Assessing the Role of Nature in Emergent Reading and Writing Activities in the Early Childhood Curriculum: A Study of Turkish Educational Practices

Abstract

This study aims to examine how and to what extent nature is used in reading and writing activities in the early childhood curriculum in Türkiye. Using a document analysis method, the authors analyzed curriculum documents and activity plans from a preschool program and two activity books, identifying a total of 12 activities related to nature-based learning and emergent literacy. These activities were analyzed in terms of the development areas they supported, the types of activities, materials used, and themes covered. Our investigation into emergent reading-writing activities that utilized nature as a support or main subject yielded compelling findings. The curriculum documents showed that nature-based emergent reading-writing activities offer a wealth of potential for fostering young children's cognitive, linguistic, socio-emotional, psychomotor, and self-regulation skills. These activities are often integrative in nature, incorporating emergent reading-writing with other domains such as mathematics, language, art, and more. Our analysis of the curriculum documents also indicated that nature-based emergent reading-writing activities commonly employ a diverse array of materials, including both natural and unnatural resources. Moreover, we found that such activities frequently encompass a broad spectrum of vocabulary and concepts. These encompass a wide range of subjects, ranging from seasonal phenomena such as winter to societal issues such as human rights and citizenship to scientific concepts like reproduction and fermentation.