Activity 1: Moving outdoors

After examining the EYF and reading the e-journal article Dramatic Play as a Context for Children’s Investigation of Size and Scale, respond to the following.

1. Outdoor learning is considered to be the most effective process in children learning.  It makes an effort to teach the children to deal with the challenges of life. The educators need to take responsibilities to prepare the outdoors for quality learning arena (Scrutton, 2014). The outdoors are considered to be the extended classrooms from where the children can develop their experiences regarding the interdisciplinary process, collaborative and student centred learning process. Moreover, outdoor learning increases the enthusiasm for learning from the environment (Scrutton, 2014). Apart from that, outdoor learning helps to explore the knowledge of the students towards environmental issues. Cognitive development is considered to be the most valuable aspect for children learning the process. The outdoor activities help the children to develop their cognitive (Prince, 2013). The outdoor learning also impacts on the emotional development and psychological functioning of the children most effectively.

The outdoor activities help in mitigating the study pressure and strict school scheduling. It develops the generosity among the children that emphasise the mental growth of the children (Prince, 2013). The analysis has explored the fact that outdoor learning can help children in developing their cognitive, social and emotional development.

Cognitive development: The young children are not generally cognitively matured. The outdoor activities help them to interact with the external world. Some educators generally think that putting excessive pressure on the children can develop their learning process while the reality is different (Mennetrey & Angeard, 2018). The outdoor practices can enhance the potential of the children to indulge in group activities and get recovered from highly structured routines and improve cognitive capability (Mennetrey & Angeard, 2018).

Social development: The indulging in outdoor activities help the children interact the people around the society. Moreover, they develop bonding with them to enhance the perspective talking (Lamont & Van Horn, 2013). The enhancement of the perspective talking and playing helps the social development of the children.

The emotional development: The outdoor activities are depicted to be the source of positive reinforcement for the children. The outdoor activities help the children to develop their interpersonal capability (Soltani, Jafari & Abedi, 2017). This is a practical learning process that enhances the sense of discipline, responsibility and preserves that build up the emotional development.

2.The outdoor activities are considered to be the practical learning process for the children. A wide range of practical knowledge can be gathered from outdoor activities. The materials that can be accessible for the children are outdoor playgrounds and playing equipment like bi-cycle, tricycles, and old tiers, climbing frames, sand, boxes, sea-saws and small playhouses (McArdle, Harrison & Harrison, 2013). Apart from that, once the children move outdoor they can come across fresh air, open spaces to explore their childish activities, they come across the knowledge to deal with the real-life difficulties, learning group activities and develop effective communication skill (McArdle, Harrison & Harrison, 2013).

Activity 2: Improving general access

3.: Both the indoor and outdoor activities are effective in the children learning the process. The indoor activities are not sufficient enough for the social, emotional and cognitive development of the children (McArdle, Harrison & Harrison, 2013). In my workplace, the movement from indoor and outdoor activities are possible.  There is a big playground in the backyard of my workplace which can be used for the outdoor activities of the children. There is a large arrangement of playing equipment that can be used for outdoor activities (Waite, Rogers & Evans, 2013). The mental state of the children also works as one of the most important factors in the movement from indoor to outdoor. The children are often reluctant during their movement. They feel comfortable more in the outdoor activities than that of indoor activities (Waite, Rogers & Evans, 2013). As per my observation, they prefer to stay in the outdoor activities so that they can get opportunities to play games for a larger span of time. On the contrary, the children do not prefer to stay long for the indoor activities as they contain strict schedules of study and bookish knowledge (Waite, Rogers & Evans, 2013). In my workplace, then it is quite tough to move the children from outdoor to indoor. However, it is quite easy to move them from the indoor to outdoor.

4. A native garden is designed with a variety of indigenous Australian plants. The development of a native garden is an environmentally friendly activity. Plants like wattle, Waratahs, bottlebrushes, kangaroo paws and cultivars can be suitable to develop the native garden.  

