chcece012.support the children to connnect week 3

CHCECE012
Support Children to connect with their world

Section 3 Nature education: strategies to increase childrens experiences and understanding of animals and the natural environment

Section 3: Nature Education

In this section you will have the opportunity to:-Learn about ways to help children explore flora, fauna and other aspects of the natural environment

Identify sustainable practices relevant to education and care services that relate to waste and water

Develop an understanding of aboriginal connections to land, country and environment

Early childhood is a great time to involve children in education for sustainability and develop lifelong practices to ensure the respect and protection of our planet. We believe a sense of wonder, belonging to and love of the natural environment, living things and animals is critical for young children to develop lifelong respectful, positive and proactive attitudes towards protecting our environment, caring for all living creatures and creating a sustainable environment

Catherine Lee (2009)

Nature education can also be referred to as Education for Sustainability or Learning for Sustainability

Looks at using the outdoor environment and natural resources to extend childrens understanding and appreciation of their environment.

Allows children to experience the wonder and magic of nature through exploring, feeling, sensing, and experimenting.

Uses the environment as a medium for education.

Education in the environment

Providing meaningful opportunities and experiences for children to learn about how ecosystems work

Helping children understand the complexity of current environmental issues

Assisting children to understand and explore sustainable practices and efficient use of resources

Education about the environment

Encouraging children to think about the social changes needed to resolve environmental issues e.g. Separating rubbish, recycling, plastic free lunch boxes

Education for the environment

Research shows that the first 8 years of a childs life are the most critical period for learning and development.

Our world is undergoing massive environmental changes and challenges that we all need to acknowledge.

The children of today are the adults of tomorrow. They will be responsible for problem solving, planning and implementing goals and solutions.

Why is nature education so important in early childhood?

Climate change will directly affect the lives of young children both now and in the future. It would be irresponsible for us not to share this information with children, to give them the opportunity to learn how their actions impact on the health of the planet. This knowledge enables children to learn how to be part of the climate change solution and teaches them that they can make a difference. Tracy Young Why do young children need to know about climate change?Early Childhood Australia, Every Child, 2007

Links to research

Give our children time to belong and just be with nature everyday.

Embed a deep connection with nature and sustainability into our

curriculum and see it in action in our daily practice.

Connect with each other, the land and the traditional custodians of our

land to nourish our souls and experience our shared culture and history

Engage our children in conversations about the power of their actions

and how their actions can make change happen.

Ensure our children have freedom, uninterrupted time to play outdoors

with nature, develop critical thinking and a sense of place, can imagine and create, have their voices heard, make decisions and take risks everyday.

Catherine Lee 2011

Our responsibility

Belonging knowing where and with whom you belong is integral to human existence. Children belong first to a family, a cultural group, a neighbourhood and a wider community.

Beingrecognises the significance of the here and now in childrens lives. It is about the present and them knowing themselves, building and maintaining relationships with others, engaging with lifes joys and complexities, and meeting challenges in everyday life.

Becomingreflects this process of rapid and significant change that occurs in the early years as young children learn and grow. It emphasises learning to participate fully and actively in society

Links to the EYLF

Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years LearningFramework. Commonwealth of Australia 2009

Outdoor learning spaces foster an appreciation of the naturalenvironment, develop environmental awareness and provide aplatform for ongoing environmental education... Environments and resources can also highlight our responsibilities for a sustainable future and promote understanding about their responsibility to care for the environment. They can fosterhope, wonder and knowledge about the natural world

Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world.

Children become socially responsible and show respect for theenvironment

Links to the EYLF

Develop secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships.

Develop partnerships

Have high expectations and strive for equity

Respect diversity

Invest in ongoing learning and reflective practices

EYLF Principles

Adopt holistic approaches to teaching and learning - recognise the connectedness of mind, body and spirit

Be responsive to children and value and build on childrens strengths,

skills and knowledge to ensure their motivation and engagement in learning.Plan and implement and learn through play

Engage in intentional teaching and recognise that learning occurs in

social contexts and that interactions and conversations are vitally important for learning.Create physical and social environments that have a positive impact

on childrens learning. Value the cultural and social contexts of children and their families and

the communityProvide for continuity of learning to enable successful transitions

Assess and monitor learning

EYLF Practices

The National Quality Standards (NQS) (ACECQA, 2011) supports the implementation of sustainability in early childhood services.

Quality Area 3: Physical environment

Standard 3.3 The service takes an active role in caring for its environment and contributes to a sustainable future.

Element 3.3.1 Sustainable practices are embedded in service operations.

