Webinar: Making Change Happen - From Traditional to Outdoor Play-Based Learning

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AN IN-SITE-FUL JOURNEY EVENT

It's almost impossible to be an early childhood professional today and not know about the research supporting the transformative benefits of nature-based learning on young children. However, even if small steps are being taken, creating a cohesive plan and effort with colleagues in the same school (or even in the same classroom) feels challenging. In this webinar, you will hear from a group of change-makers themselves how their school's early childhood program evolved from a traditional, academically focused preparatory school, to one that’s now rooted in an outdoor play-based learning approach and how they accomplished it together. 

Staff members from the Columbus Academy will walk us through the inspiration for their change and their change process in the development of their early childhood program. You will learn the framing of their new philosophy and see examples of how the learning and teaching shifted; beginning with the development of an outdoor play space, daily outdoor exploration, and more intentional documentation and assessment.

In this webinar you’ll hear how:  

• Goals were shaped by their expectations for children’s play experiences
• Outdoor exploration is frequently linked to inside activities
• Communications have increased parent support
• Documentation focuses on developmental domains

This webinar will inspire your own steps towards change or help you re-commit to previous goals - whether you are a teacher, school director, or nature-based specialist. 

The new play environment for 3-year-olds, PreK and Kindergartners is a landscape rich with natural features designed to engage little hands and feet, and big imaginations.

Webinar presenters:
3YO Exlororers Program Staff: Deanna Robeano, Mike Weible, Grace Gordon; and Sarah Penney, Pre-Kindergarten Teacher.

About the School: Columbus Academy is a premier three-year-old through grade 12 coeducational college preparatory school located in Gahanna, Ohio. The school offers a transformative education that invites children to explore and create in an energizing and welcoming environment. At Columbus Academy, outdoor learning plays a major role in students’ health, well-being and academic success. Columbus Academy’s 231 wooded acres, Crane Outdoor Learning Center and Early Childhood Nature Playground provide children with a multi-sensory “classroom” where they can soak up the smells, sounds, colors and textures of the forest.