Member Spotlight
In the heart of Harlem, Harlem Grown is planting fruits and vegetables, and growing healthy children and sustainable communities.
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Get to know Natural Start member, Limes Smiles for Miles Inc, a program dedicated to providing safe, outdoor-based early intervention childcare services to low-income families with children ages 3 to 5 diagnosed with Autism and Down Syndrome.
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Get to know Natural Start member, Stokes Nature Preschool, the first nature preschool established in the Cache Valley region!
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Get to know Natural Start member, the Outdoor Early Learning Alliance of Oregon (OELAO), an advocacy group for outdoor preschool licensing in Oregon.
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Get to know Natural Start member, Asheville Farmstead School, an outdoor, farm and forest-based campus designed to teach homesteading, natural sciences, life skills, sustainability, and agriculture to children and families.
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Get to know Natural Start member, NOLA Nature School, a nature-based early learning program operating in the urban and lively environment of New Orleans, Louisiana!
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Get to know Natural Start member, Alaska Forest School, and learn more about their experiences operating a 100% outdoor preschool program in the coldest state of the U.S.
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Founded in 1973, The American Association for the Child’s Right to Play became the USA Affiliate (IPA USA) of the International Play Association, a global network focused on ensuring every child’s right to play. Learn more about the organization in this Member Spotlight.
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Get to know Natural Start member, Common Ground, and learn more about their NatureYear program, a nature-based enrichment program that serves students ages 5-14+ in New Haven, CT.
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Natural Start Member, Honeypot Montessori, is a nature- and place-based urban preschool in the Greater Newark Area that provides joyful outdoor learning opportunities for Black and Brown children.
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Learn more about Tomorrow River Community Charter School, a Waldorf-inspired, nature-based school in Wisconsin serving children in 4K-8th grade.
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Get to know Natural Start member, Little Leaf, a nature preschool enrolling children ages 2-5, with three locations in New York state.
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Building Blocks Preschool in Highland, Michigan, has been operating for nearly 20 years. Get to know this nature-based school in our latest Member Spotlight!
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Get to know Y-Koda Nature School, a tuition-free 4K program where young children spend 50% of their day learning outdoors.
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Get to know Natural Start member, Community Connections for Children, a non-profit in Pennsylvania providing free nature play training to early childhood educators.
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In our November Member Spotlight, get familiar with the Child Development Lab School at UM, a fantastic program that incorporates nature-based learning and sustainability and helps prepare future educators to be the best they can be!
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For this month’s Member Spotlight, Natural Start sat down with Amanda McMickle, Vice President of Education at Cibolo Center for Conservation. We discussed her career so far, important pieces of advice she’s received, and how to network when you’re an introvert. Watch the interview here.
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Little Schoolhouse in the Woods is a nonprofit outdoor early education program based in Cincinnati, Ohio, providing in-home childcare since 2010. The program was founded by Lee and Jason Hamzy, whose love of nature and professional experience in education led them to launch the program from their own two-acre property.
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The Arlitt Child Development Center at the University of Cincinnati is one of the oldest demonstration preschools in the US. Arlitt is a diverse and inclusive program that incorporates nature and the environment on a regular basis.
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Muddy Boot Prints (MBP) is an all-outdoor, roving preschool in Vancouver. The school hosts four programs out of local parks, serving around 55 families and utilizing nine parks throughout Vancouver. Learn more about the program in our latest Member Spotlight.
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Explore how Washington Outdoor School, which started as a small pilot program in 2013, has blossomed into an organization that serves 130+ families through a variety of outdoor, nature-based immersive classes.
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Get to know White Pine Programs, a nonprofit organization in Maine that connects children and adults to nature, beginning at age 4.
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Read about the Environmental Nature Center’s Nature Preschool program, which we first profiled in 2014, to learn about their LEED Platinum Certification and sustainable design.
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Get to know more about the Saint Louis Zoo Preschool, a Reggio-inspired, nature-based preschool, which opened in 2014.
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Notchcliff Forest Preschool and Forest Kinder Co-op are nature programs offered by the Eastern Region of Forest and Nature Schools (ERAFANS) that, like most other nature-based programs, have adapted to serve families and children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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At Camp STEM Club in Gilbert, AZ, small groups of children learn in a desert oasis all while practicing coping skills, exploring STEM concepts, and having fun. Learn more about the program in a Q&A with director Carolyn Mowery.
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Mid-Columbia Children’s Council Tygh Valley site moved entirely outdoors in 2020. We spoke with the COO to learn how they continue to meet licensing requirements and Head Start learning domains in the fully outdoor classroom.
