Young Children's Caring Relationships With Nature in a Nature-Based Preschool

• In Event: 30.080 - Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: 30.080-22 - Youth and Environmental Education

Abstract

This study focuses on young children’s caring relationships with nature at a nature-based preschool, an emerging area with little research to date. Early childhood is a time when children are learning to relate to others and the world around them. Hence, it is an important period to nurture a compassionate disposition toward all living things. This is not only valuable to building a sustainable world, but also critical to children’s holistic development.
The central question of this study is In what ways, if any, do young children engage in caring relationships with nature from their participation in a nature preschool?

Author

• Deepti Kharod, The University of Texas - San Antonio