Outdoor Education Commons^™

Enhancing Kindergarten Readiness, Aileen Z. Chavarin-Beleche

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Many parents of young children are unaware of successful ways to prepare their child for Kindergarten. Without preparation, children might struggle in their daily academics and fall behind their peers. Parents who learn more about Kindergarten readiness are more likely to create structured learning environments and help their child build skills to successfully transition to Kindergarten. In order to address this need, I have created a one-hour presentation for parents of children attending the Cabrillo College Children Center and Lab School in Aptos, California.

Perceptions Of Unstructured Recess And Classroom Behaviors In Elementary School Settings., Allison Shockley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The priority on core curriculum areas such as math and reading has resulted in limited physical activity and regular recess routines. With the increased time spent on core curriculum, teachers and administrators have shifted their focus towards standardized student testing achievement. This focus has resulted in limiting or doing away with unstructured recess with the hopes that students will gain more core curriculum knowledge. This dissertation will focus on educators' perceptions of elementary school student behavior with varying recess time structures. This study began by examining the history of recess while analyzing the trickled- down historical inequities elementary students experience …

Recreational Activity Handbook, Aisha Naz Ansari, Sadia Muzaffar Bhutta

Institute for Educational Development Pakistan (IED-PK) Archives

A thoughtfully designed resource for children in areas where attending school in person has become more challenging.

Amin's Harvest For Tomorrow Through Nine Compassionate Attributes:, Dua Nadeem, Bibi Haleema, Fazila Saleem, Komal Malik Shivji, Samina Iqbal, Seemi Batool

Institute for Educational Development Pakistan (IED-PK) Archives

At CfC, we believe that the future of our society depends on raising children who understand and practice compassion in all aspects of their lives. The book was created to help children connect with the concept of compassion and other core values, such as self-compassion, mindfulness, courage, gratitude, forgiveness, integrity, humility, altruism, and empathy. These values are essential not only for personal development but also for building stronger, more caring communities.
In the Sindh context, where communities face unique social, environmental, and climate related challenges, we wanted to provide children with a narrative that reflects the importance of collective action …

Barriers: Location, Functionality, And Method Of Access In Childhood Pool/Spa Submersion Incidents, United States, 2000-2017, Alison Miller, Kristina R. Anderson, William D. Ramos

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Drowning is a leading cause of fatality among children in the United States, and residential pools/spas currently account for as much as 80% of these submersion incidents. This study reviewed narrative case reports obtained from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to understand barrier location, type, and functionality as methods of pool/spa access for childhood submersion incidents. Retroactive analysis of 1,523 fatal and non-fatal submersion incidents among children aged 13 years old and younger was conducted using the CPSC in depth investigation dataset from 2000-2017. Narrative descriptions were coded according to the attributes of barrier location, functionality, and …

Exploring Accessibility And Social Inclusion For Children With Hearing Impairments In Residential Camps Through The Occupational Therapy Lens, Tiffany Coles

Student Capstone Papers

Children are encouraged to engage in various play, leisure, and social participation activities to enhance the development of life skills, independence, and social skills. A common leisure and social participation activity for children aged 6 to 18-years-old is to attend residential camp. Residential camps provide children a structured opportunity to engage in leisure activities while learning to become independent and self-confident when socializing and making new friends. Attending camp can be a fun and engaging environment to help accelerate growth in key developmental outcomes, such as positive identity, social skills, physical skills, positive values, and spirituality.

Within the residential camp …

Cultivating Healthy Schools: The Feasibility Of An Outdoor Classroom In A Public Elementary School, Erin Largo-Wight, Caroline A. Guardino, Katrina W. Hall

Florida Public Health Review

Background: Nature contact and time outdoors is critical for healthy child development and well-being and a disconnect from nature may be problematic. Purpose: This study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of a nature contact intervention for children – an outdoor classroom - in a public school. Methods: Two kindergarten classes participated in this mixed-methods case study (N=2 teachers, n=36 children aged 5-6) and used an outdoor classroom every other day for language arts lesson over a six weeks observation period. The two teachers in this case study completed a survey that assessed perceived practicality and feasibility of using the …

Biology 4920g: Companion Planting In The Community, Jacquline A. Nathaniel

Community Engaged Learning Final Projects

LIFE*SPIN is a local organization in London, Ontario that provides resources to individuals and families dependent on low income to ultimately break the poverty cycle by encouraging sustainable living and self-sufficiency. For this Seminar in Biology course, Maria Bata and I partnered with LIFE*SPIN to plan and execute a "Seeding Planting Party" to teach children about basic botany, nutrition, and leadership. The following final paper for this seminar discusses the project deliverables and efforts, biological research concerning companion planting, and personal reflection on this experience.

