Call to Action for Nature

10/01/2008

Sometimes, the most brilliant and intelligent minds do not shine on standardized tests because they do not have standardized minds.
Diane Silvers Ravitch, educational policy analyst and research professor

In the closing session of the 2008 Working Forum on Nature Education, Harriet Egertson and Susan Anderson presented a Call to Action that they had prepared for the Nature Action Collaborative for Children of the World Forum Foundation and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education. This document called for a commitment to action in recognition that children and youth of the world benefit in many ways and across multiple domains of learning and development when they become more connected to the natural world. They introduced the Call to Action as follows:

"A child's experience in the natural world can be as small as helping to plant a roof-top garden, sitting under, in, or around the single tree in sight, or listening for the sound of a bird. Spending time in a natural environment has been documented to improve life and learning in many ways. Sadly, such a connection with nature has been slipping away from many of us — and especially so for the world's children.

"This paper calls upon families, educators, and community leaders worldwide to become as children and rediscover the benefits of paying attention to nature — and to take action to strengthen children's connections to nature — making developmentally appropriate nature education a sustaining and enriching, fully integrated part of the daily lives and education of the world's children."

To read the entire Call to Action, to read the list of current endorsers, and to become an endorser, go to the Nature Action Collaborative for Children web site.

Introduce Nature Into Your Program

The Exchange resource book, Learning With Nature Idea Book, offers a set of guiding principles as well as a host of practical ideas for setting up natural classrooms at your center or family child care home.

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