Botanical literacies in Early Childhood

In many cultures and in past generations, it has been expected that knowledge about plants and flowers would be passed down to children from parents and grandparents. This has generally not been a role included in school education, but botanical literacies are now on the decline as this knowledge is not as often being passed down through families due societal changes in work and lifestyle. This session will discuss what botanical literacies look like and the levels of botanical understandings for children as well as why it is important that children understand the names, behaviours and uses of local plants. I will discuss my research journey towards a model for integrating botanical literacies in the early childhood curriculum.