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Helping Children Learn

Teaching Environmental Awareness

Children are stewards of the earth and must learn to care for distant places, such as rainforests and ice caps, as well as pockets of nature closer to home. Here's how you can help them:

1. Teach your children a reverence for life: For example, children often learn to think of bugs as "gross," or the soil as "dirt." Teach them to respect the important role insects play, and the need for good, rich soil and all the life that it supports on our planet.

2. Teach them to treat every living thing with care: Teach your child not to pick leaves and flowers aimlessly, then toss them aside, but to gather them only for a good purpose. If you gather wild flowers, dry or press them, or place them in a vase with water to preserve them for as long as possible. Try never to over-pick any one plant or flower. Teach your child to walk gently upon the earth, taking only what she needs.

3. Encourage your child to enjoy the outdoors, leaving nothing behind: Teach her never to litter. If you see trash on the ground, pick it up and carry it with you until it can be thrown away.

Meet our expert:

Tim Seldin is president of the Montessori Foundation, Chair of The International Montessori Council and author of several books, including How To Raise An Amazing Child The Montessori Way.