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Durham Community Preschool transitioned to a 100% outdoor model this year as a solution to continue in-person learning during the pandemic. The lessons they learned will stick with them well beyond this school year.
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Learn how the University of Delaware Lab School, which added a nature preschool program in 2017, supports the growth and development of University students while serving children, families, and their community.
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Imua Inclusion Preschool is a place-based preschool on the Hawaiian Island of Maui, where every child’s social, emotional, physical, and educational needs are met through individualized instruction.
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Takoma Park Cooperative Nursery School in Maryland, like many schools, is on a journey to create a more just, equitable learning community for their students and families. Hear from the school's director, Lesley Romanoff, to learn more about Takoma Park's story.
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Aventuras Forest School is a 100% outdoors, Spanish-language immersion forest school set primarily in public parks in Los Angeles. Learn more about the program from the school’s founder, Pilar Gonzalez.
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Learn how Bend Forest School, a nature immersion early childhood program on 200 acres in Oregon, places emotional literacy at the center of its practices.
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Diona Reese Williams is an Early Childhood Education Professor at a tribal college in Arizona, an active member of the Arizona Association for Environmental Education (AAEE), the owner and founder of Out Back Learning LLC, and the creator of the podcast, Black in Nature. In our July Member Spotlight, we learn more about Diona, her home-based nature preschool, and her goals for early childhood education in Arizona.
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Educating Children Outdoors (ECO) is a nature immersion program developed by the North Branch Nature Center and designed for students in preschool up to 6th grade. Founded in 2009, the program has impacted more than a dozen public schools, over 100 educators, and many more students. In our May Member Spotlight, Amy Butler shares how ECO has evolved over the last 10 years.
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Dawn Jenkins founded Eyes of the World Nature Immersion in January 2019. Among her program offerings is a roaming forest preschool that meets in various state parks and land trusts in York County, Maine. Dawn was able to secure a unique insurance policy that may interest other forest preschool programs.
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The Cincinnati Nature Center Preschool is a nature-based program licensed through the state of Ohio. Learn more about their journey to becoming a five-star program and how they made the decision to expand to K-2nd grade this fall.
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The Frazer Center’s Child Development Program places inclusion at the heart of its mission. Nestled in an old-growth forest in the heart of Atlanta, Frazer Center is on a journey to develop a forest-based curriculum that would give more children in Atlanta the opportunity to experience the natural world.
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Learn about The Planet Discovery Centre, a nature-based program in Gujarat, India. At The Planet, children learn to care for themselves and the world around them, building a foundation for lifelong environmental literacy.
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Brooklyn Park Nature Preschool sets equity and inclusion as one of their primary program goals. Nearly 40% of students enrolled are children of color and 15% of families receive some form of financial aid. Read their Member Spotlight to learn how they approach equity and inclusion and what advice they have for other nature preschools.
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Red Oaks Forest School was built on a simple idea—spend more time in nature. It has since grown to include a variety of nature immersion programs that support the needs of the community. In our September Member Spotlight, learn more about how nature-based early learning is taking root in Eastern Kentucky.
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Cibolo Nature School in Boerne, Texas, provides nature and place-based learning to children ages 3-5 with a curriculum inspired by Montessori, Reggio, and Waldorf methodologies. Learn more about their approach to risk management and serving their diverse community.
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At Dondero Elementary, Forest Fridays began with just two classrooms exploring the wooded area behind their school. Today, more than half of the schools' classes participate and the two teachers who started the program hope sharing their experience can help others begin similar programs in public schools.
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This NAEYC-accredited, West Philadelphia program connects children to nature rain or shine and helps other Philadelphia educators incorporate outdoor play and learning into their own programs.
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With five licensed nature preschools, Mass Audubon serves as a leader in New England in the nature-based early learning movement.
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After being approached by their state licensor in 2016, the Squaxin Island Child Development Center began their journey to open their first licensed, outdoor preschool class. The outdoor program has already expanded to include two classes, with a growing waiting list.
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Juniper Hill School for Place-Based Education opened in 2011 on 42 acres of beautiful, nature-rich landscape. This landscape serves as more than a backdrop to learning. Students learn from and about the landscape, establishing a lifelong connection with the land.
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Now Nature School was founded on the idea that children learn best when nature is one of their teachers. Located in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, the curriculum highlights the diversity and cultural richness of the school’s community and natural environment.
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Elements Preschool was created to provide children living in the heart of NYC with daily access to nature and nature-based activities and education.
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Eliza Minnucci founded a public school kindergarten Forest Day program and now team-teaches and leads professional development to help other teachers take their students outside.
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Dublin, OH, is committed to providing the best quality of life and environment to its 40,000+ residents. We were intrigued to learn about the city's many nature-based programs for young children and asked Barbara Ray, Dublin's Nature Education Coordinator, to tell us more about them!