The Outdoors As A Learning Environment: Fostering Postive Inclusive Interactions, Linda L. Flynn, Maria Ruiz, Aaron R. Deris, Cynthia Dicarlo

Special Education Department Publications

This workshop will use DEC Recommended Practices to describe strategies and techniques to establish the outside as a learning environment. Modifications, adaptations, and assistive technology used to create an active, inclusive environment will be shared along with handouts and videos.

Research Updates, Coalition For Education In The Outdoors

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

This section contains the abstracts for the following research articles:

"The Relationship between Parental Attitudes toward Nature and the Amount of Time Children Spend in Outdoor Recreation"

"Introducing Generation Y to the Wilderness"

Practitioner's Corner, Joseph Cornell

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

This issue of Taproot's Practitioner's Corner focuses on an activity from Sharing Nature with Children II, 1989 by Joseph Cornell. The activity is called "Sound Map" and it focuses on Auditory Awareness and calmness.

Children And Nature Forum Update, Coalition For Education In The Outdoors

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

The fifty-four member Forum is dedicated to reconnecting kids with nature. By doing so, the Forum seeks to improve children's health and overall well-being, while encouraging them to rediscover America's landscape. The Forum believes that children's disconnect from nature, if left unchecked, shortchanges their health and happiness now-- and creates a future generation of adults that is less healthy, productive and able to value and protect our country's natural resources.

An Overview Of Outdoor Experiential Education In Canadian K-12 Schools, Mary Breunig & Tim O'Connell

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Must we always teach our children with books? Let them look at the mountains and the stars up above. Let them look at the beauty of the waters and the trees and flowers on earth. They will then begin to think, and to think is the beginning of a real education. - David Polis

In January, the authors of this paper spent an afternoon at the Norval Outdoor School in Norval, Ontario. It was a cold day. The ground was blanketed with a layer of new fallen snow and a group of 5th grade students were engaged in a form …

The Camp Experience, Deborah Bialeschki, Karla A Henderson, And Penny A James

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

The focus of this article is the importance of camp settings in providing a positive climate for youth development outcomes. Camps may be one of the largest organized interventions for children in the US followed only by schools and churches. Camp programs serve an estimated 12 million campers each year, so they have the potential to exert great influence on many children and adults each year. Camps provide interventions in that camp staff members are trained to help youth change in posi- Fall/Winter 2007 tive ways. Camp offers sustained experiences, usually in natural settings that promote a "sense of community" …

Update On Children And Nature, Coalition For Education In The Outdoors

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Arlington, Va.-This month, millions of kids swap school for the pool, ready for summer break. But is nature part of their plans? For too many, the answer is no. With that in mind, an eclectic group of the nation's leaders-including governors, mayors, CEOs, educators, and clergy-is launching an ambitious effort to reconnect kids with nature. This new effort, the National Forum on Children and Nature, will find and fund 20 projects across the country that demonstrate how kids can rediscover nature, through education, health, the media and the built environment.

Practitioner's Corner: Nature-Spirit Connection, Joel Light

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

I have been a Christian and been interested in nature for as long as I can remember. Because these values in my life started at the same time, I see the direct correlation between the two. Growing up on a small hobby farm in Northwest Ohio, I had many opportunities to experience the Creation. From the farm animals that I raised, to the ditches that I explored, to the fields I walked, and the country roads where i searched for signs of wildlife; I was aware of being in and part of the Creation. I was created by the same …

Review Of Hands-On Nature: Information And Activities For Exploring The Environment With Children, Laura Carey

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

In reviewing the second edition of this excellent resource, I was first struck by the finely detailed, crisp drawings that amply illustrate each activity. I found myself leafing through the whole book just to see the illustrator’s treatment of twigs, caterpillars, seed dispersal and rotting logs, among many other topics. I couldn’t resist comparing it with the first edition, which came out in 1986. I was pleased to see that the original format and sections (adaptations, habitats, cycles, and designs of nature) were maintained with the addition of a new section of more than 50 pages on earth and sky, …

An Interview With Richard Louv, Michael F. Shaughnessy

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Richard Louv has written a beautifully provocative book entitled Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Richard Louv believes that nature is an integral part of growing up, and that children need to be exposed to nature, the wilderness, trees, grass, the sky, and the beauty of the earth, forests, mountains, lakes, rivers and streams. In this interview, he discusses his book and his concerns.

