Certificate in Nature-Based Early Childhood Education

Still accepting applications for Summer 2020

This certificate is offered by AU New England.

Program Overview

The Nature-Based Early Childhood Education Certificate program in the Department of Education at Antioch University New England trains teachers, administrators, and founders of nature preschools and forest kindergartens. The forest kindergarten movement has been thriving in Europe for the last three decades and has recently taken root in the United States.  Simultaneously, there has been a growing number of nature preschools in the United States. Both nature preschools and forest kindergartens have a uniquely different approach to curriculum than conventional indoor early childhood programs.

The objective of the program, especially for the Professional Development participants, is to make the courses as practical as possible. Therefore, the goal for each course will be to have each student generate a product that is tangibly useful in his/her work situation. This will include program brochures, policy development, business plans, curriculum documentation materials a la Reggio, grant proposals and parent newsletters. Program faculty will provide assistance in content and tone so that founders of new programs can be supported in developing materials to launch their programs.

Degree Requirements

Program Length:

This is a teacher/administrator professional development option for current early childhood education professionals. The program takes 13 months and starts in the summer. The courses are offered as continuing education credits or for graduate school credits. The program requires 6 to 8 courses and 12 to 15 credits. If taken for credit, these courses will bear in the range of 12-15 credits. Participants who take these courses for credit will be able to transfer these credits into the Elementary & Early Childhood Teacher Certification/Integrated Learning Program within five years if they are interested in a master’s degree.

Requirements:

Course Sequence — Summer 2020

Professional Development Certificate Programs (12-15 credits)

1. Required Courses (7 credits)
   • Risk Management for Nature-based Early Childhood Education
   • Nature-based Early Childhood Curriculum
   • Business Planning for NbEC Programs
   • Working with Parents and Community

1. Elective Courses (at least 5 credits required, 3 could be internship or practicum)
   • Ecology of Imagination
   • Natural History for Early Childhood
   • Landscape Analysis and Design for Nature Play
   • Movement and Storytelling in the EC Classroom
   • Place-based Education
   • Nature-based Leadership
   • Advanced Topics in Nature-based Early Childhood
2. Other Potential Elective
   • Facilitating Communities of Practice
   • Living and Healing Arts
   • Handwork in Waldorf Schools
3. Internship/Practica (optional, not required, for certificate students)
   • Internship in Nature Preschool or Forest Kindergarten