Background/Context: Literacy stands as a pivotal life skill, especially as it strengthens education across subjects. The elementary years are crucial for mastering literacy, yet national assessments show a decline in elementary students' reading proficiency, with only 33% of American fourth graders reading at grade level (National Center for…

This paper draws from a series of Place-thought walks that the authors took at an open-range zoo. It practices a feminist common worlds multispecies ethics to challenge the systems that maintain nature-culture divisions in early childhood education. Postdevelopmental perspectives (i.e., feminist environmental humanities, multispecies studies,…

Background: Parental involvement in early childhood is foundational to a child's later academic achievement (Heckman, 2007). Parent-child book reading is frequently recommended as a way to build a child's early cognitive skills. Evidence suggests that mother-child reading time increases children's vocabulary and reading skills (Price & Kalil,…

Most students have never had the opportunity to interact with amphibians. Field trips students list as most memorable are usually their outdoor experiences and interactions with living creatures. Apart from being memorable, field trips need to be meaningful and provide students with authentic learning experiences. Field trips allow students to…

Helping young children become proficient readers is a critical goal. Research tells us that students who experience difficulty reading in the early years of school often struggle to catch up (Stanley, Petscher, & Catts, 2018; Ozernov, Palchik et al., 2016; Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997; Francis, Shaywitz, Stuebing, Shaywitz, & Fletcher,…

Studying attitudes toward fauna such as snakes is essential in wildlife management. The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact that fear of snakes has on Slovenian pre-service teachers' attitudes towards conservation and the likelihood of incorporating animals into developing the future science curriculum. The effect of direct…

When studying informal science programs, researchers often overlook the opportunities enabled and constrained in each program and the practices reinforced for participants. In this case study, I examined the normative scientific practices reinforced in one-week-long "Herpetology" (the study of reptiles and amphibians) program for…

Most children are unaware of the process of molting, the periodic shedding and replacement of part or all of a coat or an outer covering of an animal, but it is an animal characteristic they are sure to be interested in and should have the opportunity to observe. In this article, the author shares how she and her students observed various…

Experiences with nature play a critical role in shaping lifelong attitudes, values, and patterns of behavior toward natural environments. The author explains a three-step program for an early childhood focus based on activity, wonder, and environmental education. She includes suggestions for activities possible at any preschool.