Growing With Nature - Supporting Whole-Child Learning in Outdoor Classrooms

This book from Nature Explore is full of helpful ideas and insights from people enjoying Certified Nature Explore Classrooms throughout the country. Engaging stories and photographs illustrate ways to help infants and toddlers, pre-schoolers, and elementary students discover the wonders of nature and strengthen their foundational learning skills. 144 pgs.

From the Authors:
We educators love to divide children's learning into "subject areas" or "domains." Doing so is helpful in many ways. By focusing on discrete topics - like language and literacy or science or math - we can assess whether children are developing the many skills and understandings they will need in order to become adults fully equipped to participate in life. But if we are not careful, we can fool ourselves into thinking that learning takes place in segments. In reality, it is crucial for educators and parents to recognize that children learn and develop best when they gain skills holistically. Children are able to develop skills and understandings in many areas at the same time as they engage in personally meaningful explorations of the world around them. This is why learning with nature is such a powerful motivator for holistic development.

• Nature's Lessons: A Way of Teaching
• Ideas Across the Curriculum: A Whole-Child Approach to Skill
• Development
  • Language/Literacy
  • Science
  • Social/Emotional
  • Mathematics
  • Body Competence
  • Creative Arts
  • Visual/Spatial
• Final Thoughts
• References
• Acknowledgements

ISBN: 978-0-9839465-0-2