“As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.” from Antoine de Saint Exupery
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“The foundations for successful child development are established in early childhood.”
Duncan, G, Kalil, A, Mogstad, M, Rege, M. Investing in Early Childhood Development in Preschool and at Home. Working Paper 29985, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2022.
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“Decades of research have demonstrated the need for education strategies that recognize the connections between children’s social, emotional, cognitive, and academic development, as well as their physical and mental health.”
Whole Child Approach to Education - Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
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“The use of child-initiated learning activities in early childhood has repeatedly been associated with improved socioemotional outcomes, greater academic motivation and interest.”
Vaisarova J, Reynolds AJ. Is more child-initiated always better? Exploring relations between child-initiated instruction and preschoolers' school readiness. Educ Assess Eval Account. 2022 May;34(2):195-226.
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“Research has shown that children’s development of social and emotional skills at preschool age is critical for long-term school and life success. Teachers play a key role in this process. There is evidence to indicate that effective SEL depends, among other factors on the way teachers construct and incorporate SEL in their daily practices.”
Ferreira, M., Reis-Jorge, J, Batalha, S. Social and Emotional Learning in Preschool Education - A Qualitative Study with Preschool Teachers. International Journal of Emotional Education. 2021 Apr; 13(1):51-66.
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“Children are born to learn through play. Play creates happy, healthy, thinking, caring, and social children who will become collaborative, creative, competent, and responsible citizens tomorrow.”
Parker, R, Thomsen, B. Learning Through Play at school. Lego Foundation. 2019 March.
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In an important 2014 research study by McArdle & Wright, the arts were referred to as “children’s first literacies.” Extensive children’s neurological research also points to the importance of the integration of the left and right hemispheres of the brain for healthy child development.
Barton, G. Arts-based educational research in the early years. International Research in Early Childhood Education. 2015;6(1): 62.
“Do Experiences With Nature Promote Learning? Converging Evidence of a Cause-and-Effect Relationship”
Frontiers in Psychology, February 2019
the overwhelming answer is,
YES!
“Hundreds of studies now bear on this question, and converging evidence strongly suggests that experiences of nature boost academic learning, personal development, and environmental stewardship.
Report after report – from independent observers as well as participants themselves – indicate shifts in perseverance, problem solving, critical thinking, leadership, teamwork, and resilience…
In academic contexts, nature-based instruction outperforms traditional instruction. The evidence here is particularly strong, including experimental evidence; evidence across a wide range of samples and instructional approaches; outcomes such as standardized test scores and graduation rates; and evidence for specific explanatory mechanisms and active ingredients.
Nature may promote learning by improving learners’ attention, levels of stress, self-discipline, interest and enjoyment in learning, and physical activity and fitness.
Nature also appears to provide a calmer, quieter, safer context for learning; a warmer, more cooperative context for learning; and a combination of “loose parts” and autonomy that fosters developmentally beneficial forms of play.
