Hello again, can you believe we are knocking on the door of week 8???
My research was nowhere near where (say that three times) I needed it to be, I imagine some of my astute colleagues being able to copy and paste previous annotations and wrapping them up quickly. I had requested an article on loan through ILLiad and accidentally put May 30th as the date in which I wished to no longer receive the article instead of June 30th? Anyhow, crisis averted. Because of changing my research question a few weeks in, I needed much more data than what I had already collected. It was so much less effort than in the beginning of this course, when I would easily spend 45 minutes looking for peer reviewed material, I needed to find one free access Journal and two more accredited, in order to complete my six annotated bibliographies. I simply went on line through the Gale General Onefile and set some search limits with the key terms playscape /and/ natural environmental learning /and/ nature preschool...and I simply got ZERO results. So I changed the /and/ to /or/ and this worked much better, I was able to look through around 37 articles and hone in on the ones I liked. One of the sources I used for the free access journal was a really interesting book review that led me to actually checking out that book from a local library for my final paper. {Grove, J. (2015, April 30). Book Review: Last child in the woods - Active For Life | Active For Life}. I am really looking forward to reading this book as I hope it will foster a greater desire in this subject of outdoor learning and also help me to implement these ideals within my own family. Something I have not really addressed yet within the scope of my research has been the actual monetary cost of implementing programs that can foster nature play and perpetuate this innovative pedagogy. This will also be part of my research path. Here is the annotated bibliographies that I submitted, any guidance or recommendations is greatly appreciated.
Do the Benefits of Nature Play Outweigh the Expense?
Beyer, K. .M, Heller, E. F., Bizub,J. M., Kistner, A J., Szabo,A., Shawgo,E. E., Zetts C.J.
(12 February 2015). More than a Pretty Place: Assessing the Impact of Environmental Education on Children’s Knowledge and Attitudes about Outdoor Play in Nature, 12(2). Retrieved from doi:10.3390/ijerph120202054
The authors researched the impact of outdoor play on young children by gathering data that was analyzed using multilevel regression models, this community-academic partnership project was funded by the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program (2012–2014). After referring to earlier studies that demonstrate the necessity of nature inspired activities and the benefits that emerge not only for physical benefits, but that of mental health as well. It was concluded that new strategies are needed to encourage children’s participation in these outdoor learning activities to ensure they receive the known health benefits of active outdoor play. This research helped to confirm earlier suppositions on this matter. This article offers numerous sources than can help when diving deeper into the theory of simple green space being able to eliminate some of the current complications that has recently commenced during early childhood.
Dunn, D., & Zarazan, R. (2016). Libraries tackle 'nature deficit': nature-based programs and storytimes for children, in and out of doors. School Library Journal, 10, 1-2. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA442780398&v=2.1&u=chap_main&it=r&p=ITOF&sw=w&asid=e083b84e44887bb59ed5f880f0d530b3
This short article was a nice variation from the research type of journals and volumes. A small idea with great rewards is this author's aim. Storytime outside, the authors alos pose a very important question that is generally the first to be asked by concerned parents who want their youngsters prepared for kindergarten academically. The article demonstrates that children who spend a good portion of their learning time outside with “no rigid academic standards”(Dunn & Zarazan, 2016, p.1) are generally well equipped for the rigors of classroom learning. The article also touches on forging relationships with community partners in order to connect families with more support type networks, which is never a bad thing. I feel it is hard for a lot of children to sit inside of a building and listen to storytime let alone all of the outside distractions, sounds, smells and little bugs just asking to be chased. Children that are exposed to extended periods of outside play would not be as distracted in such an environment as they know all of those exciting diversions will be available to them shortly. Still, it is a great idea to get parents and children outside and engaged in reading.
Elliot, S., & Chancellor, B. (2014). From forest preschool to bush kinder. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 39(4), 45-51. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/australian_journal_of_early_childhood/about_ajec.html
Inspiring works from an entire culture are represented in this work, a Bush Kinder pilot program was established as a directive of holistic learning and development guided by an Australian incentive to reach a 15 hour goal for children in preschool. The understanding that outdoor play offers opportunities for young children to be “visibly present and authentically engaged”(Elliot & Chancellor, 2014, p. 46). An outcome-based evaluation model was used to frame the goals of the program. Teachers commented on the changing types of play they observed along with a myriad of improved skills such as physical social and group dynamics. This volume is a goldmine for the type of research I am attempting it offers insights from the children's perspective as well as archives specific pedagogy and methodologies that beckon further examination. I liked reading this research as it appeared to nail down the ideals of continued play outdoors as a unique tool in gearing young children for societal quandaries later to come. “”Internationally the urgent call for children to play outdoors in nature demands attention”(Elliot & Chancellor, 2014, p. 51).
