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.
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.
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.
The Natural Start Alliance partnered with the National Farm to School Network for the webinar, “Aligning Outdoor Learning & Farm to ECE.” Explore resources for connecting Farm to Early Care and Education and outdoor learning.
In this interactive webinar, presenters provided strategies to facilitate students' interaction with nature, particularly with students who live in areas where substantial inequities exist between children and their lack of access to a clean and healthy environment.
How do you create fun, authentic outdoor learning experiences for the littlest learners in your life? In this webinar, co-hosted by Project Learning Tree, we explore activities from PLT’s newest resource for parents and educators of young children, Trees & Me. Whether you’re dipping your toe into outdoor learning or you're an experienced outdoor educator seeking tried and true activities for Earth Day and beyond, this webinar is for you!
Join authors, Dr. Claire Warden and Dr. Rachel Larimore of Reimagining The Role of Teachers in Nature-Based Learning: Helping Children be Curious, Confident, and Caring, to learn how educators can identify and embody their many roles when implementing nature-based strategies.
