Sense of Place Tan Vinyl Couch and Chair

The Sense of Place Collection

Sense of Place, created by author, speaker, and early childhood educator Dr. Sandra Duncan, builds upon the belief in the importance of young children's environments. Woven throughout this collection are four essential beliefs that serve as a foundation for this spirited collection:

1. Nature-aligned: We are surrounded by nature’s beauty: tumbling autumn leaves in the nearby park, trickling water on a window pane, waving buttercups on the roadside, and noisy chickadees flying overhead. Nature, however, isn’t necessarily something we must go a long way to see—it is right below our feet, right outside the classroom door. Next time you are outside—stop, look, and listen. What do you see, hear, or smell? Could anything you observed be used in the classroom? Nature is easily found, free, and simple to infuse into every nook and cranny of children’s environments. And, now with the new Sense of Place nature-based collection’s furniture and furnishings, you can incorporate natural forms, designs, and textures into your classroom.
2. Heart-centered: Children need heart-centered environments, places where they can find meaningful connections and engage in profound communications with others. Comfort and beauty are the keystones of heart-centered environments, which the Sense of Place collection exemplifies. Its design results in classroom balance and calm that supports both adults and children to be their very best.
3. Sensory-based: Children are wired to be sensory beings so naturally their classroom should provide a wealth of sensory opportunities. One of the simplest ways to provide sensorial experiences is through visual and kinesthetic textures. Sense of Place offers multi-layer textures in the design, format, and materials used to create the collection. Beautifully crafted pieces using authentic, natural materials, and woven fabrics invite children to touch, interact, and explore.
4. Authentically-inspired: Authenticity of materials leads to authenticity of experiences. The Sense of Place collection uses a tapestry of materials that speaks to young children. Seagrass woven baskets, solid wood accents, handcrafted furniture and accents—inspired by and created with natural materials—are designed for children’s inherent need to engage and interact with the world around them.

Sandra Duncan, EdD

With over 45 years of experience and a doctorate in education, Dr. Sandra Duncan has a wide and varied background in early care and education. She has extensive experience in working with young children and parents, teaching at the university level (doctorate students and early childhood students), designing and writing professional development programs for practitioners, and authoring several teacher resource books including her latest effort with Jody Martin and Sally Haughey, Through a Child’s Eyes.

Now, Dr. Duncan is bringing her years of theory and best practices to the early childhood classroom in the form of the Sense of Place furniture collection - an exclusive to the Kaplan portolfio of furniture offerings. With its modern aesthetics, many authentic and true-to-real-life details, and considerations for what the youngest of children need to thrive best in their first learning environments, the Sense of Place collection provides ECE educators a beautiful backdrop to creating the most meaningful and lasting of learning experiences in early education classrooms for years to come.

“The classroom is powerful. Its space has the capacity to regulate children’s behaviors either positively or negatively... The types of materials in the classroom, including the furniture, and the way they are arranged influence how children act, react, learn and grow.”

—Sandra Duncan, EdD, Jody Martin and Sally Haughey, Through a Child’s Eyes 

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