Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/a-seed-from-home-how-staff-development-inspired-a-curriculum-in-nature/5027122/
*Photos can be found in the pdf version of this article.
Mere discussions about roots, petals, and stems is largely worthless for children unless they are able to tie that new vocabulary to the real experience of beans, earth, water, and sunlight.
—Joanne Hendrick
I remember attending ongoing professional development at Harvard University Architectural School of Design to learn how to design natural spaces in my child care setting. The certificate program, led by James Greenman and other contributors, placed special emphasis on suburban landscapes, where the opportunity for creating natural pathways and learning spaces inside and outside the school were endless. In his book “Caring Spaces, Learning Places: Children’s Environments That Work” Greenman wrote about the importance of creating an intentional school environment that framed nature in its design and provided children with opportunities to freely explore native flora and fauna up close. According to Cole & Cole, the cognitive development of a child will vary according to the depth and richness of the experience in any given domain, extending a child’s ability to gain critical thinking skills which, over time, may change them from novice to expert (2001). A classroom that aims to engage children in deep and rich experiences in ...