This month, our Nature School was featured in the CT Examiner’s Education section, highlighting the growing need for an alternative approach to traditional Early Childhood Education.

Over the last decade, as academic demands on our youngest students have grown significantly, caregivers are finding public schooling for their 3-5 year olds more and more unsatisfactory. Schools like CNS’ Nature School are seeing an explosion in popularity as caregivers seek more flexible, play-based approaches to learning and more outdoor time for their children.

Our director, Rachel Daniels, was quoted outlining the benefits to a Nature School approach. Instead of a “hyper-focus” on kindergarten readiness in the academic sense, CNS and Nature Schools are focusing on the precursors to these skills first: gross motor and fine motor skills - built up through hiking, climbing, jumping, balancing, and play-based learning.

We can adhere to Common Core standards while also allowing our children to set the pace for their learning in an outdoor environment. Our Nature School (and the ever-growing number of nature schools across the country) are showing caregivers that this can be a reality for their children!