Fjortoft, I. (2001). The natural environment as a playground for children: The impact of outdoor play activities in pre-primary school children. Early Childhood Education Journal. 29(2), 111-17. doi:10.1016/s0169-2046(00)00045-1
Fjortoft examines the significance of the natural environment as a playground for children and identifies a myriad of benefits for young children to begin their academia in natural playscapes. “Frost (1992) introduced the concept [playscape] to describe different play environments. Frost argued that natural features are important qualities of play- grounds, and that the natural features allow a wide range of learning opportunities not available from other playground. The tangible and direct benefits of outdoor natural learning environments is the ”genuine understanding of reality” that children are able to identify and use in organic play (Fjørtoft, 2000, p.111). Fjortoft uses logical information to support this type learning and proposes function vs. form in perceptual education . It is widely recognized that very few studies have been done in this field. This article offers evidence that outdoor play is more than just fresh air and vitamin D for children, it allows them to grasp the fundamental consequences of nature and impressionism that cannot be learned in a classroom type learning environment or on a plastic playground with shredded rubber flooring. This article is not extremely current, however when applying innovative suggestions to improve pedagogy, we must be especially cautious when the subjects are early learners. Also this type of organic learning is more prevalent in Europe and other parts of the world, the United States seems to be slower in embracing this traditional yet inventive methodology.. This article is useful and relevant to my intended research topic, many references were available and helped to clarify authority for this material.
Grove, J. (2015, April 30). Book Review: Last child in the woods - Active For Life | Active For Life. Retrieved from http://activeforlife.com/last-child-in-the-woods/
This article reviews research on the phenomenon of nature-deficit disorder, a term used by Richard Louv to describe common effects that come with the absence of natural environmental play for young children. Grove speaks of how the author catapults a growing movement to research further how interacting with nature not only fosters physical benefits for children but goes much further and proposes that “nature affects our behaviours, moods, development and cognition. Because we come from nature, and our sensory development is intrinsically tied to our interactions with the natural world” (Grove, 2015). I was attracted to this article because it is a site that focuses on the physical health of children, it has many accredited partners and minimal advertisements. I am using this reference because it was available in an open access forum and enabled me to find other great sources. I think it is very telling when an author can talk of the importance of environmental protection and envelope the gravity of relevance that it has with mankind and the implication of child development. Mankind is selfish, and as a selfish race, if we believe something is being taken we will fight to keep it, even if we ourselves are to blame.
Handler, D., & Epstein, A. (2011). Nature education in preschool [PDF document]. Retrieved from. http://www.highscope.org/file/NewsandInformation/Extensions/Ext_Vol25No2_low.pdf
Concrete evidence that supports early education being rendered for young children in outdoor environments, is proving to be invaluable for later academic acquisition. There is something special about children discovering lessons on their own accord, it is a sense of connection with nature that can not be brought about within the brick and mortar classroom environment. Debbie Handler and Ann Epstein demonstrate their extensive knowledge of relating the benefits of including nature in curriculum by contrasting the devastation of too much screen time and physical inactivity. This Article uses many references and seems to be extremely relevant to the first portion of my intended topic, also the volume depicts different methods of engaging children and touches on the importance of adults and there presupposed notions of outdoor play. I am really excited to write about how much outdoor learning can enhance a child’s beginning years of understanding and cognitive mastery. This issue of Highscope, offers many avenues of research and other Volumes as well, on my intended topic that I have access to through the ILLiad domain. I like reading the about us dropdown menu on informative sites, it gives a clear picture of the motive behind the material. The mission behind the High Scopes Educational template is to, “lift lives through education.” This article makes claims such as “Exposure to nature also enhances young children’s language development (Miller, 2007) and then offers the reference where I can find more information regarding that claim. I will use these types of references to research further the benefit of Outdoor Education, I feel that their is so much content inside of this focused topic that I may not need to include the benefits of cultural enrichment as well, I can save that wonderful topic for another paper. I really like the idea about researching parents attitudes towards the outdoors having an impact on children.
On another note, my family went to Yosemite for Father's day!
Here's a pic of my kids at Yosemite Falls
