Thank you for being a part of this growing community! We are so glad you’re here.
Like every year, 2022 had joyful moments and sorrowful ones, stressful days and peaceful ones, smiles and tears, and bouts of belly laughs. Our hope is that we can all look back and appreciate the growth that took place, whether incremental or in big leaps.
As we reflected on our year at Natural Start, we found there was a lot to celebrate! Here are a few things we enjoyed looking back on in 2022.
Stories You Loved
Make sure to follow the Natural Start Alliance on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates! To end the year, we’ll be looking back at the most popular posts from 2022.
Nature-Based Early Learning Conference
Attendees have access to over 50 on-demand sessions until July 1, 2023, so there is plenty of content to watch and plenty of time to watch it! If you’re looking for a place to start, you might consider, Being a Great Observer, presented by Ade Hofmann. It was the most viewed online conference session this year! We’re making it publicly available until February 1, 2023, so you can view it here whether you are registered for the conference or not.
We brought one in-person conference session to life in webinar format so everyone could access it! Freedom Dreaming: Using Art and Storytelling to Reimagine Communities of Color in Nature Education, presented by Islah Tauheed and Deja Jones, was noted time and again as one of the best sessions from Cincinnati and it lived up to the hype! Check it out here.
Not registered for the conference yet? Register here.
A Growing Community
Our map of nature preschools continues to be the most visited page on our website. It’s the perfect place to find a program for your child, or to connect with other professionals nearby. If you aren’t a member yet, it only takes a few minutes to join and it’s free to do. Join here!
We spotlight one of our amazing members every month and you can view them all here. Our most read Member Spotlight of 2022 features the Washington Outdoor School, a program that has grown from a few families to serving 130+ families over the last decade. Woah!
A personal favorite Member Spotlight of mine this year was the video about the Child Development Lab School at the University of Minnesota. The video ends with the teachers sharing what they love most about teaching and it’s guaranteed to make you smile. Skip ahead to 12:45 for a dopamine boost!
Making the Case Through Research
And don’t miss eeWORKS: Demonstrating the Power of Environmental Education for Early Childhood, published earlier this year. Researchers from Stanford University analyzed 66 studies and found overwhelming evidence supporting that ECEE can provide wide-ranging benefits for children. Read more about the process and why this publication deserves the award for “most caffeine consumed while writing.”
Learning Together
To end the year, we continued our tradition of highlighting the year’s best children’s literature. This year, we teamed up with the Evanston Public Library, creators of the Blueberry Book Award, an award for children’s books that encourage nature connection and ecological stewardship. The webinar is a joy to watch and the booklist is a perfect place to get ideas for last-minute holiday shopping, or adding to your classroom library.
Keep a Good Thing Going
If you feel motivated to donate to help us continue to support this growing movement, donate here!
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