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A popular early childhood program of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Campbell Creek Science Center in Anchorage, AK, was recently expanded with the help of a local preschool teacher.
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The 40-acre Woodend Nature Sanctuary, just minutes from Washington, DC, is the headquarters of the Audubon Naturalist Society as well as the home of the Audubon Nature Preschool.
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Nature Nuts runs a year-round Forest School for young children in Maple Valley, WA. The school has recently been accredited in the Cedarsong Way Teaching Methodology. We asked the school's Lead Instructor, Brenda Running, to tell us more about it.
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Empowering people to respect, protect, and enjoy the natural world is central to the mission of the Aldo Leopold Nature Center and its programs in Monona, WI, including the Wonder Bugs Preschool Program.
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Every year, the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science welcomes 100,000 visitors to its trails, exhibits, and collections. An increasing number of those visitors bring along young children to climb a tree in the Preschool Room, play with puppets, visit animal habitats, and listen to captivating stories under the guidance of preschool education staff. Find out how early childhood programs fit into the Museum's mission and what advice the Museum has for other natural science institutions that want to better serve young children and their caregivers.
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The Center for Nature and Place-based Early Childhood Education is a teacher preparation and professional development initiative based at Prescott College in the central highlands of Arizona.
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SHP Leading Design provides architectural design, planning, engineering, and other services to educational institutions and other clients. We asked Ed Melvin, Landscape Architect, and John Noble, Project Architect, to tell us about their approach to the design of spaces for learning in early childhood.
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We asked Dr. Yashwant Bhagwanji, the Executive Editor of the International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education's, about the influences behind his work and some of his exciting plans for the future.
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The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts uses nature to promote children's development and growth. We asked the museum's Early Childhood Education Programs Coordinator to tell us more about their approach and share some lessons learned with similar institutions interested in increasing their nature-based early learning offerings.
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An E-STEM public school district near Minneapolis now also offers half-day nature preschool programs. We were naturally curious to find out more! We asked Anna Dutke, Nature Preschool Teacher and the programs’ developer, to share with us the impetus behind the programs and any advice she gives to new teachers.
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Bija is a holistic early childhood program in New York with a focus on mindfulness, the arts, social justice work, food, and farming. Its founder and director, Lauren Maples, shares some tips and examples for incorporating mindfulness into any early childhood program.
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Check out this new program and their emphasis on family and health! Tiny Explorers is a program presented by the Children’s Forest of Central Oregon. Tiny Explorers encourages new parents to kickstart a healthy life enjoying the outdoors by getting their little ones outdoors starting at a young age.
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The PlayGarden is a safe, supportive, accessible, and innovative place for children of all abilities.
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A preschool in Duluth, MN fosters self-directed play, confidence, and a strong sense of self in relationship with nature and the community.
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An early childhood environmental education program on the shores of Lake Michigan fosters learning and an appreciation for nature among dunes, beaches, and ravines.
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Peter Dargatz is a nature kindergarten teacher at Woodside Elementary, a public school in Sussex, Wisconsin
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Meet Rebecca Wolf, director of the brand new Forest Nursery program at Queens Botanical Garden in Queens, NY.
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We sat down with preschool director Marty Watson to learn more about this long-running program, and glean some words of wisdom for new programs.
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St. Louis's first forest school, Raintree School, launched the Missouri ParkLAND Project to get every Missouri child to the wild lands of their local park.
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We sat down with Lia Johnson, the founder and director of Little Tree Huggers, the first bilingual eco-green preschool in Leesburg, Virginia.
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An outdoor classroom is bringing nature-based learning to this large, urban elementary school in Los Angeles.
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In a remote fishing hub in Alaska, Sarah Phillips created an unconventional preschool where children spend long hours outdoors in grand spaces.
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Travel writer, nature guide, and parent Dan Szczesny shares how his baby toured remote regions of India with grace and charm, but drew the line on the back of a water buffalo.
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Woodland Star International School is situated among lush tea fields in Kenya's highlands. The school is Reggio Emilia inspired and takes a project approach to learning so that children can explore nature and sustainability.
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Turning Sun School, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach and place-based education. The children, teachers, and parents work together on year-long projects following the methods of the project approach.
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At Boulder, Colorado's Friends’ School, outdoor experiences are considered a vital part of the school day.
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At Gilbert Elementary, children start in forest kindergarten and continue their learning with connections to nature and the environment through fifth grade.
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Preschoolers roam Golden Gate National Park with Lauryn Smith Demyanovich, lead preschool teacher for NatureBridge. From summer camps to preschool field trips, she helps preschoolers learn to love their public lands.
