To register for the 2015-16 Nature Kindergarten class at Sangster School, please do so on-line.

Please follow this link for more information.  https://registration.sd62.bc.ca/apps/kindergarten

Parents interested in registering their child for the 2015-16 Nature Kindergarten class at Sangster Elementary School should consider attending one of the following parent information sessions:

Saturday, January 10th at 10 AM

Thursday, January 15th at 6:30 PM

Both sessions will take place at Sangster Elementary School.

Congratulations to Royal Roads University B.Sc. Major Project Team … Kristina, Andrew, Ershad and Pink for the amazing work they did to produce a child-friendly field guide for the Nature Kindergarten students.  The field guide can be purchased, at cost, from the team members or from Frances Krusekopf at fkrusekopf@sd62.bc.ca.  Approximate cost is $32.

Major Project Team with Enid Elliot, Lisa Lockerbie and Frances Krusekopf

Robert Bateman Lecture Aug 6 2014 invitation DRAFT

Please see attached information about public lecture about nature kindergarten at Royal Roads University on August 6th.

For more on allowing for risk in children’s play, see the following …

Go For It!

play and risk

Nothing-Ventured

Re-introducing risk into childhood play

The Overprotected Kid

Please follow this link to learn more about the Nature Mentor for Children job opportunity on the North Shore/New Westminster.

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/nvn/edu/4523764402.html

The Growing Knowledge:  Sharing and Building on Learning Outdoors in the Early Years (3 to 8) symposium takes place at Royal Roads University on Saturday, June 14th.  This is the final week to register for the symposium.  Please see links below for more information on how to register and the program.

Growing Knowledge Symposium – June 14 2014

Growing Knowledge Symposium – Program

We were very lucky last week to have the opportunity to go spend the day at a beautiful beach on the Siaosnun Nation’s land with Christine, Wayne and Shirley.

In the days leading up to this trip we visited the lagoon near our forest to wonder and explore about the things that live at the beach. We came up with a list of things we wanted to learn about.

“How do clams move under water?”

“How to clams eat?”

“What lives there?”

Finally our day with Christine was here! We started out by exploring the tidal pools, under the rocks and in the shallow water. Christine and some of the children dug for clams and searched for mussels for us to try later. Other children searched for crabs, starfish, eels, sea urchins, sea anemones, fish, clams, and mussels with Wayne.

“I found a baby eel! I couldn’t see any eyes. I think it smells to see”. 

“It was too slippery to catch!”

One child noticed that the star fish was eating something! Another noticed that some of the eels were small and others were long! We noticed that some of the star fish were so small and they attached to our coats!

After we collected enough clams, we met Shirley back on the beach. She shared a blessing and then we all got to do a water blessing with her. She handed us a cedar branch that she dipped in a shell that was filled with special water that had been collected from around the world. As we spread the water into the ocean with the cedar, we shared our good thoughts for others around the world as well as our wishes for the ocean.

While this was happening the clams and mussels were streaming in a pot on a small stove. Each child had the opportunity to try some and many children did! Some children went back for seconds and thirds!

We had a picnic lunch, did a scavenger hunt and then explored the beach some more. We built a structure and found a snake!

It was a day full of wonderful learning, trying and discovering new things, meeting new people and creatures. Thank you to Shirley, Christine and Wayne for such a wonderful day.

(Written by Erin Van Stone, Nature K ECE)

We’re launching the 2nd Annual Take Me Outside Student Video Contest!

This project is in partnership with the Banff Mountain Film Festival, Mountain Equipment Co-op and the David Suzuki Foundation.  This contest is open to K-12 classes across Canada. The theme this year is ‘Beyond the Walls’ – we want to see your class make a video about the adventures you go on and what you’re exploring. Although a structured learning environment is
still needed, more and more educators are taking students beyond the schoolyard fence.

This year, the contest is class driven. We want to see classes tell a great story and show an international audience how learning can happen outside of the classroom.  There are some great prizes, including a grand prize of a 3 day trip to Banff National Park! Visit http://takemeoutside.ca/contest <http://takemeoutside.ca/contest>  for more details.

If there are other school/teacher contacts that you can forward this too, much appreciated.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact
us at info@takemeoutside.ca <mailto:info@takemeoutside.ca>

Colin Harris

Executive Director

Take Me Outside

Recently, the Nature Kindergarten team changed the way in which “The Nature Kindergarten Experience” Cont. Studies course is taught.  In response to a recent workshop experience Erin had with Fresh Air Learning in the Lower Mainland, we re-focused the Cont. Studies course on leading participants through a similar experience to the Nature Kindergarten students.  This change meant that most of the workshop time was spent outdoors. 

A couple of weeks ago, Lisa and I tried out the new approach and we had a fabulous experience outdoors with 17 participants who experienced a walk to the Nature Kindergarten site, quiet time with Nature Detective Journals and Circle Time/Check-in.  We also provided an opportunity for everyone to choose from two learning options in the afternoon in an effort to differentiate our instruction to meet individual needs.

The next “The Nature Kindergarten Experience” takes place at Royal Roads University in June.