Cultivating Outdoor Classrooms provides early childhood education collections with a fine guide loaded with creative ideas and inspirations for involving children in outdoor classrooms. It shows how to collaborate with other teachers and families to make the outdoor classroom a reality, and is packed with guidance to help plan and create an outdoor learning program that offers an extension of indoor classroom objectives, and comes loaded with color photos, summaries, keys to setting priorities and defining the outdoor classroom, and much more. A 'must' for any early childhood education collection!
The July 2012 issue of "California Bookwatch"

For early childhood educators, Nelson, who has developed a course on outdoor classrooms, describes how to plan, design, and create an outdoor learning program that is a key element in supporting early childhood development. He discusses children today and their lack of exercise, preoccupation with electronic media, perception of the outdoors as an unsafe place to play, isolation from and fear of nature, lack of engagement in and connection to the world, and use of behavior-modifying drugs, and how the outdoor classroom can address these problems. He details how to work with children in this environment; develop and implement programs; design environments; get buy-in from teachers, administrators, parents, and others; evaluate staff readiness; get started and deal with obstacles; follow a development plan; and evaluate the classroom. Many color photos are incorporated. (Annotation ©2012 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Book News Inc.

What is an outdoor classroom? How can you create one? How can you convince others that it's where young children learn best? In this outstanding guide for teachers, parents, and decision-makers, Eric Nelson offers solidly-documented background on why and how to overcome nature-deprivation in children's daily experience in preschool.
Pacific Oaks College Faculty Emerita and author

Through this reflective work and its myriad examples including illustrative photographs, resources, and planning tools, Eric Nelson unveils the essential elements for establishing and supporting highly engaging quality outdoor environments for young children. This book provides a developmental framework that early childhood practitioners, administrators, and trainers need to effectively address this extremely important aspect of children's play and learning.
Senior Advisor at Piramide Approach to Early Learning, Cito