Growing up, most of my friends and relations constantly referred to me as an “old soul.” I was and still am a firm believer in books that come on paper, hand-written letters and cards, music performed on actual instruments, and face-to-face visits over phone calls or text. However, when it comes to the classroom, being an old-soul no longer works quite as well as it used to. In my quest to make parent-teacher communication efficient while still meeting the needs of my familie

Many years ago I attended a workshop with Richard Louv, author of “Last Child in the Woods.” He suggested that a starting place for getting children more in touch with nature is to bring a little nature into the classroom. Easily available and inexpensive natural materials can easily stand in for common early childhood manipulatives and art materials. When I started on the nature school path, I had already been teaching young children for over 15 years. I had a stash of tried

Think for a moment of the feeling you get when someone much taller than you looms above as they talk down to you. Or how much you surely enjoy it when someone looks over your shoulder and gives judgement to what you’re doing. Does it feel good to be corrected when you misspeak? And don’t you just love it when people come up behind you unexpectedly and tousle your hair or tickle you? Luckily, you probably don’t have to experience these things too much anymore. But most kids en