Experiential learning in nature for knowledge that sticks.

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Using Wonderful Worm Stories to Ignite Natural Curiosity in Students

Worms are wonderful. They improve soil drainage, eat parasites and plant debris, and fertilize the soil with their castings. My students love digging in the dirt searching for worms. You are the winner if you find the biggest one! That’s their rule, not mine.… Continue reading

Looking Forward to a Great Start in 2023

Art made with local natural materials by second grade students

A big thank you to Juliet Robertson, whose blog post from December 29th, 2022, inspired me to reflect on my practice since August.

The questions, below, are from her post.

What has been the most memorable outdoor experience that happened in your school or setting in this past year?

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Excellent Children’s Literature to Inspire Appreciation of Nature


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Supporting Young Children’s Creative Play in the Outdoors

Our Reception program (3, 4 & 5 year olds) is play-based and is heavily influenced by inquiry and constructivist learning philosophies. We use the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme as our curricular framework.

Both indoors and outdoors, we provide the children with uninterrupted blocks of time, up to 1.5 hours, to play.… Continue reading

Reading in the Rain

I liked the alliteration of that title. However, if you are going to read books to your students in the rain, I suggest you have a covered area. It’s hard to read dripping, ripping soggy pages.

This flexible learning space is used for read-aloud stories, doing crafts and woodwork, group discussions, small world play, and simply resting on sunny or rainy days.
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Meeting the Needs of Children with Developmental Delays in a Play-Based Early Years Program

Harvesting, smelling, washing & tasting radishes are memorable sensory experiences.

In Spring 2019, I took the Intro to Exceptional Learners course from Florida Gateway College in Lake City, Florida. Throughout the course, I examined the course content through the lens of an outdoor education teacher.… Continue reading

The Learning Value of Pulling Weeds

Can a simple outdoor activity, such as weeding the garden, be a vehicle in which the children demonstrate accomplishment of standards and benchmarks?

Encourage the children to weed the garden? Some folks would argue that it’s a waste of valuable learning time.… Continue reading

Easy Spring Art: Dying Eggs


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