The Children’s School, a school of progressive education located in Berwyn, Illlinois, has asked us to help develop an outdoor awareness curriculum for its students, kindergarten through 5th grade.  Once the curriculum is in place, Nature Education instructors along with The Children’s School faculty will engage the stuents in half-day outdoor experiences emphasizing the “Wonders of the Natural World”, the registered name given to the program.  Appreciation and respect will be the key philosophical themes.

These classes will take place during the three seasons of the 2009-2010 school year–fall, winter, and spring.  Each class wil have an age appropriate curriculum–K-1; 2-3; 4-5–and each will build upon the preceding year’s experiences.

Having been an elementary school teacher for a short time in his early adult years, Ron is particularly excited about this opportunity.  As he often says to adult students as the close of a workshop–”Take what you have learned and pass it on to the children, for it is they who hold the fate of our Earth in their hands.”

In mid-April Nature Education Programs, Ltd. presented a very successful daylong workshop to an international conference in Sarasota, Florida. Over 90 people from South Africa, Australia, The Netherlands, Germany, France, and the U.S. were in attendance. The program (including a custom PowerPoint presentation) was designed by Tom, Ellen, Tim and Ron over a period of three months. The topic of the workshop was “Survival Skills” with an emphasis on the similarities between wilderness and urban survival.

Tim & Ron were the lucky ones who got to present the workshop at the bayside Hyatt Regency Sarasota. The completely enclosed, high-walled, un-windowed conference room was a far cry from our preferred natural-area venue. On top of that, when the guys checked into their room, they found that their balcony was totally enclosed in glass, while neighboring rooms had outdoor, open-air balconies. The desk clerk was asked, “Why the difference?” Her response? “You guys have a deluxe room!” Apparently for some in Sarasota fresh air is a downgrade. Go figure.

Though the venue was challenging, the enthusiasm and energy of the participants were genuine and consistent with what we have come to expect from folks taking our classes.