The sustainability of the aims and objectives must be developed before setting the garden. The need of the plants is subject to change as per the preferences of families. Plants must be hired that are suitable for my future location (YILMAZ, 2016). The aim of developing this native garden is to increase the attachment between nature and the children of my workplace. Lining and shaping for the plant are also required for effective maintenance of the planting. The indigenous planting can be helpful for the outdoor learning process of the children (YILMAZ, 2016).  Furthermore, the children must be influenced to be inspired in the environmental attachment. They would learn different aspects of environments, nature and plants from the indigenous planting (YILMAZ, 2016).

The native garden requires effective maintenance, proper watering and sunlight. The area of the native garden must assure all these basic creation for the growth of the indigenous planting.

Activity 3: Promoting environmental awareness

After working through the module content, respond to the following

1.Perceptual-motor: The perceptual-motor is helpful to develop the sensitivity of the children. It is impactful for the enhancement of the learning process of the children (Misra & Aikat, 2016). Moreover, the children are greatly beneficial with the perceptual-motor as it helps them to respond to the queries of the external world. This integrates the movement of the children. Additionally, the effective use of perceptual-motor is effective to process the growth and extensive learning (Misra & Aikat, 2016). I can use the perceptual-motor in my working area to record the growth information of the children regarding their motor competence.

Vestibular: Vestibular is the crucial factor for the children development. It is helpful for the children’s development by maintaining balance and controlling trunks. This is an effective part for children’s development process in order to interact with the external environment successfully (IMMANUEL.V, BARAKAT, K & VATHI, 2018). Additionally, vestibular is helpful to track the reaction of the children after seeing a moving object. Moreover, the children sports activities and physical movement of the children can also be traced with the effective use of vestibular (IMMANUEL.V, BARAKAT, K & VATHI, 2018). For example- I can use the vestibular motor to track the outdoor activities of the children of my workplace. It can be helpful for me to identify the growth process of the children.

Proprioception: Proprioception is a holistic approach to control the bottom foot stimulation of the children. This controlling is helpful to percept to send a message to the cerebellum to balance the connectivity of the brain (Abd Al-Mohsen Emara, 2017). For example- I can use the proprioception to maintain the stimulation of the children of my working area during their outdoor activities.

2. The fundamental movement skills are the skilful activities of the different body parts that can be helpful to build the blocks for more specialised and complex learning process. The involved body parts that are helpful in developing the fundamental movement skills are the feet, legs, head, arms and hands (Junot, Paquet & Martin-Krumm, 2017). It is a competency practice session for the children. At the outdoor environment of my workplace, I would have used the fundamental movement’s skills to balance the skills children. For example- I would help three-year-old children at my workplace by providing him with a wide balance board or a narrow beam to maintain his balance.

Activity 4: Including technology

I would have also used the fundamental movements’ kills to maintain the locomotors skills of the children. This includes running, jumping, hopping and galloping. Moreover, the fundamental movement skills can also be used to help the age-wise skill development of the children (Junot, Paquet & Martin-Krumm, 2017).. This includes a wide range of activities like running on toes, galloping, throwing balls and balancing on one leg for a long time. I would have used these activities in the outdoor of my workplace for the children as fun activities for the children. These fun activities are also helpful for children to enhance their learning process and cognitive development.   

3.Three universal ways to improve the general access to the children are multiple means of representation, multiple means of expression and multiple means of engagement.  

The multiple means of representation includes the observing outdoor activities of the children. The educators would perform something and the children would imitate the activities with the expression (Klein, Türk & Roth, 2018). The reaction of the children on the educators’ performance must be not able to locate the cognitive development of the children. The performance indicators should be noted properly (Klein, Türk & Roth, 2018). For example- I can use this to identify the process of growth of the children.

The multiple means of expression includes the effectiveness of the children to express different manner to the same reaction. This includes- the children may cry and smile over the same activity at different mood. Thus, the identification for the mood and expression is necessary to locate the change in expression (Abdul Aziz & Ahmad, 2017). This general access way can be used in my workplace to identify the expression and the reflection of the children over the same activity. This is a skill development practice that can be used to track the growth of the children.

The multiple means of engagement defines the engagement of children over different outdoor activities. This defines the multitasking capabilities of the children (Axelsson, Granlund & Wilder, 2013). This is to locate whether the children are capable to do different things in the same time. I can use this process to locate the multitasking performance of the children of my workplace.