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At Child's Play Family Child Care in Connecticut, children and adults are invited into an outdoor play and learning space that's Nature Explore certified and created to nurture both children and adults.
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San Antonio Zoo has been home to nature-based preschool and nature play area for over ten years.
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Author and consultant Herb Broda helps teachers use nature and the outdoors as a classroom.
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Outdoor education specialist Amy Beam shares the nature awareness programs she's developed in Maryland.
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Tiny Trees is planning to open six forest preschools in parks across Seattle.
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Brooklyn Forest offers classes in New York City parks for young children and their caregivers.
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Mountain Village Charter Schools is America's first nature-based and Montessori public elementary school, and one of the first schools to bring nature-based education to the elementary levels.
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Vogel Alcove is the only comprehensive early childhood education program in the city of Dallas whose primary focus is to provide childcare and case management for children and families referred by emergency shelters, domestic violence shelters, and organizations that serve homeless families. The Backyard at Vogel Alcove is a natural playground enhanced with garden areas that serve therapeutic and educational goals.
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The Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, is home to the Nike Child Development Program (NCDP), which reflects Nike’s commitment to sustainable practices and active lifestyles.
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The Blue Waves Preschool is located on the coast of Kuwait, and brings children outdoors to enjoy, and learn to protect, their seaside home daily.
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Nature Nuts is a Maine-based family nature club, completely designed and taught by parents. The club is in its second generation, having been started for the first time in 1984 by parents who wanted their girls to have the same opportunities that boys had in learning about nature.
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The Environmental Nature Center is developing Newport Beach, California’s first nature-based preschool. Although students will do most of their learning and playing outside, when they do spend time inside, it will be in a sustainable “green building” certified by the US Green Building Council.
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The Nature Center Preschool at the South Shore Natural Science Center in Norwell, Massachusetts, uses 30 acres of conservation land and an onsite museum to help each child learn and grow in all areas of development while gaining a love and respect for the natural world.
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Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest is a nearly 15,000-acre, privately owned preserve that seeks to creatively explore the connections between nature, science, and art. In 2012, Bernheim launched the Children at Play Initiative, a regional coalition of people and organizations focused on connecting more children to nature.
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The Chicago Zoological Society's Hamill Family Play Zoo at Brookfield Zoo engages families in child-centered nature play. Educators from a variety of backgrounds can learn from the zoo's "play partners" in the NatureStart professional development program.
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Project Learning Tree (PLT) is an award-winning environmental education program that includes curriculum and professional development for early childhood environmental education.
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When children arrive at the Eyes of the World Discovery Center in Kittery, Maine, they are greeted with a welcoming community that encourages them to explore, imagine, and learn in the natural world around them.
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Natural Beginnings Early Childhood program has grown exponentially since its inception nearly three years ago. While yet a relatively new nature-based educational program, Natural Beginnings is making its mark on the profession and in Northern Illinois.
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Dr. Deborah Schein is an expert in children's spiritual development, and she believes that it can be nurtured through experiences in and with nature.
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Honey Hilliard is the author and illustrator of the book Looking for Butterflies, a color-along poetic narrative celebrating nature, art, and perseverance.
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Kindergarten students at Newington Elementary wanted to green their school, and they literally took matters into their own hands. The students worked together with their teacher to turn a bare, muddy patch of ground in front of their school into a welcoming garden.
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'Kids Afield' is a collaborative project developed by three teachers at an N-12 Independent School that uses technology (specifically kid-cameras) as a focus tool to connect K-1 students to nature. Started in September of 2012, in its second year we hope our model can be exported to other schools and groups working with young children in natural environments.
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Chippewa Nature Center’s (CNC) Nature Preschool in Midland, Michigan is a high-quality early childhood program for 3- and 4-year olds that teaches children literacy, math, science, and social-emotional skills in the context of nature. The children regularly hike to wooded areas, ponds, fields, and the Homestead Farm.
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The Karen Slattery Educational Research Center for Child Development is a lab school for children from birth to 5 years of age, located at Florida Atlantic University. Environmental education is integrated throughout the curriculum with all age groups—infants to preschoolers.
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One of the best things my parents did for me as a child was not allow me to watch television. My siblings and I spent all of our spare time outside, playing in the yard, the street or at the park. We would stay out until the sun went down. I now teach early childhood, and my love for being outside has translated to the way I teach.
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Taking to heart Rachel Carson's The Sense of Wonder, the teachers of Live & Learn journey daily with children to enjoy and explore the pleasures of walking in a puddle or stream, digging for salamanders, and learning to appreciate what nature has to teach, and why this matters.
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