Review Of Children And Nature, Josh Bochniak

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

There is no lack of resources, activities, books, or articles about children and nature. In fact, the amount of information available is overwhelming, Advocates for the importance of nature to children continue to declare the emotional, physical, intellectual, and moral developmental benefits of nature for children, but as Kahn and Kellert propose, “our scientific knowledge of the impact and significance of nature during varying stages of childhood is remarkably sparse.” In that statement lies the major thrust of this edition, Children and Nature. In twelve chapters by a variety of authors from a number of different fields of study, Kahn …

Preserving A Child's Sense Of Wonder In Nature, Deb Matthews

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Discovery and exploration come naturally to little ones, spurred on by their innate curiosity. Caregivers and teachers of young children should provide daily forays into the natural world - where the classroom is masterfully prearranged and equipped with an aura of enchanting, stimulating "toys."

The outdoors is a magical place for children where a sense of wonder takes wings. As early childhood teachers, caregivers or parents then, the challenge becomes even more vital in this setting to respond meaningfully rather than interfere mindlessly with their discovery process.

Letting Nature Shape Childhood, Will Nixon

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

In recent years, some naturalists, teachers, psychologists, and others have grown concerned that children no longer play very much at all in nature, whether inside or outside of school. "American children's freedom for freewheeling play once took place in rural fields, and city streets, using equipment of their own making. Today, play is increasingly confined to back yards, basements, playrooms and bedrooms, and derives much of its content from video games, television dramas and Saturday morning cartoons," explains Brian Sutton Smith of the University of Pennsylvania in Richard Louv's book, Childhood's Future.

A Kinship With Trees, Mary Ann Elliot

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

The childlike feeling of kinship with trees occurs again and again in the literature of spirituality. Sherry Ruth Anderson and Patricia Hopkins noted this connection often during the five years of interviews and research they did for their book The Feminine Face of God (Anderson and Hopkins, 1991, pp. 35-37). "Trees, there was something about trees. Over and over we heard stories about trees as companions, comforters, confidantes, and best friends in our discussions with the women about their childhoods. One of our favorites was told by a friend in her fifties ...

A Magical Garden For Children, Jane L. Taylor

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Gardening activities can provide wonderful opportunities for families ... and what better way for a child to learn more about where their food comes from than to grow some of their very own vegetables. And it's REAL! That's what one first grade child wrote to us after a visit to the 4-H Children's Garden. "I learned plants were real. The flowers were real. The Garden was real." Today's children are wired to Nintendo, TV, computers ... a garden provides a real life experience. We owe it to our children to give them a real experience and bring some joy into …

The Doctor Is Out, Erin Quinn

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

So she had decided to do her dissertation on the impact of environmental experiences on children's art, sense of self, cognitive and emotional abilities. She posed herself the question: Is experience in nature "good" for children? Or was it simply "great fun" to be outdoors? It was the 'thank-you' drawings that children had sent her that first sparked her interest in this subject-artworks which, in her words, "provide a fascinating lens through which to view children's mental and emotional development."

Making Interdisciplinary Connections To Your School Gardening Program, Marcia Eames-Sheavly

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Gardening is an exciting, approachable way to teach kids about plants. A good gardening program doesn't need to be one more thing thrown on your plate; by integrating it into the curriculum, gardening can be easy and interdisciplinary. Interdisciplinary projects enhance young peoples' ability to make connections among isolated facts, and to find meaning among those arbitrary facts. A U.S. News and World Report article (January 1993) pointed out that some interdisciplinary pilot projects in New York and Los Angeles schools even improved school attendance, and decreased drop-out rates.

Educational Gardening, Sharon Lovejoy

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

My husband and I have a family business where we work together to put in public gardens that have touched the lives of hundreds of thousands people. Today my husband asked, "Why did we do that?" And I said, "Because I don't care about clothes, and I don't care about fancy cars. But, I love to buy plants and work with kids, and I like to buy a few books once in a while." So, all it really takes is hard work and creative imagination, and wonders can be accomplished.