Education and nature: reflections from early childhood

Abstract

The present text seeks to articulate and relate the theme of education with nature, thus reflecting the relationship between these two elements in the context of early childhood. For this, the first childhood will be considered between the years of 0 to 6 years, period that normally occurs the process of development and learning of the children, in which it is linked, directly, to the daily life and the act of playing. Based on this principle, our intention with the text is to turn our gaze to early childhood, reflecting on its development, as well as the child's connection with nature, particularly in the teaching-learning process. Thus, the present study aims to analyze how the natural or transformed space contributes to children's development from the teaching-learning process. This time, the methodology adopted is of a descriptive and bibliographic nature, with a qualitative research approach, in which data and information were collected from the databases of the Online Scientific Electronic Library (Scielo) and the Electronic Journals in Psychology (PEPSIC). To facilitate the search and, later, analysis, the following categories were taken as a key to reading: early childhood, playing, child development, education and the natural environment in the process of early childhood education. Therefore, the text seeks to show the importance of nature in the educational process, in particular when considering the teaching-learning process in and for early childhood.