|
About the Dale Waller Early Childhood in Nature Program
Educators are
increasingly concerned about the diminishing opportunities that children
have for unstructured outdoor activity in nature, engaged in the kind of
play experiences that are crucial to their intellectual, social and physical
development and well-being. Rolling down a hill, making mud pies, building
with sticks, digging for worms, and hiding in the bushes represent more than
old-fashioned fun; such nature-inspired play –
 |
Stimulates curiosity and
the imagination
|
|
Develops gross motor
skills
|
|
Provides exercise and
promotes fitness
|
|
Improves concentration and
powers of observation
|
|
Encourages imaginative
play that is varied and collaborative
|
|
Nurtures an affinity
with—and love for—nature
|
|
Plants the seeds of
environmental awareness
|
Thanks
to a gift from the Waller family, the BEA has extended the reach of its K-6
experiential learning program into the earlier years, when children first
encounter and make lifelong connections with nature. Boxerwood's
preschool program activities strongly
correlate with Virginia's Foundation
Blocks for Early Learning.
Our
Early Childhood in Nature program encompasses
|
If
we want children to flourish, to become truly empowered, then let us allow
them to love the earth before we ask them to
save it.
David Sobel,
Beyond Ecophobia |
|
