Our Programs

Nature’s Place uses a mix of thematic units, and emergent curriculum to determine our academic year and various other projects. This mixed approach often leaves us with multiple concepts at once and can be overwhelming for the children and staff alike.

Starting September 2022 we will start off our academic year by embracing a curriculum called, Growing Up Wild (GUW). This curriculum is the “culmination of many years of thoughtful and deliberate initiatives by many wild-life enthusiasts… to incorporate more nature-based learning into their…childcare settings” (GUW Curriculum Guidebook, 2020).

There are endless benefits to using this curriculum including the many ways it will better connect children to nature, the developmentally appropriate practices it allows, how it connects children with nature-based play (in and out of the classroom), it offers math, science, social studies, language, and literacy connections as well as music and home connections!

The GUW curriculum connects children with a nature art component and is also connected to Head Start Outcomes as well as National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Standards.  Children learn about safety, responsibility, and respect for the living world around them as we explore each lesson.