4.Yes, the outdoor space I am currently working for is suitable for the universal general access. The universal general access requires a wide range of outdoor space in order to conduct all the activities. The accession rules include multiple means of representation that requires a wide space. Various curriculum activities are used to conduct in my workplace. Thus, it requires a wide space for the educators and the children to join the activities. Children require a wide space to imitate and express the activities. This may include various gaming or facial expressions (Axelsson, Granlund & Wilder, 2013). My workplace has enough space to conduct these outdoor activities. The large playground behind the school can be used to accommodate the activities successfully.

The multiple means of representation also requires several activities where the children to represent themselves through various activities like go as you like or fancy dress competition or recitation.  Thus, it requires a wider space to develop the activities perfectly. Additionally, it requires educators who have efficiency in communicating students (Abdul Aziz & Ahmad, 2017). The place I am currently working in has the efficiency to conduct all these activities as recommended by the universal ways of outdoor activities. However, the multiple means of engagement requires effective engagement from both the educators and the students so that both can connect each other. This area requires an improvement in my school. This requires more cognitive skills from the educators to communicate more effectively with the students (Miller-Day, Pezalla & Chesnut, 2013). The effective utilisation of verbal and non-verbal communication with the children can be beneficial to improve the situation.

After working through the module content and completing the readings, respond to the following

1. The Environmental Education Early Childhood (EEEC) is an authorised service that uses to provide knowledge regarding environmental education. The guidelines of EEEC service are developed to personalise the perception, attitude and connection with nature (Knauf, 2018). Children are the target stakeholder for this service. They provide efficient environmental knowledge to the children. The service uses to visit several nature preschools, households or an environmental education centre and provide environmental information through various outdoor activities (Knauf, 2018). They engage in services like recycling, healthy outdoor walk or Earth day celebration by planting trees. EEEC curriculum guide strictly mentions the effectiveness of planting a garden. Moreover, in order to promote environmental awareness for the children they use to arrange a small excursion for the local preschool children towards museums, zoos parks, nature centres and gardens (Knauf, 2018). They arrange “Mommy and Me” program where the children their mom are given free passes to visit the local nature clubs, museums and parks for environmental education (Childhood Studies, 2017). The postal address of this environmental education service is: PO Box 5138, Alphington, VIC 3078 and their email address is: [email protected]. By using their contact number I could have contacted them to come to my workplace to provide outdoor environmental education to all the children and perform all related activities.  

2.The aboriginals or Torres Strait islanders use to have their own cultural identity. The cultural perspectives of the aboriginals can be traced from the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organization (NACCHO). The NACCHO is one of the most prominent agencies to collect sufficient information about the Aboriginals, their healthcare and their cultural perspective (Campbell, Hunt, Scrimgeour, Davey & Jones, 2018). NACHHO was established in 1997 under the supervision of the Australian government. They use to work for the cultural and healthcare betterment for the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. They address the key environmental concerns of the aboriginals (Campbell, Hunt, Scrimgeour, Davey & Jones, 2018). Moreover, the task of NACHHO is to identify the aboriginal culture and its relationship with various environmental factors. NACHHO works in collaboration with the stage and Territory Peak aboriginal community to access their cultural rituals and its effects on the environment. Fishing and marine hunting are their ultimate profession for the aboriginals(Campbell, Hunt, Scrimgeour, Davey & Jones, 2018). Regular fishing and marine hunting affect the sea ecosystem that has a big environmental impact. NACHHO uses to track these activities along with the healthcare activities. The contact details of NACHHO are as below:

Office address: Post box number – 130, Level 5 East Tower, 2 Construction Avenue, Canberra City Act 2601

Phone Number: 02 6246 9300

3.Environmental awareness can be developed among the children by providing them with more outdoor learning opportunities. This includes a visit to a local park, garden, zoos and museums to intimate their relationship with nature (Knaus, 2014). As per the EYLF framework children starts’ learning from the belonging stage and it flourishes during the becoming stage. Thus, the becoming stage is the most suitable time to develop a relationship with the environment. The development of the relationship is beneficial for the children to adopt environmental knowledge (Knaus, 2014).. These 4/5 years old children are more keen to gather knowledge regarding nature. They can be taken to any native garden so that they may know various indigenous plants.

