February 13, 2012

AUNE to Hold Workshop on Nature Preschools May 16

Nature preschools and forest kindergartens that connect children to the natural world started in Scandinavia. They are now taking root in northern New England. A workshop about this approach to early education, Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens: What’s Going on Out There?, will be held at Antioch University New England (AUNE), from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16.

Parents, teachers, outdoor educators and administrators of early childhood and early elementary students are invited to the workshop.

David Sobel, core faculty member in AUNE’s Department of Education and author of Childhood and Nature: Design Principles for Educators, will open the workshop with a talk, “Why 21st Century Children Need Nature.” Other core faculty from the Department of Education who will lead workshop sessions are:
Ron Labrusciano, also a board member at KidsPLAYce in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Jane Miller, director of teacher certification programs and past director of the Price Farm School in Antrim, New Hampshire.

These educators will also lead workshop sessions:
Amy Friedland, facilitator of the Wonder of the Woods program at Sophia’s Hearth Family Center, Keene, New Hampshire.
Susie Spikol, MS ’94, outdoor education coordinator and director of young children and parents programs at the Harris Center for Conservation in Hancock, New Hampshire.
Anne Stires MEd ’06, director of Juniper Hill School for Place-based Education in Alna, Maine, and AUNE alumna.
Virginia Sullivan, chair of the board of directors at Conway School of Landscape Architecture and co-author of Lens on Outdoor Learning.
Susan Weber, MEd ’86, director of Sophia’s Hearth Family Center.

The cost of the workshop is $75 per person, $50 each for four or more, $50 for AUNE alumni and $20 for current AUNE students. The registration fee includes lunch.

The workshop is co-sponsored by Sophia’s Hearth Family Center and the Harris Center for Conservation Education.

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