Description
Educated by Nature is a social enterprise with a mission to connect families and schools with nature in order to build individual, community and environmental resilience. About Educated by Nature
Educated by Nature is a small team of passionate nature educators: teachers and playworkers who assist children, parents and teachers develop connections and learn within nature.
Educated by Nature was established in 2015 by Daniel Burton and Trudi Bennett, qualified teachers specialising in outdoor classrooms. Their knowledge base has formed over many years through additional professional development, study tours and participation and presentation at various conferences. Emphasis is placed on engagement with current research, networks and mentoring relationships within Australia and internationally.
At Educated by Nature, staff participate fully in play by modelling sensory risk taking, wondering, adventuring, building and encouraging nature awareness. Programs combine freedom for children to live by their instinctive behaviour, with empathy and understanding for nature and each other. Educated by Nature believes this combination assists children to grow resilience through nature connection.
Educated by Nature currently offers programs through two main branches: Mud Pies Grove for early childhood aged children and Kids in Nature (KIN) Village for primary school aged children. Through these programs Educated by Nature aims to increase the mental, emotional and physical health of children and in doing so, foster a deep love for the natural environment.
About Daniel and Trudi
Trudi Bennett and Daniel Burton are the Co-Directors of Educated by Nature.
Trudi grew up finding both solace and adventure in her backyard and local bushland. She studied both Sustainable Development and Education and has worked with a variety of organisations in science communication, community development and the arts. Recently Trudi has been a primary school and kitchen garden teacher at Bold Park Community School in Western Australia. It was here she practiced observing and listening to children to identify their needs and established project-based learning opportunities. While there she also began utilising natural resources and spaces for environmental art and social connection.
As a result, Trudi became increasingly passionate about teaching children in the outdoors. She continues to explore and observe how the building of cubby villages provides a way for children to grow independence and a sense of ownership, while working together as a community. Her interests, training and experience have set a firm foundation for her role at Educated by Nature.
Daniel is a qualified primary school teacher and passionate nature connection mentor. He considers himself an advocate for connecting children with the natural world, following children’s inbuilt sense of wonder and curiosity as the vehicle to inspire the process of inquiry based learning. Having worked at Bold Park Community School for 10 years he has had experience developing, managing and coordinating outdoor classrooms and Wild Spaces with various age groups. Daniel has had the privilege of participating in conferences focused on nature-based education and 21st century teaching philosophies both locally and internationally.
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RECENT FACEBOOK POSTS
facebook.comTimeline Photos
What a cubby!!!
Kids need unstructured play. Not forced learning
Thoughts...? "It is this shrinking of play time we need to guard against because rather than being a mere pleasant digression, play is serious business for little people." http://ow.ly/eUv63088Rxc
Nature Play WA
Wonderful blog post from our friends at Nature Play WA about the recent Play Out Day! Such a wonderful event... if you look closely you can see Daniel and Jessica at the music matt of Educated by Nature's Mud Pies Grove station!
Maggie Dent
TimberNook
Couldn't agree more!!! This is one of the reasons we run Mud Pies Nature Playgroups around Perth every term!
Photos from Educated by Nature's post
Another great day by the river yesterday for KIN Village Senior. Thanks to Andrew for leading a wonderful session and all the kids and mentors who participated in the day! There are still a couple of spots on Monday and Friday next week.
PPS Releases New Report, "The Case for Healthy Places: Improving Health...
What are you favourite community spaces in your local area? This is a marvellous summary of a report on the benefits of 'Placemaking', developing communities and creating belonging in local areas. “Placemaking is one of the most powerful things we can do to address physical and mental health as well as revitalize democracy and add more conviviality to our lives. It supplies us with a sense of belonging, which creates resilience and well-being, according to scientific evidence.”
Photos from Educated by Nature's post
Mud Pies Grove, an opportunity to explore some key elements of the Mud Pies Nature Playgroup experience - clay, whittling, reading a book in a cubby, singing songs and connecting with nature... there's still space to come and visit Trudi at Mud Pies Grove at Baldivis Children's Forest on Monday 23rd January... get in quick, only 10 more spaces! #educatedbynature #mudpiesgrove #mudpiesnatureplaygroup #natureconnection #familiesperth #kidsinperth
As we near the end of week 2 of our School Holiday KIN Village programs for January we wanted to reshare our interview with Gever Tully, discussing the need to trust children to support them in developing confidence in themselves. There is a lot of trust happening at our programs and we are so proud of the incredible accomplishments the children make when they begin to trust themselves too!!! #educatedbynature #KINvillage #carpentry #kidsinnature #nature #perthschoolholidays #outdoorsoctober #natureconnection #communityconnection #naturecubbies #familiesinnature #natureplay #westernaustralia #getoutside #goplayoutside #wildandfreechildren
Timeline Photos
The wonderful team of Nature Educators and Nature Connection Mentors at today’s KIN Village Senior program in Crawley. #educatedbynature #natureconnection #kinvillagesenior #kidsinperth #kidsinnature
Jean-claude
WOW! Nature in action!
Nature Play WA
Did you see us at yesterday's Nature Play WA - Play Out Day? Jessica and Isaac had Mud Pies Grove stations set up and Daniel jumped on board as a Nature Play WA team member for the day but couldn't resist joining Jess for a song or two throughout the day! This one is 'Sunny Days' written by Jessica, we feel so honoured to be able to perform her beautiful songs! #educatedbynature #naturesongs #music #nature #natureplay #perth #mudpiesgrove #natureplaywa
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