Thus, the first learning outcome is suitable for this process that states the development of a strong sense of identity among the children.

After working through the module content, respond to the following

1. The early years learning framework is developed with three basic concepts of children learning the process. Belonging, being and becoming.

Belonging:  the belonging signifies from where the children belong. The children generally belong to their family. The children’s family belongs to any specific community or cultural ethnicity. The cultural community includes a number of families (Knaus, 2014).. The belonging generally defines from where the children belong and his interdependences. The children generally develop a relationship with their family in the early years. More specifically, the parents of the children are their first belonging as they first recognise them. They develop relationship with their parents (Knaus, 2014).. Then they belong to the other member of their family and thereafter come the neighbourhood and communities. The belongings are the first from where the children start developing their learning. The relationships are considered to be a crucial part of the learning process to develop a sense of belonging (Junot, Paquet & Martin-Krumm, 2017). The quotation “You belong in your house with your family” represents the sense of belongings perfectly. Technology like motor instruments and vestibular can be sued for the betterment of the children grow.

Being: Being defines the sense of self. Childhood is a time from when the children start learning about the world and people around them. The way a child life defines the meaning of being (Junot, Paquet & Martin-Krumm, 2017. It is a time when the children try to communicate the world around them and the childhood years they try to prepare themselves to cop up with the challenges and experiences of life (Knaus, 2014). The perceptual-motor can be used in this stage. I would have used perceptual-motor in this stage to track the growth of the learning process of the children.

Becoming: The becoming stage uses to define the effectiveness of the children’s mental health development to cop up with the knowledge, understanding, capacity and events of circumstances (Childhood Studies, 2017). The becoming stage is a rapid change where the learning process is faster than the other stages and children learn and grow fast in his stage. The proprioception can be used in this stage to track the fast growth process (Childhood Studies, 2017). For example- I would have used this proprioception stage to motivate the fast learning process of the children.

2.The six design principles that were taught in chapter 1 are as follows:

1. Enhancement of teaching and learning process to accommodate the need of all the learners: The physical environment has a strong effect on the childhood learning process.  The design and accommodation of the educational institute are effective for the learning development of the children (Childhood Studies,2017). New educational knowledge and scope for extracurricular activities provide a wide scope to develop the learning process of the children.  
2. To serve as the centre of the community: The learning environment must cater to a sense of community development. This feature requires the community leisure recreation and helpful towards the community issue (Childhood Studies,2017). Moreover, this feature requires the accommodation should be accessible for all the communities around Australia.
3. Development of the planning and design process for the betterment of the community interest: Effective planning and design are the holistic requirements to enhance the effectiveness of the institution.  The faith must be on the collective effectiveness to participate in the decision-making process of the organisation (Abdul Aziz & Ahmad, 2017).
4. The assurance of healthcare safety and security to all the learners: health and safety should be the prime priority for the children education organisations.  Safety measures must be taken assure a healthy environment (Abdul Aziz & Ahmad, 2017). Moreover, the development of the healthcare facilities must be provided accurately. The CPTED concept on healthcare facility and security must be provided for providing healthcare facilities along with the educational learning process.
5. Effective use of all the possible community interests: The schools must be designed aligning the need of the physical environment of the community.  For example- the optimal use of computer or abacus education or using current communication technology can be effective in this scenario (Childhood Studies,2017).
6. The enhancement of the flexibility and adaptability of the learners:A flexible learning environment must be provided by the students for with the effective use of environmental resources.  A careful approach towards the development of air, land, and water and playground facility can be effective for the early age learning process (Abdul Aziz & Ahmad, 2017).

