James Oftendal, founder of the US Forest Service’s Generation Green program, has worked hard for over two decades to build its diverse, twenty person staff. Generation Green, which started with one school in Central California, now has people in Los Angeles, the Central Valley, Sacramento, South Lake Tahoe, Eldorado National Forest, and north in Mendocino….
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During his first few days working for the US Forest Service in California’s Sierra National Forest, James Oftedal would have walked home—if he’d known the way. He was out of his element, and ready to resume life in a rough area of Fresno, where he’d grown up. In this new, alien environment of the forest,…
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One thing I’ve come to know for sure: I can only be as kind to others as I am to myself. That’s why I look forward to the Nature Explore/Outdoor Classroom Project Leadership Institute national conference every year. It’s a time to relax, renew, grow professionally, grow as a community, and perhaps most importantly, grow…
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Back in the 1990’s, the faculty of a Colorado preschool began studying the municipal preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. The Italian schools had become famous for their creative educational practices that flowed from a core philosophy. The child is a current (not just future) citizen of her community; she is an active and capable learner;…
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Sitting alone in his room in a cabin, in the middle of an old growth cypress forest, after an hour’s ride from the airport (mostly in pitch black darkness from the total absence of street lights), Britt Moore wondered if he’d made a mistake. He’d grown up on Chicago’s south side. The cabin was in…
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Ask any three educators who attended the recent Leadership Institute what the experience meant to them, and you’ll likely get at least three different answers. Presented by Nature Explore and The Outdoor Classroom Project, the Institute drew educators, administrators, advocates and allied professionals from across the US. For three days we learned about and discussed…
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Many of you have told me that young children in Nature Explore Classrooms rarely need to be “taught” what to do. Their innate imagination fuels spontaneous play. Their inborn curiosity ignites research and questions. They often look to you as co-learners, rather than as teachers. And you find a freedom from more formalized lessons in…
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This is the resident list of the Exploration Center at the Shirlee Green preschool of Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis, Missouri. It’s another of Karen Lucy’s innovations. On occasion, Millie the pot-bellied pig visits with her friend Ruthie, also a pig. A skittish hedgehog is slowly being socialized for eventual residency. The hedgehog was…
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You might think this is the opening line of a strange preschool joke. It isn’t. It’s from days in the life of Karen Lucy. Karen is the Director of Early Childhood Education in the Shirlee Green preschool at the Jewish Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis, Missouri. And the pig is Millie. When Millie was…
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It’s been said that young children often know more about African wildlife than they do about the animals in their own neighborhood. Let’s assume that there is some truth to this statement. Lions and tigers are undeniably fascinating. The child who lives near a large zoo can see lions, tigers (and bears) in real life….
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