Julie Powers - Nature-Based Learning for Young Children: Anytime, Anywhere, on Any Budget

NATURE-BASED LEARNING FOR YOUNG CHILDREN

Anytime, Anywhere, on Any Budget

JULIE POWERS SHEILA WILLIAMS RIDGE

www.redleafpress.org
800-423-8309

Published by Redleaf Press

10 Yorkton Court

St. Paul, MN 55117

www.redleafpress.org

2019 by Julie Powers and Sheila Williams Ridge

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted on a specific page, no portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or capturing on any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or electronically transmitted on radio, television, or the internet.

First edition 2019

Cover design by Jim Handrigan

Cover photograph iStock.com/debibishop

Interior design by Percolator

Typeset in Tiempos Text

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Powers, Julie, 1957- author. | Ridge, Sheila Williams, author.

Title: Nature-based learning for young children : anytime, anywhere, on any budget / Julie Powers, Sheila Williams Ridge.

Description: St. Paul, MN : Redleaf Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018029071 (print) | LCCN 2018043132 (ebook) | ISBN 9781605545974 (electronic) | ISBN 9781605545967 (pbk. : acid-free paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Science--Study and teaching (Early childhood)--Activity programs. | Nature study--Activity programs. | Environmental education. | Outdoor education.

Classification: LCC LB1139.5.S35 (ebook) | LCC LB1139.5.S35 P68 2018 (print)

| DDC 372.35/044--dc23

To our families

Julies familyMargarita Kay, Marty Rosenthal, and Gabriel Powers

Sheilas familyRobert and Jeannette Williams, Faruk Williams, Kimson Ridge, Faline Williams, Hailey Williams, Sierra Williams, and Olivia Williams Ridge

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

From Julie: Mama (Margarita Kay), thank you for letting me play outdoors unsupervised in the desert, on empty lots, and around the neighborhood when I was very young.

I have had many amazing mentors and colleagues who have inspired and encouraged me. Marcie Oltman has been the best mentor I could have had for my entrance into nature education, and Elaine Yamashita, the best colleague I could ask for in this time in my life. I would also like to thank my coauthor, Sheila Williams Ridge, for eighteen years of friendship, mentoring, humor, and acting as both my literal and metaphorical GPS!

From Sheila: Mom and Dad, thank you for your continuous support and encouragement, and for my dog Cinnamon, a wonderful friend to explore the desert with for many years. Kimson and our amazing daughters, Faline, Hailey, Sierra, and Olivia, thank you for taking time for hikes, canoeing, camping, snorkeling, biking, bonfires, and going on many other adventures. Our times spent exploring, especially those days in Yosemite and Hawaii, are some of the best moments of my life. Faruk, Aunt Sandra, Grandma Renate, Sameerah, Jody, and Uncle Larry, thank you all for your care and inspiration. Julie, you have been an amazing mentor and friendthank you for believing in me and nurturing me and my family with your love and support.

We would both like to acknowledge Alyson Quinn, Amanda Janquart, Amy Vavricka, Ayuko Boomer, Cherie Lazaroff, Elizabeth Criswell, Jenny Hanlon, Kit Harrington, Marcie Oltman, Marie Lister, Natalie Gilmore, Patti Bailie, Rachel Larimore, Ruth Wilson, and Sarah Sivright for sharing their stories of experiences with young children in nature; Faline Williams, Sierra Williams, Hailey Williams, and Olivia Williams Ridge for research and editing support; Gabriel Powers for his encouragement; our editors, Kara Lomen and Stephanie Schempp, for their great support and leadership on this book; Marty Rosenthal, who tolerated us taking over the house when Sheila came to Telluride to work with Julie and for responding to Julies calling out, How do you spell ? (Oh, and also for his love and support.); and Carl Marcus for his patience taking our photo while fighting off mosquitoes.

We would like to thank the schools that were used in examples of best practice in early childhood nature education, including All Seasons Preschool, Dodge Nature Preschool, Minneapolis Nature Preschool, My Nature Preschool at Tamarack Nature Center, Nature Preschool at Chippewa Nature Center, Shirley G. Moore Laboratory School at the University of Minnesota, Tucson Community School, University of Hawaii at Manoa Childrens Center , and Valley View Preschool.

INTRODUCTION

From Julie: For those of you readers who are new to nature education, welcome to our world! You will find the connections between early childhood education philosophies and nature a comfortable fit. Your experience may closely mirror my journey. After twenty-five years in the field as a teacher and/or director in early care settings including Head Start, parent-cooperative nursery schools, for profit and nonprofit child care centers, and an inclusion-based public preschool, I set off on a new adventure: starting a preschool at a nature center. I found many similarities between the people drawn to each field. Both chose their fields because of deep convictions, got lousy salaries, worked hard, and played hard. There were also differences. A good example was when a preschool educator came across a dead creature in the wild and her reaction was, So sad. I heard the naturalists instead say, Cool! I began to appreciate learning experiences, even dead creatures, as I broadened my educational practices to include what I learned working with dedicated naturalists. In the years after my time working as a teacher, director, and later as a consultant for nature-focused organizations, I have brought my newfound understanding to other jobs, including my current position as associate professor of early childhood education at University of Hawaii Maui College. I wish a book like this existed when I first went to work at Dodge Nature Center , or even before when I worked with young children and their families, and moved from Arizona to Minnesota to Colorado to Hawaii and could no longer use my own childhood experiences to guide me.

From Sheila: For those of you who are already comfortable with nature education and are looking for ways to take your explorations with young children deeper, we hope this book will offer inspiration and community that will allow you to reflect on your teaching practices and nurture the relationship between children and nature. I entered the field from the opposite direction of Julie. I was focused on business management, health and safety, and environmental conservation. My background in biology fostered my love of nature as well as my work with the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group (MPIRG) around air quality and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and working with children in local Kids for Saving Earth groups gave me an opportunity to focus on environmental issues with elementary children and college students. When I began at Dodge Nature Center, the extent of my early childhood education experience came from my own children and from our Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) groups.