Nature-based Learning for Young Children ― Anytime, Anywhere, on Any Budget

Nature-Based Learning for Every Preschool Setting is designed to provide ideas for all early childhood educators ranging from novice to highly experienced in a wide range of ecosystems, including forests, cities, prairies, coastal, urban, and deserts. It includes background information on a range of nature topics, reproducible parent newsletters, sample play-based lesson plans, guidance and health and safety issues related to nature activities, ideas for free/inexpensive equipment and materials and for big-ticket items, ideas for family involvement, and connections to early childhood learning standards. Chapters are divided by nature topic, so readers can dip in right away where they want to start exploring.

Julie Powers, MA, grew up in the Sonoran Desert and lives in Maui, Hawaii, during the school year and outside Telluride, Colorado, in the summers and loves each ecosystem. She has an MA from Pacific Oaks College, a BA in child development from the University of Arizona, and an AA in early childhood education from Pima Community College. Julie is an associate professor of early childhood education at University of Hawaii Maui College. She was the founding director of both Dodge Nature Preschool in West St. Paul, Minnesota, and Valley View Preschool, an inclusion-based public preschool in Tucson, Arizona. She has taught, developed curriculum, and directed in a wide range of preschool programs, including public schools, non-profits, for-profits, Head Start, and a campus lab school. She has consulted for programs ranging from the Air Force Child Development Centers to the Phoenix Zoo. She is the author of Parent Engagement in Early Learning.

Sheila Williams Ridge, MA, has a BA in biology from University of Minnesota and an MA in education from Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota. She is the director of the Shirley G. Moore Lab School at the University of MN and an instructor for the Institute of Child Development. She is also an adjunct professor for Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. Sheila serves on the governing boards for the Natural Start Alliance, the Minneapolis Nature Preschool, and the Friends School of Minnesota.