Source: The European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences, 2016
Based on different development theories that combine nature and human psychology, nature-oriented methods of education have started to emerge. The subject of nature-oriented preschools addressed in this study comprises two aspects: (1) the psychological developmental theories that create the theoretical background for the insertion of human-nature interactions and their effects on the preschool children, especially on their socio-emotional development, and (2) a literature review of the theories dealing with the impact of nature on people, including the effects of both flora and fauna. The study presented here is part of a larger research plan investigating the effects of nature-oriented preschool system on several socio-emotional aspects of Israeli children. Using qualitative research methods, we aim to examine the behaviors of 20 children, aged 5-6, from an urban nature-oriented preschool in Israel and 20 children (5-6 years) from a regular urban school from the same area. The research aims to employ interviews, observations and questionnaires in order to investigate the nature-oriented preschools' influence on the socio-emotional functioning of nature-oriented preschool children compared to children from regular preschools.