Learning with Nature

Catalog description

Early childhood students' social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development is positively influenced when learning opportunities in nature are provided. This course prepares early childhood teachers with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions for using the natural environment as a classroom to develop children's environmental literacy. Within this course, early childhood teachers learn about the benefits of nature-based learning, prepare for how to keep children safe in the outdoor learning environment, design a nature-based space that is safe and enhances learning and development, and plan and implement authentic, interdisciplinary nature-based explorations that are developmentally and culturally appropriate, inclusive, and emphasize play. This is an integrated lecture/lab course where students learn life/earth science content and pedagogical methods in outdoor settings as weather allows, as well as attend field trips. Prerequisite: ECE 216 . Offered Fall, Spring.