"At a time when children's natural curiosity about the outdoors is eclipsed by the demands of busy schedules and the ever-present glow of video screens, schools may be the only place where they are encouraged to interact with nature."
"Herb Broda, a natural teacher for over forty years, offers this wonderful prescription for every school, a practical, inspiring guide to creating the outdoor classroom and giving children the gift of nature."
"Herb's done the fieldwork so we don't have to...he dismantles every roadblock and provides clever dynamics for motivating staff, parents, and students to connect with the outdoors and improve learning."
Herb is a professor of education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Ashland University...
Read more »Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning and Moving the Classroom Outdoors explore how the school grounds can become an enriching extension of the classroom...
Read more »Anyone that interacts with children and introduces them to the wonder and complexity of nature is a teacher!
Read more »As the snow finally melts, the paved areas around our buildings emerge once again. Paved walkways and play areas can be natural locations for incidental learning. Recently I was at Worth Primary School in Sylvester, Georgia and saw this wonderfully innovative way to integrate the arts into the outdoors. A […]
Winter is a great time to explore books that could be incorporated into outdoor teaching. A few years ago I met Florence Milutinovic of Park Forest Elementary in State College, Pennsylvania who shared with me a wonderful way to incorporate outdoor learning into a unit about prehistoric life. Here is […]
I have a vivid image of Linda’s former building and classroom. She used to teach in one of those wonderful old rooms with creaky wooden floors and lots of wall space. There wasn’t much wall to be seen, though, since nearly every square inch was covered—mostly with nature related […]
It was a strange sight—twenty three fifth graders forming several head-to-toe lines as they stretched out on the playground. Although it looked like a game, these students were actually taking an abstract concept and translating it into concrete (pardon the pun!) terms. Teacher Laura Grimm had been teaching the […]
Schools in urban environments frequently have meager amounts of green space that can be utilized for outdoor learning. The National Inventor’s Hall of Fame® Middle School…Center for STEM Learning in Akron, Ohio was faced with exactly that challenge. The school is in the heart of downtown Akron, surrounded by concrete, […]
