Examined effective relationships of parents, educators, and children by identifying quality care and education for children under 5 in a range of educational, social services, voluntary, and private establishments. Found four categories of practice that contributed to effective relationships, including educator-parent and educator-child…

Examined kindergarten social studies activities in Greece and kindergarten teachers' attitudes and training concerning the application of such activities. Found that teachers seem to understand the importance of social studies, and most occupy their students with social studies activities to a satisfactory extent. Those who did not cited lack of…

Investigated children's preferred learning styles when exploring spatial concepts. Found that young children first develop the spatial concept of topology, which supports Piaget's theory, followed by the concepts of position. The two separate groups of children appeared to exhibit different learning styles when exploring space concepts. (AP)

Investigated parents' transmission of minority language in Sweden to map parental intentions during pregnancy and analyze parental language use with their children. Found most parents are willing and able to continue to speak their minority languages with their children, but it is questionable whether this is sufficient for language transmission.…

Reviews four books concerning children's thinking, language acquisition, the art of teaching, and literacy: (1) "Children's Thinking: Promoting Understanding in the Primary School" (M. Bonnet); (2) "Input and Interaction in Language Acquisition" (B. Richard); (3) "The Effective Teacher" (C. Cullingford); and (4) "Literacy, Home and School:…

Presents 6 summaries of documents and 10 journal articles concerning elementary and early childhood education in an international context that were recently included in the ERIC collection. (AP)

Nature and outdoor life are part of Norway's national identity, as exemplified by a long history of nature-inspired art and literature, the formation of outdoor organizations since the turn of the century, and the development of skiing. Norwegian traditional outdoor life is characterized as travelling with respectful use of nature, to achieve a…

The stages of a model for reviewing or "debriefing" an adventure experience are: experience, or relive what happened; express feelings about the experience; examine, or analyze the experience for learning; and explore something brought out in the previous stages. Describes suggested activities for each stage of the sequence. (KS)

Discusses the introduction of outdoor education into the physical education document of the British national curriculum. Suggests timetables for implementing a program of outdoor education, including educational objectives and activities for various grade levels. (KS)

Soon there will be national occupational standards of competence for managers of outdoor education and recreation centers in the United Kingdom. Charlotte Mason Management Services has mounted a competence-based residential course for outdoor and environmental center managers. Fewer than half the participating managers have had any previous…

Forty-four males and 40 females completed an adaptation of the Linear Arousal and Stress Scale after a 1-day rafting trip. Men showed higher base levels of anxiety than women. Anxiety and arousal increased significantly prior to the first rapid. Levels of anxiety and arousal during this adventure activity changed constantly as different situations…

Mentally handicapped clients improved their self-image and self-reliance as a result of involvement in outdoor activities. The staff currently takes six clients out weekly to nine different venues within a two-hour drive of the clients' residential facility. Addresses leader qualifications, special equipment, and transportation. (KS)

Describes learning activities for "single topic" outings that elementary students can do on or near school grounds, including looking for relationships in nature, observing changes taking place in nature, classifying nature objects, observing signs of the seasons, listening for nature sounds, and looking for animal homes. (LP)

Essential features of an outdoor integrated curriculum include experiential learning, whole process, authenticity, challenge, responsibility, and connection with the community. Additional factors that result only from outdoor learning include inescapable consequences, personal growth, and sense of wonder. Problems of curriculum integration include…

Students who participated in the Bronte Creek Project, an integrated outdoor education program in Ontario that involves 11th-grade students in outdoor experiences and leadership opportunities, found the program to be authentic, felt empowered as a result of the program, became more responsible, and reported improved personal relations. (LP)