Element 3.3.2 Children are supported to become environmentally responsible and show respect for the environment (ACECQA, 2011, p. 104-108

Links to the NQS

Article 29 Goals of education Childrens education should develop each childs personality, talents and abilities to the fullest. It should encourage children to respect others, human rights and their own and other cultures. It should also help them learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people. Children have a particular responsibility to respect the rights of their parents, and education should aim to develop respect for the values and culture of their parents.http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

Natural playspaces

Play is a vital part of childhood and growing up. Children learn through play to develop social, physical and emotional skills. Providing children with an outdoor learning environment that incorporates areas for quiet, natural, creative, active and stimulating play will allow children to learn whilst using their imagination. By inviting a child to use their initiative and explore possibilities we provide them with the best opportunities to learn.

The National Quality Standard (NQS) for Early Childhood Education and Care and School Age Care 3.1.3 states a requirement for outdoor spaces to include natural elements and materials which allow for multiple uses.

Natural playspaces

What possibilities do the following environments offer to children?

Opportunities to explore and discover....

To experience a sense of wonder...

Allow children to be spontaneous, active and

creative.

Provide for children of all ages and abilities,

and for boys and girls alike.

Promote light, moderate or vigorous physical

activity that supports childrens growth and development.

Natural playspaces

Play is a vital part of childhood and growing up. Children learn through play to develop social, physical and emotional skills. Providing children with an outdoor learning environment that incorporates areas for quiet, natural, creative, active and stimulating play will allow children to learn whilst using their imagination. By inviting a child to use their initiative and explore possibilities we provide them with the best opportunities to learnHandout Kidsafe factsheet Natural Playspaces

Why provide natural playspaces?

If we want children to flourish, we need to give them time to connect with nature and love the Earth before we ask them to save it.David Sobel, MEdProject DirectorAntioch New England Institute

Reflection

We know that reconnecting babies, toddlers and young children to the natural world:is crucial for their optimal intellectual and physical development;

provides a sense of refuge and healing in a sometimes violent and frightening world;

helps them grow into adults who care about environmental stewardship;

and,nurtures a sense of shared community among the worlds peoples.

(NACC, 2007)

Connecting to nature....

Creating a butterfly garden

Choose a sunny, sheltered butterfly garden location. Plants and butterflies need sun to thrive. If possible locate the butterfly garden on the north side of a building, wall, shrubs or trees to shelter it from wind that may blow tall plants over.

Never use pesticides to eliminate harmful insects as butterflies and their caterpillar larvae will also be killed.

Butterflies are attracted to masses of colour and fragrance, so cluster plants of the same species instead of scattering single plants.

A variety of plants that bloom at different times will attract a diversity of butterfly species from early spring through late fall.

To attract some species of butterflies, you must plant their preferred nectar-producing and host plants.

Provisions and experiences

In 1870 the Richmond birdwing was reported as being common in the Brisbane area and in northern NSW. Today, its rainforest habitat has been extensively cleared with less than one per cent of the original area still in existence. Permanent populations of the Richmond birdwing no longer exist in the Brisbane area and is threatened in northern NSW.

The Richmond birdwing lays eggs singly or in small clusters (up to three) on native Pararistolochia vines.The larvae are entirely dependent fon these vines for food. The caterpillars only leave these plants to complete their development as a pupa and emerge as an adult butterfly.

Eggs are also laid on the introduced Dutchman's pipe Aristolochia elegans but the leaves are toxic and kill the larvae.

Planting the native vines the caterpillar feeds on will help prevent the butterfly from becoming extinct

Richmond Birdwing Butterflies

Sensory gardens provide intimate spaces where young children can be immersed in the scents, textures and colours of plants and related elements. Along with specially selected plants, sensory gardens may also include elements such as wind chimes, wind socks, flags, and childrens art. One popular form of a sensory garden is a sensory pathway.

Sensory gardens............

Sensory gardens

Sensory pathways can be constructed of smooth, flat, stepping stones or tree cookies with gaps wide enough for in-between planting. Stepping stones can be natural stone or concrete or made by children to include hand prints, leaf prints, shells, marbles, coloured tile mosaics, or smooth glass. Glass blocks or clay bricks can be laid in the sensory pathway to add additional sensory richness and variety.

Sensory pathways

Gardening with children provides numerous opportunities for hands-on learning, inquiry, observation, and experimentation. Gardening also helps children build an understanding of and respect for nature and our environment.

When children participate in growing edible plants, they are more motivated to taste, eat, and enjoy fruits and vegetables.

Vegetable and edible gardens

Locate the garden in a sunny spot, not too far from the building. Having the garden close to the centre of activity makes it easier to keep an eye out for weeds, insect pests, watering needs, and ripe vegetables during harvest time.

Before deciding where to locate your garden, pay attention to the sun patterns in your outdoor space for a few days. Which area gets the most afternoon sun in the summer? Is that spot relatively flat and accessible? If so, it may be the best location for your new garden.

