Starting Early: Environmental Education during the Early Childhood Years

When should environmental education begin--in the third grade; first grade; kindergarten? Even earlier. Environmental education based on life experiences should begin during the very earliest years of life. Such experiences play a critical role in shaping life-long attitudes, values, and patterns of behavior toward natural environments (Tilbury, 1994; Wilson, 1994). Because young children learn about the environment by interacting with it, educators and other adults must attend to the frequency, nature, and quality of child-environment interactions during the early years. Many young children have limited opportunities for such experiences. Studies indicate that the average American spends more than 95% of his or her time indoors (Cohen, 1984), and that by the year 2000, more than 90% of all Americans will live in urban areas (Schicker, 1988). Studies also indicate that children growing up in urban areas tend to develop unfounded fears and feelings of disgust in relation to natural objects (Bixler, Carlisle, Hammitt, & Floyd, 1994).

Yet, it's not just children living in urban areas who should be targeted for environmental education during their preschool years. Many young children, regardless of where they live, spend most of their time in settings and activities that keep them essentially isolated from direct contact with the natural world. Recreation tends to be indoors (e.g., watching TV); transportation tends to be by car or other motor vehicle versus walking; and daycare programs--where many children spend most of their waking hours--tend to be much more oriented toward the classroom than outdoors. The result is that many young children are at risk of never developing positive attitudes and feelings toward the natural environment or achieving a healthy degree of competency on the environmental literacy continuum (as outlined by Disinger & Roth, 1992). Attention to environmental education at the early childhood level is proposed as a partial antidote to this concern.

Rationale

The rationale for environmental education during the early childhood years is based on two major premises. The first premise is that children must develop a sense of respect and caring for the natural environment during their first few years of life or be at risk for never developing such attitudes (Stapp, 1978; Tilbury, 1994; Wilson, 1994).

The newly-emerging field of early childhood environmental education reflects an increasing awareness that "environmental experience in the critical phase of the early learning years can determine subsequent development in environmental education" (Tilbury, 1994, p. 11) and that the preschool years may "prove to be critical for the environmental education of the child" (Tilbury, 1994, p. 11).

The rationale for environmental education at the early childhood level is also based on the premise that positive interactions with the natural environment is an important part of healthy child development (Carson, 1956; Cobb, 1977; Crompton & Sellar, 1981; Miles, 1986/87; Patridge, 1984; Sebba, 1991; Wilson, 1994) and that such interactions enhance learning and quality of life over the span of one's lifetime (Wilson, 1994). Children who are close to nature tend to relate to it as a source of wonder, joy, and awe. Their spirits are nurtured by nature and they discover through it "sources of human sensibility" (Wilson, 1992, p. 348).