3.The third design process is essential here to develop effective planning and design process for the betterment of community children learning process. The development of the learning process for children is essential. However, the learning cannot be flourished without effective engagement of other children from the community (Abdul Aziz & Ahmad, 2017). The role of collectivism is an essential concept. The range of expansion is big here. The target audience is larger than the previous.  The task is to improve the learning process for the wide range of the community (Childhood Studies, 2017). The exploration of the effective learning process for the community requires effective decision-making process. The educators must take a proper decision regarding the arrangement of the community learning program (Miller-Day, Pezalla & Chesnut, 2013). There should be a sufficient number of educators, a wide range of space for outdoor activities, indigenous plants, arrangements of native garden and excursion to local parks, museums and zoos for a practical learning process. Thus, proper scheduling is required for this community learning program.

The children must be convinced about the effectiveness of the environment in daily life. They can be shown various trees, animals and flowers to increase their knowledge (Childhood Studies, 2017). They would be taught the relationship between man and nature. The overall community learning program should be on a large base.

4.The nature play design can be developed through three major steps that include playing for the community, locating the outdoor site and development of setting to maximize the social and sensory play activities (Miller-Day, Pezalla & Chesnut, 2013). The stakeholders attached to this program are the educators, preschool children of the community and their families.

Plan for community: A naturalised universal design is always essential to create a wider space at the outdoor to ensure the best space for the children. A diversified environment must have to be observed in the ground for the best possible outcome (Miller-Day, Pezalla & Chesnut, 2013). Children from different communities must be called so that they can participate in outdoor learning activities. Space must be provided to each of the children so that they can perform their activities freely. This naturalised playgrounds.

Location is essential for outdoor learning planning. The location should have a wider space and indigenous plantings. The outdoor ground should be within the walking distance of the children. Designed surface, innovative play and learn equipment must be there (Childhood Studies, 2017) This could be helpful for the engagement of both the children and their families to perform in various activities.

The setting must recognise the outdoor learning activities. The moderate outdoor activities cannot be suitable for the children. The children and their family must be provided with understandable playing equipment and foster exploration (Abdul Aziz & Ahmad, 2017). Various learn and play games must be in the chart to provide the children with the best experience.

References

Abd Al-Mohsen Emara, H. (2017). Effect of Mirror Visual Feedback on Upper Extremity Function and Wrist Proprioception in Cerebral Palsy Children with Hemiparesis. International Journal Of Neurologic Physical Therapy, 3(4), 28. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnpt.20170304.12

Abdul Aziz, A., & Ahmad, A. (2017). Flat Layouts and Children Outdoor Activities. Asian Journal Of Environment-Behaviour Studies, 2(3), 57. doi: 10.21834/aje-bs.v2i3.189

Axelsson, A., Granlund, M., & Wilder, J. (2013). Engagement in family activities: a quantitative, comparative study of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities and children with typical development. Child: Care, Health And Development, 39(4), 523-534. doi: 10.1111/cch.12044

Campbell, M., Hunt, J., Scrimgeour, D., Davey, M., & Jones, V. (2018). Contribution of Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Services to improving Aboriginal health: an evidence review. Australian Health Review, 42(2), 218. doi: 10.1071/ah16149

Childhood Studies, J. (2017). Call for Papers – Interdisciplinary Dialogues in Early Childhood Environmental Education. Journal Of Childhood Studies, 42(1). doi: 10.18357/jcs.v42i1.16888

IMMANUEL.V, D., BARAKAT, B., K, D., & VATHI, R. (2018). Effectiveness of Vestibular Stimulation on Visual Motor Integration Among Children with Learning Disabilities. International Journal Of Pharma And Bio Sciences, 9(1). doi: 10.22376/ijpbs.2018.9.1.b.185-189

Junot, A., Paquet, Y., & Martin-Krumm, C. (2017). Passion for outdoor activities and environmental behaviors: A look at emotions related to passionate activities. Journal Of Environmental Psychology, 53, 177-184. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.07.011

Klein, D., Türk, S., & Roth, R. (2018). Outdoor Psychomotor Activities: Bringing Children to Nature. Advances In Physical Education, 08(02), 246-252. doi: 10.4236/ape.2018.82022

Knauf, H. (2018). Visual Environmental Scale: Analysing the Early Childhood Education Environment. Early Childhood Education Journal. doi: 10.1007/s10643-018-0914-x