Activity 2.2 | Connections to the Land and World
| Site: | RRU Open Educational Resources |
| Course: | Connecting Deeply for an Inclusive ECE Environment |
| Book: | Activity 2.2 | Connections to the Land and World |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Tuesday, 13 May 2025, 7:07 PM |
Connecting to "place"
All of our ECE programs are situated in a particular place, downtown, family neighbourhood, country or at the shore. The place in which we live can anchor us. Over time we learn about our surroundings, its smells, sounds, trees and animals. We recognize the smell of rain or welcome the returning warmth of spring and the sound of the birds or recognize which flowers we see in June or September. These memories and experiences help us connect to ‘place’ and we can share this with children.
Do our inside and outside spaces reflect where we live? Think about the materials and space that you are providing. Do they provide connections to the living, breathing world beyond the fence? Building connections to the land we live on helps children realize the uniqueness of where they live.
In light of the ongoing climate crisis, in 2023, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child,in their General Comment No. 26, recognized that all children have a right to a healthy environment and urged all countries in the world to meet their obligations to support this right.
Reference
United Nation News (2023). New UN guidance affirms children’s right to a clean, healthy environment. https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/08/1140122
First peoples connection to Land
First Nations and Metis peoples have long recognized our connections to land hold us in place. Acknowledging where we live is a first step to knowing where we are and what stories are held by the land. It is also important as we recognize the first peoples of the land.
Watch or listen to this CBC News [YouTube] clip with Murray Sinclair:
We all have some responsibility to know what and whose land we are on and we need to learn some of the story. In our programs we can include recognition of the local first peoples and their stories. Can you find books that share knowledge of the land…ie Taan’s moons which talks of the bears that go to sleep and hunt for salmon and berries on Haida Gwaii…this book reflects a region and allows children to experience another way of seeing the rhythm of the year and knowing a creature that lives amongst them…what other books might you find or what stories might you tell?
Sinclair, M. (2021). What reconciliation meant to Murray Sinclair. [YouTube]. CBC News Clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MaFOGEPp0o
Paddling Against the Wind
We are also responsible for the place in which we live, play and work. How do we take care of that place in our programs?
In a recent New York Times Climate Forward event, Robin Wall-Kimmerer had much to say about giving back to the land. Watch the YouTube recording:
How might we pay attention to earth’s messages and really listen to how we are taking from the plant and animal world. (Wall Kimmerer, 2023). Think about ways that you might encourage children to see the world and its gifts. Each bee helps by pollinating flowers, worms help the earth stay healthy, ants build communities–what can we learn from these creatures? How can we thank them?
We can increase children’s awareness of the rhythms of the year, the month or the day. We can help them see the many cycles of the world–the movement of the sun, the waning and waxing of the moon, weather patterns. With children we can learn to honour water and its importance in our lives.
Reflect on how Robin Wall Kimmerer suggest we can honour land in all its many facets? What could that look like in your program? Add your thoughts to your journal.
ReferenceNew York Times Events. (2023, September 16). Robin Wall Kimmerer on paddling against the wind [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhIoVJHycvk