to build new skills.

Reflection

In this final section, take some time to reflect on all six key characteristics and your own early childhood environmental education programs.

TASK 8: In your Course Journal, answer the following:

• Thinking about all 6 Guidelines broadly or collectively, imagine a rating scale of 0-7 where 0 would be not developed at all, the middle of the scale would be partially developed, and a seven on the scale would be fully developed and meeting all parts of the guidelines. Where do you think your program is at this point in time? Why do you give yourself that rating? 
• Which of the 6 Characteristics is the easiest to incorporate in your program? Why? 
• Which of the 6 Characteristics is the hardest to incorporate in your program? Why? 
• What is one concrete action you could take in the next six months to more fully address these guidelines?

OPTIONAL: Complete the Early Childhood Environmental Education Rating Scale

A companion publication, the Early Childhood Environmental Education Rating Scale, provides a collaborative tool for educators and others to discuss their early childhood environmental education program goals, consider strengths and areas of needed improvement, and chart a future direction for program development. Whether you work with a center-based child development or family day care center, this tool can help you make needed improvements in the quality of activities, experiences, interactions, and instruction concerning the world of nature and its value in society. Environmental education centers, too, may benefit through improvements in curriculum that better respond to the abilities, interests, learning styles, and motivations for learning of young children.