Building Connections with the Neighborhood and Community

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According to Swick (1997), “Communities offer multiple opportunities to extend and enrich children’s conceptions of work. Learning to take care of the environment is a priority for today’s children and an inviting place to connect work and human functioning” (p. 39). Adopting a stream or a playground gives children a sense of responsibility and participation in society through real-life experiences. In our throwaway culture, young children can learn environmental values. An excellent resource for teachers who are concerned about the environment is David Burnie’s (2004) Endangered Planet (Kingfisher/Houghton Mifflin Company). Children will be drawn to the full-color photographs throughout the book. Additional ways to introduce children to science through community responsibility and caring include visits to a veterinary clinic and carefully facilitated intergenerational contacts.

Mr. Vasquez noticed that the 5-year-olds he taught were treating classroom animals carelessly. He decided to plan several trips to the local veterinarian to foster empathy and understanding in children. He believed that in the process of learning how to care properly for a small animal, they would expand their knowledge and develop respect and appreciation for all living things. He noticed improvement at the outset, and by the end of the visits, children were volunteering to care for the classroom animals and setting careful rules.

Through carefully planned intergenerational programs, children and elders interact with one another, reestablishing the relationships of caring and continuity of life that have been broken by physical and social distance. The teacher will want to plan programs and contacts carefully since children tend to hold negative stereotypes about the elderly and in some instances fear contacts. With this is mind, it would be unwise to take children to nursing homes where elders have symptoms of senility and infirmity.

Seefeldt (1997) suggests that when children are exposed to elders who are healthy, happy, active, and fulfilled, they can share the love of an older person: “Intergenerational programs in the school can provide a way for children and elders to enjoy one another’s company, to learn from one another, to share feelings of affection, and to provide children with a concrete example of life’s continuity” (p. 195).

Every community has natural resources, people resources, and material resources. The teachers will want to make an effort to become acquainted with these resources to extend and expand the science offerings possible in the classroom.

Natural Resources

Parks and nature centers offer extra glimpses into the world of woods, trees, plants, ponds, lakes, beaches, animals, birds, and the like. The National Park Service runs a number of centers that have hands-on science activities for children, trails to follow with guides written for children, and knowledgeable rangers to pose and answer children’s questions. The ranger or guide may have a snake on hand or an active animal shelter to show. Local communities also sponsor park and recreational services for children.