Community-District Teams advocate and provide resources for providing a safe, welcoming atmosphere and using developmentally appropriate practices. Active learning environments that engage children in a variety of learning activities both inside and out of the school walls are a crucial component of Engaging Environments. Teams reinforce the notion that all students should be immersed in environments that encourage them to explore, create, manipulate, change, question, imagine, respond, and reflect.
Download Pathway Five: Engaging Environments from the Ready Schools Toolkit, Part 2.
Download Appendix F, Resources for Engaging Environments.
Selected Engaging Environments Resources:
WEBSITES
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC): http://www.naeyc.org/positionstatements/dap
NAEYC’s Position Statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP).
Natural Learning Initiative (NLI): http://www.naturalearning.org
NLI has compiled a wide variety of resources to promote the importance of the natural environment in the daily experience of all children.
- Move More North Carolina: A Guide to Creating Active Outdoor Play Spaces: http://www.naturalearning.org/sites/default/files/PlaySpacesGuide_eatsmartmovemore.pdf
The NC Children and Nature Coalition: http://ncchildrenandnature.org/resources/for-educators/
Comprehensive resources for engaging children in outdoor classrooms.
Quality in Outdoor Environments for Child Care: http://www.poemsnc.org/
Provides a link to the Preschool Outdoor Environment Measurement Scale (POEMS).
UNC FPG Child Development Institute: http://ers.fpg.unc.edu/
Overview of the ECERS-R (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised) and SACERS (School-Aged Care Environment Rating Scale) evaluation instruments as well as much more information.
DOCUMENTS
Characteristics of a Good Learning Environment for Young Children
A checklist created by P. L. Snowden in 2007.