by editor | Nov 3, 2011 | Outdoor education and Outdoor School
Straight Talk, Sound Ideas
IslandWood is convening a conference for residential environmental educators in the Pacific Northwest!
Meet new colleagues, make new connections and friends, get fresh ideas – get inspired!
You can look forward to workshops, explorations and courageous conversations.
To date we are planning sessions on cattail weaving, bat/owl “hunting,” storytelling, linking learning in nature to urban ecosystems. We also have guest speakers who will address working outdoors with children who have attention deficit issues and teaching to diverse learning styles.
OFFER IDEAS! Session topics are still being accepted. Offer an idea from your center!
COST: $100/person, including shared (quad) accommodations, Monday breakfast through Tuesday lunch, and all programming.
For more information and to register, go to: http://straittalksoundideas.eventbrite.com/
by editor | Oct 21, 2011 | Interviews with Educators & Leaders
Interview by Chris Gertschen
Wendy Francis, Program Director, has been involved with Y2Y (Yellowstone to Yukon) since its inception. She chaired the board from 2003-2005 and was interim Executive Director in 2002-2003. Educated in law and biology, Wendy previously held positions as Director of Conservation and Science at Ontario Nature, Interim Executive Director at the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and Conservation Director for CPAWS Calgary-Banff. More…
CG: What brought you to conservation?
WF: I grew up in the 1960s, when playing outside was not only the norm, it was mandatory! We were simply not allowed to play inside on a nice day. I knew all the semi-wild places in my neighborhood, and loved to climb their trees and explore their wetlands. As a family, we often camped on weekends and holidays. Later, we rented cottages in northern Ontario and experienced the great freedom of being able to wander the forests for weeks on end. My Dad, who grew up on the prairies, was an avid naturalist and hunter and often pointed out different trees and animals to us. I believe I inherited my love of nature from him. (more…)
by editor | Oct 17, 2011 | Outdoor education and Outdoor School
Courtesy of recmanagement.com
By Kelli Anderson
Five years ago, with the addition of new management at Tamarak Nature Center in Maplewood, Minn., programming for children and their families began to take the road less traveled. It began, in effect, to go off trail.
“When Marcie, our new acting outdoor education supervisor, came on board, she asked a question,” said Jody Yungers, director of park services and recreation in Ramsey County, Minn. “If we really wanted our kids to connect with nature, why did we have signs posted that basically were saying don’t touch, don’t engage or really appreciate the outdoors? Marcie started the ball rolling and really worked with us to start the whole notion of asking the important question of how do we connect families with nature.”
An answer followed shortly afterward. One afternoon, while observing the reluctance of young mothers with children to venture beyond the interior of the nature center, Oltman began to realize that the mothers’ unfamiliarity and discomfort with the outdoors might be to blame. Her idea for a solution turned out to be wildly successful. It was also counterintuitive. (more…)
by editor | Oct 13, 2011 | Indigenous Peoples & Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Marine/Aquatic Education
by Sarah E. Smith
from A Newsletter of the Salish Coastal Gathering
An innovative education program is introducing Squamish First Nation kids and their non-Native classmates to the richness of plant and animal life along the waterways of their lush corner of Coast Salish territory in British Columbia.
Last school year, 500 children in 24 classes from kindergarten to seventh grade learned about the life adventures of salmon, the magic of traditional medicinal plants and the duties of humans as stewards of the land and water.
The Squamish Rivers and Estuary Education program, a partnership between local schools, an environmental nonprofit and Squamish First Nation, provides a curriculum that incorporates the ancient aboriginal culture of the area. The program began in 2006 with eight classes from three schools participating. (more…)
by editor | Oct 7, 2011 | Environmental Literacy, Outdoor education and Outdoor School, Questioning strategies, Schoolyard Classroom
ne of my favorite nature quotations comes from the Japanese conservationist Tanaka Shozu who said, “The question of rivers is not a question of rivers, but of the human heart.”
I wanted to touch the hearts of my middle school students with the beauty of nature as well as inspire them to take care of the local environment. I found the perfect spot for a nature experience less than an hour away from our school campus in the Sierra Nevada. (more…)
