This webinar draws from the extensive research of Dr. Deja Jones, Founder of Honeypot Montessori, and the hands-on expertise of Ashley Causey-Golden, co-founder of Gather Forest School. This webinar focused on the collaborative creation of outdoor play areas tailored for Black children between the ages of 3 and 6 and explore the practical implementation of research in this domain.
"Do You See What I See?" provides a look at NASA’s nature-based explorations for young minds that build upon their natural curiosity. Webinar provides a variety of nature-based learning activities designed to foster a natural sense of curiosity through the development of observation skills that encourage young minds to ask questions and explore the natural world using their senses.
The Natural Start Alliance partnered with the Evanston Public Library to bring you the best in children’s books about nature connection and environmental stewardship. The Blueberry Award is a relatively new literary award that honors books about nature — the first of its kind. The Award committee reviewed books from 2022, sharing the latest and greatest with our community!
The Natural Start Alliance in collaboration with the Children and Nature Network, offer valuable evidence and practice-based information to make the case for affirming the voices, experiences and cultural ways of knowing of our youngest participants in nature-based education in this webinar. Recording available.
The Natural Start Alliance teamed up with the Evanston Public Library to shine a spotlight on the Blueberry Awards, a new literary award that honors books about nature. Panelists examined what makes a children’s book about nature stand out, how books written for young children are exploring nature connection, sustainability, and environmental stewardship, and why that matters, especially now. View the webinar recording for a look at the best children’s literature about nature, as designated by a committee of librarians and environmentalists. You’ll walk away with new ideas about the power of story and a list of books to add to your classroom library!
The Natural Start Alliance collaborates with state and regional groups around the country to advocate for and promote outdoor learning as a high-quality approach to early childhood education. These groups work from the very local to the regional level to support and provide training to educators all along the outdoor learning spectrum, from those just stepping outdoors with their students for the first time to those operating nature-based preschools. This forum features the Minnesota Early Childhood Outdoors (MnECO), sharing their success in partnering with the Minnesota Department of Education to develop outdoor learning resources for all early childhood educators.
The right gear is essential for outdoor learning, but many families and schools view gear as a barrier. We’ve asked four leaders from four different programs to share how they acquire and manage gear in ways that are equitable and accessible.
It’s that time of year again: time to treat your family and friends (and yourself!) to a special gift! And what makes a better gift than a good book? The second annual Holiday Book Fair, featured resource books from Dr. Carla Gull and Peter Dargatz and children’s book recommendations from speech-language pathologist and self-proclaimed book lover, Ranita Anderson.
Natural Start invited Sarah Heller, co-founder and former director of Fiddleheads Forest School, to share the process she developed at Fiddleheads to enroll families with equity in mind. Sarah has spent the last two years learning about enrollment practices and asking questions with the goal of learning how to build more equitable systems and reduce barriers to accessing nature-based education.
How do we develop programs that are welcoming and inclusive to all members of our communities? What does it mean to be culturally relevant? This forum will explore how parents and educators in one community approach these questions. We heard stories from a public school educator, a parent, and a nature-based preschool founder in Minneapolis, MN, as they shared their different paths to nature and what culturally relevant teaching means to them.
For years, Professor Julie Ernst at the University of Minnesota Duluth has been exploring how nature preschools affect children's curiosity, creativity, executive function skills, and more. In this forum, Julie shares her research and tools she has developed that help make the case for nature-based education.
Willamette Partnership’s Oregon Health & Outdoors Initiative partnered with outdoor early childhood experts across the country to develop the "Outdoor Preschool Policy Action Framework." The framework helps advocates — from parents, teachers, and administrators to elected officials — find a pathway to make outdoor preschool available to all. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to this work, so this resource identifies many potential options you can use to start moving your state along the pathway to make outdoor preschools available to everyone!
