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April 28, 2009
Outdoor learning experiences aid cognitive development of young children, says Puget Sound expert
Dr. John Haskin to speak at the University of Washington Early Learning Conference, June 5-6 in Seattle
"For young children, particularly ages 3 to 5, being and learning in the outdoors has some powerful advantages over being in the classroom," says Dr. John Haskin, Director of Education at IslandWood, the outdoor learning center in Bainbridge Island, Wash. Combine the rich sensory space of nature, the opportunity to move about and explore, and a child's natural curiosity in the outdoors, and learning (and brain development) is enhanced.
Haskin will present at the University of Washington Early Learning Conference: Research into Action, held on the UW Seattle campus on June 5 and 6, 2009. He'll provide tips for parents, teachers, and daycare providers on using nature as a learning environment. "It's not about turning children into environmentalists," says Haskin. "It's about using the outdoors to engage all parts of the brain for an immediate impact on its development."
Early education leaders, teachers, counselors, law makers, advocacy groups, parents, members of professional organizations, and others are invited to attend the Early Learning Conference. UW researchers will share their knowledge and start a conversation leading to sound educational and policy decisions. Topics include nurturing children's cognitive, emotional and social abilities; early diagnosis and treatment of learning disabilities; rethinking children's capacity for scientific understanding; and maximizing mathematical abilities.
The University of Washington Conference on Early Learning is presented by the UW College of Education in partnership with UW Educational Outreach, the continuing education unit of the University of Washington, based in Seattle, Wash.
Using the outdoors as a learning environment
Outdoor learning tips for parents and teachers
Outdoor learning activities to share with young children
About University of Washington Educational Outreach
Using the outdoors as a learning environment
Learning is about memory and what helps to make memories lasting are connections to sensory and emotional events. The softness of a caterpillar, a squish of mud underfoot, the whisper of wind through the trees, the bright plumage of a bird: "The outdoors is a rich sensory space; the smells, sounds, textures, and colors of nature lend themselves to developing powerful memories," says Haskin.
Another benefit of learning in the outdoors: Students at this age are movement oriented. They like to use their bodies and connect what they're seeing to what they're touching. Movement is also a way of reinforcing lessons. "Like in learning the alphabet-through signing the song and creating letters out of objects or by moving your body around-it all reinforces it. You're using the kinesthetic to reinforce the cognitive," says Haskin.
We have the ability to make powerful memories outdoors, but how can we use them to enhance learning and brain development in young children? "We can guide children to gentle "aha" moments" that can nurture a sense of wonder and joy in exploration," says Haskin. (What's under that rock? That slug is moving-do you see any legs?) Parents and teachers don't need to know scientific names or have specialized knowledge of nature, says Haskin. It's about modeling a love for what's around us and what we can know about the world.
It's also about helping children learn to focus and use their imagination and, even more important, to have confidence in their ideas. ("What is that bird saying? Who is he talking to?") These are abilities teachers are looking for when a child reaches first grade, says Haskin. The outdoors is an effective learning environment for building these skills. The outdoors can be a disarmingly powerful learning space.
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Outdoor learning tips for parents and teachers
Stay close to home. Use the neighborhood park or your own backyard. You don't have to go to some vastly charismatic place with young kids. They can be engaged by a pile of leaves, a mud puddle, or rocks to turn over.
3-5 minute field trips are fine. The adult-guided portion of an outing doesn't need to be long. Catch moments and deal in snippets. But you can encourage and reinforce a longer attention span in a child with practice.
No need to prepare a lesson ahead of time. It's about being ready to guide a gentle "aha" moment when an opportunity presents itself. It can be as simple as "tell me what this smells like, what's underneath this rock, what do you see?"
No need for special knowledge. Don't worry about knowing names and scientific principles. Your goal is to model a sense of wonder and curiosity about the world around you.
Slow down. It's not about a destination but about taking time to observe and explore. If your child can't slow down on his own, use gentle strategies to hook him into it. Look for things around you that might catch his attention and do your own touching and feeling and exploration. Eventually, he'll take note-and your interest may pique his.
Meet kids at their point of comfort. Kids will come to an experience with all levels of interest or concern. It's not about untangling fears but meeting them where they are. For example, if a child doesn't want to touch a slug, don't force him to. Ask him to "touch with his eyes" and describe what he sees. With practice, over time, you can lay the groundwork for a child to be comfortable in nature and confident in exploration.
Set aside "kid dirty clothes." By designating a special "outdoors explorer outfit"-- rubber boots, coveralls, old jacket, any clothing item you don't mind sacrificing for this purpose-you free your child (and yourself) to explore at will.
Outdoor learning activities to share with young children
Do a "bag exploration." Toss random things into a bag-pie pans, magnifying glass, a strainer, little gloves, etc.-and set off on a "bag exploration." When you open up the bag, these are the tools you have to explore the world around you. Let the child decide how to use a tool; he becomes the scientist. Tools are a way to hook kids into playing with the world around them. And limiting the situation with a finite set of tools forces kids to be creative.
Use a digital camera to document change over time. Take a picture out of a window every day, at the same time of day, for a week or longer, to view change over time. For example, you might focus on a branch hanging right in front of a window in the spring when leaves are starting to open. Let the child take the photo, or draw a picture, measure the object. You'll build the idea of studying the passing of the seasons and the concept that the world is always changing (just like people do).
Mimic nature. Mimicry encourages close observation and imagination. If you see birds in the sky, ask your child to show you how to fly like a bird. Can he use his big wings? His little wings? Listen to rain outside and then see if you can recreate the sound inside. Does it sound like finger rain on tables, or more like a drum? Or you might come upon a spider web and then recreate it inside using a ball of string. Mimicry is a great way to spark a child's curiosity about the world around him.
Set out on a treasure hunt. Kids like to categorize and sort the world around them. Take advantage of this by going for a treasure hunt. Give children shapes on a paper and walk with them outside to find matching objects, whether it be a rock or a woodpecker's hold in a tree. Do same thing with colors, especially with flowers in spring time. In the fall, you can gather up a fistful of fallen leaves under a tree and categorize them by size or color or by categories of the child's choosing.
Go for a "no touch" walk. Take a short journey outdoors with your child just to view and observe. Next day, ask her to help recreate the walk in memory. Then go out again and compare your memory of the walk with what you see today. On the third day, go out alone ahead of time and place a few objects along the route that don't belong (a rubber chicken, for example). All of a sudden, you've created an "unnatural hike," increasing your child's observation skills by looking for what's new or doesn't belong.
Re-name nature. Let kids invent names for what they see in nature. That bird hopping by might be a Robin-but what does your child want to call it? Not "Fred," but ask your child to describe what the bird looks like, what he's doing, how he sounds, and based on that, what's an appropriate name? This game not only fosters close observation and imagination, but confidence in his ideas and a sense of empowerment, something all kids want.
About University of Washington Educational Outreach (UWEO)
University of Washington Educational Outreach (UWEO) is one of the largest and most highly regarded continuing and professional education programs in the U.S. In partnership with the UW schools, colleges, and departments, it offers more than 120 certificate programs in business, arts and writing, law, engineering, bioscience, computing and IT, healthcare, education, construction design and management, and the public sector (see Extension. Other offerings include evening master's degrees, distance and online learning, international outreach and English language programs, and more. (Additional information available at UWEO.)