Oklahoma invests over $2 million in outdoor learning programs
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — According to the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness (OPSR), there is a lack of outdoor learning programs statewide.
Through over $2 million in grant funding and two years in the making, the OPSR is making outdoor learning environments a reality for 27 childcare facilities across the state, the first one being in north Tulsa at Jewels Place Childcare.
Executive Director of the OPSR, Carrie Williams says, "This is really an opportunity for us to help children learn to explore nature, help them learn to play independently, use their imaginations. It really does develop those critical skills that children need before school time comes so that they can be ready to learn when they enter school.”
Critical skills that many Oklahoma students need after repeatedly ranking below the national average in math and reading according to the Nations Report Card.
Laura Mylan, Chief Strategy Officer for External Relations with the Children and Nature Network, shared with NewsChannel 8 how outdoor learning can improve students' academic performance and more.
“Investing in outdoor learning environments is such a smart investment. When kids learn outdoors, we see better academic performance better, test scores. We see more social-emotional learning and growth. Children learn to self-regulate; they learn to play together. Kids playing outdoors show more dramatic play, more creative play, more cooperative play," said Mylan.
Mylan urges anyone looking to implement outdoor learning to look into the options provided by the Children and Nature Network.
The owner of Jewels Place Childcare, Mattece Mason, shared what this opportunity means for her and her students.
"It’s incredible because inside there's a specified curriculum that we follow and we can see the possibilities in a child, a child can learn endlessly. But outside represents infinite possibilities, the outside represents anything that they can dream of, however high, however wide," Mason said.