Location

Vegetable gardens

Container gardening is an easy, low cost, and child-friendly approach for growing fresh edible produce at child care centres. Children delight in growing and eating their own food and research shows that repeated exposure to healthy food options increases the likelihood of establishing healthy eating habits. Whether the centre staff want to grow a few tasty herbs, a pot of strawberries, or lettuce and tomatoes for delicious salads, there are four keys for successful edible container gardening.

Container gardening

Selecting containers

Selecting suitable plants

Selecting the right soil or potting mix

Providing the right growing conditions

Invite the children to help plant, water, and tend the garden and you will be growing healthy children for years to come.

Growing in containers

Natural materials, or natural loose parts, afford an array of open-ended play and learning opportunities, such as building, sorting, counting, and dramatic play. The availability of some natural loose parts, such as acorns and flowers, change with the seasons, while others, such as stones and branches, are available year round. Some outdoor learning environments are rich with natural loose parts, while others may require teachers and children to gather and bring in natural loose parts to supplement their outdoor learning environments.

Natural materials for play and learning

bamboo poles, bark chip, straw bales, small stones, log stumps, trimmed branches, pine cones, leaves, seeds, nuts, flowers, wood chips, shells............what can you add to this list?

Natural materials

Little Explorers Early Learning Centre was established in 1984. The centre is in need of refurbishment to better meet the National Quality Standard and the Early Years Learning Framework as these suggest that children need to be supported to have environmental awareness. Currently, the indoor space is furnished with plastic chairs and tables, and most of the toys, like LEGO, blocks, dolls, trucks and dramatic play items, are made of plastic. A number of the plastic toys and items of furniture are faded and broken. The sensory play items tend to be manufactured materials like pasta and rice. Fresh, un-recycled coloured paper is provided for craft activities, and unused items are thrown away into the regular rubbish bin. The centre purchases new books, toys and craft materials rather than second-hand items.

Read the case study and think of changes you could make to help this service meet the requirements of the EYLF and NQS

Case study

Stepping stones can be made using quick set cement. Collect 4 litre ice cream containers to use as moulds and decorate with non slip mosaic tiles, handprints, leaves or whatever the children think of......

For more detailed instructions refer to Handout 2 Kidsafe factsheet stepping stones

Making stepping stones

Excursions are a great way to expose children to natural environments. Excursions can be as simple as a walk to the park or community garden or a day visit to a rainforest, beach, botanic garden or recycling centre.

Remember to do a risk assessment prior to the excursion

Read the regulations carefully to ensure that you comply with child:adult ratios and travel safety.

Excursions

Activity

Think about your local area, Plan a walkabout excursion what natural resources could you focus the childrens attention on? How could you record the experience?

Take advantage of animals that visit your service and use these special visitors as a learning experience

Set up bird, owl and possum boxes to attract wildlife to your outdoor space

Discover which insects and spiders live in your playground

How can you encourage a greater diversity of wildlife at the centre?

Creating habitats for wildlife

Activity What could you do to connect children with wildlife in your area?

View:- http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp/e-learning-videos/talking-about-practice/embedding-sustainable-practicesPart 3

Handout 3EYLF PLP Newsletter No 11 2011 learning Spaces 1 - Outdoors

Wildlife habitats

Talk to children about waste and encourage them to think of ways to minimise waste in the service

Paper making

Making bio pots

Separating rubbish and saving food scraps for worms and chickens

Encourage nude food

lunch boxes

Managing waste sustainably in Childrens Services

Where possible use recycled paper for childrens activities.

Use both sides of the paper if possible

Send newsletters to parents electronically

Source recycled paper for photocopying

Use recycled materials and buy second hand equipment where possible

Activity-How could you involve children at playsession in reducing waste?

Managing waste sustainably in childrens services

Many centres are installing rain water tanks as a step towards sustainability. This can be used as a stating point for further discussion and learning for children, educators, families and community.

Rous Water has a Water Aware program available in Byron, Ballina, Lismore and the Richmond Valley. Barbara Jensen from Rous Water visits services and provides a program including:-

1.An interactive educational session for children

2.A water audit followed by discussion with staff and management to develop a water conservation action plan

3. A newsletter article, display and flyers are provided for the families

4. A bucket of educational materials for the centre to borrow.

Conserving water

Wollongbar Preschool worked hard to improve water usage. Over a number of years the preschool introduced changes to reduce water usage and waste. Through their commitment to water conservation and helped by a successful Community Water Grant and a water audit developed through the Rous Waters Early Childhood Education Program the preschool achieved a zero usage of mains water.

