Educating Children Outdoors: Lessons in Nature-Based Learning by Amy Butler

Educating Children Outdoors is a resource for educators interested in spending extended periods of time in nature with their students. Bringing over two decades of experience working outdoors with teachers and students, Amy Butler offers curricular guidance on nature-based lessons that align with K-12 education standards and build on the innate curiosity and wonder children have for the natural world.

This book will help the educator:
- Learn successful routines and practices to make learning outdoors safe and engaging
- Understand protocols for real and risky play
- Draw inspiration from real-life stories from other teachers about learning in nature
- Meet NGSS and Common Core standards outdoors with seasonal lessons that are child-centered
- Be part of the movement to support children in becoming reconnected with the natural world and the places they call home

With twenty-five lessons in five units of study spread out across a seasonal school year and appendixes that offer templates for learning, Educating Children Outdoors is essential for educators looking to harvest the benefits of a nature-based curriculum.

Amy Butler offers a research-based guide to expanding children's connection to the natural world and to their own true natures. Her book is a must-read for teachers, parents, and anyone who works directly with children.

--Richard Louv, author of Our Wild Calling

Butler shows us her wisdom in guiding teachers on how to integrate nature immersion into K-3 classes. The tried-and-true interdisciplinary lessons meet academic standards while cultivating a sense of place on Earth.

--Darcia Narvaez, coauthor of The Evolved Nest

Butler opens the door to the fullness of children's experience while providing foundational practices to support nature-based educators at every stage.

--Kit Harrington, Natural Start Alliance

A treasure trove of conscientious wonderfulness. If you're an educator hoping to move more of your lessons outdoors, this book may be your best resource. It is the epitome of practical--from behavior management to detailed curriculum activities, it articulates everything you should know and do.

--David Sobel, author of Childhood and Nature

Amy Butler's knowledge as a naturalist and educator permeates the pages as she sets the scene for spending time outdoors with a narrative, followed by a lesson plan that is easy to follow and easy to adapt. The beautiful photographs and illustrations enhance the accessible nature of this book. Amy has written a book that both educators who are just embarking on an outdoor education journey and educators with more experience will find an invaluable resource.

--Karen Cingiser, elementary school teacher of 32 years

Amy Butler is respected throughout the field of outdoor, nature-based education not just because she's so experienced, but also because she's so generous with her knowledge. This book is a perfect example of her generosity: She is freely sharing the knowledge and practices she has developed over so many years so that more teachers and students can go outside, where we can do education differently, and make education better.

--Christy Merrick, Director of Natural Start Alliance

Amy Butler has created an inspiring, yet practical book that provides real world outdoor lessons for practitioners. It is infused with impactful stories that contribute essential meaning to understanding students in the context of the natural world. This book is an important contribution and resource to the burgeoning nature-based education movement.

--Patti Bailie, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Maine at Farmington

This is a book grounded in decades of experience teaching real students outside. It is heaping full of useful stories, authentic interactions, weather conditions of all types, and nature-based routines that help support the very best teaching and learning. The ECO program has connected a generation of central Vermont students and teachers to the natural world around their schools. With this book, Amy Butler invites the next generation outside and equips them with the tools to do so.

--Naomi Heindel, Executive Director of North Branch Nature Center

Educators everywhere are sure to be inspired by the meaningful nature-based lessons Amy Butler and the ECO teachers have created for young children. Their experiences show the power of connection to place, community, and the greater world in learning.

--Rachel Larimore, Chief Visionary of Samara Early Learning

Amy's book is full of the magic dust you've been yearning to sprinkle on your teaching. The twenty-five lessons are standards connected, introduced in a context of safety and routine, AND they are the kind of engaging, curious, active and creative prompts that ignite a healthy and happy childhood. I found new inspiration throughout Amy's book. I'm off to write some scrolls from Ms. Flora Fauna right now!

--Eliza Minnucci, author of A Forest Days Handbook

Amy Butler is a teacher and naturalist with over 25 years of experience in helping teachers, community members and families create opportunities for all children to connect to the natural world. She is the former Director of Education at North Branch Nature Center and the founder of Educating Children Outdoors, a standardized nature-immersion program for public schools.

Comstock Publishing

Pub Date: March 15, 2024

0.55" H x 9.92" L x 7.01" W

264 pages

Paperback