Category: Children Need Nature
At-Home Nature Exploration: Animals in Winter
February 6, 2021COVID-19 has forced the Schuylkill Center to pivot and reimagine many of our programs. At the beginning of September, we began to reinvent our popular Schuylkill Saturday program so that families could explore our trails through self-guided activities available in Nature Kits. Every Saturday, Nature Kits have been given out on a first-come, first-served basis from 10:00 am–12:00 pm. Nature kits focus on a different theme each week and are meant to be done along our trails. Since the start of our nature kit program, we have seen more than 800 people come out and have handed out over 450…
TreeVitalizing Our Forests
October 10, 2020By Drew Rinaldi Subits, Land Stewardship Coordinator
You may have recently noticed a large clearing across the trail from Pine Grove, which has been steadily cleared and then mowed and maintained throughout the Spring and Summer months. If you have been there more recently, you may have noticed fencing and a young grove of trees and shrubs.
This newest planting effort was possible through the collaboration of our Land and Facilities team, a state-funded tree planting grant initiative from TreeVitalize, and a RJ Carbone, a local young man looking to complete his Eagle Scout project.
For the past five years,…
Kindergarteners reboot their relationship with nature
August 6, 2020
“To Cattail Pond! To Cattail Pond!” several of the kindergarteners shout as they skip towards the Schuylkill Center’s serene, sunlit woodland opening at the edge of our forest, just a few quick steps outside our back door. This is one of our most active sites on the property in the late winter and early spring when water is abundant and vegetation is emerging.
For our 5- and 6-year-old kindergarteners, it’s an ideal place to set the outdoor classroom scene. Given the overwhelming evidence of the many health benefits of learning outdoors, especially in the context of the current health crisis,…
Children Need Nature: Tiny Worlds Terrarium
May 3, 2018Children Need Nature is a monthly blog column from our Nature Preschool program. Read more posts here.
When children have access to natural spaces and time to explore these spaces beautiful things happen. With nature’s diverse textures, scents, tastes, sounds, colors, and shapes, young children find playtime in natural settings compelling and aesthetically inviting. As mindful adventure seekers propelled by innate curiosity, children eagerly seek nature’s loose parts (the leaves, the flowers, the pinecones, the shells, etc.) and use them in their play. In this way, young people build an intimate understanding of the natural world, one element at a time.
From fairy houses in the woods…
Children Need Nature: Jardín de Español
March 1, 2018
By Eduardo Dueñas, Environmental Educator
Children Need Nature is a monthly blog column from our Nature Preschool program. Read more posts here.
In the course of my week, I have the opportunity to give a Spanish class to the kindergarten class at the Schuylkill Center. I honestly can’t hide my happiness when I enter the classroom and see children eager to practice and learn new words in Spanish—words that they use every time when they pass by me in the hall. I am amazed at the speed and retention that a child of four or five years has when learning a new language. Ideally,…
Children Need Nature: Rainy Day Hike
February 22, 2018
Children Need Nature is a monthly blog column from our Nature Preschool program. Read more posts here.
Activity: Rainy Day Hike
You will need:
Rain gear
Raincoat
Umbrella
Hat
Rain boots
What to do:
On a rainy day (either during or after the rain stops), go outside and take a walk around your neighborhood. Follow the path of rainwater from your roof, your doorstep, or the sidewalk in front of your house. Where does it lead?
Is the water carrying anything with it? Where do you think these objects end up?
Notice areas where the water puddles. Why do puddles form in some places but…
School District Partnerships Bring Outdoor Education to Classrooms
February 8, 2018
By Damien Ruffner, School Programs Manager
One year ago, the Schuylkill Center entered a partnership with Extended School Day Care Center (ESCC), an organization in the Norristown School District that provides extracurricular programming to families in the Norristown community. This mentorship program connects Schuylkill Center educators with district students, allowing us to bring the wonders of the natural world into an afterschool setting far away from our forest. (more…)
Children Need Nature: The Art of Tree Climbing
December 21, 2017
By Alyssa Maley, Lead Preschool Teacher
Children Need Nature is a monthly blog column from our Nature Preschool program. Read more posts here.
I remember the moment during my childhood when I developed a bond with my favorite climbing tree on my front lawn—a Japanese maple. This tree was particularly challenging because it did not have lower branches. I had to jump up, grab a branch, and then swing my legs up moving my body like a monkey. Then I used my upper body strength to pull myself to begin the vertical climb. I have so many fond memories of tree climbing—I spoke to fairies,…
Children Need Nature: Joining State Standards with Natural Learning
November 23, 2017By Nicole Brin, Assistant Director of Early Childhood Education
Children Need Nature is a monthly blog column from our Nature Preschool program. Read more posts here.
The inaugural Kindergarten class here at Nature Preschool is deep into its third month of school. If you walk into the classroom you will notice the book corner, art studio, block area, science and math manipulatives, and many other learning centers typical to an Early Childhood classroom. More likely however, you will be drawn to the more homey aspects of the room--the number line made from acorns and sticks, the wall of photographed discoveries, or the shelf of beetles, millipedes,…
The Norristown Program: Mentoring the next generation of environmental leaders
October 17, 2017By Damien Ruffner, School Programs Manager
In February of 2017 the Schuylkill Center entered a partnership with ESCC, or the Extended School Day Center. A vital program in Norristown, Pennsylvania that provides before-care and after-care for the youth in eight elementary schools in Norristown. Our partnership allows education staff to work with two of these schools to enrich their education while providing mentorship to students.
This Norristown mentorship program is something that is very near and dear to my heart. Not only is it one of the largest and most ambitious outreaches we have done, but the program brings environmental…
