ERIC Number: ED542154
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2013-May
Pages: 71
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
A Forest Preschool for the Bay Area: A Pilot Study for a New Nature-Based Curriculum
Peterson, Abigail
Online Submission
Forest kindergartens are a new idea in the United States but have been around in Germany, Norway, and other European countries for decades. Forest "kindergartens" are preschools for children ages 3-6 and focus on being outdoors and learning through interacting with nature. Instead of building with blocks or doing puzzles at a table indoors, children are outdoors for the majority of the day in all kinds of weather, working cooperatively to build a dam across a stream, for example, or making forts with sticks and leaves, or looking at bugs. The normal activities that make up a school day at a traditional preschool--circle time, song time, snack and lunch--are still a part of the forest kindergarten, but those things are accomplished outdoors. Because full-time forest kindergartens are a new concept in this country, there is little formal research available into their effects on childhood development. In addition, though there are a few curriculum guidelines available from programs in Great Britain and Germany, there is no set curriculum or structure. The purpose of this paper is to develop a set of best practices for a new California-based forest kindergarten program with the goal of opening one of these types of schools in the Bay Area in five years. Three appendices present: (1) Licensing; (2) Memorable quotes about children in nature; and (3) Partial list of US-based nature preschools.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Best Practices, Guidelines, Preschool Education, Outdoor Education, Class Activities, Learning Activities, Child Development, Certification, Preschool Curriculum, Interviews, Developmentally Appropriate Practices, Educational History, Observation, Video Technology, Creativity, International Education, Teaching Methods
Publication Type: Historical Materials
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California; Germany; Norway; United Kingdom; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A