Nebraska Early Childhood Training Center Publishes Nature Learning Guidelines

The Nebraska Early Childhood Training Center has developed guidelines for connecting children to nature. These guidelines correspond with current training domains and bring an awareness of the importance of outdoor time spent with young children. The learning domains covered are Mathematics, Language and Literacy, Health and Physical Development, Creative Arts, Approaches to Learning and Social/Emotional Development.

The Nebraska Early Childhood Training Center has developed guidelines for connecting children to nature. These guidelines correspond with current training domains and bring an awareness of the importance of outdoor time spent with young children. The learning domains covered are Mathematics, Language and Literacy, Health and Physical Development, Creative Arts, Approaches to Learning and Social/Emotional Development.

The guide includes specific items that should be in the outdoor environment for each domain and is further divided into learning examples for the child and the adult. Each domain includes specialized ideas for working with infants and toddlers in the natural world. This is a fabulous document to help frame teacher training and support in working in the outdoor environment with young children. You can download a copy at ectc.nde.ne.gov/ELG/nature_education.pdf.