To achieve this the preschool installed two big tanks and plumbed them for all inside and outside uses. At the same time they changed over to water efficient devices eg single flush to dual flush toilets and installed flow restrictors in all taps. Water conservation strategies were also incorporated into their daily practices and programming eg regular Rous Water Children Education session (Water Aware Centre Program), water awareness activities and newsletter articles, singing the Water Watchers song at the end of year Parent concert, gardening with mulch and native plants and through recycling and reducing their use of new materials.

Case study Wollongbar Preschool
A 5 star water aware centre

Case study Wollongbar preschool

Water tanks for indoor and outdoor use

Childrens ideas on water conservation after Rous Water education session

The environmentally sustainable strategies were not restricted to water use. The educators, with the help of the North East Waste Forums Early Childhood Waste Wise Project developed a Waste Management Action Plan and implemented many of the outcomes and routines from this Action Plan:

Separation of materials i.e. recycling, worm farm, composting and food scraps for chooks

Labelling system for separating waste into appropriate bins, developed for children

Focus on low waste lunches to avoid packaging

Recycling of printer cartridges

New photocopier purchased for double sided printing

Silky Chooks and chook pen a new addition to the Preschool

Papermaking

Working towards buying more products with recycled content

Parent involvement encouraged with sharing of information through the newsletters

The Centre sees working to reduce their environmental impact is an ongoing process and the educators and community at Wollongbar Preschool have plans to improve their natural play spaces and to look at their energy use. Energy reduction actions could include installing solar panels at the Preschool to make and then sell electricity back to the grid and improving the natural lighting in the building to cut down on the use of lights.

Wollongbar preschool sustainable strategies

Focussing on relationships with family, community and nature helps children to be connected to and contribute to their world an important part of this connection is respect for diversity.

Learning environments that mimic natural outdoor environments and use natural materials provide unique opportunities to encourage creative play, and help children develop imagination and problem solving skills. They are important in connecting children to country and to nature

Some thoughts on creating inclusive spaces for Aboriginal children:-

Dont underestimate the value of visuals- having appropriate images that depict real life Aboriginal families and connections Value of oral traditions- our people often tell stories while drawing in the sand, so there is an oral, aural and visual depiction of events. Written materials dont go very far- find different ways of communicating with our people, aside from newsletters etc. Important for families and children to feel theres Something they can connect with at the centre Create localised brochures that show what happens in the service and its connection to the surrounding area and its people. Its likely that our mob will pick it up if they know the person in the picture.

Aboriginal connections

Educators might display posters, artefacts, artwork, flags and welcome signs with multicultural perspectives, but we need to ask the questions:

Why are they there? Are they reflective of educators genuine attitudes towards inclusion and equity?

Inclusion is not just what you do, but also the spirit behind what you do- how and why you do it(Sims, 2009).

If the educators lack culturally competent attitudes, one can only deduce that these environment provisions and displays are tokenistic. Without demonstrating each of the three elements (skills, knowledge and attitudes), an educator cannot be culturally competent (EYLF in Action BBB-

AISWA 70)

What is Tokenism and how can we move from tokenism to cultural competence?

Remember the Indigenous First Peoples of this nation and their traditional ways of caring for the earth. Find out about the traditional owners of the land your setting is on and how their culture worked in harmony with the local environment. In respectful ways, and in collaboration with local Indigenous organisations, investigate bush tucker and grow traditional plants. Learn about the highly significant rituals of Indigenous peoples and build childrens knowledge of Australias complex history.

Cultural Competence

At Wiradjuri Preschool and Child Care Centre, for example, educators realised that an ancient tree in the playground was becoming dangerous. Because they and the children were aware of the history and culture of the area, they recognised that the tree is linked to this land. Instead of removing the tree, they decided to fence it, have it professionally monitored for safety and use the space for regular smoking ceremonies conducted by Indigenous Elders.

It becomes clear that using the natural enhances childrens aesthetic, cognitive and social growth. Nature provides a base that encourages curiosity and the drive to learn new things; its a vital element in an inquiry-driven approach to learning in early childhood............

In conclusion

Real mud, real plants, real animals and real materials to work with give children connection, confidence and challenge; they also demonstrate that learning can happen anywhere, anytime ...

creating orderly and inspiring learning environments can be as simple as:planting a tree or a hedge

removing clutter and throwing out

damaged equipmentincorporating natural materials such as

hanging baskets and bamboo screens on a wire fencethe gift of a solar-powered water feature

and inviting children to help create a pebble garden around ithaving a Look what we found in the

garden today chart with words and pictures, the day and the datebringing in leaves and cones found in

the Botanical Gardens at the weekendproviding magnifying glasses and

relevant pictures and books for identification.

Children grow healthier, wiser, and more content when they are more fully connected throughout their childhood to the natural environment in as many educational and recreational settings as possible. These benefits are long term and significant and contribute to their future wellbeing and the contributions they will make to the world as adults.

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